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).

Week 2 of 565

This week in class, and our homework, we covered several pertinent and interesting topics.  In this week, we continued our readings of "How To Thrive as a Teacher Leader," along with studying data related to our respective school districts.  I was able to apply knowledge that I learned from both of these topics to my personal life.  As chapter three of our reading discussed how to use a passive voice in order to resolve conflict, I was reminded that removing emotion allows logic to prevail.  Whereas I may not be a department head, I used techniques in this book with my students and my players.  In regards to the WINSS data, it was pretty eye opening to be able to see all of the test results that factor into a school's strengths and deficiencies.  I found it particularly interesting to be able to compare data with other conference schools.

Week 1 of 565

As our graduate level coursework nears its end, it is very beneficial that we have a class that covers leadership qualities, allowing us to best utilize the information we have learned, sharing it with others.  At the present, I have experienced leadership in a limited role, in a couple of different capacities.  I currently lead my students every day, coach varsity baseball, and sit on a committee that works on improving the instruction/climate at our school (RTI).

The work that we did for this week was succinct, but taught me a great deal about leadership, along with what type of leader I am.  First, the TED talk from Patrick Awuah was quite intriguing; as this man discussed the type of leadership that could ultimately turn around the fate of Africa.  My biggest take away from this presentation is that a successful leader needs to be ethical, open-minded, and responsible.  The next task we encountered this week was that of filling out a leadership profile.  By filling out the profile, I found that I have a good content knowledge base, communicate well with my peers, but need to tend more attention curriculum development.  We also took several surveys that helped me realize that I am an adaptive assertive leader, who lacks imagination.  Finally, we were to read the first chapter of "How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader."  I found this book to be very direct, explaining how leaders should be professional, anticipatory, and empathetic.

From a personal/professional standpoint, the work from this week has helped me realize that I have certain characteristics that are very beneficial for being a leader (knowledge, logical reasoning skills, and compassion, for example).  However I do need to work on being more imaginative, along with devoting a little bit more time to curriculum development and monitoring.  This was an exciting first week of class, and I'm looking forward to our future thought-provoking lessons/tasks.

Week 4 of 555

Despite the fact that we just had a break, I think it's fair to say that we didn't really have one at all.  As our professor instructed; "continue to work on your projects so things don't pile up on you."  From a personal prospective, I have found it useful (for any class in this cohort) to do a little bit of the required work every day.  This way you're getting the work done, but it doesn't seem overwhelming.  Also, if I procrastinate, I've found that it results in losing valuable time with my family, or late nights that wreck the next day.  Time management is key.  In that same respect, our latest portion of our portfolios that had to be turned in were our professional standards.  I found it beneficial to cut the assignment into two sections.  This way I could focus on how the standards relate to me, along with what artifacts correlate to those standards.  By showing what standards we've covered, we are creating an essential part of any portfolio, which is demonstrating achievement based on a largely recognizable set of criteria.

The topic of discussion during our class time dealt with the significance of standards in education.  I thought it was fairly interesting how things such as politics and the almighty dollar can muddle an otherwise simple concept:  Teach the students worthwhile content.  From my professional educator's prospective, that's what I want to know; "what should I teach them?" With different local governments and test vendors vying for power and acceptance, it really isn't all too surprising that it took the United States this long to adapt the Common Core Standards.  However, now that it is largely accepted, I feel the education system in our country can finally start working together to decide what is important for our students to learn.

Week 2 of Class 555

During this week's lesson, we've started to take some of the information that we've gathered, and applied it to the initial construction stages of our own portfolios.  As I was deciding which categories that I would have for my own, I noticed that although I had initially selected portfolios that were educationally relevant, they needed a little bit of tweeking for my purposes.  For example, as this portfolio is not designed for an active job search, I may not have as many categories dedicated to resumes, work experiences, or references (although, having a resume posted on the site wouldn't hurt anything, as you never know what will happen in life).  This portfolio, which will showcase my technological artifacts, goals,etc., is an excellent professional example of what I stand for as an educator.

We also took a look at mission and vision statements that best exemplify our personal/professional viewpoints.  Whereas the vision focuses more on the professional, concrete desirable outcome, a mission statement is more personal, describing a general, yet specific philosophy that an educator should try to follow.  As I've always tried to improve as a teacher, an example of my personal mission has always been to "get better every year."  Now, I know that I have to retool this mission, making it more appropriate for my portfolio, but I still firmly that believe that at the root of my mission should be a desire to continue to become a more well-rounded educator.

How Have I Used ePortfolios?

The most extensive work that I (and realistically the school district that I teach at) have done from a personal/professional standpoint with ePortfolios is the preparation of my Professional Development Plan.  As renewing your teacher's license in Wisconsin no longer requires the simple accumulation of credits, I have had establish certain goals that I wish to attain as an educator.  I have also had to provide proof of completing these goals, in the form of an ePortfolio.  This has been a long five year process of gathering information, implementing strategies into my classroom, and then tying it all together.  Much like this class, I have had to collect artifacts and state how they have proven fulfillment of my goals (I assume that this time around it will be picking artifacts that verify standards).  I have thoroughly enjoyed the online format, helping me contain all of my information in a convenient location.  This also allowed me the added perk of being able to email my PDP to review team without having to "snail mail" a copy, wasting valuable time.  For anyone who is not familiar with Wisconsin's PDP, here's a link to the website that I use to house my online portfolio that should answer some questions you may have about how it is run:  https://qei.wisconsin.edu/index.cfm

My second example is mainly personal.  As I have been trying to figure out how to create a website for my high school baseball team, I have been looking at others, deciding which format best suits our needs.  As a baseball website is essentially an online portfolio for the accomplishments of my team, I see many similarities.

I look forward to using my knowledge from this portfolio to increase the effectiveness of my Graduate School Portfolio.  It's hard to believe that we're this close to the end, to be talking about a final, cumulative piece!