Common Core Standards Widget

MEIT Program Reflection

As I look back on my journal entries throughout this cohort, I am reminded of all of the interesting programs and strategies I have been exposed to since day 1. I had always thought of myself as being rather technically savvy, but I feel like this program gave me the boost I needed to push me out of a technology rut I had no idea I was in! Yes, there is life beyond Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office...who knew?!

One of the areas of this program that helped me the most had to do with using technology to build collaboration. Whether it is in a classroom setting or in the workplace, today's world requires people to come to the table ready and able to play. Traditionally, we have been taught to work as individuals; we may have been asked to make contributions, but those parts were put together to make a whole end product. Through the tools that I've been introduced to, such as Google Apps and the various wiki applications, I have been able to create an online structure for my staff to help promote communication and collaboration that I am not sure I would have been able to do prior to this program. But, it's not just the technology aspects that helped me develop my skills and strategies to promote a collaborative workplace; we learned how to change our delivery styles from sage on the stage to guide on the side, which is so important when you are attempting to encourage participation from all. Through those pedagogical strategies, as well as our weekly group work, I developed a better understanding of how to effectively facilitate a discussion rather than taking over and being the sole decision-maker.

I truly enjoyed the MEIT program and believe almost every course provided me with a challenge and I came out of each class with new tools to add to my set. I think my staff also benefited from what I was learning; I was able to get them excited about technology in their classrooms and introduce them to online applications to keep things fresh with their students.

Although it is a relief to be finished because there was a lot of time and work invested throughout this program, I can honestly say I will miss our Tuesday night class meetings! It's been fun getting to know everyone both personally and professionally. Thank you for changing my view of online learning; it is most definitely possible to effectively learn, collaborate and develop relationships with fellow students with whom you never share a physical classroom. It's been fantastic~

CEDO 599 Project Update

I am about 2/3 the way through my project in terms of constructing my updated company Intranet site and I'm feeling good about what I've done thus far.

I have the "Current Events" site set up in a way that my staff can view top line, most recent events right from the Home page. I like this set up much better than my previous approach to posting announcements because it makes the latest and greatest information take center stage, rather than people having to navigate in order to find it.

The "Resources" site was a bit more of an undertaking than I had originally imagined. This section of the Intranet is static documentation for the most part. In my original Intranet site, the resources became mixed in and among all of the other more dynamic information and it became difficult to find. My intention behind the Resources site is to keep it simple. I am not going for a lot of imagery or bells and whistles--I just want my staff to be able to locate the documentation they need quickly and easily. I have set up the home page to list any recently edited or updated documentation by category in order to alert staff members of changes made to documents they may have printed on site.

My last section to tackle is the "Team Building" site. I saved this one for last because I think this is probably the most important element to the updated Intranet. As a company, we are looking into an online application called Curriculum Loft that is set up to share lessons, as well as facilitate basic feedback and align entries to Common Core Standards. I plan to include a link to the Curriculum Loft application on the Team Building section of the Intranet site. Along with that, I will include a place for my staff to submit requests for review of interactive websites they would like to use in their lessons. My Supervisory Team is developing a rubric to assess websites and determine whether or not they meet the needs of our skill development programs. I am also going to have a place to put contributors in the spotlight on a weekly or monthly basis (not sure yet on frequency). I think I am going to use blogger for this job because that will allow for an entry and a place for staff members to add comments and provide feedback.

Things are really coming together, so I am excited to see how it all works out!

Week 1 CEDO 599

This first week is the beginning of the end of my coursework toward earning my MEIT. The focus of this final class is to use the knowledge and skills I've developed over the past two years to implement technology into my work. Something I've always tried to do in my role as supervisor is to develop systems to standardize and streamline processes and systems. My staff is spread out among several remote sites, and with that structure comes logistical issues; especially when it comes to communication. I've created a company intranet to help promote a better, more consistent platform for sharing company-wide messages in lieu of e-mail. While this implementation has proven to be an improvement, I have found it has some limitations related to interaction and my staff's ability to interact with one another. I would like to expand and improve upon what I have already started with the company intranet. I know I will need to have more than one site linked together due to storage space limitations on my current site. I envision a Home site with links to other sites, each with a purpose/theme. Because I want to promote collaboration among my teachers, I plan to create a site that has a wiki feel that will allow for easier give & take among the staff. This is a pretty ambitious concept, but I think if I can pull it off it will be a value add for my teachers and will be used as a medium to connect a staff that is spread out across the city! Wish me luck!

Week 6: Leadership and Planning 565

As I reflect on this course and think about my definition of leadership, I would say that what I've learned has reinforced what I already knew. I've been in a formal leadership position for a number of years now, and as I've indicated in past posts, I had to learn a lot through a "trial by fire." I am to the point that I realize what defined a leader in the past is not necessarily what a leader looks like today. What do I mean by that? To me a leader has always been someone who is innovative, can inspire motivation and is willing to take risks in order to promote change. In addition to that, today's leader is not the sole decision maker, but rather a person to initiate the conversation based on needs identified and then involves the right people to develop a solution. Today's leader is trusted and develops relationships that shows an investment in the people who are part of the team.

Teachers are natural leaders in the sense that they are called upon to lead their classes on a daily basis. They have to motivate and inspire their students to participate in the learning process, which is no small task. I think it is important to have teacher leaders within a school setting because they are the best judges of what will or will not work toward meeting the goal of promoting student achievement. One thing I think is important to recognize is that while teachers can be very good judges of what will have a positive impact on their ability to do their daily work, it is equally as important for teacher leaders to be aware of the big picture and understand how policy and procedure decisions impact budgets, logistics, etc. on the various levels of the organization.

I think my opinion of my own leadership potential has changed in the sense that I am doing more of the right things than I had originally thought. I know I will continue to grow in my role as a leader within my organization and I only hope that I can continue to be successful in reaching out and relating to my staff in order to promote a positive work environment.

I do agree with the book's assertion about improving education from within. Just like any business or company, happy employees lead to higher productivity and schools are no different. I think as professional educators, teachers have so much to offer beyond the daily work within the classroom but the current/traditional structure does not necessarily lend itself to the teachers being part of the decision making process. It is important to feel valued and a part of the bigger picture and if teachers are heard they are going to be even more invested in supporting the vision and mission of the school, which in theory should result in a higher student engagement/success rate.

Week 5 Leadership and Planning 565

This week we completed our team simulation of a system wide change and completed some reflections on the process. I also spent some time reflecting on my own experience attempting to promote and implement change within my workplace and had some eye opening moments as I thought about what I had to work through and learn on my own, as well as how far I've come.

The system-wide change simulation was, I believe, an overall good experience. While I don't think it effectively replicated what I would have to deal with in an actual change implementation, I think it was effective in helping me identify the different parts of the process and the types of personalities I have and will continue to encounter as a change agent within my organizaiton. The reason I didn't feel it was not a true representation of a real life change process is because I was missing the human interaction element to the process. We were able to interact with one another as a team, but everything else was in theory, including the stakeholders within the game. To me, so much of being a leader and promoting change has to do with building relationships and obtaining a sense of the personalities involved. While the information was all there, to me it was a little too abstract to make that connection. But, as I mentioned, the way the process was laid out, including the factors to consider, provided me with valuable experience that I plan to take with me as I continue to promote growth within my workplace.

As far as my own individual practical experience with system-wide change goes, I have to admit, I had to learn how to make change happen the hard way. My experience had always been in a top down organization in the sense that the person at the top made the decisions based on needs he/she identified, not necessarily based on research and feedback from stakeholders. It felt like a reactive way for me to lead, and since I am not the owner of the business I found I did not have that leverage to help promote buy in from the staff; but it was the only model I had to follow at the time and I gave it my best shot. Leadership in that manner is tough to maintain and I am no stranger to the bumps in the road that occur when you wear the decision maker hat and people don't necessarily agree. It took much trial and error, lessons learned, books read, questions asked of people in successful leadership positions to transition into the type of leader I am today. Through those methods, as well as through my coursework, I have cultivated the skill set and tools to become more of a true facilitatior and team leader, rather than the sole decision maker. As a result, I have a more cohesive team that is much improved in terms of morale. I also see a significant change in ownership at all levels of the company, which is critical to the success of what we want to accomplish. I believe I am a much better listener and guide to my staff than I have ever been in the past, and I hope that through this approach I will see greater success as I work to promote system-wide change to keep our business competitive in the educational business marketplace.

Week 4: CEDO 565 Leadership & Planning

This week's work revolved around change and the things to consider as a leader who is trying to promote a new system, process, procedure, etc. in the workplace.

Tuesday's class was interesting and challenging as we were placed into groups to begin a "Systems/Thinking Systems Changing" simulation. This exercise placed me and three of my classmates into the role of leaders who are trying to make improvements to the Veryfine school district. The concept is good and I think going into next week's class I will find it much more valuable and less frustrating than I did this first time around because I will have more time to learn about the characters and take more of an informed approach to the game. Ultimately, this exercise is providing us with an opportunity to experience all of the factors that need to be taken into consideration when beginning the process of implementing an improvement plan for a company, school, or district. I think many of us are used to analyzing and identifying needs we have for improvement within our own four walls, but the ripple of those types of changes don't typically impact a large population. Change on the scale that we are experiencing in this game is a much different process and I hope to gain new perspective upon completing it. A couple of resources that go along with this concept include: Asking the Right Questions: A School Change Toolkit http://www.mcrel.org/toolkit/res/change.asp and Asking the Right Questions: Process at http://www.mcrel.org/toolkit/process/index.asp.
  
Individually, we completed an Analysis of Change Worksheet in which I reflected on my experience of working with a web developer to create an online collection tool for my staff. I found this exercise beneficial because it really helped me think through the steps I took, things that didn't go as planned, what I learned from it and how I moved forward from there.

We also discussed the ideas of positive vs negative climate / work environment and the impact they have on staff morale. As someone who has grown into a leadership role within my company, and who has seen the company climate change over the years, I know first hand the impact a negative environment can have on productivity. Sometimes it is very obvious that people are unhappy and the source of their dissatisfaction is easy to identify. But, I have learned that even when you work very hard to create a positive, enjoyable workplace, people can still be reluctant to get on board or feel like their contributions aren't valued. This is especially evident in a top-down structured organization. In my experience, when people who work together are valued for their contributions and feel they have a voice (even if their input does not cause change), it promotes a positive workplace that results in increased productivity--whether it is increased student achievement, or a higher quantitiy of widgets made per hour. Happy people who feel valued and supported are those who are motivated to do their best work and often go above and beyond because they are invested.

Week 3: CEDO 565 Leadership & Planning

This week we looked at a video and slide show of  Who Moved My Cheese, which was an interesting perspective on the way different types of people view and deal with change. It's the story of two mice, Sniff and Scurry; and two men, Hem and Haw who all value cheese as a major part of their lives. As the cheese supply begins to dwindle, the four characters deal with the change in different ways that are very characteristic of how people in our society deal with change related to what they value. I have heard of this story before, but found the exercise to be quite valuable--both in reflecting on my company's ability to deal with change and whether or not we take a proactive approach to stay ahead of the curve; and my own ability to roll with changes and whether or not I prefer to stay with what I know or continue to seek improvement along the way.

We also viewed the video: Changes in Thinking--Systems Thinking. One big idea I took from this video is the fact that systems are defined by the interactions of parts, and not by focusing on parts alone. As a manager of a system, I can appreciate this approach because while the individual parts all need to be effective in their own areas, in order for the organization as a whole to be healthy and functioning properly all parts need to be working toward the same goal. In my company we have a set of guiding principles and one of them is "systemic reliability." Essentially, this means that all players need to do their part in order for our systems to run effectively. This could apply to things as straight forward as completing paperwork on time, all the way to being on board with company objectives and "walking the talk" when interacting with coworkers and clients.

This week also brought my attention to an article called  Tune in to what the new generation of teachers can do by Richardson, J. (2008), which for me was one of the most valuable articles of the week, along with the Beloit College Mindset list for the class of 2015. I say this because, as someone who joined my organization as one of the "young people" working among many veteran teachers, I was often told that miscommunications, conflicts, or hard feelings were simply a result of "generational differences;" yet, no one took the time to help me understand what that meant. As a leader in the company, I have worked hard to ensure that the voices of our youngest and newest teachers are heard and valued, but I still get the sense at times that does not always happen. Also, I am transitioning from being one of the younger staff members into the role of experienced/veteran and my ability to relate is beginning to be tested. Both of these articles helped put things into perspective for me, and I immediately shared them with the rest of my leadership team as resources I thought would benefit our organization.

Week 2: CEDO 565 Leadership & Planning

This week we addressed several important topics in our text How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader, by J.G. Gabriel. One of the topics of discussion was related to whether or not teacher leaders should be involved in the interview process. In many traditional school settings, and even in businesses, it is typical for the highest level personnell or someone in HR to conduct the interview, while those who will be working with the applicant on the ground level have no input. Over the past couple of years, I have made it a practice to include my site supervisors in the interview process because they have questions for new applicants that are more particular to the type of supervisor they are (their professional expectations and areas of focus on the job) as well as insight as to the expectations at the specific site that has the opening. We have found that by including our "teacher leaders" during interviews has had a positive impact in the way the new hire feels, because they have a clearly defined "go to" person right from the start; and the team receiving the new hire feels a sense of ownership in the decision.

This week also provided me with a first taste of a data retreat. I investigated a specific school on the WINSS website to learn detailed information regarding test results and how the school stacked up to the proficiency expectations for the 2011-2012 school year.  While I was not surprised by the dismal results of the school, or the district for that matter, it is frustrating that the district is getting away with that low level of performance without more intervention. I found the exercise to be challenging, but extremely valuable. I am used to conducting data analysis within my own organization using my own databases, but by accessing the data available online through Wisconsin DPI, I was able to gain a much better picture of how things are looking for Milwaukee as compared to other districts. Very eye-opening.

Week 1: CEDO 565 Leadership & Planning

I have been in a formal leadership position in my company for a number of years now, but even having that experience I know I have a lot of room for growth. This week we were introduced to the first chapter of our text How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader by J.G. Gabriel where he describes the different types of leaders in a school setting. As I reflected on the types of formal and informal leadership roles, I find that I wear many of those hats and need to work on developing more teacher leaders within my staff.

We also watched Patrick Awuah's TED Talk, which was eye-opening and inspriational. Mr. Awuah is an amazing story teller with an important message: Leaders are not born, they need to learn and develop leadership skills if they are going to be effective and promote positive change. I think this is a concept many people miss when promoting staff members, whether in a school or corporate environment. In order for someone to step up in a leadership role and be effective, there needs to be training and support along the way. I know that I have had to learn a lot about leadership along the way through trial and error. I've had to learn the hard way how to provide flexible direction and listen to my co-workers and staff when rolling out new processes and systems. Certain people do have certain leadership qualities that help guide them to those types of roles, but natural ability to lead can only take you so far. In order to be an effective leader, it is critical to learn and develop the skills to do so.

CEDo555 Portfolio Week 4: Putting into Practice

While I had set up the basic structure of my portfolio a few weeks ago, I spent the past week gathering artifacts to add some depth and dimension to my work. I chose to use the NETS-Administrator standards as my framework for that section of my portfolio due to the nature of my work and the fact that I am not a classroom teacher. As I was gathering my artifacts to demonstrate my use of these standards, I found that very little I created in my coursework actually made sense; but I discovered that I was able to easily locate examples of work I created in my real-life applications that were a direct result of what I learned in the cohort. I am happy with what I have come up with, I just hope that the fact I didn't use my course artifacts for this section won't count against me.

I am looking forward to putting together the next section of my portfolio related to the courses we experienced and the projects I completed along the way. There were so many opportunities to get creative and showcase abilities, so I am looking forward to that process of reflecting upon and presenting my work.

CEDO555: Professional Portfolio Experience Week 2

It's week two of this class and we are working on creating the outline of our professional portfolio, as well as developing a personal-professional vision/mission statement. Sounds simple, right? I wish that were the case!

Part of my problem is that I tend to over think this kind of activity. I have always had trouble truly understanding and owning the idea of vision and mission statements. We have those where I work, along with a set of Guiding Principles that we go through every time we meet as a Leadership Team. I find the principles to be an excellent framework for facilitating a discussion about what's been happening since our last meeting as related to our list. We end up having truly valuable discussions about topics that might not come up if we merely followed an agenda created by one or two people. We don't talk about the vision/mission regularly, and to be honest, it sounds so "pie-in-the-sky" that I have a hard time connecting to it. I hope that by the time I complete this course, I will have a better understanding and appreciation of what these statements mean and can possibly contribute to our company statements when the time comes to revisit/revise.

As far as creating the outline for my portfolio goes, I feel pretty comfortable with using Google Sites and tried to remember that I can always edit what I've started--nothing is written in stone. I think letting go of my inner perfectionist in this instance helped me complete this assignment without too much stress...I look forward to adding content and letting my work tell the story about me as a professional in the business of education.

CEDO555: Professional Portfolio Experience Week 1

This week we were formally introduced to the topic of creating a professional portfolio of our work throughout this cohort. There are different types of portfolios, determined by the purpose or the message that is being conveyed. We reviewed professional portfolios that are posted online, which was helpful in visualizing different interpretations of an electronic professional portfolio. A resource I would like to come back to in the future is the Carnegie Collection of e-portfolios for the variety of educators represented and the structure of the portfolios.

I think my portfolio for this masters program will serve a few purposes; to reflect on the process, to provide examples of the work I've created and to show that I can identify how it all connects to the standards. While coming up with examples of work and reflecting on the process should be pretty natural, I am nervous about connecting it all to the standards. I believe that once I get started and know I'm on the right track, I will be fine...I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed in the moment! I think once I develop the structure and list the categories to be included, finding examples of work represent the topics should fall into place.