Bobby Dodd, the principal of Gahanna Lincoln High School and 2016 NASSP National Digital Principal of the Year, gave a presentation on using various social media and communication tools for leadership. He discussed tools like Flipboard, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blogs, mass emails, and screencasts. The key aspects of the session were to take small steps with new tools, focus on being an instructional leader, and find ways to effectively communicate with stakeholders.

1. Bobby Dodd
Principal
Gahanna Lincoln High School
2016 NASSP National Digital Principal of the Year

2. CONNECTIVITY
• #npc17
• Convention Center WiFi –
– User Name: PrincipalsConference
– Password: School2017

4. Objectives for Our Session
• We will learn how to use different social
media tools such Flipboard, Twitter, Instagram
and screencasts for leadership knowledge
• We will create templates for weekly school
newsletters to share information with our
stakeholders

5. Aspects of Session to Remember
• Take small steps and go slow
• Utilize videos and screencasts – YouTube is
your best friend
• Find your audience – Go where they are
• Focus on being an Instructional Leader
– Be a Resource for your staff and stakeholders
• Sacrifice time and make extra effort to
communicate your message

6. Flipboard
• App and website for reading articles, journals,
and posts in any area that interests you.
• Create magazines that are based on specific
interests (ex. Education technology, Parenting
Teens)
• Read articles/posts, share them with staff,
students and parents. (Ex. I share Parenting Teens
articles with my parents in newsletters)
• Access app any chance you get – try to go there
once every 2 days (Ex. During child practice,
relaxing at home)

7. How to Use Flipboard
1. Access www.Flipboard.com and create an
account
2. Cover Stories and Explore
3. What’s Your Passion?
4. Scroll through the posts/articles and read what
you may use
5. Hover over image – 3 options
1. Flip It, Share, Like
6. Share with others – copy the link, post on social
media

8. Facebook
• Becoming more of a place to share professional
articles/posts, quotes, stories, experiences
• Start searching for different educators and
leaders who you want to connect with to learn
more about them professionally and personally.
• Great way to comment on articles/posts and get
more ideas from different educators & leaders.
• Access at any time during the day. I use it more
after school to learn what different educators and
leaders are doing in their schools.

9. How to Use Facebook
1. Create a personal account and school
account
2. If you already have an account, begin to use
it more for professional purposes
3. Connect and Friend other educators
4. Share professional information and articles
5. Use “If This, Then That” to post from
Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest to Facebook

10. Twitter
• App/website to research professional posts.
• Utilize hashtags (#) to find out more about
specific topics (ex. #spedchat, #sschat)
• Similar to Facebook, great way to learn get
information fast and efficiently – click on what
you like, don’t click on what you don’t.
• Access Twitter anytime during the day – best
time to post is in the 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM if you
are looking for a response back

11. How to Use Twitter
1. Create at account
2. Search “How to use Twitter” videos on
YouTube for basic user information
3. Follow educators from your area, your region
and around the world
4. Search hashtags such as #edchat and #edtech
for resources
5. Use Twitter consistently (at least once a day)

12. Instagram
• Post pictures and videos from around the
school (classes, events) to share
• Allows you to connect with your Facebook and
Twitter accounts to share pictures and videos
on all platforms
• Include hashtags and promote your school
account for students to follow

13. How to use Instagram
1. Create an account
1. Create two accounts (personal and school)
2. Search for YouTube videos “How to use
Instagram” for basics
3. Find other educators to connect with
4. Promote your Instagram account using
Twitter and Facebook
1. Get students and parents to follow
5. Connect to your Twitter and Facebook
accounts

14. Blogs
• Write blogs to share with others your philosophy,
thoughts and share celebrations
• Find people and organizations to follow by using
social media tools such Twitter, Facebook,
Pinterest, and other website resources.
• Also uses different website resources (search
engines) to help find relevant blogs.
• Great way to reflect, but also get great ideas and
insights.
• Follow blogs that you enjoy so you can get the
most recent blogs sent to you.

15. How to Create Blogs
1. If you have a Gmail account or your district is
a Google district, you can use Blogger
2. If you don’t have Google, there are other free
blogging applications you can use as well
3. Post information and share link using social
media applications and emails to parents and
staff

16. Using Mass Email
• We use School Messenger for our mass email
application
• Our parents provide 2 valid email addresses
when they pay fees for class schedules
• Email addresses are uploaded into system
broken down by grade levels
• Submit links to parents, images, and general
information
• Also include link to our weekly newsletter

17. Weekly Newsletter
• Create weekly newsletter/blog post to
communicate your message
• Include links to articles for parents
• Share with your staff as well
• Include important dates for the next week and
week after

18. How to Create a Weekly Newsletter
• Here is a template for our newsletter
1) Share relevant information
2) Showcase what is going on in the classroom
and outside the classroom
3) Be creative on how you are going to share
and what you will share
4) Be consistent with you posts

19. Screencasts
• Record what you are doing on the screen.
• Record how to use different resources,
website, apps, tools and share them with
others.
• How does this help ME get better?
– Train your staff or students on how to create
screencasts and have them share with you.
– Share screencasts every Friday during class or
during Staff Meetings or in your weekly update.

20. How to Use Screencasts
1. Find a screencast application you like
1. I use screencast-o-matic
2. Create an account and find “How to
screencast” videos on YouTube for basics
3. Follow principles when creating screencasts
4. Think of creating videos for students, staff
and parents to share everything from school
highlights to professional development

21. Summary
• Take small steps
• Utilize your PLN and videos to make it easier
for you to learn new tools
• Get help from students, staff, and parents to
help communicate your message and brand

22. SESSION FEEDBACK
Please
provide
feedback for
this session
via the app

23. Continue On Connecting
Keep your conversations going after hours on
Sunday and Monday evenings at these local
off-site gathering places just steps away from
the Convention Center:
Field House:
• Increasing Professional Capacity
• Elevating Student Efficacy
Pennsylvania 6:
• Connecting Culture and Community
• Personalizing Student Learning

24. Orlando, FL
July 9–11, 2018
Chicago, IL
July 11–13, 2018

25. Contact Information
Email: doddb@gjps.org
Twitter: @bobby__dodd
Instagram: bobby__dodd
Voxer: bobby__dodd
Pinterest: @glhsprincipal
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Bobb
y-Dodd/100007881709222
Blog: http://www.glhsprincipal.blogspot.com