Digital Age Leadership

The upcoming 2015-2016 school year is one that we should all be excited about, one as parents, teachers, administrators, and those who are invested in the education of our youth. This is the year we are going to shine. We all have to work as one to educate our children and invest in the implementation of technology in the classroom and home for the growth of the academic success of our children. We together have to commit to helping our students excel. Excelling with any obstacle  or challenge that some or all may face. We as a community, as a family, wanting what is best for kids, need to stand strong and encourage all who are invested in their education to promote not only their learning, but their learning for the future. We are all, who are invested, are stakeholders in the need to teach our youth to excel. With that being said, we must teach them to not only take hold of their learning, but to do so using the technology they have in their hands. We have to encourage them to be digital leaders within their community, meaning their realm of stakeholders. This could or should encompass their friends, teachers, community member and possibly future employers. According to the ISTE, there are standards for not only students, but teachers and administrators. We need to look at how we can grow our youth to not only excel, but to be competitive in our global economy. With all of that, we  must embrace technology in the education and preparation of our student for the global economy.

Test taking strategies

We are upon benchmarks and it time to start implementing all of the test strategies that we have taught and learned. I would like to recap some of the best strategies that you can use when getting ready for a test or taking a test.

1. Get a good night sleep
2. Wake up early - so you are not rushed
3. Eat a good breakfast
4. Stay relaxed and confident
5. Read directions carefully
6. Answer questions in a strategic order
         ~Easy questions first to build confidence.
         ~Then those with the most point value.
         ~On objective tests, eliminate obvious incorrect answers.
         ~On essay tests, broadly outline your answer and sequence of points.
7. Review! if you have time.
        Resist the urge to leave when you complete the exam--
        check if you have answered all the questions,
        and not made any errors or mis-marked any answers.
8.  Change answers to questions if you erred, or misread the question!
        You may also find information in the test that will correct a previous answer.

Digital Leadership Chapter 7

In our reading of chapter 7 of Digital Leadership, Brand-ed Amy and myself were very interested in what Eric Sheninger had to say. According to Sheninger, a brand is your distinctive and positive presence in the digital world. Your brand is not your logo. Your brand is your reputation. This is what people think when they hear your name. There are 2 types of brand-ed thinking; professional branding and school branding. Professional branding is what you stand for and who you are. It is based on your core beliefs. The digital brand creates thoughts, beliefs, and opinions about who and what you are professionally. This is also how your are framing the opinions that others have of you as a leader. Either you can create that brand, or others will create it for you. As a digital leader your brand creates your ROI (Return on Investment) for your stakeholders. This is the means to get the "buy in" for your faculty, staff and community as the leader of the school. School branding is what is shared with the community. This is your way of delivering on a promise of excellence for educational "product and service". There are 4 factors that go into a school's brand: student achievement, quality of teachers and administrators, innovative instructional practices and programs and extracurricular activities.

It's almost time......summer!!!! There seems to be tons still to do to close out for the year. We are working hard to get ready for the new school year and we are VERY excited!! There is a lot in store for the 2014-2015 school year. Stayed tuned for upcoming news.......

Test

Hello

Ending of the Year

Let me start by introducing myself...
My name is Robin Caldwell I am currently the Assistant Principal at AV Cato Elementary in Castleberry ISD in River Oaks Texas. I have been in CISD for 10 years. I was a teacher at the high school level for 3 years and then moved into administration and was an Assistant Principal at the High School level for 4 years. I had the opportunity to move to the elementary school 3 years ago. I jumped on the opportunity to learn about the younger ones. I didn't know in the beginning with elementary, if I was going to be able to handle the little ones, now I can not get enough of them. I love my job and enjoy going to work on a daily basis. There is not a better reward than seeing students grow and learn.

We are very excited about the close of this school year and all of the terrific things that have happened at AV Cato in the 2013-2014 school year. We as a district have come a long way integrating technology into the curriculum. Our goal was to get technology into the hands of our students as much as possible. We as a campus, have done a remarkable job at this. We have still more growing to do next year and the years to come, but we have started on the right foot and are moving at a fast pace to get there. At any given time you can walk into the classroom on our campus and see students using technology.

This is just a small glimpse into our family at AV Cato..... more to come.....