http://www.thethinkingstick.com/communication-is-the-purpose/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=communication-is-the-purpose Educator Consultant Author Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:34:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/communication-is-the-purpose/#comment-794 Reece Lennon Sun, 06 Nov 2005 12:20:37 +0000 http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=26#comment-794 HWG ;) Principal As webmaster? Why not? Jeff, in your response, you write "Part of a principal’s job description is “Communicate with parents, community members, and ...school community ...." which I agree with but then you go on to say "it was technology that allowed principals to write those monthly newsletters and it was technology that allowed them to put together an e-mail list and e-mail the monthly newsletter..." Do you actually know Principals who personally collected email lists or personally put together and formatted newsletters? Sure principals usually add their two bits to the newsletter but isn't it usually a secretary or a teacher volunteer who ends up collecting all of the data and putting it together in a nice neat package? I agree that a website is a great way to get information out to everyone who is a part of the school community, I just don't think the principal is the appropriate person for the job. You also suggest that " Maybe the job description (for a principal) needs to be rewritten for the 21st Century" so that it includes “Communicate with parents, community members, and the larger school community effectively using electronic media.” Great idea but don't you think understanding the power of the internet is enough of a prerequisit, rather than insisting principals understand how to create, list and post websites on the net? The exception would be schools offering online learning, in which case the needs of those particular school would be different from the traditional model. Finally, regarding the "terrible concept..." you have misudnerstood my concern surrounding the insistence of "weekly newsletters." I don't have a problem with communicating what is going on in my classroom when it serves a purpose. I agree it is part of the job description. Nor am I feeling that technology is ‘one more thing I have to do’ instead of ‘one more thing that can help me be more productive as a teacher.’ It isn't the technology I have a problem with, it is the "busy work" that is dumped on teachers that sounds good in theory but does not actually live up to expectation. What makes it worse, it becomes policy for all teachers when administrators (like teachers) should know that people need choices just like our students so that we can make the most of our time and efforts. No doubt posting online every week would be one way to keep parents informed, but is it the single best way for every teacher in every class? I doubt it. HWG
Principal As webmaster? Why not? Jeff, in your response, you write “Part of a principal’s job description is “Communicate with parents, community members, and …school community ….” which I agree with but then you go on to say “it was technology that allowed principals to write those monthly newsletters and it was technology that allowed them to put together an e-mail list and e-mail the monthly newsletter…” Do you actually know Principals who personally collected email lists or personally put together and formatted newsletters? Sure principals usually add their two bits to the newsletter but isn’t it usually a secretary or a teacher volunteer who ends up collecting all of the data and putting it together in a nice neat package? I agree that a website is a great way to get information out to everyone who is a part of the school community, I just don’t think the principal is the appropriate person for the job.
You also suggest that ” Maybe the job description (for a principal) needs to be rewritten for the 21st Century” so that it includes “Communicate with parents, community members, and the larger school community effectively using electronic media.” Great idea but don’t you think understanding the power of the internet is enough of a prerequisit, rather than insisting principals understand how to create, list and post websites on the net? The exception would be schools offering online learning, in which case the needs of those particular school would be different from the traditional model.
Finally, regarding the “terrible concept…” you have misudnerstood my concern surrounding the insistence of “weekly newsletters.” I don’t have a problem with communicating what is going on in my classroom when it serves a purpose. I agree it is part of the job description. Nor am I feeling that technology is ‘one more thing I have to do’ instead of ‘one more thing that can help me be more productive as a teacher.’ It isn’t the technology I have a problem with, it is the “busy work” that is dumped on teachers that sounds good in theory but does not actually live up to expectation. What makes it worse, it becomes policy for all teachers when administrators (like teachers) should know that people need choices just like our students so that we can make the most of our time and efforts. No doubt posting online every week would be one way to keep parents informed, but is it the single best way for every teacher in every class? I doubt it.

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