VANGUARD+Spring+2014

PUBLISHER’S PAGE
Digital Leadership
As an avid user of Twitter and
an occasional user of Facebook, I
am pleased to see the attention to
“digital leadership” in this issue of
Vanguard. In a world where one is
constantly connected, it is important
that we as school administrators
be as current as possible with the
changing technologies and the effects, both positive and
negative, that social networking has on our jobs.
In a speech I gave recently to a group of parents and
educators, I mentioned the Twitter feed of Carol Burris in
particular. Dr. Burris, last year’s winner of the SAANYS
NYS High School Principal of the Year award, has helped to
give me a crash course in educational reform. For example,
when appended to stories of educators helping children,
Twitter hashtags such as #evaluate provide a good audience
to those interested in the many positives occurring in public
education.
A message from
Frank Sutliff
SAANYS President
2013-14
Having recently heard Eric Sheninger speak, I find
similarities to my own district concerning the cell phone
issues that he describes in our cover story. Like Mr.
Sheninger, I ended our nonsensical ban on cell phones early
on and found the results to be positive. In fact, the instances
of cyberbullying declined dramatically as “prohibition”
ended and a more enlightened policy stressing personal
responsibility took effect.
In our second feature story, Ms. Smithgall discusses
the many opportunities for digital learning in our changing
world including, but not limited to, the blended classroom
and flipped learning. With the ready availability of
mobile devices, the possibilities are endless and open up
opportunities to make learning 24/7; this learning is then not
confined by the physical limitations of the building.
I hope that you will enjoy this issue of Vanguard, as
technology touches each of us every day whether it is in our
professional or personal life. The learning culture that is
created by these additional approaches can open up many
opportunities for all learners.