565 Week 5

The change simulation went much more smoothly this week. The most important thing that I took away from the experience was the reminder to divide and conquer. There are always going to be those who are resistant to change. However, they should not keep the rest of the group from making progress. By teaming up those hesitant or unwilling to change with others that they respect, there is a greater possibility that they will change their views. However, it is also very important to ensure that some consensus can be reached. Having a top-down system of leadership is not going to give teachers the chance to buy in to the new ideas, and they will simply feel as though they are being micromanaged by individuals who have spent little time in the ever-changing classroom!

565 Week 4

The discussions on climate and morale really spoke to me this week. There are many people who are unhappy with the climate that they work in, and some do little to try to change the situation. Some complain and whine about how terrible things are, while others try to take action to change things. However, an attempt to change things can get individuals into trouble. Those in power are not always excited for negative feedback. Some of them aren't excited about any feedback. It is a shame when those who are in power care little about how those under them feel.

565 Week 3

The most interesting thing this week was looking at the Beloit College mindset. It is really important to keep in mind who you are trying to lead, and make the content/changes relevant to them. My current students were born when I was in high school, so I need to remember to think about their life experiences, and how they differed from my life experiences when I was their age. The internet wasn't huge until I went to college, and they have had exposure to it their entire lives! That fact alone has made their childhoods vastly different from what mine was like.

Additionally, it is important for leaders to meet others where they are. It is important for someone to lead, but it is also important for that leader to recognize the stumbling blocks for those he/she is trying to lead!

565 Week 2

It was interesting to delve a little deeper into WINNS data this week. While I have been exposed to it at staff meetings, I have never poked around the website myself. The most interesting piece of information that I found was how the percent of students performing at the advanced and proficient levels has increased in the past five years. In November of 2005, 80.8% of our 10th grade students were performing at the advanced/proficient levels. That rate has been steading increasing, and was at 89% in 2009. It was also intersting to see that female students scored advanced/proficent at a rate of 93% on the 10th grade WKCE reading test, while 82% of male students were advanced/proficient. When it came to math, 87% of the females were advanced/profcient, while only 79% of the males were. Overall, more female students were advanced in reading, while more male students were advanced in math. But, when one adds in the proficent category, the girls are doing better than the guys.

565 Week 1

This week we started our teacher leadership course. This year, I moved from the middle school to the high school, and switched from German to social studies. One thing that I was greatly looking forward to was having a department to share ideas with! When I was at the middle school, I was the only one teaching German. Now, I have eight colleagues who are also teaching social studies, two of those are teaching the same courses that I teach! Having others to discuss curriculum with has made the transition to the high school easier. The department shares curriculum ideas with me, and I share my technology knowledge with them........

555 #3: Culminating proposal is done.....

Writing my culminating project proposal was an interesting undertaking. I write objectives for my students on a very regular basis, but writing them for myself was difficult. I wanted to make sure that my objectives were achievable, but not superficial. It was also interesting to try to provide a time line for the project. Using technology always seems to take a little more time than I anticipate it will. It was also interesting to make a rubric to assess the project. Knowing that I will be expected to meet the standards that I set was a good exercise. And, it also made me think about standards that I set in other arenas of my life.

I continue to work on my online portfolio. It has been gratifying to sift through all of the work that I have completed to get to this point in the program. It is hard to believe that we are almost done!

555 Post #2

My computer was acting a little crazy the other day, and I thought back to how much information I used to store on my computer. During our last class with John, we had to think about what we would lose if we lost everything that was on our computer. So, I was so thankful that I store so much online, and not so much on my computer! My computer ended up being fine, but I was concerned...until I realized that I would not lose all that much. Thanks for the lesson, John!!

My portfolio for this course is still in its infancy. But, I finally feel caught up and think that going back and looking at all of the work I have done will be satisfying. So, I am actually looking forward to remember all of the work that I have put into this program, and realize where I was when I started!

I tweaked my final proposal idea to working with student and staff collaboration. Then, I can add in the Google Apps component that I want to, while focusing on students' building 21st century skills with their peers.