Implications for Educational Leaders

I began searching my twitter account for an article post involving leadership.  I finally stumbled across a re-tweet posted by Tom Buckmiller titled, The 5 Ways Leaders Destroy Their Team.  This was originally posted by Scott Williams on November 16, 2011 under the webpage address: http://www.bigisthenewsmall.com/2011/11/16/5-ways-leaders-destroy-their-team.  The role of leadership is not a simplistic task.  It involves human beings hiring and working with other human beings.  Some  people are eager to obtain leadership roles that they are not capable of performing. This causes a lack of interest in their job as well as turmoil within the building.

The 5 Ways Leaders Can Destroy Their Team are:

• 1. My Way Or The Highway:   I've worked in school districts when the administrator has said this during faculty meetings.  This establishes fear into teachers.  This creates an environment where teachers will not express their views or opinions because it doesn't align with the leaders. The administrator should take time to listen to the teachers and collaborate with grade level teams in decision making.
• 2. All About The Numbers: I view this as standardized test scores.  We must do what it takes to improve student achievement scores.  This creates competition among teachers within buildings.  When it is all about the numbers some will teacher to the test in order to get the numbers.
• 3. Talk But Don’t Listen: No one can get a word in or have an opinion because the Leadership Destroyer is always talking.  Not only are they always talking, they never listen. If people are not heard, they will cease to say the things that matter.  Shh (be quiet) Listen! Good listening skills is a very important leadership skill.
• 4. Change Things For The Sake Of Changing Things: Change is good and sometimes necessary to create forward momentum.  The Leadership Destroyer takes this to another level by changing things just to let you know that they’re the boss.  They are unwilling to receive feedback or go back to what worked, even if their change isn’t working. Change should be gradual and steady. 
• 5. They Just Don’t Care

 

Weekend Three Reflection

This weekend was our last weekend in our class Managing Schools with Dr. Buckmiller.  We were engaged in a variety of hands-on experiences which challenged teachers to think through eyes of administrators/leaders.  The most exciting take-away for me was being involved in the school layout placement and classroom assignments.  We had to use our management expertise to develop a school building master plan.  This was a very engaging activity.  This was just one of the many tasks that a principal must manage.

Throughout, the learning experiences provided by Tom through Managing School, I am now more knowledgeable in describing the differences between an educational leader vs. an educational manager.  I hope to someday begin the role as a school leader, and I will refer to the learning experiences achieved in Managing Schools.  

Technology in Schools

As I began reading twitter post last week, I came across this article on technology from Jackie Kuchy.   The information covered in the article regarded online education.  The article was found in The Wall Street Journal on Saturday, November 12th.  The web address is:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577030600066250144.html.  The article's titled, "My Teacher Is an App: More kids than ever before are attending school from their living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens" The article describes a radical rethinking of how education works. 

In today's economy, education systems across the US are suffering due to extreme budget cuts.  Therefore, Cyber-schools, and Hybrid Schools are beginning to replace the traditional school across the United States.  "If it seems strange, that's because it is strange," says Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Miami schools. He sees no point in forcing the iPod generation to adapt to a classroom model that has changed little in 300 years. States and districts nationwide are launching online public schools that let students from kindergarten to 12th grade take some—or all—of their classes from their bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens. 

Nationwide, an estimated 250,000 students are enrolled in full-time virtual schools, up 40% in the last three years.  One promising approach, many experts say, is hybrid schools, which blend online study with face-to-face interaction with teachers."Schools teach people the skills of citizenship—how to get along with others, how to reason and deliberate, how to tolerate differences," says Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of educational history at New York University.  The growth of cybereducation is likely to affect school staffing, which accounts for about 80% of school budgets. A teacher in a traditional high school might handle 150 students. An online teacher can supervise more than 250, since he or she doesn't have to write lesson plans and most grading is done by computer.  Obviously, we all want to save money," he says. "But to replace teachers with online learning is a mistake.  

The students who work closely with parents and teachers will do much better than basically letting them educate themselves, that's not going to be a good educational experience.  The computer, can't do it alone. Recent studies prove that students enrolled in online classes lag behind students in a traditional academic setting.

Weekend #2 Reflection

Class last weekend was very enjoyable and engaging for me.  It was exciting to visit Urbandale Middle School.  I really enjoyed listening to Lara Justman speak to us about the roles and duties of an assistant principal.  We were actively engaged in leadership activities.  Lara shared with us a variety of issues/situations that could arise, and procedures she follows to address those situations.  She does spend alot of time focused on her job, and explained how it can be overwhelming at times. 

Jason Glass was a guest speaker in our class Sunday morning.  I was very eager to listen to discussions with him regarding the Iowa Blueprint.  This blueprint is his vision for Iowa's Education System.  He explained to us several times that this blueprint is just "a starting point".  He spent around an hour discussing the blueprint and answering questions from the class.  I wonder how districts across the state will/are reacting to this. 

Adam Tjeerdsma was a wonderful speaker.  The information that he was able to share with the class was very interesting.  I felt that his interview tips will be very useful when applying and preparing for my first administrator interview.  His knowledge of google docs and technology usage was also very creative.  This was a great way to track behavior problems.  I shared this information with my current administrator.

Overall, I feel as though I am gaining a better understanding of the leadership role vs. management role. 

Weekend 1 Reflection

       Leadership vs. Management was a Big Idea that I truly began to reflect upon.  I never really viewed them as two separate administrative roles.  However, I began to see the balance needed within these roles the administrator must portray in order to maintain a successful school.  I reviewed the list of items that Tom gave us in class to determine leadership/management.  Working with other cohort members and having collaborative conversations helped me to understand the separation of these roles. 
        I truly enjoyed listening to our guest speakers:  Jerrid Kruse, and Deron Durflinger.  I never really stopped to think of technology in a manner that Jerrid had described.  Is it meaningful?  As educators, we are advised/instructed to incorporate technology.  Are we asked, is it meaningful.  Do we use the technology because we must?  Do we test students on what they have learned by using the technology?  I think educational games on the internet are great for supplemental usage.  I find it very disturbing when the technology piece is being used for sole instruction.  So my question is:  Are teachers going to become extinct? 
        I enjoyed listening to Mr. Durflinger, from Van Meter High School.  The video he showed us was amazing.  It is apparent that most schools are heading toward the one to one technology approach to education.  I don't think most schools are there just yet.  School funds might be the deciding factor to whether or not schools will receive one to one computers.  I was amazed to see Mr.  Durlinger's blog page.  I don't think many administrators or teachers know how to blog and tweet.  I am becoming more comfortable with it.