7.1 Discussion: Tech Leadership - Taking Action Part II

1.      Educate, educate, and educate yourself and your constituents.

2.      Find a balance between people's skills and the challenges associated with their work.

The first action I can implement in my daily routine at work is:  educate, educate, and educate yourself and your constituents.  I truly believe this action works for peers and students alike. In order to better myself in my role, it is important that I contribute to seek out new knowledge and new methods to share and implement technology. This is definitely a role in which one cannot become comfortable and relaxed, by doing, you begin to fall behind in all the latest information, techniques and methods. In regards to helping students, teachers and other staff must make it a priority to continue to push them and encourage the learning process.  As mentioned in our text by Kouzes & Posner, "People can't do what they don't know how to do."  In other words, people don't know what they do not know.  One of my previous managers used to tell me that all the time and made perfect sense then and continues to. Our staff and students do not know what they are missing out on if we do not present them with new ideas or activities in which they can push their own abilities.

This leads me to the second action that I can implement at my work site:  Find a balance between people's skills and the challenges associated with their work.  This one made an impact on me while reading because t is something we are already implementing.  For the month of March, our school decided to step away from the 3 or 4 weekly meetings for all staff and decided to used each of the 5 weeks to help individual grade levels. The meetings will take place in the following groups: K & 1st, 2nd & 3rd, 4th & 5th, 6th and finally 7th & 8th.  We feel that this will have more of an impact on the teachers on multiple levels. One level will focus on what they already know and how to continue that positive technology related behaviors.  Many of the teachers already know different skill and we did not want to put the advanced teachers through and entry level Google Classroom Training.  The second level will impact what they would like to know or what they would like to incorporate into their classroom/lesson plan.  By taking this approach, it allows the teachers to perform their own brainstorming and prevents the technology team from giving them a ready-made assignment.

6.1 Discussion: Prof. Dev't at your School

Professional development at my school currently consists of bi-weekly meetings in which teachers share with their peers items that they bring up during the meeting.  The other topics discussed are geared towards issues/concerns that I see and hear on a daily basis.  For some of the lower grades it involves use of Google Classroom, while in upper grade it may involve the use of certain templates and importing them into various programs.

One change we will be trying in March is every week our tech. team will meet with 1 or 2 grade levels and review their lesson plans.  Having them send them to us prior to the meeting will allow us to help build a "tech" oriented activity for them to incorporate into their classroom.  The goal is to eventually have them creating their own activities based on those that we present them.

4.1 Discussion: Tech Leadership - Taking Action

Model the Way – Ch. 3 Set the Example

By being open to my peers and even students, I can model the behavior of setting an example.  As teachers or administration, we must learn from everybody.  Being open to feedback from peers and students, is an important quality a leader must have.  This is my first role at a school, as tech coordinator, I am expected to know everything.  When other staff gives me suggestions, I am open to it because they provide me with an important point of view I have not experienced.

Inspire a Vision – Ch. 5 Enlist Others

The way in which I will inspire a vision for my co-workers, as well as the students I interact with, is by doing what I say I will do and doing what I am asking of my peers and the students.  Today at my school site we had a tech skill development meeting.  Our tech teams ants to bring all staff to the same level, in order to do so we have to start at the bottom.  A few teachers have not had the pleasure of incorporating Google Classroom into their classes and we taught them how to set up a class and how to set up a Google Hangout.  The staff wanted to learn something new and asked, so I helped the experienced teachers assist those less knowledgeable.

Part of our responsibility is to mean what we say.  As the tech coordinator, when I say, “Come to me with any and all questions”, I have to be open to them all.  By enlisted in the more experienced staff, those less knowledgeable were more receptive because they got to see in action by other teachers.

Challenge the Process – Ch. 7 Experiment and Take Risks

Once again, experimenting and taking risks, is something that will be put into practice at my school site.  We all have teachers who are stuck in their ways.  I have a few and by being open to talking to them about what their lesson plans include and suggesting ways in which we can incorporate technology, I can help them take risks.  Also, by providing support to the teachers who are taking those risks already, I can help those risks and experiments be more successful.

1.2 Discussion: Defining Leadership

When I think of leadership, I think of somebody who can rally the rest of their team towards a common goal or task.  In the banking industry, I was the leader of a team of 6 individuals and our common goal was to run an efficiently operating bank while continuing to meet and exceed our sales goals.  I am sure you are aware of the fact that there are many different personalities in any work environment and that challenge to succeed is part of the task of a leader.  The leader is not necessarily the best performer on the team in one aspect or another, rather, the effective leader has a all around great performance that allows them to connect and inspire their teammates or colleagues.

Frazier writes a great example of a leader in the text, “The technology coordinator is expected to help establish the vision for technology in the school district, create policies that support that vision, train staff to make progress toward the vision, and assist end users to solve problems associated with technology.”

Nowhere in that sentence does Frazier state that the technology coordinator is to boss around and manage their peers.  Instead, the idea behind that description is that the technology coordinator is to help facilitate the goals of the school/district.

Reflection 6.2

The way student's learn at my school site seems to differ class to class.  I have observed some classes in which the students respond very well to the teachers style of lecture.  And other students learn better by breaking into individual groups and performing hands on tasks.  The idea that there is on on way to learn and teach is a bit absurd.  Teachers themselves teach in different varieties of ways and so should be the learning aspect of it.  A good observation I have made is that the good teachers have a great balance of discipline and "friendliness".  One in particular disciplines in a great way that does not affect the way in which the students are drawn to her nice and caring personality.  It is a delicate balance.

Finals thoughts...

Just wanted to share with everybody my final thoughts on this class and the theorist I wrote my paper about.  The theorist I had was Carl Rogers.  the basics of his theory are that we are all naturally good people.  As good people, we want to make the best of ourselves and develop a good healthy life.  His client centered theory involved a humanistic approach in which he created a support role to the patient so that the patient could develop their process for recovery.  The patient has all the tools within them to overcome any problem and is to be guided to that solution.  In regards to being a "good" person, it all stems from the experiences that start as young children.

It was a bit confusing at first, but, after reading over it began to make sense.  He also had a very interesting point in that he compared this desire to be the best we can to other biological entities, such as plants and animals.  It was great reading about it all.

Balance in Life

Having a good balance in life in general is a great thing.  In schools and in the workplace, there tends to be a delicate balance in having fun freedom and a structure plan or routine.  After reading more of Dewey's book, I understand where he is coming from and his ideas about progressive style schools and the removal of regimented schedules and activities.  There is not one fix for all classrooms and even more so when it comes to the individual students.  Balance is key to the success of students and to the success of the teacher.  The freedom Dewey talks about is much needed for a student to feel as if they have creative control on what they are doing.  But, the ability to make that choice and the skills they use come from the controlled environment that we set in classrooms and the guidance they are giving to learn particular subject matter.  Without one the other suffers.