Reflection # 4

These last few units have delved into staff development and becoming a leader in this area.  I'll say again that I definitely don't feel as if I know enough about technology to be a leader within my school.  But I guess the fact that I am continuing to learn in an environment that is constantly changing rather than relying on old methods is a sign that I can at least be a mentor to others.  I particularly connected to the discussion of qualities of a good leader, as I'm sure we all know how difficult it can be to be a productive, motivated teacher when our leaders do not have these characteristics.  I'm reminded of how I need to interact with colleagues if I want to encourage them to use technology in their own classrooms.  I'll also reiterate the need for time and starting small as it relates to knowing your limits.  When planning for the extended learning of our colleagues on top of what we do with our own students it's important not to bite off more than we can chew.  As I already do a number of extra curricular activities both for my staff and students I would not want to be the sole organizer of a technology initiative within my school.  I think I would burn out rather quickly.

Looking back at our activities I can see that we used a lot of what we had already learned about to extend our thinking beyond our classroom to the school as a whole.  This is a much bigger task and one that will take further planning to implement.  Conducting the school survey not only taught me how to design a survey but was also enlightening in its results.  I would be curious if more staff would have answered if it was part of an collaborative group rather than just me asking.  At any rate it's given me some food for thought for planning. I've bookmarked several resources for future reference but this one stood out to me the most as one that I will need to further my blogging in the classroom.  Blogging About the Web

These last units encourage me to continue working on my Standards of Practice in relation to Leadership in Learning Communities.  During the course we have worked together on growing our professional practice within the realm of technology.  Now it is for me to continue that growth at my school level with colleagues, passing on my own knowledge and engaging in new inquiry and practice.  I definitely want to continue on to take my Specialist in this course but feel that a pause and time to implement more of these practices is necessary before continuing on this journey.