Module 3

MODULE THREE

Teacher Leadership for Technology Integration

       Several of the ISTE, NBPTS, and WVPTS promote teacher leadership through collaboration with students, colleagues, and the community, such as ISTE 1, 3, and 5, NBPTS 5, and WVPT standards 4 and 5.  These standards are infused with, and emphasize the necessity of having today’s teachers make it a priority, professionally and in their schools, to help better their school environment, their students’ learning, and their own profession. Each of these standards speaks to the responsibility of the professional educator to be an example of leadership by working cooperatively with others, being a model of professionalism, demonstrating commitment to the school, contributing to curriculum development, and prioritizing student growth.

       There are also standards that directly address the responsibility of the professional teacher to utilize, promote, and model the integration of technology in instruction.  ISTE 3 is specifically for that purpose, telling teachers to “model digital age work and learning.”  The need for teachers to use their knowledge of technology to develop the skills of their peers is also found in ISTE 5.  Learning from, and watching other teachers use technology effectively in the classroom is the most effective way to integrate technology that will be long lasting and well supported.

Pathways to Teacher Leadership

       According to Teacher Leaders’ Preparation: Structure and Pedagogy, “…teacher leaders may develop leadership skills through simulations or by actually doing leadership work in a school setting.”  Teacher leaders can learn how to lead in a variety of ways, but actually leading is the best learning method. If I were designing a program or professional development that would teach teachers these skills, I would include lots of opportunities for varying degrees of leadership for teachers to take part in.

Some of the ways in which teachers can learn by leading are:

·       Serve on, or chair, school leadership committees

·       Mentor new teachers

·       Mentor pre-service teachers

·       Be the pre-service teacher coordinator

·       Lead book studies or other professional development opportunities for their peers

·       Be a team leader or department head

·       Be in charge of some aspect of the school’s technology

·       Serve as an officer on the faculty senate. 

        In all of these cases, there should be a clearly defined purpose, resources, structure, and description of responsibilities so teachers can choose the leadership positions they feel they would be most effective at, and would benefit them in their pursuit of leadership skills.

       Time should also be given for teacher leaders to reflect on the job they are doing through participation in a peer leadership group, online leadership community, or mentorship with a seasoned teacher leader.  Leadership positions should also be rotated or changed fairly often to allow for this time of reflection, and to allow for adjustments to be made to the leadership structure or responsibilities, if necessary.

       Because I am the webmaster at my school, and we are launching a new website for the school district, I’m given the opportunity to do professional development with my colleagues.  During that PD time, some strategies I will use will be to have teachers fill out questionnaires asking about their level of comfort with the new design program, and what specifically they would like more training on.  I will also create an online form for teachers to ask specific questions, and make the form available on my webpage. Using that information, I’ll develop another training time that focuses on the most prevalent needs, as well as some short online tutorials that will be made available to teachers from links on my webpage.

Communication

       There are so many free resources available to schools for the purposes of communication with the public, and even promotion of events.  Businesses make use of all of these free tools to achieve brand recognition and for free advertisement, but schools rarely use them because of fear or lack of knowledge.  Tools such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are regularly used by students and parents, and could also be utilized by schools to keep the public informed of activities, events, accomplishments, and other important news.  Twitter could be used to quickly and easily update the public on sporting events, scores, academic achievements, school activities, special events, awards, theme days, meeting dates, conferences, fairs, the list goes on and on.  Facebook could provide a place for parents, teachers, and administrators to communicate about events and issues of significance to all parties involved.  School events could be recorded and made available to the public via a school YouTube channel, as well as pictures on Instagram.  Having a social networking presence would make the school system an integral part of the daily lives of most of its students and their families.

Public Relations

       Currently I am a 7th grade English teacher, as well as the yearbook advisor at my school.  I also serve as the 7th grade team leader and the school webmaster, which also includes administrative responsibilities over the online grading system used at my school. I've mentored several preservice teachers from WVU over the years, although I don't have any this semester.

     

       My school does not utilize any forms of social media.  The only online presence we have is the school website, which is utilized minimally by the teachers, and never by the administration, and the online grading system, which is utilized regularly by students, teachers, and parents.  Teachers and administrators in my school district are discouraged from communicating via social media with students and parents, mainly out of fear of possible legal action or negative repercussions.  All of these sites are blocked from our network. As far as news and events are concerned, the local newspaper and a local online news website occasionally cover events and activities at our school, and events on the school calendar are posted on the website’s home page.  There are some school friendly social media sites, such as Edmodo and Schoology that are utilized by a handful of teachers, but students and parents don't use these sites in the same way, or as often as they use public social media.

       As I read these two chapters, I was very frustrated, as I could see the obvious value in having a strong social media presence as a school, and how easily, cheaply, and efficiently it could be utilized by all of the stakeholders involved. 

Module 3 - Leader

Topic #1

With not actually ever teaching in a classroom(besides student teaching)I have not had much practice or participation with teaching standards. The most practice I have had and studied would be with the West Virginia Professional Teaching Standards (WVPTS). These standards when introduced to me I felt where all very valuable to remind us a teachers what we are supposed to be doing in the classroom.  In looking back at them I also found that each standards has 1 if not more standards that I feel are encouraging teachers to be leaders in the classroom. 

So I picked out the the Function in each standards I felt representing the goal of teacher leadership. Below are the standards I picked out:

Standard 1:

Function 1E: Student Assessment – The teacher uses a balanced approach to ensure both assessment of learning and assessment for learning to provide both teacher and students information to guide future learning. 1E1 pg. 13 ; 1E2 pg. 14

Standard 2:

Function 2B: Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport – The teacher shows respect for students by having high expectations,

providing management frameworks that clearly define roles and procedures, using respectful language, communicating interest in students as individuals and encouraging student collaboration. 2B1 pg. 19 ; 2B2 pg. 20 ; 2B3 pg. 21

Standard 3:

Function 3D: Student Engagement – The teacher delivers instruction to motivate and engage students in a deep understanding of the content. 3D1 pg. 40 ; 3D2 pg. 41 ; 3D3 pg. 42

Standard 4:

Function 4D: Professional Contribution – The teacher contributes to the effectiveness, vitality and self-renewal of the teaching profession through investigation of new ideas that improve teaching practice and learning for students. 4D1 pg. 54

Standard 5:

Function 5H: Teacher Leadership – The teacher demonstrates leadership by implementing classroom and school initiatives that improve education as well as by making positive changes in policy and practice that affect student learning. 5H1 pg. 68

I am a believer that these standards are put in place to guide teachers along the way. I feel the same with these standards. I don’t believe 1 over the other is more important to teacher leadership but together they will help develop a strong leader out of any teacher. I also find it interested that in some form leadership is promoted in each standard. The state also must value teacher leadership. 

Topic #2

The 3 leadership pathways below all play an important role in a teachers leadership development:

A pathway for teachers who leave their classrooms to move into formal administrative positions as school leaders, 

A pathway for teachers who remain in their classrooms to develop and share a deeper knowledge base about teaching with their students and colleagues

A pathway that bridges the two previously mentioned paths, that is for teachers who spend part of their time in a classroom and part of their time taking on additional administrative and professional development responsibilities.

We need leaders to take on each of the above pathways. I think the key as a leader to help the teachers find their path is to support them in figuring out what path is best for them. As a leader helping a teacher find their path I think the first thing that needs to happen is a conversation. Talk with the teacher to see what they want to get out of their career. 

My supervisors recently sat me down and asked me what I wanted to get out of my career, what was my next step. I struggled with this question at first but over multiple conversations I feel I want to leave my current role as Resident Director for a more administrative position. These conversations I believe helped me feel confident in applying for an administrative position in North Carolina. I will be starting this new administrative position this month! In looking back I feel these conversations led me to applying for this position.

I am sure their are more ways to lead teachers to a pathway that works best for them but I feel strongly from my own experience that conversations and support is key to helping someone down a new pathway. Last I feel these pathways can change at any point during a teachers career. I think having these conversations each year about your goals for your future are so beneficial as we change each year!

Topic #3

This week I will be starting a new job and will defiantly need to do an assessment of the technology available to me in my new current position. I feel the first thing I will need to do, is see how the institute is currently using technology. I am estimating this to make 3-6 months. I do not believe in making changes before you know why and what needs to be changes. I strongly believe in justifying change.

I feel after this assessment though I will be able to do some research on what items can possible be brought in to help us. I know that they currently use a lot of Free online resources that I am already aware of but possible with a little money we might be able to get better and more effective technology for us to use. Again this will take time and patience as well as communication with current employees on items they like and dislike. 

I feel due to the size of my staff to collect the data, the most efficient way will be threw communication among the employees or a short survey/questionnaire on what they currently like and dislike about the technology tools they use. I feel if I was to create this survey we could have a collective meeting afterwards and I could possible introduce some technology items to see their thoughts. 

I know with a lot of technology you are able to get free trials. I would love to introduce some free trials to the employees as well to get their feed back before making any changes. My goal with any assessment or change that gets made having a valid reason behind it. 

Module 2 Post

The most effective leader I have ever observed or worked with was one of my mentors while student teaching.  I have mentioned him before.  To be, he is what I would aspire to be.  The year I was student teaching, my PDS school was getting ready for new technology.  The entire school was receiving MAC computers and iPads for all the students.  Many teachers within the school didn't know a lot of the things that can be done on the iPad.  My mentor was one of the teachers who was charged with helping to teach his colleagues how to use the new technologies that would be placed within the school.  I also learned many things about these technologies from him that I had not known previously.  He showed me and the other teachers many new techniques when using iPads, Apple TVs, and other technology, as well as how they could be implemented in the classroom.

When taking the Skills Assessment Quiz, I received a score of 67.  I did not receive a perfect in score in any categories, but my highest were in Emotional Intelligence, Motivating People to Deliver a Vision, and Managing Performance Effectively.  To me, all these tell me that I am very good with connecting with people and driving them towards a goal.  I think these qualities are good for me, especially as a teacher, since this is a large part of my job description.  My lowest score was in Providing a Compelling Vision of the Future.  I do sometimes feel that I have trouble with long-term goals and a long-term vision of what I need to accomplish.  I'm much better figuring out what needs to be accomplish for the day or the week.  Short-term has always been more of my strength, and the long-term is what I need to work on most.

Chapter 3

1.  Connect Peers With Purpose:  Basically, this means that peers need to work together to bring about change.  It is only when the school community works together that change can successfully occur.  This includes not only teachers and learners, but also the administration overseeing the change taking place and supporting it.

2.  Transparency Rules:  This means to share information.  When collecting data, testing new theories or methods of teaching, and implementing new technologies, teachers and leaders should observe each other and share their findings.  By sharing information among each other, conclusions and improvements can be shared among the community, and make change more effective more quickly.

Chapter 4

I don't feel that I agree with a lot of what was said within this chapter in relation to social media.  I think that the use of a school-run Facebook page to transfer information to parents and the community could be very effective.  The key word is, of course, school-run, meaning that someone within the school is fully in charge of what is being published and can manage what may or may not be posted.  I am also okay with the many educational blogging sites that are present.  I have seen several used in the classroom.  These sites, however, are controlled, and not made available to the full public; only those who are included within the class can see what is posted.  Social media extends much farther than blogs and Facebook, though.  Many of the rules in regards to the internet and cell phone policies are in place because of issues that arise with social media.  Cell phones, as well as social media, can be useful tools, but because of many of the risks they can pose, control over what is posted, and who can see it, is necessary.

Most Effective Leader:
             I have only been teaching for a couple years but have already had the privilege of working with several great leaders.  For this post I am going to talk about the principal at our school.  While I may not agree with every decision she makes, I do feel that she is changing our school for the better.  See I took my first full time position last year at a priority school in my county.  This just happened to be the first year for this principal as well.  She bid on and accepted this job knowing the struggles she was going to encounter and the obstacles the school needed to overcome in order to move above the priority status.  Since I started the same time she did, I have not witnessed as many changes as many of the other teachers, because I did not work with previous administrators.  However, to hear other teachers talk about the way the school was ran in previous years, I am thankful for her changes.
           There are several things that she has changed this year.  The main ones. are common planning across grade levels, weekly PLC's, technology integration, data collection, and school wide involvement.  The school is very large and up until this year all grades had different planning times.  This caused problems because grades had no time to meet and discuss common activities or lessons.  We are now able to work together to make sure all of third grade is on the same page with our students.  We meet with her once a week and discuss activities we are doing within our classes, and what we are doing to help all our students not just our lower level students.  Our goal is for all students to progress, even those who are already above where they need to be.  We need to catch up those that are behind, while encouraging those on and above to progress as well.  In order to do this we must collect data on all students and track their progressions.  In our weekly meetings we talk as a whole grade level and discuss how we can reach our students.  We help each other as teachers and administrators to come up with ideas that will work in our classrooms.  Overall I think she is trying to get us to understand that as individuals we will struggle to make a difference, but if we work together as a whole, then we can accomplish anything.

Leadership Skills Assessment:
             I scored a 63 on this assessment, which I have to admit kind of shocked me.  My highest score was in Motivating People to Deliver the Vision where I scored a 9 out of 10.  This makes sense because I truly feel that even during the most trying and stressful times I try to see the future results.  I try to keep my fellow teachers hopeful of what the future will bring, and that all the changes we are trying to implement now are to help with that.  My lowest sore was in self confidence where I scored a 5 out of 10.  I think this is because even though I try to keep a positive attitude I more often then not feel as if I am failing my students.  Many times I feel that I am trying to do too much with them, and that they are not nearly as successful as I wish.  I always second guess my lessons and activities planned and ask others what they are doing.  I need to be more confident in my abilities and my opinions because when it comes down to it, I am the one who knows what my students need and what they are capable of.

Chapter 3:
1. Love Your Employees:  This can be summarized as trusting and supporting your staff unconditionally.  Helping them to full fill their goals and the goals of the school while maintaining and or achieving self satisfaction.  Allowing them lead way to explore new ideas and become innovative in their teachings.
2.  Connect Peers With Purpose: This in my opinion is one of the most important, because everyone must feel as if they have a voice.  This secret to change allows teachers to have choices in the way the school is running.  To have their input listened to and taken seriously is key to a successful school.  After all, teachers are the ones working one on one with the students therefore, they should have some say as to how they implement ideas within the school.

Chapter 4:
        While I do feel that social media could be useful in middle school and high school, I do not feel that it is as pertinent in elementary school.  That being said I do feel that every year students progress more with technology and they seem to be learning more and more at a younger age.  I have four children and all four have access to social media.  They all have IPAD's with internet access and facebook accounts.  While many people object to this I do monitor their accounts and have several parental controls set up.  I absolute love when I am struggling to figure out something and one of my children can show me how to solve the problem.  This to me is key because this is the way society is going.  Our kids must be involved with technology because it will always be there.  Because of this I feel that social media is very important for students to know about and use on a daily basis.  the more they have access to it now, I believe the more successful they will be in the future when technology becomes in more dominant in our daily lives.

Module 2 - Tiffany

           One of the most effective leaders I’ve had the pleasure of working with was a boss of mine while I was still working in sales and management. I had recently relocated, leaving behind one job and taking another that was essentially the same position, just with a different company. Up until that time, the bosses that I had had, I had always considered to be good. I had no major problems with any of them, and had always enjoyed working with and for them. Then I started working for this boss. Personality wise, he was extremely out going and charismatic; if you mentioned who you worked for to someone who knew him, they always responded with a huge smile and an exclamation that they knew him. So more than likely, I would have considered him a good boss based solely on that. However, I soon learned that he wasn’t only a boss, he was a leader and up until that point, I’d sorely been lacking one in my career. 
            What stands out the most in his leadership skills was his ability to motivate our team, sometimes with rewards for meeting goals, but often the only incentive was a job well done. Somehow, you never wanted to disappoint him; nor would he ever require anything of anyone he wasn’t willing to do himself. He was always positive with our team, even when he confidently disclosed to me and stood up for them or took the brunt of responsibility when negativity came down from corporate. He considered his work team a type of family, and treated us as such. Interestingly, as corporate policies and expectations shifted that left us frustrated with the changes, we continued to plunge ahead because of his confidence in himself and us, to continue to do a good job.
            A lot of the leadership skills that I’ve acquired over the years, I have tried to emulate from him. I scored a 68 on the leadership skills assessment. I wasn’t sure how accurate the test would be, but reading it over, I found it to be generally spot on, especially when it came to my weaknesses. I scored the lowest in self-confidence and managing performance effectively. To me, these go hand in hand. A leader that exhibits uncertainty in themselves, is going to have a difficult time in being concise about their expectations of others. Speaking personally, if I’m not certain I can achieve a particular goal, I feel I can ask someone to achieve it; even if I know that they can. I suppose it is the act of expecting something that I myself cannot do, or feel that I cannot do.
          I scored the highest in emotional intelligence, motivation, and providing support; which pleased me, as I strive to be a compassionate and motivated leader.  Like the boss I described above, I want to lead by motivating people to do well, just because they can. I also scored high on being a good role model, which surprised me somewhat because I’ve always felt that I could do better in that regard.

Chapter 3 Keys to Leading Sustainable Change

“Secret 1: Love Your Employees”

         Fullan implores leaders to value and empower their team in order for them to take chances and make mistakes in order to grow. I liked this particular secret to change because I have seen it in action and know the effect it can have on a team.

“Secret 2: Learning Is the Work”

          Fullan advocates that leaders fully support their team in their continual efforts to learn in order to facilitate professional growth. If we’re to instill the ideal of lifelong learning in students, it’s important to establish a lifelong learning environment, from the top down.

Chapter 4 Leading with Technology

         Social media has fully integrated itself into our culture. Part of a student’s education is social, and how to be a responsible member of society. If social media is an active part of our culture, then it stands to reason that students should be learning how to navigate social media responsibly. In order to do so, it needs to be integrated into the school system. I think it is natural to automatically associate social media with Facebook or Twitter. However, there are plenty of other sites that can be incorporated into schools such as Blackboard, Twiducate, or Edmodo.
           We often speak of it in terms of the students, but it’s a part of many lives of adults as well. There are advantages for teachers in networking and sharing ideas via social networking sites such as The Educators PLN. Additionally, I feel there can be a place for sites such as Facebook or Twitter, as it allows parents to connect with teachers and schools.

Jared's Module Two Post

A Leader Who Became my Example For Life

I have had the good fortune of working under a few exceptional leaders in my life.  The most memorable of these, I met when I was thirteen years old.  His name is Chris, and he was the youth pastor at my parent’s church.  His example has become a standard by which I tend to evaluate others in leadership positions even to this day.  Now that I’m a leader of young people, I can see why Chris’s leadership was so effective:  He would not rest.

As a young person, I had always assumed that one day I’d “arrive” at something.  My teachers seemed to have arrived at their knowledge and their methods.  Many of the adults I was close to seemed have done the same in their respective careers.  In fact, college was often pitched as a way to achieve knowledge (when you get the degree, you have arrived!).  From there you can begin a career in which you will remain for the rest of your life.  Adults seemed like static figures.  Chris’s example seemed much different.  His attitude was that things needed to change for the better, and this could only be accomplished by reaching young people where they were.  He, better than anyone else, understood that this was a moving target.  The culture of youth changes slightly from decade to decade, and this is often guided by the technology to which young people have access.  So, when Chris found success reaching students in one generation, he was would never assume that this would work for the next group coming in.  This guy was always reading a book youth leadership for the next generation, and I am convinced he could write a few.  He has always been an early adopter of communication technology (and the philosophy and lingo that go with each new wave), and since his career began in the early 1990’s he has a multitude of changes.  I think Chris’s skillful use of everything from e-mail, to podcasts, to web design, to Twitter has been instrumental in helping many teens through the emotional, social, moral, and spiritual turmoil of one of the most difficult periods of growing up.

From his example I have learned that I cannot rest… especially not in public education.  Things have changed even in the past seven years of my career, and I have no doubt that the next seven will bring many more changes.  I have to adapt, and I have to lead others to adapt as well.

Leadership Skills Assessment

I scored a 65.  According to the grading scale, that means I am on my way to being a good leader, but I have a few things to work on.  I wasn’t surprised that my strengths were believing in others, caring about morale, and trying to be a good example.  I also wasn’t surprised to find that my weaknesses were providing a good sense of goals to my people. I am notorious for keeping the end-vision in my head without really taking the time communicate that to others.  Perhaps this is why I work so hard, and do not expect others to work as hard as I do.  If they can’t see the ending goal as clearly as I do, how do they know what they are working toward.  I scored only a 4 out of 10 on managing performance effectively, so I think I need to learn to ‘let people in’ on what we’re trying to do here. No one should be outside the loop.

Secrets of Change

“Love Your Employees” is an important concept.  I you love them enough, you can encourage them strive for better in both personal and organizational goals, while giving them room to take risks (and possibly make mistakes).  I get this!  If you make employees afraid to try new things, they won’t.  As Eric Shaninger says, “trust and support them unconditionally” (2014).

“Learning is the Work” means that everyday growth is important.  Real development is a process in which all participants take an attitude of lifelong learning.  This much more important than occasional professional development sessions.

Philosophy on Social Media

Schools should stop shunning social media.  When I started teaching, social media was looked at a serious problem for both students and teachers.  It was a place where employees went to ask for trouble.  Around the country, some teachers were fired for what they had said about students or co-workers… or for pictures they had posted.   The warnings were issued, “Avoid social media.”  However, social media did not go away, and now there are more people on Facebook than there are Catholics in the world.  That’s no exaggeration.  Even the grandparents are on social media.  And with students, social media of all kinds is the preferred form of afterschool communication when they can’t be face to face with peers.  Teachers can’t hide in a cave.  Policies about social media are outdated and should be revised.  Here are the guidelines I use:  In general, don’t “friend” or “follow” students on non-school media.  The exception to this is on public sites like blogs, etc.  “Friend” or “follow” students on school social media, such as Schoology.com, where teachers set up digital classrooms and can regulate content.  Schoology, for instance, is a ‘members only’ type of site where you must be enrolled in the class to interact… and teachers can moderate comments to help catch harassment and bullying before students can see it. 

Schools should embrace this type of social media.  It meets the students where they are.

To Bravely Go: Dynamic Leadership

My current principal is by far the most effective leader I've known. 

This year, she has worked on building our technology base towards blended learning and 1:1. She encourages us to leverage online resources to network with stakeholders and each other. We are striving to be a true 21^st century center of learning. 

Recently we had an issue at our school involving social media which she personally addressed with each affected grade level, and watching her in action gave me a great opportunity to analyze her leadership style. She is the embodiment of the 6 characteristics of leadership, as noted by Mendez-Morse:

·         having vision,

·         believing that the schools are for learning,

·         valuing human resources,

·         being a skilled communicator and listener,

·         acting proactively, and

·         taking risks.

Right away, she told the students that they each had value, and she connected the implications of the issue with the vision of our school, asking that individuals consider our collective goals and the effects individual acts can have, for good or bad, on our community. She encouraged students to open up about their beliefs and points of view, and worked through scenarios and resolutions with them. At no time did she raise her voice or get angry with them. She gave acknowledgement and appreciation to the students, reminding them our school is a place for learning and enrichment, and left it in their hands to change the outcome for the better. They responded by communicating and taking positive actions to resolve the situation. 

Her communication and listening skills defused what could have been a debacle, and although it was risky to trust the students to do the right thing without mandating it, her proactive stance encouraged them to do better, so the situation was resolved positively without further escalation.

Because our school has been the victim of internet slander in the past, we are hyperaware of how quickly things spread on the web. Our school makes very little use of social media at this point. I’d like to see all schools use social media as a way to connect with and communicate to stakeholders in real time, and to highlight achievements by students. We could leverage social media to effectively spread and grow our vision, and to help form larger and more effective learning networks for the adults. It could provide a positive boost for the school climate and culture. Integral to all of this would be building our brand image to reflect our values. I’m realizing this might be a task I can help achieve at my school.

As for my own leadership skills assessment, two areas were tied at 10/10 for me: Being a Good Role Model, and Positive Attitude and Outlook. Working with tweens all day has made me keenly aware of the need to stay positive, and to model and demonstrate what I expect of them so they have a tangible example to use as a springboard for their own work. Students benefit from teachers who are positive, as positive teachers are less likely to devolve into yelling at the classroom to gain control and more likely to offer a safe and inviting learning environment. Being positive is also a great way to support coworkers, who sometimes are having bad days and just need that little bit of encouragement to feel better and refocus.

Providing a Compelling Vision for the Future is an area I can improve, and is one reason I enrolled in the Digital Media, New Literacies, and Learning M.Ed. program. One of my aspirations is to become a TIS, and to be accessible and proactive as such. In the meantime, I am focusing on helping transition classrooms into blended or flipped learning situations where integrated technology presents students with opportunities for research, development, and problem solving at my school. By introducing and modeling use of technology during team meetings, I have been able to provide ideas and support to other teachers looking for ways to better utilize the technology we have at hand to maximize student achievement. I am fortunate to work in a setting where time is given for us to collaborate both at and across grade levels in flexibly structured “professional learning communities.” I’d love for my school to shift from a PLC focus to a broader PLN, and I plan on being a change agent to help us get there.

Two of the Six Secrets of Change that can help with these objectives are Capacity Building Prevails and Systems Learn. To build capacity, distributed leadership must be enacted in an environment where trust is present so that stakeholders can come together; participants must feel valued. Those with the competencies and internal motivation to emerge as leaders must be provided with resources to help the school achieve the goals stated within the vision. For the system to learn, those leaders must be given the chance to transparently share and seek knowledge and practices in order for school culture to evolve through synthesis of knowledge from almost limitless PLN opportunities via transparent communication. We can learn from others and apply relevant information and practices to catalyze dynamic change.

Module Two

My Most Effective Leader

I have had many leaders throughout my high school career, undergrad career, graduate career, and my professional teaching career.  However, for the terms of this post - I would like to talk about the one leader who used technology to make a change.

I co-teach with a sixth grade math teacher named Justin Hamrick.  He has taught me so many things about the teaching profession that only experience and communication can teach.  He has been teaching for about ten years and has seen so many types of students come through his classrooms.  However, he took it upon himself to become a leader and talk to our principal about how some of his students were struggling and he felt that he could make a difference if they were all in the same classroom. Our principal took this into consideration and halfway through the school year of 2013-2014, she made changes to some of the students' schedules to place them in a class together so that Justin and I could become co-teachers and start with the basics with these struggling students.

In the beginning of this school year (2014-2015), Justin and I were co-teachers for some of the incoming struggling sixth graders.  We decided to begin where we began last year; however, realized that the struggling students were on different levels of struggle.  He took it upon himself to research a website called MobyMax.  This website is designed to teach students at their own pace, on their own level.  It begins with a placement test where students answer multiple math or English (we used the math obviousy) questions and it places them in a certain grade level.  To our shocking surprise many of the students were on a third, second, and even a first grade level.  Everyday, Justin has these low level students logging on to MobyMax.  The first ten minutes is dedicated to quick math facts.  This helps the students with their facts.  When the first ten minutes is up, the students begin going through lessons that are tailored towards their individual grade level. 

The principal enjoyed the outcomes of some of the struggling students; therefore, brought the website to the county's attention.  Now the county has purchased the site for all schools to utilize.

If it were not for Justin's caring personality and leadership skills, these students would still be struggling and they would not be getting any further with sixth grade curriculum without their background skills they are getting now.

Leadership Skills



Overall on this quiz, I received a score of 62.  Apparently I am on my way to becoming a good leader.  However I had some decent individual scores, and some not so decent individual scores.

My best two skills are being a good role model and motivating people to deliver a vision.  I believe this to be fairly true.  I love being a teacher and a role model.  Also, I am a coach; therefore I need to continue my role model behavior outside of the classroom.  I also feel that I am a good motivator.  I love to make people feel that they can do anything.  I enjoy encouraging my students and cheerleaders to go as far as they can.  I feel that I have a very positive attitude towards this.

However, ironically, my worst skill was positive attitude and outlook.  This may seem untrue considering my last statement.  However, I do believe it to be true.  I am a great person to act positive and try to be a bubbly person and allow everyone to believe that the outlook I have is incredible.  My problem is, inside my head I am a worrier, a panic-er, and at times a negative Nancy.  I feel that I really need to work on this because some day my inner self and my negative thoughts can blow up in my face, or worse - a students' face.  Being positive is not an easy thing - however, I will try my hardest to become a positive leader.

Chapter Three

 

In chapter three, I enjoyed reading about Secret Number One - Love Your Employees.  I feel that as a teacher, my employees would be my students.  However, my principal would obviously have us teachers are her employees.  This is about caring about each and every individual that makes up a classroom or a school.  If there is no trust, caring, motivation, or leadership involved everything would fall apart.  I know that my principal makes us all feel that we are valuable, needed, and appreciated.  I myself as a teacher and as a coach intend to make every student or athlete as confident as possible because 'loving your employees' makes all the difference in the world to those employees.  I know this first hand from being a loved employee and knowing that I love all of my students. 

 

Another secret I enjoyed reading about was Secret Number Four - Learning Is The Work.  I felt very prepared to become a teacher because of my undergrad classes and professors.  However, nothing can ever prepare you for the teaching world like experience can.  I have learned new things everyday since the day I started teaching.  I learn from my own mistakes, from my principal, from students, from co-workers, other staff members, and even parents of the students.  I make it known to the students that I am still learning daily and I will continue to learn.  I also make it clear to them that everyone makes mistakes; therefore, they need to have the confidence to let people know they are struggling.  My principal is also learning knew things each and everyday; therefore, providing us with that knowledge and ensuring us that everyone has room to learn.

 

 

Chapter Four

 

While reading chapter four, I realized just how big social media has become in this day and age.  My philosophy on the use of social media in the schools is very grey.  I mean this by I love the idea; however, I have my doubts as well.  I am very indecisive.  I feel that social media is a way for students to connect with other students from their school, other schools, other states, and even other countries.  This is a great way to teach students that they are just like other students in the world, and they have many differences that they can discuss.  They can also use social media to prove their creativity and even show their true feelings and emotions.  Also, social media and the use of the internet in schools is a great way to incorporate the rules and the intentions of the internet.  As educators, we can teach the students the right and the wrong ways to use social media.  We can explain how to utilize this great technology for the good of themselves. 

 

However, the one thing that always comes to mind when thinking of students on social media is cyber bullying.  This is a huge problem and there seems to be no stopping or no cure.  If this problem can be eliminated - I feel that social media would be a great way to keep students motivated as well as up to date with technology and the digital world.