For whatever reason, Principals increasingly expect some basic knowledge out of all teachers. Yes, even that teacher down that hall.
Use this round-up of basic technology knowledge to have a productive dialogue with your administrator.

How to communicate positively via email.

Most of communication is just being consistent over time. Look for short-term ways to be consistent, answer emails within a predictable amount of time, and let families know when and how they can reach out to you. Accept that you need to post to several places for your students and their families to find that information in ‘one’ place. You’ll be a grade level hero, after that first meeting, if you can get the entire grade level to agree on one way to send information home. Short of that lofty goal, aim for your hallway, or you content are.

How to find your notes from that meeting.

Feel free to look for shortcuts to note-taking in technology. Your personal notes on a meeting can come in very handy. When at all possible you may want to consult your notes, even when someone else has found theirs already and you are making decisions based on those notes. Whether from a parent teacher conference, an RTI meeting, or a grade level session your notes must be found quickly or you may not have your view represented adequately in the decision-making process. Consider the state of your digital order, or lack thereof; first thing to do is take time to actually organize your digital desktop. Consider where you are saving your notes and if this is a good time to switch to something different?

How to create online content.

No. Principals have no idea how long it takes to create quality digital content. The diminishing returns on just educating them in that may be too much to overcome. Instead, gain a strategy for converting your favorite worksheets to online content as soon as possible. Learn from those who went before you and plan to use extended breaks in the school year to stockpile future content for conversion.

Check out these posts when you have that time:

Upgrades to your Online Content

Create Online Content without a Subject Matter Expert?

Want to Improve your Online Content?

3 Things your Online Content Says

Content is King & You Don’t Know Much

How to collaborate with your peers.

One word, Google.
There is no better program out there. The real-time collaboration alone is the single biggest factor.

Do you and your team a favor and take any online class about Google or better yet, become a Google Certified Educator.

The definition of Blended Learning.

Do not freak out on this, you’re not back in graduate school. For the most part, a generic definition with some confidence gets it here. I suggest your definition is based on The Christensen Institute’s work and the early influence of The Sloan Consortium (currently known as: Online Learning Consortium). You can also show how what you know to be Blended Learning differs from just plain Technology Integration. And you can point to the parts of your lesson plans which highlight the blended learning in your classroom.

There, you’ve basically just put on a clinic for your administrator. After a display such as that you can be sure that they will leave you alone for a while, or put you on another committee. So, either You’re Welcome or I am Sorry as the case may be.

5 Things Your Principal thinks you know