Last Blog for the MEIT Cohort!

This cohort has affected me tremendously, allowing me to expand my educational horizons by becoming much more technologically literate.  Going through this diverse array of classes has helped me not only improve my technological savvy, but also learn how to teach to an advanced technological generation, along with troubleshooting amongst peers.  The areas that I feel had the biggest impact on me were any classes that dealt with Google Docs, Spreadsheets, or Sites.  However, I did gain a lot of valuable information from the statistics class.  Now, that's not to say the other classes weren't important, as they all had aspects that could correlate to the classroom.  If there was any particular area that I would have liked to have gone more in depth on, it would probably be digital storytelling.  Granted, this wasn't the most useful class in terms of teaching mathematics, but it certainly was interesting.  Overall, I couldn't have been happier with the cohort or the work that I did.  I will most certainly recommend this cohort to any aspiring teacher!

Week 2 of 599

In week two we were supposed to finalize our SMART Goals and Timeline for our proposed project.  After talking with Dr. Loeffler, I came to the realization that simply utilizing a new type statistics program would not be enough to create an entire research project.  However, by coupling this idea with several concepts to aid the promotion of my high school baseball team, I decided that a website would be the best way to combine said concepts.  As I will be creating a multi-faceted, one-stop shop for my baseball team, there will be several aspects that I'll need to work on.  I'll need to create schedules, rosters, game summaries, photo galleries, all-time records, etc.  It is a good thing that it is a project I would have planned on creating anyway; this class is finally forcing me to execute it.  I also will be using and learning more about technologies that we have used in our cohort in the past (Eyejot, Google Sites/Spreadsheets, photo sharing, etc.).  I am looking forward to creating a site that I can be proud of, and hopefully will get some excellent advice from my peers along the way!

Week One of 599 (The Beginning of the End!)

In our final culminating class, we will be developing a project based on using a technology that we have not used (or only used/covered sparingly) in our cohort up to this point.  With this technology we will be developing a use in our professional life that can hopefully improve our existing situation.  As varsity baseball coach, I plan on using an IPad to hopefully make the way that we record our statistics much more efficient (possibly help other sports convert also).  By using the "Pointstreak Solutions," or some other downloaded application, I will hopefully be able to keep the statistics by simple touches, along with having them in an easy, user-friendly format (without having to manually enter them into a computer myself).  A certain advantage to this project would be the convenience of making my life as a coach easier.  Some drawbacks and hurdles that come to mind would be cost (for the IPad and the application) and the learning curve associated with any new piece of technology.

Week 6 of 565

This class has been a very effective class in the sense that it has combined the essential characteristics of leadership with technological integration.  This class has reinforced my concept that a leader must be firm yet compassionate, but above all, the voice of reason; stoic.  As far as teacher leadership is concerned, I think that this position is a little bit trickier to define.  Whereas a teacher leader is unquestionably a leader, they must make sure that they don't over step their authority, combating the administration, or offending their peer colleagues.  However, by maintaining a professional relationship with all parties involved, a teacher leader should be able to serve his/her department members productively.

Through this class, I feel like my perception of my own leadership has changed.  Whereas I've always been in spots that require leadership (teaching, parenting, and coaching), I haven't always viewed myself as a great leader.  Now, it's not that I feel like I'm a great leader now, but I do realize that I have the ability, provided I display active listening skills, and lead with kindness/logic.

Lastly, our text mentioned that the only way to improve education is from within; a statement of which I agree.  By adjusting the infrastructure of our system, we can create an establishment that self-perpetuates learning.  We simply need to find a way to motivate our students in a much more intrinsic fashion.  Before we look at privatizing our system, I hope we figure out how to make this happen.

Week 5 of 565

As we begin to finish up our coursework for this class, discussing the completion of our latest project definitely seems like a great way to segue into our current tasks.  Our groups were to complete years two and three of our simulations, and it went much better this time around!  We started figuring out that in order to effectively make change happen, there had to be buy-in, especially at the highest level.  This transitions well into the other work for the week, which focused on how change occurs at our individual place of employment.  At my particular school district, even though change usually comes from the top, we benefit from being at a small district.  Because we don't have hundreds of faculty members, it is much easier for us to compromise with our school board and other leaders (superintendent, principal, etc.).  Another aspect of our individual work was discussing how standardized testing can be the catalyst for change.  Our district uses MAPS and WKCE.  This data helps us determine not only how well we compare to other similar schools; but what kind of progress are students are making throughout the year.  I personally feel that MAPS data is more beneficial, but WKCE is undeniably more important to funding.

All of the aforementioned information affects me on a professional level.  As a secondary educator, understanding the chain of command, along with using test data is an everyday part of my work life.  I've found that the source of change doesn't matter; what does is that a person adamantly tries to embrace the change.  It is all too easy to write off an initiative as insignificant, without ever giving it a chance.  After all, if it doesn't work, odds are a new initiative will be right around the corner to take its place.

Week 4 of 565

This week was rather interesting, as our class began with a leadership simulation.  Despite the fact that our group didn't do the best, it was certainly eye-opening to see how provoking change needs to be done in a certain order.  Upon looking back our early mistakes, we came to the realization that we wanted to create some type of change organization without a purpose in mind.  This allowed us to go back to the beginning and try to figure out what the actual problem was that we needed to solve.  When we resume the game on Tuesday, I think we'll be much better apt to deal with any difficulties.  As far as the work for this was concerned, the change process worksheet, climate, and moral forums all were excellent supplements for our simulation, helping us see how to deal with change in different situations.

Week 3 of 565

Despite having an extremely long break (much appreciated though), there was plenty of work to keep us busy and focused on improving our leadership abilities.  Our first assignment was to watch the short video entitled "Who Moved My Cheese?"  Although the film had a childish feel to it, the message was anything but.  I especially liked the phrase, "What would you do if you weren't afraid?"  This profound statement has merit in both my personal and professional lives, as I often make choices that are swayed by fear.  By asking myself what I would if I wasn't afraid, I can now make a compromise between my usual choices and my ideal choice, given the parameters of my situation.

We also continued our readings in "How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader."  This chapter had us examining conflict resolution.  As a teacher and coach, it was nice to get some ideas on how to properly deal with conflict, essentially making sure that you don't make a situation worse.  As I found this to be the primary thesis of this chapter, I try to constantly remember that students/parents are often set in their version of the truth; being accusatory or blatantly contradicting them will not improve matters.

The remaining work involved viewing videos on change, examining how to use data, and magnifying the strengths and weaknesses of the newest population generation, the Millennial.  Whereas using data and thinking about how to change the status quo directly relate to my profession, I took the most away from the Millennial descriptions.  As I am a member of this particular generation, it was most interesting to see how we are largely viewed as cooperative, always on the move, and in need of praise.  Whereas I view myself as having some of these qualities (but not all); it is most beneficial to see how my elders view me (or at least my work habits).