Microsoft Educator Network

Leadership and Strategic Innovation The killer app of education Away from all the current controversy about its nomenclature, it’s a day which brings back sweet memories from an age gone by. Memories of pausing from the relentless act of growing up with friends and observing the selfless adults who supervised that growing up. Our childhood heroes, dreaded monsters, compassionate story tellers, strict disciplinarians, people we both mocked and emulated, respected and feared, at times detested. Our teachers. I have worked in education technology most of my ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Enhancing ICT tools in Jamaican schools The Jamaican Government has started to roll out an ambitious multi-million-dollar project designed to place high-speed Internet in schools, post offices and public libraries across the island within 18 months. "Any community, however remote, which has a public secondary or high school will be provided with facilities for Internet access," Daryl Vaz, the minister with responsibility for technology, announced yesterday. "This project is anticipated to facilitate modern services such as ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation ONE TEAM, ONE GOAL - EXCELLENCE When operating with an Excellent spirit there is much that is required: unselfishness, humility, charity, love, and dedication; “One Team, One Goal - Excellence”. A single individual can influence some but a team can inspire many. Understanding your purpose is paramount when facing great obstacles; rising above them with poise and grace become easy. At A. F. Adderley Junior High School, we are committed to “revolutionizing the learning process through CARE (Collaboration, Accountability, ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Great expectations : Rethinking education While each challenge before the new government is complex, education shall remain one of the more vexing challenges. The two quick fixes of greater capital allocation or privatization shall provide very limited answers. While on the input side, the growing aspirations of society means that the demand for quality education is bursting at the seams, on the output side the potential of outcomes is restricted by the employment opportunities that the economy throws up and the further skill break-up ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Leading Innovation How will you lead innovation in teaching and learning in your school following the workshops you have attended on 21CLD...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Enhancement teaching capability through ICT, New Technology Training In Naziria Naymia Mahmudia Madrasha (Microsoft Mentor School Bangladesh) The Training helping teachers to enhance their capability through ICT, New Technology and enable them to juxtapose ICT with common core subjects. This will make the teachers to provide effective teaching in the class. By using ICT the teachers can prepare and present his lesson in such a way that will make teaching and learning interesting. It will provide the students with motivation to learn effectively and help them ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Baradene College - Our ICT journey Baradene College – ICT journey May 2014 Over the last 5 years, Baradene College has moved from offering computers in labs and a few specialist classes to a 1:1 environment where all Y7-10 students have a device to use in each lesson On the first day of school this year all Year 7 – 10 students were asked to come to school with a device. In 2013 our Year 9 students were asked to bring the HP Envy x2 to school as a trial. The trial taught us some valuable lessons and we felt confident that we ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Innovative Training Strategies in Jamaica Jamaica is entering a new and precarious time in history. With the advent of the *Chinese logistics hub along with frequent talks between Jamaica and the IMF, steps are being taken to equip the Jamaican teachers with new and innovative skills. These skills prepare students for the world of work in a largely diverse and ever changing global classroom. One such skill is the streaming of live online classes for everyone around the world to enjoy. This makes courses available to everyone regardless ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation La Devesa Bilingual School: Unique students, unique teachers. In La Devesa Bilingual School we have already started the change from traditional to an adapted new methodology, where students become the main actors of the learning process instead of the teachers. In order to foster this transition we have bet for some methodologies that perfectly match with the development of 21st century learning. We are talking about the M.O.R.E approach, CLIL, Bimodal curriculum and LEAP 21. In this new paradigm the learning process is student centered and our mission is ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Leadership, innovation and constant collaboration Since 2005, Fundación Salvador del Mundo (FUSALMO) has made several contributions to the impact on strengthening the quality of education in El Salvador, with their support they have received directly from Parnerts In Learning Some of the programs which have been implemented: -Support the creation of a free citizen certification based on Digital Literacy View: -Support the creation of computer programs for high school in El Salvador using Microsoft tools. -Training of more than 10,000 ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Our school and develop the capacity of teachers and students and the local community We begin doing sport exercises in the morning accompanied by music in order to motivate students to activity and high morale Our school participate in many activities and methodology which associated with reality and students' real life and the curriculum like recycling and utilization of waste for the manufacture of useful materials, and the contribution of our students in the school wall paint, and the drawing on the walls, designing slogan for the school. And also we Participate in ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Taroona High School is Leading the Way in Building Teacher Capacity and Leadership Taroona High is leading the way around building teacher capacity and developing systems and structures that will enhance student and teacher outcomes and prepare them for the 21st Century (A full outline of all covered in this article can be found at ( "Taroona High School's Building Capacity Overview Film"). Our goal is to build a community of learners that all work together and who trust and respect each other along the way. We want to have a group of people (teachers, students, parents) who ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation “Great School, Great Teachers, Great Staff… Making Great Things Happen” Any great leader knows that it takes great people to make them a great leader! I have been in education for over 20 years and I am proud to say that Great Falls Elementary School is a great place to be! The faculty and staff at Great Falls Elementary are some of the most dedicated and selfless educators that I know. They are here when I arrive in the mornings and here when I leave in the evenings continuing their daily drive toward creating a better tomorrow by educating the children of today!...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation St Mary's College, Derry We believe that we are in a period of profound, transformative change on the lives of our pupils, our school and the wider community. We believe the future is already with us and it is imperative that we embrace the opportunities and challenges that it presents. We are witnessing the development of learning partnerships between teachers and pupils and the creation of an environment where what has been will always be challenged and what will become has yet to be imagined. Every pupil in our ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation The Heart of Teaching and Learning As the Estabrook School Principal in Lexington, Massachusetts (United States), I am honored and humbled to lead 80 expert faculty and staff, who teach me everyday about their wise and wonderful gifts for students. I am profoundly inspired by their exemplary content knowledge, and in awe of their sophisticated pedagogical skills. At the heart of our strong school culture, sustained high achievement and progressive instructional practice, are three core teaching practices that continually ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation “May You Have Enough Determination to Make Each Day Better than Yesterday and Successfully Face the New Challenges” It goes without saying that the quality of education depends on the careful selection of those who might become better teachers, and provide them with excellent training, and continuous improvement of their skills and knowledge. It is we the teachers who are building the future. Our future depends on our work. The most important aspect is the vocation, enthusiasm and knowledge that we are part of the big world picture. For this we must “think globally and act locally.” In such a big ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Teacher Appreciation Tuesday, May 6, was the National Teacher Appreciation Day, here in US! I would like to invite our leaders world wide to write something in appreciation and help in thanking a teacher that has inspired them whether during their school years or during the time they have leading the school!...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation School leader or talent manager I have been school principal for 17 years and I am still amazed by teacher’s commitment to students, even in hard times. Creativity, innovation, motivation are some keywords for teaching with projects. Freixo School Cluster, a public school, has a solid experience in innovative projects and partnerships with private foundations and companies (last 2 years we have raised + $55.000 in funding for our projects). How have we achieved that? Team work is crucial for creating ideas, building projects ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Radom Technical School creating innovations Teachers of Radom Technical School (Poland) show creativity for diversification of their teaching. Within the entire school year they are organizing a lot of events (undertakings) creating the impression that every day is bringing something new, interesting for both students and teachers. This variety is aimed at raising attraction of the school , process of knowledge and ability acquisition . Simultaneously, it develops effectiveness of acquiring and using acquired knowledge. These are a few ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Class Room Heroes-Cambridge International School, Dubai As a leader, I always remind myself of the most important, effective and impactful element in student's life is the teacher in front of them and its the initiatives and passion of the teacher that can make learning a life changing experience. I'm thrilled with the opportunity to be able to celebrate my teachers, I want to start with our very young learners and their teacher who make every day a rich experience for them:- Angela has been teaching for the past 24 years with various year groups....

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Everyone is a leader! Hi All! I truly believe that everyone is born a leader and leads in one form or the other. I have been a strong advocate of the student leadership along with a stable and visionary leadership of the head of the school. I spent an amazing day yesterday a Global Leadership camp for students, entirely designed and led by students. I came back charged and energized to make the change that I want to see in this world. Students had put up amazing talks, workshops. I was astounded to see the amount of...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Who are leaders? Hi dear friends! It has been a month since Barcelona. I am really looking forward to reading your innovations and your leadership experiments. I just saw a video of a Ted talk where the presenter so beautiful talks about the challenge of making extra extra-curricular to curricular in schools, with technology at our disposal this is not so difficult! It reminded me of days when I was a young teacher always trying to do something like this. I am sharing the link to this Ted talk with you I look ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Innovation after Barcelona! Dear School leaders and educators, What an amazing week we all spent together in Barcelona! Lots of learning and networking; I am sure when you reached back you must be beaming with ideas and follow ups. Now that you have rested and discussed it with teachers and students in your school, I look forward to hearing what your future plans are. How are you planning to take technology a step further in your school as well as in your communities? What are the next steps after learning so much about ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation School Leaders Pitched and Won Cash Awards at the Microsoft in Education Global Forum, this could be you next year Congratulations to the winners of the Microsoft in Education Global Forum Pitch competition! Broadclyst Primary (UK) won $25,000 in funding. Gayaza High School (Uganda) won $15,000 and Schloss Neubeuern (Germany) won $10,000 in funding as well, and Crescent Girls School (Singapore) received a partnership commitment. ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Excellent Education Technology Thought Leader Interview Series. Get Informed and Inspired by These Visionary Thinkers! Each month this year, I am conducting an interview with an innovative thought leader in the education technology arena. These interviews are packed with powerful insights, and a glimpse at the way in which today's leading voices and practitioners see technology opening new directions, new possibilities for teaching, learning, and serving their constituents. , CIO at Seton Hill University, an institution of higher education that has been well ahead of the curve on meaningful integrations of ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation What will it take for school districts to make the Training Top 125? Every year, Training Magazine honors the winners—organizations with the most successful learning and development programs in the world. Missing from the list? School districts. Districts are the biggest employers—but apparently not the best when it comes to training. Yet every district has plenty of professional development, and every district is focused on teacher effectiveness through the teacher evaluation push. Perhaps the focus is too much on evaluation. It’s not that we’re not spending ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Reciprocal Accountability: How Effective Instructional Leaders Improve Teaching and Learning So much has been written about school leadership, what can possibly be new? Truthfully there is little “new” in the school leadership concept of reciprocal accountability. However, reciprocal accountability is largely absent in the daily practice of many school and district leaders. Simply stated, reciprocal accountability means that if school or district leaders are going to hold teachers or principals accountable for something, then those leaders have an equal responsibility to ensure that ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Looking Forward: School District Expands Access to Computer Science The school environment offers an opportunity for more young people to become leaders in the technology, programming and engineering world, to be prepared to tackle the unknowns in the future. Offering access to key skills that are highly valued in the business world may also help foster upward mobility for youth that otherwise frequently struggle to transition to a career path. Computer science is much more in-depth than the basic Internet navigation and word processing skills many of us use in ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Innovative Educator As educators we are always striving to think of ways to innovate and making learning interesting for our students. I have been intrigued to see teachers work beyond their call of duty to make this happen and this has always left in wondering - ‘What makes teachers want to work beyond their defined work profiles? Is it Professional Development? Working Environment? Integration of Technology? I would love to hear from all PIL School leaders and educators. ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Educational reform begins with a pioneer At the moment I started at (Valkenswaard, The Netherlands), the school was diagnosed as weak by the Dutch government. Things needed to change really fast. The main objective was improve the learning outcomes in a way that children develop essential skills to be successful in the future. It’s just like Albert Eindstein said: ‘education is nog learning of facts, but the training of the mind’. My colleagues knew that they had to integrate technology in the educational process. The only problem was...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Leading in 2014 As 2014 dawns on us, we resume our leadership positions with some of us starting new academic years, new semesters, new quarters and others continuing what they started in 2013. I hope this blog would lay the foundation for the days and months to follow and become inspirational. I would like to start with my favorite quote by John Quincy Adams – “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” The most important assets of any institution are...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation E-learning with a focus on the future and research on Rodengymnasiet 2013-2014 On Rodengymnasiet in Norrtälje, Sweden, we are working with assessment for learning, interdisciplinary projects and her fore we use ICT. This is one example from us how we work with skills for the future and digital learning. It´s of course about the 21st Century Skills our students will need in the future. The skills are summarized in headlines and study material has been prepared on this. That means, both teachers and pupils are given the opportunity to control the use of skills in every ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation The stresses of being an EdTech teacher around the holidays! I often have colleagues and friends come to me for advice, not marital (although I’ve been happily married for sixteen years) not financial or philosophical…technical. It really just comes with the territory of being an EdTech teacher. People assume that you are always going to know the answer and be able to solve their problems with a few key strokes or a simple command…it gets stressful! The holiday season is no different and indeed probably worse because many parents and students will be ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Technologist leadership is needed I think Leadership is similar to a wise director who is able to manage everything before him wisely and is able to overcome any blocks before him with wisdom.What helped him to achieve that his advanced learning of modern technology to directorate the mind and heart of his school ( students and teachers). So , a leader of school or school project or subject should be acknowledgeable and technologist....

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation How do we effectively use technology to teach to the Common Core State Standards? "Students who are college and career ready employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use. They tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline. They are familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums and can select and use those best suited to their communication goals.” -Common ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Budget for Innovation What are the top priorities for budgeting for innovation? is it infrastructure, teacher training or incentives for innovators? How can a budget amount be used to realize the goals and purposes of a Mentor School?...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation What’s the difference? A reflection on professional development, professional learning communities, meetings and planning… The terms PD, PLC, meeting and planning often become confused. Each is very different with very different purposes. It is important to differentiate them so that the purpose of each is clearly defined and so that professionals can ensure effectiveness. Below, I reflect on what each term means through my experience of facilitating and engaging in each throughout my experience in education. Professional Development Also known as “PD”, these are sessions where there is one or more facilitators ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation How do we effectively use technology to teach to the Common Core State Standards? "Students who are college and career ready employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use. They tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline. They are familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums and can select and use those best suited to their communication goals.” -Common ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Building Support for the Common Core The (CCSS) are one of the most important education initiatives of our time. While historically each state had its own academic standards (which varied widely in quality and made it difficult to compare performance across states), under the Common Core students in the 45 adopting states (plus the District of Columbia, four territories and the Department of Defense Education Activity) will be held to the same internationally-benchmarked educational standards. These standards were developed with ...

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Leadership and Strategic Innovation Delivering on the Promise of Equity Any discussion of leadership must start with a question of “leadership for what?” For school leaders in particular, we must be clear on the broader purpose of their leadership; for a quality education is not a privilege for a select few, but a civil right for all. In that spirit I believe school leaders must deliver on the promise of equity. In fact this is a guiding principle for the preparation of school leaders here at the . Ensuring a high-quality education for all students is the civil ...

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