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.