CED 599 Week 3

I remember being 8 years old and knowing I would get a Master's degree. Both of my parents have them and I knew I would too. I thought I would have it by the time I was 25, but a divorce put everything on hold. Much of my aspirations in life have focused on this. I can't believe it's over.

Now I have an opportunity to move forward, using what I've learned to help my district and myself. What new goal should I have? I haven't figured that out yet. It certainly won't be anything academic. I plan to learn how to knit and do more gardening. Oh ya, maybe I'll finally be able to catch up on my housework too.

CED 599 Week 2

I've learned a valuable lesson about Moodle - it works best on Internet Explorer. Not all of the editing tools are available when accessing Moodle from Safari or Chrome. I finally figured this out after a 10 minutes freak out session trying to figure out why Moodle looked different at home than it did at work.

As my project progresses I've discovered that I should have written my rubric differently. I wrote the rubric to say that I would write 8 training documents. That was a little short sighted. It's more important that I find the right documents and design them when needed. In some cases, another staff member may have designed something that works well or there may be some documents that the software vendor created. The most important thing is that it is clear and meaningful for the user.

CED 599 Week 1

Last week I got a Moodle account; we've only had the server about a week. I've decided to do a different project for 599. I manage Skyward, our district's student information system. So I've decided to put Skyward related professional development materials on Moodle.

I downloaded the Moodle handbook. Right now I'm doing a lot of exploring on my own and when I get stuck, consult the manual. I hope I learn a lot more in the next two weeks. My course looks very bland. My boss has put together a Moodle course before. I'll ask for his guidance. It will be nice to complete this project this month. I'll be introducing the course to staff when they return in fall.

CED 565 Week 6

I really enjoyed the simulation game in this class. I liked the fact that there were no easy answers and no "end" to the game. Very reflective of real life. Playing the game has caused me to pause when I'm dealing with change situations at work and try to identify where in the game the current situation would fit in. Whoever designed the game had obviously done a lot of research and was very clever.

I've enjoyed this class and it has definitely made me think about the character traits that make a good leader. My new boss has been with us a year now. During my year end review I told him that I was very happy with how the year had gone. He seems to strike a great balance between being involved and in charge with letting people do what they do best and give them the decision making authority that they need. I was on the interviewing team and we were required to take notes. On the top of my paper for my now boss I wrote the words "Put me in coach." His interview made me think of a coach and not of a boss. I'm happy to say that I have the same feeling today. We work together well.

Contrast that with some former co-workers that my husband has had. One supervisor was so concerned about rules that she had a tendency to be a minute muncher. If you were one minute late or left one minute early, she'd give you a hard time. This applied to everyone, not just her direct reports. She also tended to act like she was spying on people, but it was all under the guise of being efficient. This supervisor doesn't garner much respect. The bottom line is that people work harder for people that respect them. Sometimes you just need to cut people a break.

CED 565 Week 5

I've been pursuing additional leadership opportunities within my district. Luckily, the administration seems to be responsive to this request. I'm hoping to be able to create a long range plan to implement new efficiencies within the district. I know that I'll need to work with departments throughout the organization in order to be successful. I'll focus on building relationships and consensus. I'll solicit the feelings and needs of others. Wish me luck!

CED 565 Week 4

I found the leadership came very interesting. Coming to consensus on how to move forward through the game was challenging in of itself. It'll be interesting to see how we do next week. It was kind of to read the descriptions of the characters. I can see some of them reflected in those at my district. Maybe I'll pick up some pointers from the game!

CED 565 Week 3

How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader is the first book that I've read about leadership in schools. There are lots of books on leadership in general, but I haven't seem many about leadership in schools. Many elements of leadership are the same no matter what environment you're in, but schools are a unique environment.

Leadership is largely about people skills. The author relayed a story where a leader attempted to solve problems immediately instead of thinking carefully. As a result, the leader portrayed an image of not considering teammates thoughts or alternative solutions. I've been very guilty of the same thing. Early in my career I thought solving problems immediately was the right thing to do. Solving problems quickly - isn't that what leaders do? I've learned that most situations don't need to addressed immediately. It generally bodes well to consider alternative solutions and if appropriate, consult multiple perspectives, and then make a decision.