Well, the nearly twenty month journey is now over. The 8:00-9:00 PM Thursday night time slot will now be opened up to high school basketball and Grey's Anatomy. While it has been a challenge to balance grad work with full time teaching, coaching two sports, and the numerous other things that life brings on, I have no regrets about taking on the program and the experience was a valuable one. My primary goal heading in was to enhance my knowledge and skills using technology in the classroom and I met that goal and went beyond that.
Professionally many of the tools and skills I have gained through the program have been invaluable. My teaching has been transformed as most of my lessons include some type of technology usage. Although some of this is used by me there is also a lot of opportunities for my students to use it as well. As I teacher I am starting to evolve into more of a facilitator of learning rather than a dispenser of content. I have also started to become more of a teacher leader in my building with technology.
Moving forward I am excited about the possibilities for me professionally. I expect that my teaching will continue to improve and my role as a technology teacher leader will grow as well. My goal is to start some online teaching in some form. Ultimately I would like to teach continuing education classes to teachers about using instructional technology and possibly set up some online classes for high school or college students.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
CEDO 599 Entry One
My project will be implementing the flipped classroom. The plan is to complete a unit or lesson with my direct instruction done via an online video clip that I will create. Students will be assigned to watching the lessons outside of the classroom and in-class activities will be much more based on discussion, group work, and authentic activities such as primary source documents or problem based projects.
Advantage my project could bring is that my teaching could be dramatically changed. Although I am skeptical about using the flipped classroom for all my direct instruction it could be a way to help it. One of the struggles I face as a social studies teacher is the daunting amount of content that I am required to teach. There is not nearly enough time for discussions, group work, and authentic activities. Providing the lectures to students out of class may allow me more time to complete those more in-depth and meaningful activities. Having accessible online lectures may also be beneficial as a supplement to struggling students who need additional instruction. It may also appeal to students who want to pause and rewind certain portions of the lecture.
I do expect some potential problems. My biggest concern is that students will simply not watch the lessons. It would be great if there was a program that monitored who and how long each lesson was watched but I have not found one to date. If students do not watch the lessons then it will likely not be a very effective idea. I also am concerned about the time it takes to create flipped lessons. Creating a few lessons for the project will reasonable but finding time to do it frequently could be problematic.
Despite my concerns I am truly excited to try the flipped classroom. It is my hope that students benefit from the lessons and it becomes something I can share with other teachers.
Advantage my project could bring is that my teaching could be dramatically changed. Although I am skeptical about using the flipped classroom for all my direct instruction it could be a way to help it. One of the struggles I face as a social studies teacher is the daunting amount of content that I am required to teach. There is not nearly enough time for discussions, group work, and authentic activities. Providing the lectures to students out of class may allow me more time to complete those more in-depth and meaningful activities. Having accessible online lectures may also be beneficial as a supplement to struggling students who need additional instruction. It may also appeal to students who want to pause and rewind certain portions of the lecture.
I do expect some potential problems. My biggest concern is that students will simply not watch the lessons. It would be great if there was a program that monitored who and how long each lesson was watched but I have not found one to date. If students do not watch the lessons then it will likely not be a very effective idea. I also am concerned about the time it takes to create flipped lessons. Creating a few lessons for the project will reasonable but finding time to do it frequently could be problematic.
Despite my concerns I am truly excited to try the flipped classroom. It is my hope that students benefit from the lessons and it becomes something I can share with other teachers.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
CEDO 565 Entry Six
Leadership is a complicated and challenging skill. It requires a great deal of communication, understanding, persistance, and work. Schools have historically favored a top down leadership model with occassional directives from administration and teachers being isolated and independent. Newer models favor collaboration and teacher leadership. Leading peers can be extremely challenging as there is technically very little formal recourse that can be taken by the leader. For this reason teacher leaders must be positive and focus on improvement and communication. They must win over the support of their peers by establishing themselves as on their side and there to improve them and not judge them. This is especially challenging in a historically isolated profession.
I have always felt, and continue to feel, that I possess good leadership qualities. As a relatively young teacher I still have many facets of leadership to develop and experience is one of them. I have already went to conferences and presented at an inservice as positive steps towards teacher leadership. It will be important for me to continue to positively communicate and collaborate with my colleagues as I hope to grow into a leadership role. I due enjoy sharing my successful classroom strategies with others and want to play a key role in improving education in the future.
Although I believe that to truly improve education the stakeholders within the system will play a vital role it is hard to say that it can only be improved from within. As much respect as I have for my fellow educators and as seriously as I take my profession the reality is teachers have a limited scope of what is necessary for students to succeed in modern private sector jobs. There are universal skills and values such as hard work, discipline, punctuality, and quality that ring true in any line of work but the job market is constantly changing and educators are isolated from it a lot of the time. Therefore it will be necessary for schools to continue to partner with the community and local businesses to help bridge the gap that exists. I will continue to grow professionally by staying up to date on best practices and new educational initiatives. Someday I hope to possibly also become an Instructional Technology leader in a school district and maybe even an administrator.
I have always felt, and continue to feel, that I possess good leadership qualities. As a relatively young teacher I still have many facets of leadership to develop and experience is one of them. I have already went to conferences and presented at an inservice as positive steps towards teacher leadership. It will be important for me to continue to positively communicate and collaborate with my colleagues as I hope to grow into a leadership role. I due enjoy sharing my successful classroom strategies with others and want to play a key role in improving education in the future.
Although I believe that to truly improve education the stakeholders within the system will play a vital role it is hard to say that it can only be improved from within. As much respect as I have for my fellow educators and as seriously as I take my profession the reality is teachers have a limited scope of what is necessary for students to succeed in modern private sector jobs. There are universal skills and values such as hard work, discipline, punctuality, and quality that ring true in any line of work but the job market is constantly changing and educators are isolated from it a lot of the time. Therefore it will be necessary for schools to continue to partner with the community and local businesses to help bridge the gap that exists. I will continue to grow professionally by staying up to date on best practices and new educational initiatives. Someday I hope to possibly also become an Instructional Technology leader in a school district and maybe even an administrator.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
CEDO 565 Entry Five
Reading about helping teachers improve instruction was captivating to me. In my experience I have noticed administrators using several of the strategies in the chapter to support my teaching (focusing on positives, supporting my self proclaimed weaknesses, providing me with feedback, etc.). Most of the time I have found it extremely helpful and appreciated the comments. Our school began group observations in which all three administrators and a teacher would observe a class and follow it up with a discussion. This was particularly valuable as it gave me a chance to receive feedback from not only my bosses but a peer as well. It has promoted collaboration within the building by facilitating discussion about best practice and giving teachers chances to show and learn from each other. The program is continuing this year and now include department crossovers to continue to promote a building wide professional learning community. I have really enjoyed the process and wish it was something that could be done more frequently. Apparently it must be the Millenial in me wanting that constant feedback and desire to collaborate with others :-)
The chapter did cause me to really reflect more on change in schools. I still hold on to the idea that teachers can be difficult to change largely due to their passion and because many of their lessons and strategies have worked for a long time. I have however noticed many occasions in which best practices were not being used and colleagues have chosen to not listen to new ideas or feedback. This challenge is very difficult for administrators and teacher leaders alike. Teacher leaders are caught in an especially difficult situation because they are still a peer to the teachers that they are leading. It is my hope that the increased availability and use of data in schools will provide more ammunition to promote best practice for all, even those who are uncomfortable with the change.
The chapter did cause me to really reflect more on change in schools. I still hold on to the idea that teachers can be difficult to change largely due to their passion and because many of their lessons and strategies have worked for a long time. I have however noticed many occasions in which best practices were not being used and colleagues have chosen to not listen to new ideas or feedback. This challenge is very difficult for administrators and teacher leaders alike. Teacher leaders are caught in an especially difficult situation because they are still a peer to the teachers that they are leading. It is my hope that the increased availability and use of data in schools will provide more ammunition to promote best practice for all, even those who are uncomfortable with the change.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
CEDO 565 Entry Four
Reading about climate and morale in the textbook was an interesting reflective activity. With all of the upheavel in education Wisconsin has experienced over the past two years there has been plenty of times in which teacher morale has been low. It has been challenging for teachers who are feeling unappreciated and disrespected to have the same zest and energy in the classroom. Although most do truly love what they do and their sense of responsibility and professionalism have kept them working hard, it may be some time before things stabalize. It will be an important responsibility for both administrators and teacher leaders to keep morale up and facilitate a positive climate.
On top of being in a department with an at-times negative climate a lot of what I read about in the book rang true. Over the past year the climate in the department has improved dramatically and it has felt as though the group has become more productive and collaborated better. As our school moves more to working with data it will be interesting to see how the climate of the building corresponds to student achievement and if there is a way to measure it.
On top of being in a department with an at-times negative climate a lot of what I read about in the book rang true. Over the past year the climate in the department has improved dramatically and it has felt as though the group has become more productive and collaborated better. As our school moves more to working with data it will be interesting to see how the climate of the building corresponds to student achievement and if there is a way to measure it.
CEDO 565 Entry Three
Reading the chapter in the textbook this week really helped me better understand a lot of the actions that have been taken by administration during my 5+ years teaching. There is no doubt that teachers can be...somewhat difficult...to deal with. And not always for bad reasons. Teachers are people who are passionate about what they do and take a lot of pride and ownership in their work. Managing them is a challenge and being a teacher leader, with no legal power, brings about a new set of challenges. But with that being said being a teacher leader can be very powerful as well. I am a coach and although coaches provide leadership to their team, there needs to be players who are effective leaders as well. Although players do not have the power to take any direct action they play a huge role in the success of any team by improving performance and accountability. Teacher leaders can have a similar impact.
The generations articles were also interesting. It does help explain some of the differences that I feel that I have with some older colleagues. Although I try not to view generational conflicts as a right and wrong type of issue there can definitely be value clashes. It must be extremely challenging for school leaders to manage this. With those differences however there is always room for growth and generations can pass on their best values for the good of the system.
The generations articles were also interesting. It does help explain some of the differences that I feel that I have with some older colleagues. Although I try not to view generational conflicts as a right and wrong type of issue there can definitely be value clashes. It must be extremely challenging for school leaders to manage this. With those differences however there is always room for growth and generations can pass on their best values for the good of the system.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
CEDO 565 Entry Two
One of the things that I am really trying to learn more about is the use of data in schools. Although we have taken an entire course that focused on it, I still am a bit unsure and skeptical about some of its uses. Even with that, considering the increasing importance of data in education, I need to jump on the bandwagon soon.
My current struggle with data is the lack of training that educators get. New evaluation systems and No Child Left Behind evaluate districts and will likely evaluate teachers on data that most people do not understand and cannot put into context. Looking at the WINSS site was a good exercise as it is an excellent tool that provides great information but my first thought is,"how can an average person understand or measure the significance of this?". Jargon such as AYP, advanced and proficient, or composite score have meaning to educators but likely do not mean much to the general public.
The message that I am sending is that more training is needed and needed soon for teachers. If districts and states are creating systems to evaluate teachers based on all of this data and then using it to determine salary or even hiring/firing it is imperative that teachers understand it. And even then there are questions about the quality of data used and likely the need to acquire more data. More data will likely cost more money which means cuts from other important places. Although I understand the purpose of goals and measuring success, it just seems that education is coming to a place where jargon and statistics will mean more than quality instruction and supporting educators.
My current struggle with data is the lack of training that educators get. New evaluation systems and No Child Left Behind evaluate districts and will likely evaluate teachers on data that most people do not understand and cannot put into context. Looking at the WINSS site was a good exercise as it is an excellent tool that provides great information but my first thought is,"how can an average person understand or measure the significance of this?". Jargon such as AYP, advanced and proficient, or composite score have meaning to educators but likely do not mean much to the general public.
The message that I am sending is that more training is needed and needed soon for teachers. If districts and states are creating systems to evaluate teachers based on all of this data and then using it to determine salary or even hiring/firing it is imperative that teachers understand it. And even then there are questions about the quality of data used and likely the need to acquire more data. More data will likely cost more money which means cuts from other important places. Although I understand the purpose of goals and measuring success, it just seems that education is coming to a place where jargon and statistics will mean more than quality instruction and supporting educators.
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