Top LYS Tweets from the Week of April 3, 2011

I was talking to some teachers this week that reported that it is still policy and practice in their district to confiscate cell phone and charge $25.00 for their return. I wish that I could say that this is an isolated case, but it is not. Instead of embracing a chance to introduce real world relevance into our schools and our classrooms, too many of us are stuck in a school paradigm that has little resemblance to the student life after 3:00 pm.

Consider the story of one of my mentors, Wayne Schaper, Sr. When he was a principal in the 80’s, he was a pioneer in the use of (then) new technology to manage student records, grades, schedules, etc. His secret? He had an office aide that had a knack for working with the unreliable, clunky boxes that passed for office computers. So he gave the student free rein to play, learn, build and figure out how to make the box useful, which he did. Schaper went on to be one of the great school leaders of his era. Oh, and the student, Michael, he went on to found Dell Computers. Embrace bootleg technology now.

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using bootleg technology devices to follow Twitter. If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us. To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of March 27^th, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse.

1. Ms. Richards at Burnet ES was 5 for 5 on the Fundamental Five!

2. Ms. Lopez at Burnet ES was 5 for 5 on the Fundamental Five. Back to back classrooms. Burnet primary teachers are on fire!

3. The San Jacinto Junior High English Department has tied the current unit’s research paper to the social studies curriculum. Awesome!

4. Today's run thought: Effort, no matter how poor, trumps talk, no matter how great.

5. Cover art and early endorsements for our soon to be released book "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" can be seen at www.TheFundamental5.com

6. My first change to cell phone policies. Instead of the "Keep Hidden" rule, implement a "Keep Visible" rule. This is much easier to monitor.

7. With activities not related to teaching and learning: 1 - Do you recognize them? 2 - Why are you doing them?

8. WooHoo!!! You can now access the PowerWalks site thru www.PowerWalks.com. Or, you can still use www.PowerWalks.net

9. Hooray! The first LYS national ad is in today's on-line NASSP Principals' Update. To get your free subscription to the NASSP Principal Update, e-mail nassp@multibriefs.com

10. Business and school leadership are different. The use of coercive power in business leads to lazy practice. Diminished skill set for vision & influence.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Coming Soon - "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" www.TheFundamentalFive.com