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our school culture and capacity. I need to be able to clearly articulate our vision and help them understand what we are doing to obtain this reality. I do not want all of my teachers to have the exact same strengths, as that is not realistic or beneficial, but want to continue to build their leadership abilities. It is essential that if we are working in a climate of continuous change, school administration needs to create a system based upon the strengths of individuals, and build a system that utilizes these strengths to the benefit of the entire school. We need not only to have a purpose in our schools, but we need to GIVE purpose to those who are a part of our school. Find the strength of your colleagues and use them.

On top of this, there are a lot of demands made of teachers—bolstering student learning being the overriding one, but there’s a lot of administrative asks that go along with the job, too.

There should also be opportunities to create a variety of differentiated roles for teachers—so that they can pursue their strengths and don’t have to be frustrated by their weaknesses (much as happens in other fields)—as well as increasingly creative opportunities for team teaching,

A commitment to blogging or tweeting honestly requires you to take a really careful look at how you are spending your time, setting priorities for what you want to achieve for your school, deciding if blogging as a reflective practice will help enhance learning for your teachers, students, and self, and then make a plan to get it done.

I blog because it helps me reflect on my practice. I choose to share the benefits of social media with others because if they can find one effective use of the tools to help their own professional growth and/or that of their schools, then I have helped to make a difference.

If wanting to reflect so I can better my practice, and reading to learn more so I can strengthen my ability to serve students is self-indulgent, then add another scoop of ice cream to that dish. And don’t forget the cherry on top!

It is strange that it’s even a topic of conversation, as you explained. I have learned a great deal since I began tweeting and reading others blogs, and it’s free! The use of social media to grow professionally can revolutionize the craft of education as long as we are fnot ighting amongst ourselves about who should or shouldn’t blog, tweet, or otherwise.

But liberal arts colleges are reluctant to expand in size out of fear of diminishing the quality of their experience. Their small-class and residential-campus models are expensive to provide, as are the financial aid programs they deploy to ensure diverse student bodies. Administrators fear breaking down the four-year, full-time model, which they believe is crucial to developing well-rounded students. And the liberal arts curriculum isn’t necessarily tied to preparing students for a specific career, and certainly not a single job

Despite significant looming challenges related to affordability, access, public skepticism about value, changing student demographics, and the influence of technology on students and education -- which all the attendees readily acknowledged -- most of the presidents of the liberal arts colleges here this week aren’t planning on substantively changing to how their institutions operate or their economic models.

The growing ability of technology to replace both unskilled and, increasingly, skilled labor is disrupting traditional thinking and practice about how best to prepare students for careers and is challenging the view that a college degree is a ticket to a middle-class existence.