Week 5 Reflection

What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

I was disappointed in this class. The title is Instructional Leadership and I anticipated being lead on the path towards leadership. My principal is a huge proponent of building others to be leaders and I was initially excited about this class because I felt it would help in that destination. I truly believed that we would be going in the direction of PLC’s and how to help lead and direct teachers in instruction at all levels. However, the only focus was on technology and even in that aspect it was not about leadership. I did learn more about Vision 2020 and more about implementing the STaR Chart. I am now able to see how perhaps some of the faculty would choose to rate their STaR survey they way they did. I was also able to find ways to utilize this information. Overall it is hard to determine any achievable outcomes because what I envisioned for this course and the reality were so completely different.

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?

I am the lead counselor at my current school. This means I oversee four other counselors, the registrar, counseling clerk, and career specialist. I’m also responsible for our CTE department and meeting collaboratively with them three times a week. I feel that some of what I learned in this course will help me in my leadership role for the CTE department. However, I was hoping for more hands on type of guidance for leadership. I am responsible for disaggregation of data for AEIS and AYP purposes. I’m also held accountable as a member of a TAT (Technical Assistance Team) and the CIT (Campus Improvement Team). Also as a leader of the CTE department I’m required to have knowledge of technology. However, while some of the content from this course is relevant to my current job I do not feel that I was given any more knowledge than I already had before the course.

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

While I do not think this course was set up for accurate learning in instructional leadership based on this title. However, even with the focus being on technology I do not feel confident in all areas as would be hoped for. I can set up a blog and am capable of posting, adding, and following on a blog. However, I am not able to tell anyone of other blogs except for blogspot, and because of the difficulties with the programs we were directed to use to upload PowerPoint's,etc. I’m not even able to accomplish that task. I was never able to truly figure out how to upload I just did it the “easier” way. I do feel that some of the articles were interesting and would be helpful as an administrator. The articles over ethics and copyrighting were interesting and helpful in advising teachers and students. I wish we had been able to use other types of technology to post our information such as Wikis.

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

I was able to carry out the course assignments of this class to an extent. I felt at times that the directions of some weeks were not necessarily clear and concise. I realize that this was probably a learning lesson in and of itself because as an administrator and campus leader there are many times that clear direction will not be given. However, it was very frustrating at times to not have a clear objective and therefore the outcome was not always what I felt was good quality work. It was discouraging at times to not have clear direction and to be limited and what path to take. The discussion assignments were frustrating and many times I felt pointless. Having to read, respond and then re-respond to others postings seemed redundant and very time consuming. It was difficult to find enough time each week to complete the discussion. Perhaps it was because of the time of year that this class fell, but the last 6 weeks of a semester and the weeks of exams is requiring a lot from educators to have 24 discussion posts each week. Also, having this many posts did not help instill the information any of the articles.


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

I was reminded during this course that many times in graduate school the thing to remember is “hoops are hoops” and everyone has to jump through them. I also have to admit that several times throughout this course I made mental notes to higher competent technology specialists on my campus so that I would not have to deal with technology. My “technology” friends were hurt and confused at this train of thought from me. However, I was not engaged enough as the student to have complete buy in technology to become invested. I do feel that technology is important and is the direction we should be going, but my attitude during this course was not inclined to that direction. I did learn that I’m not scared of technology and feel confident in working programs, software and utilizing them as needed in either work or school. I feel that I am a leader in my school and others look at me in that role as well. When I was doing my interviews it was evident that my previous dealings with teachers and students in various capacities have lead me in the direction of leadership.

What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?

Blogging was a great way to share our ideas and concerns about this course. I did enjoy learning how easy and accessible blogging can be for everyone. I plan to present a short lesson next semester for all faculty on how to incorporate blogging into their everyday classrooms and to help with assignments. I think many and me included believed that blogging was time consuming and difficult. However, after this class I feel more confident and knowledgeable about blogging and incorporating it into everyday lessons. When working with the CTE department on my campus I have been working with them to incorporate blogging in their courses. With the changes to CTE this upcoming year I think that this would be a great way to implement the new TEKS. Also, blogging with other CTE teachers in the state to get their concerns, suggestions, and ideas as we move in a totally different direction. I have also encouraged others to include blogging in their courses to help with instruction. I have several students on home instruction or home bound status and I thin that blogging would help them feel more in touch with their courses while they are out.

How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

Blogging is a great way to make sure that all stakeholders are engaged in learning. I realize that there are concerns about “safety” in blogging, however, with appropriate direction and teaching I think that blogging can still be a safe place for students to show their knowledge of a particular subject or content area. I know that what can be posted must be monitored by instructors at all times. Also, I think that as a school we could add blogs to our websites to help community members feel more welcome to express any concerns they may have and to also have more buy in to what the school is doing. One committee I am on is for our Smaller Learning Communities Grant and we require community members to be on the committee. If we were able to have a blog that they could also communicate on than parents and students would see what the community is needing from our students as they graduate.