Reflections for Instructional Leadership

• What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?
To be honest, I thought the content of this course was going to be about how to help teachers develop effective instruction. I imagined us analyzing our campus CIPs and TAKS scores to create a plan of action on how as an administrator we would help our teachers meet the needs of the campus. I didn’t realize that the course would focus mainly on technology. I did learn a lot about technology and how to interpret the data provided in the campus STaR chart. I now understand the Long Range Plan for Technology and know that technology is an essential component in today’s classroom instruction. From this course I found myself wishing my campus had more technology available to students on a daily basis. This will be an issue I plan on discussing with my principal during our next SBDM meeting.

• To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

The content from this course is relevant to the work I do in my classroom. I realize that I need to really focus on technology integration in my lesson plans. I also plan on attending staff development sessions to learn how to use technology tools that I am unfamiliar with. There are so many ways to use technology in the classroom and I want to be the kind of teacher who is not afraid to try new things. I want to share what I have learned from this course with my team and together create lessons that we can use with the tools that our available on our campus such as the Smart Board, web cameras, and flip cameras.

• What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

As I mentioned earlier, I feel that I did not learn much about instructional development. I was really hoping that this course would focus on that. I am glad it had a technology component, but that was the only piece this course focused on. I’m not sure how effective I will be as an administrator at helping my future staff develop meaningful and relevant lessons as well as analyzing TAKS data to create an action plan to improve campus scores. Technology is important but I’m not sure how to create “buy in” with my staff. There are still so many staff members who are comfortable using the bare minimum. How do you convince them to try something new? There is so much embedded in instructional development and I think we only skimmed the top of it.

• Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

I was successful in carrying out the lessons, but they were difficult to complete. I can’t tell you how many hours I put in working on these assignments each week. They were very time consuming. I think this was because I was not always sure what I was expected to do. The directions were not very clear and vague. There were times I felt that I completed a task incorrectly after viewing some of my colleagues work on their blogs. The discussion board was overwhelming as well. I spent most of my time on this because we were required to choose a quote for each article (and sometimes there were 8) and respond to each quote. Then we had to respond to two other people’s posts. I understand the concept behind the discussion board; I just feel that responding to one post might have been more appropriate. I honestly think that I would have probably been more detailed in my responses if I only had to focus on one person’s posts. I don’t really feel that I took anything meaningful away from the discussion board. I did learn a lot from the articles though.

• What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

This course helped me realize that there are so many options for technology integration in our schools. I think it is up to the leader to make sure that technology is a strong component in the campus CIP. They need to encourage teachers to use technology and provide them with adequate staff development. Leaders must also model technology use if they expect their teachers to try. There are still so many barriers in my district with regards to technology integration. I will be interested to see if they begin to make changes in district policy to allow certain tools to be used in the classroom. They also need to give up some of the control. Teachers and students should be allowed to use the internet without fearing the dreaded “this has been blocked by RRISD” sign. We are unable to access so many educational sights because of the tight reins (this includes running programs because of plug-ins). I feel that the only thing I can do on my computer is work on e-mail and any Microsoft Office product. My hope is that my district will allow us to use more in the classroom

• What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner? What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?

I think the educational value of a blog is that it allows students to be able to communicate with other students throughout the world. Students have the ability to experience life outside of their own home. They can share their thoughts, projects, and videos and receive feedback from their peers. Blogging might engage those students who are afraid to speak in front of an audience. It really broadens their educational experiences. Most communication in the 21st century is done through technology. People are working at home and videoconferencing with their co-workers. The negative aspect of blogging is that you never know what someone might post. You have to worry about content. What language or tone did they use? Is it appropriate for students to read? Is it offensive? There needs to be ways to filter inappropriate content and students have to understand the guidelines when it comes to blogging. You also have to be careful about who you allow into your blog because of cyber bullying and internet predators. Students are going to have to learn early on online etiquette including blogging. They also need to know what to do if they feel threatened while online. Safety should still be the number one concern.
• How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

Blogging is a great way to keep all your stakeholders connected with the school. Parents can easily respond to a teacher’s blog. They are unable to do that on their website without sending an e-mail. Important information can be posted on the blog as well. They can access this information quickly from anywhere because they just have to enter the blog URL instead of entering their e-mail, logging in and then finding the e-mail sent from school. Blogs are a great way for more than one share their thoughts and ideas. It allows other stakeholders to see what people are thinking or concerned about with regards to the school. It could be a way for people to effectively communicate with each other.