Your School Rocks: Passionately Pitch and Promote the Positives Happening on Your Campus - Softcover

McLane, Ryan; Lowe, Eric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0986155527 ISBN 13: 9780986155529

Publisher: Dave Burgess Consulting, Incorporated, 2015

Synopsis

"Nothing"... How many times each week do your students respond to the question, "What happened at school today?" with that single, uninspiring, and untrue word? As school principals, Ryan McLane and Eric Lowe know that if schools rely on students to keep their parents informed, they risk parents believing that nothing special is happening at school - when quite the opposite is true. Great things are happening in your school every day! It's time to tell people! Your School Rocks... So Tell People! is a practical guide to using social media tools to keep your students' families and community connected, informed, and excited about what's going on in your school. Packed with tips and insights from educators who are effectively using social media, Your School Rocks... So Tell People! will inspire you to find the communication tools that work best for your school community. You'll learn: Where you'll find your "audience" online How video newsletters can help you save time (and paper) Why you don't have to be afraid of Facebook and blog comments How to engage students in learning activities outside normal school hours How simple images and words can inspire students How to save money using powerful and free social media tools And much more! With more than 70 immediately actionable tips, easy to follow instructions, and links to video tutorials, Your School Rocks... So Tell People! equips teachers and administrators to create communication strategies that are doable and effective.

About this title

About the Author

Ryan McLane is the principal of Big Walnut Intermediate School, located in Sunbury, Ohio. He is passionate about making school about learning and fun and about sharing those great concepts with the community. Ryan and his staff created the first Teach Like A PIRATE Day in 2012 at Utica Junior High School, a day in which students had the freedom to attend any class that was of interest to them.
Ryan began his career as a high school social studies and business teacher, where he taught for twelve years and coached football and wrestling before making the transition to administration. He is a graduate of Muskingum College and Xavier University.
Ryan lives just outside of Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and two daughters.Eric Lowe is the principal of Beaver Local Middle School located in East Liverpool, Ohio. He began his career as an elementary teacher, where he taught for ten years while coaching baseball. He has served as the district athletic director for the past nine years and been involved in administration for the past six years. Eric is a graduate of Kent State University and Youngstown State University.He is passionate about making school about learning and fun, while promoting the positives that go on in our schools. He also feels strongly that we must view the world of education with optimistic glasses in order to enable us to push others to reach their maximum potential. Eric lives in East Liverpool, Ohio, with his wife Sarah.

Review

• "This book beautifully guides you through the process of reaching people where they are... It is an easy yet powerful read, that can help you start making a difference today." George Couros, Author of The Innovator's Mindset
• "Educators are always hoping for more parent engagement.  Your School Rocks...So Tell People! will help you turn that hope into a reality." Dr. Joe Clark, Superintendent
• "Your School Rocks...So Tell People! should be on every school leader's bookshelf." Jay Eitner, Superintendent

"Mr. McLane allows parents to feel connected to school by engaging the kids in brief videos and sharing these videos on social media. My wife and I look forward to these brief videos to learn 'what's going on.' In addition, we enjoy the brief snapshots in the classroom so that we can engage our children at the dinner table with directed conversation and learn at a deeper level about what they're learning. We also see our kids' friends and the learning happening in other classrooms. These videos allow me, and parents like me, the opportunity to be involved in more meaningful ways than a typical newsletter or email. We get to visually experience the events and learning alongside our children. It's an outstanding way to stay connected."--Stephen P. Fujii, Big Walnut Intermediate parent

"If you're an educator thinking about using social media in your classroom or school, you've got to read "Your School Rocks!" Ryan and Eric share dozens of examples that help us envision just how these tools can be used to improve communication between the home and school!    Paul A. Solarz, Author of Learn Like a Pirate, 5th Grade Teacher

School is a little bit more than that: friends that turn into family and teachers and staff that are a huge part of your life as well! Social media allows you to connect outside of school and become closer as a whole! Social media used in school creates a twenty-first-century learning environment. When we first started using social media in school, my first thoughts were, 'This is kinda cool!' We get to share our experiences with outside people! Eventually things started escalating. We had our own hashtags and educators with pages that only spread positivity, which was wonderful! All the positive, optimistic posts made me look at school a little bit differently. It wasn't long until my whole attitude on school changed; I loved school! --Sydney, 8th Grade Student
"At BLMS, we use social media in so many ways. Every morning on the bus, I check my Instagram. As I scroll through, I come past one or two posts from Mr. Lowe; he always takes time out of his morning to post an inspirational quote and to write out an optimistic caption. That is enough to make me want to show up to school with a smile on my face, finish what needs to be finished, and to overall impress him along with my teachers. In addition, students and staff use social media as a way to post memories that will last forevermore. For example, on our eighth grade Washington, D.C., Expedition, we posted the many pictures of our classmates and chaperones using the hashtag #blmsdc15. By going to this hashtag, you are overwhelmed with the many things we experienced, from videos of the bus ride to clever photos with the monuments. You can definitely tell we had more fun than we imagined. Our smiling faces are on many profiles, PROVING that in Beaver Local, we take education to the next level and make it a blast!"
--Maddie, 8th Grade Student

"I have been an educator for the past thirty-four years, and the transformation that social media has brought to our school is the most exciting thing I have ever been part of. It has been an amazing and rewarding experience that has ultimately resulted in a school in which students are running to get in. Due to the efforts and commitment of Eric Lowe, our school is a wonderful place for students to learn, mature, and grow into productive citizens that care about their fellow man and their community. If you simply apply a few of his ideas, you will see immediate results in your school's culture as well." --Connie Shive, Beaver Local Middle School Principal

About this edition

• Publisher: Dave Burgess Consulting, Incorporated
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0986155527
• ISBN 13: 9780986155529
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 122