Teacher Leaders #5

Our group had some problems with the leadership perception surveys. We really work well together, and we each have individual strengths and weaknesses that we bring to the group. Many of the questions, however, didn't seem to relate to a group situation. I think these questions would be great to evaluate the leadership of members of a school, but it was awkward trying to answer some of these about our group. We did the best we could with it, and we were very consistent in our feelings on most of the questions.

Our whole book was really, in my opinion, focussed on a high school level. We don't have department chairs, and if any "teacher" in our school tried to do the things suggested in this book, they would be stoned =) There are great ideas for administrators in this book, but I just don't think a lot of it was applicable to us as middle school teachers. I do agree that leadership is vital in a school. I just wish the book had been geared more to the elementary/middle school level in which most of us teach.

Teacher Leaders #4

I really enjoyed the "Systems Thinking - Systems Changing Simulation" game we played in class on Wednesday. My group really got into the game, and I think we learned a lot from it. We found out, the hard way, that you really need to communicate often with your staff when a change is happening. There is also a definite order of priorities that needs to be implemented if you want a change to be successful. We were surprised and frustrated by how long it took us to move our reluctant staff members along on the path. That was reality though because we were all able to identify those people within our schools.

Chapter 5 made a lot of sense. I think we all like to be recognized for the things we accomplish. Since we are getting a new principal this year, things will obviously change in this area. Our principal last year did use some of these techniques. She started doing walk-throughs, and she did try to come to our classrooms as often as possible. In our building, however, this is difficult because our principal is our entire "administration." She has a multitude of responsibilities that take up most of her day. It doesn't leave a lot of time to spend in the classrooms. She was good at giving us little "gifts" for holidays and recognizing our birthdays, etc. It will be interesting to see how things change this year. Ironically, our new principal just got her leadership degree... from Stritch!

Teacher Leaders #3

After reading the Mindset List from Beloit college, my first thought was that I am getting old! It is weird to think of a group of teachers beginning to teach who have never rolled down a car window...

I think it is great that new teachers will be much more willing to take leadership roles and are comfortable with change. I think it will be interesting, however, to see how they handle conflict. I didn't realize, until I read the material for this week, that this is the start of a group that were not always given the ability to "fail" at something. Parents and teachers were always told to enhance their "self-esteem" and tell them they did well, even when they didn't. I don't know how some of these teachers will handle making mistakes or being criticized by a parent.

I never really thought about the different "generations" of teachers before reading the "Tune In" article. According to the years listed, I am a Generation X teacher, but I think I have qualities listed as common to Baby Boomers and Millenials as well. I think being a part of this program really helps to keep us up-to-date.

Class #2: Data

I really liked the experience of having class using the Elluminate program. I have never used a conferencing site like that, and I am amazed by what you can do with it!

I think it is going to be difficult to do the assignments this week because I teach in a Catholic school where the data is not readily available as it is for the public school teachers. Thank you, Patty, for talking to Rhonda (our brand new principal) and getting what you could. I wish we did have access to more data in our school. I think it would help us to improve our program.

I watched the Patrick Awuah video this afternoon. I was fascinated by the impact of leadership skills (or a lack thereof) on a country like Ghana. He is a great speaker, and he really explained the problems facing the country because of that lack of leadership. The school he started really sounds like it is a step in the right direction.

Technology Leadership: Class 1

I can't believe that we are halfway done with the program! At times, though, it feels like we have been doing this forever! I have really enjoyed the first half of the program with all the new tools and applications.

I think it will be interesting to begin to learn how to become leaders in our schools. I never really thought much about becoming a leader, as a teacher. However, we have had a lot of turnover in principals since our school began five years ago. As a result, I can see the value in teachers stepping up as leaders. We need some consistency in our school. I will be interested to see the results of the survey evaluating my leadership skills. I have a feeling they are going to need some serious improvement!

I have never used a CMS with my class or been part of an online class before. I am really looking forward to that aspect. I would like some experience with using one because I am hoping we will be getting one at our school. After learning about Moodle, Patty and I are interested in trying it (or something similar) next year.

Class #5: Java

It was another interesting class. As we learned about Java and JavaScript (which I never knew were two different things!), I was thinking about how I could apply one or both to my final project. At the end of class, during our work time, I did some searching for something I could use. I found some neat ones that, unfortunately, just didn't fit my theme. For example, I saw one that recreated the Star Wars script at the beginning of the movie where the text scrolls back amid the stars. I thought that would be REALLY neat, but it would have totally clashed with my page! I found many other neat ones too, but nothing that really fit my page.

Last night, I finally decided to add a digital clock to the bottom of my page. I searched through several different ones to find one where I understood the directions on how to upload/apply the script. Some of them are really confusing! I finally found one, uploaded it, put the script into my html, and it worked! There was only one problem... I didn't like the digits. They were difficult to read (the contrast wasn't very good), and I didn't like the style. I looked at the rubric for the final project and noticed it said we should "modify" an existing JavaScript. So... I searched on the Internet for some FREE digit graphics that I did like. I found some and managed to successfully modify the existing code so it used the new digits I found instead of the ones that came with the script! It does give me a great feeling of accomplishment when something actually works the way I want!

Now I need to add some more pages to my final project...

Class #4: CSS

Well, another class... another new concept! CSS is very interesting. I think it is really neat that you can set up a style sheet and then have a consistent look to all the pages you create. I am going to try working on one today or tomorrow for the pages I am creating for my final project. I am intrigued by some of the examples shown in class, especially some of the ideas on Eric Meyer's website.

I'm glad the midterm is behind us! I haven't taken a test since college, and I was a little nervous when I saw the syllabus. It was really nice, however, that we knew exactly what we had to do.

Time to go explore some of those CSS sites...