Dr.

Bill Ziegler
Principal
Pottsgrove High School
Technology is The Great Equalizer
Technology is the greatest equalizer in education. This is demonstrated in the story
of one student who immigrated to the United States from a war ravaged, third world
country with her mothers hope that her child would have a better life than her.
Dolly, a tenth grade student, lives in poverty and has no access to technology in the
home. She has limited resources for learning and certainly doesnt have the
opportunities of fellow students to explore the world. However, with our high
school becoming a 1 to 1 program, Dolly now has access to the same resources of
her peers through the power of a Apple MacBook Air. Now she can communicate,
collaborate, and publish to the world through the power of laptop. I share this story
as the power of equipping all students with digital tools to enhance learning. As a
principal, I am responsible for leading in a digital age and assuring that our students
are equipped, prepared, and ready to be digital learners, leaders, and citizens. To do
this, I focus on five key components to be a digital principal: visionary leadership,
digital learning, excellence in professional practice, systemic improvement, and
digital citizenship.
First, as a visionary leader focused on transforming learning and leading through
the use of digital tools, Dr. Ziegler is responsible for bringing people together
toward this mission. There are three primary groups that he works with to lead
development and implementation of a shared vision for comprehensive integration
of technology.
Below are some bullet points that focus on my visionary leadership to lead our
school toward transformational learning using digital learning tools.

Teacher Digital Team To develop leadership capacity and to thoughtfully

implement technology in learning, he created the Teacher Digital Team
consisting of teachers and staff members who represent the faculty. This
team researched our school going 1 to 1, visited schools that used best
practices with technology, and serving as a model to other teachers in the
area of technology. These teachers were trained in SAMR, coached by the
Apple coach, and asked to share their learning with their colleagues.

Student Digital Team - Students volunteered to participate on the Student

Digital Team. This team would serve as a representative group of the student
body to explore the 1 to 1 implementation. Students visited schools that
represented Best Practices in regards to tech integration and they learned
about the SAMR model. Students also will serve on the team that will assist

teachers in the classroom with technology and help to lead the help desk for
tech repairs and support.

Parent Meetings Four parent meetings were scheduled to introduce

parents to the 1 to 1 implementation. Over the four meetings, Dr. Ziegler
and other administrators led parents through how the 1 to 1 implementation
would enhance their childs learning. Plus, he led the question and answer
session for parents to help them better understand the tech integration in the
Pottsgrove School District.

District Tech Team - Dr. Ziegler works closely with the districts tech team
to provide professional development, training, and in the 1 to 1
implementation. Under the leadership of Technology Director, Mr. Michael
Wagman, Dr. Ziegler has partnered to lead the high school toward tech
integration by leading teachers, staff, students, and parents into digital
learning.

Statewide Dr. Ziegler visionary leadership founded the Twitter chat,

#PAESSPChat, which is a chat for principals not just in Pennsylvania but
throughout the United States. He has worked to have host guest digital
leaders serve as Eric Shenninger, Brad Currie, Jimmy Cassas, and Justin
Baeder co-lead a chat. Under Dr. Zieglers leadership, the chat has expanded
and become a key professional development opportunity for school leaders
in the Keystone state.

#PAESSP Twitter Chat

Twitter chat with Eric Shennnger https://storify.com/PAESSP/digital-leadership-wguest-moderator-eric-sheninge
Twitter chat with Joe Mazza
http://www.leadlearner.com/
Baeder chat with #PAESSPCHat http://www.principalcenter.com/paesspchathighlights-from-november-13-2014/

PAESSP Board - Dr. Ziegler planned for the professional development of the
board of directors in regards to technology. He brought in NASSPs Bob
Farrace to teach on the Principal Portal, had the Rockstar Principals teach
about tech tools, and he led principals on how to use Remind.com, Poll
Everywhere, Kahoot, and several other tech tools.

PAESSP State Conference Dr. Ziegler envisioned hosting a Tech Learning

Lab at the state conference. As a result, he collaborated with key leaders
throughout the state and NASSP to start the first ever Tech Learning Lab.
These labs provided professional development for school leaders on tech

integration, one on one coaching on how to use digital tools, and

opportunities to learn from NASSPs Digital Principals Derek McCoy and
Daisy Duer Dyerr.

National Leadership: Dr. Ziegler served on a Congressional Panel on Erate.

Dr. Ziegler Speaks on Capitol Hill Regarding Erate
Erate article by Sanatoga Post
http://sanatogapost.com/2013/07/31/pottsgrove-principal-a-washingtonpanelist-on-internet-use/

Digital Learning Dr. Ziegler works very hard to lead through a digitally focused
learning environment. He has a keen ability to nurture a digitally centered learning
focus through the school.

Modeling Digital Learning Dr. Ziegler models digital learning through

modeling tech integration in faculty meetings, leading faculty through the use
of technology, collaborating with students through technology,
communicating the schools mission with the community, and serving as a
digital leader in the state.

Digital Courses Dr. Ziegler collaborated and worked with teachers to begin
the first ever Online course at PGHS. This online science class allows
students to expand their course selection and learn online which helps to
prepare them for college.

High School Courses

http://sanatogapost.com/2014/01/30/pottsgrove-outlines-plans-new-highschool-courses/

1 to 1 Dr. Ziegler partnered with the district administration to lead his high
school through a 1 to 1 implementation. All 1,000 students received a
MacBook Air. This took a year of planning, professional development, and
years of working with teachers and students to embed digital tools into the
classroom.

1 to 1 article by Reading Eagle

http://readingeagle.com/news/article/pottsgrove-school-program-puts-technology-instudents-hands
Digital Smore newsletter on 1-1 https://www.smore.com/wjfg2-1-to-1implementation

Twitter Take Over Dr. Ziegler turned the schools Twitter account over to
the Student Government President so students and the community could get
an inside look at Pottsgrove High School.

Student Twitter Take-Over - Student Uses Twitter to Share Day at PGHS

Twitter takeover by Student - Mercury article
http://mercurylive.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-day-in-pottsgrove-high-school.html
A day in the life of a student - storify
https://storify.com/PottstownNews/a-day-in-the-life
Twitter takeover by Sanatoga
http://sanatogapost.com/2014/03/11/grove-twitter-takeover-may-repeated-easter/
Twitter takeover by Student - Mercury 2nd article
http://www.thereporteronline.com/lifestyle/20140308/a-day-in-the-life-of-apottsgrove-high-school-student

Superintendent Leadership Dr. Ziegler and the district administration

worked to plan a training for Montgomery County Superintendents on
technology integration. Dr. Ziegler and the middle school principal led the
county district leaders on how to use the digital tool, Kahoot, and how to use
this to increase learning. He also collaborated with district leaders to plan
this training and to provide support to these leaders.

State Leadership Dr. Ziegler planned for digital learning opportunities for
the PAESSP Board of Directors and he created and led the Tech Learning Lab
at the PAESSP state conference.

Excellence in Professional Practices As principal, Dr. Ziegler is committed to

excellence in professional practices. The bullet points below demonstrate how Dr.
Ziegler embeds excellence in professional practice in regards to technology.

Professional Development Dr. Ziegler led his staff in several professional

development opportunities using digital tools. He taught teachers how to
use Google Docs, Kahoot, Remind, Poll Everywhere, and several other digital
tools. Plus, Dr. Ziegler regularly models instructional learning in faculty
meetings, small groups, and one on one with teachers.

Protect Time For Digital Learning Dr. Ziegler sets aside time for teachers
to learn together about new digital tools. Plus, teachers are given
opportunities to develop units of study that are designed around tech
integration.

Instructional Coaches Dr. Ziegler meets with the districts instructional

coaches to plan how to support teachers with digital tools. The instructional
coaches host regular professional development opportunities for teachers.
The most recent, Mac and Cheese leads teachers on how to use one app to
increase their digital capacity with teaching.

Building Capacity Dr. Ziegler met with all departments in small groups to
listen, learn, and support teachers with the 1 to 1 integration.

Communication Dr. Ziegler is skilled in communicating and branding his

schools efforts using social media tools. He created and leads the schools
Twitter page, Tout, Facebook, and he regularly posts school updates using
these social media tools.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pghsnews
Tout: http://www.tout.com/u/pghsnews
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PottsgroveHighSchool

Commencements Story - Dr. Ziegler also came up with the idea to tell the
digital story of the 2014 Commencement through Twitter #PGHS14
https://twitter.com/hashtag/pghs14

Dr. Zieglers Blog - Dr. Ziegler publishes a blog for parents, students, and
community members to learn about Pottsgrove High School. Thousands
have visited his blog and the regular readership is strong.

Dr. Zieglers Blog: http://www.pgsd.org/Page/2761

Smore Newsletters Dr. Ziegler uses Smores newsletters to increase

communication with parents. These newsletters provide parents and
teachers with important updates about the school, highlights of student
work, and community events.

Smore Newsletters: http://www.pgsd.org/domain/674

Systemic Improvement Dr. Ziegler commitment to systemic improvement is
evidenced through his schools thoughtful implementation of 1 to 1 programming.
The DiLE (Digital Learning Environment) focus by teachers is working to integrate
technology into various aspects of learning. Teachers are working to have students
publish to the world, solve real world problems, collaborate outside of the
classroom walls, and learn from the worlds finest leaders.

1 to 1 Thoughtful Implementation - Over the past year and a half, Dr.

Ziegler and his staff have been exploring becoming a 1 to 1 school. This
started with reviewing and learning about the SAMR model, visiting 1 to 1
schools, researching Best Practices in tech integration, meeting with Apple

staff, and learning about how technology can transform learning for students
and teachers.
This integration of laptops for each student required extensive planning,
thoughtful implementation, vision casting, and shared vision for tech
integration.
o Student Digital Team
o Teacher Digital Team
o Parent Information Meetings
o Visits to 1-1 Schools
o Instructional Coaches teaching on SAMR
o Earning the support of School Board of Directors for this tech
integration
o Connecting tech integration to learning
o Developing staff capacity to take risks, explore, create, innovate, and
relate with students.
Digital Citizenship With the increase of social media, its more important then
ever to teacher students about being a responsible digital citizen. Below are some
steps that Dr. Ziegler took in nurturing digital citizenship amongst students.

After School App With the negative effects of the After School App, Dr.
Ziegler led a Town Hall meeting with student leaders to discuss appropriate
digital citizenship. Students brainstormed how to defend against the vulgar
app and how to portray a more positive focus at PGHS. Student leaders
suggested designing a play on cyber bullying, support groups for students
who been bullied, a pledge for students to sign stating that they will not
cyber bully, and some students even suggested creating a positive social
media app that connects school announcements, schedules, and updates with
a positive messaging board.

FBI As the middle school principal, Dr. Ziegler brought the FBI in to speak
with students and parents on the topic of Cyber Safety.

Light, Bright, and Polite Dr. Zieglers school is hosting Josh Ochs, author
and founder of Light, Bright, and Polite. This positive message to students
and parents teaches students how to portray themselves on social media to
make their resume attractive to employers and universities.

#PAESSPChat Dr. Ziegler is the founder and regular host for the statewide
chat for school leaders.

Ensures equitable access to digital tools Dr. Zieglers school has

provided all students with a laptop computer to enhance their learning
experience through the use of technology.

In closing, Dr. Ziegler is a digital leader in his school, community, county, state, and
nationwide. He models tech integration in his leadership and is constantly seeking
ways to improve efficiency and learning through the use of technology. Principal
Ziegler is skilled on how to use social media to market and brand his school. This
has resulted in numerous positive news articles highlighting the work of the faculty
and students. Dr. Ziegler will be an outstanding NASSP Digital Principal of the Year
as he is already leading principals statewide in tech integration. Technology is the
great equalizer and Dr. Ziegler is working tirelessly to make sure that every student
has equal access to tech tools that will increase learning and equalize the playing
field for all students.