Learning to be a Tech Leader
I am in Dallas staying at Hotel Indigo with a group of technology directors from around the state. The purpose of this is to learn how to be a Technology Director. TCEA is providing a 5-day technology directors academy with the dates spread year-round. This week’s sessions are the first two in the five day rotation. I know from my colleagues who are not attending that there is some interest in what we are doing here so I am happy to share about it as much as I can. I won’t get into it all because there is something to be said about attending one of these instead of just reading about it.
First, I want to say that I highly recommend this academy. It has been presented very well with a lot of information that could be very boring but presented in a way to make it interesting and interactive. We have learned about finance, state requirements, and the laws surrounding technology. We have been invited to collaborate and share web resources as well. Mixed into our group are educators and technology directors who have no classroom experience. It is REALLY interesting to hear the “ooohs” and “aahhhhs” from classroom educators next to the silence of our non-classroom experienced colleagues when seeing some really cool teacher tools. ha
A quote from Monday’s 1st session that really hit me was “You are the visionary for your district. Your job is to be visionary.” This is such a costly burden for many of us. I know I was hired for my vision but as I learn more and more about my responsibilities, I wonder when I will have time to develop a vision or to even collaborate with others to put vision into practice. I have worked with other technology directors in my time and I wonder what vision they had other than “to block all the sites I use”. 
I hope I can remain the district visionary while keeping up with all the behind-the-scenes work. We discussed building the BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) for our district and then developing the smaller goals below that one. The visionary looks from the mountain when their BHAG is met and can see how they built the mountain through all the goals to build up to it. I believe this comes from the book “Built to Last” and “Good to Great” both by Jim Collins. These books were recommended reading as well.
We were given a thumb drive full of resources for us to use for Budgeting, FISH, NETS, Planning, Budgeting, Team Building, Law, and a lot more. These resources included PDFs, videos, Power Points, and all sorts of document resources that are working and in use in districts across the state. We had input from other technology directors in the state who gave great information about how to work with the community and how to get support. Very good resources not only in the meeting but in our discussions as well.
Day 2 has started so I will take further notes and reflections on it.
Again, I highly recommend this academy for the new technology director and for the experienced one. We have a few in here who are repeat academy attenders who say they come every few years to get new resources and they are impressed each and every time.
