I will use what I learned in this chapter in my future career: school administrator. I hope to use this soon.
One of my ideas is similar to what we are doing here in this class -- a book study. I really like this venue. I can work at home and then respond to the materials, communicate with colleagues, and contemplate the discussion held in the postings. I know I do not read materials and books on educational topics as much as I should. A school-wide book study would encourage all teachers to continue their pursuits of new ideas and technology without too much discomfort. I think this could be accomplished by assigning chapters bi-monthly. Have teachers discuss in bi-monthly grade level meetings, and share the duties of blogging their thoughts and responding to the thoughts of others. Once a month, time during faculty meetings could be used to discuss the book study and get feedback from the whole campus. Now, I know this will be initially met with frustration and griping, but I think teachers will be quickly swayed once they learn the process. The benefit to our school should be positive. Teachers will learn to work more as a group, stay informed as to current thinking and topics, and have the opportunity to learn technology and use it.
The other idea I have is to implement individual goal planning. I do not think we utilize this concept. I know I do not set individual goals for my own self-improvement. I think we should start each year with short-term and long-term individual and campus goals. I think having teachers set individual goals both short-term and long-term will help keep everyone focused on the campus' goals. Using Inspiration, I will make a template with our campus long-term goal stated, then each teacher can add to the template a couple of their individual short-term goals that will compliment our long-term goal. Each teacher will add what they will need to do to accomplish their goals: professional development, training, and/or peer review.
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I appreciate your comments about incorporating a book study using technology as a venue for discussion. I think it is important for teachers to have online time and face-to-face time. As a leader you can share your experiences with the process as well as demonstrate an expectation for teachers to step outside their comfort zones to learn and practice new tech skills. Creating mini support groups would be very helpful for those that need extra help with the new skills.
ReplyDeleteI think a book study is a great idea and getting the teachers involved in using technology is a good way for teachers to see how it can be used. Once they feel comfortable using technology themselves perhaps they can implement it within their classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI know from personal experience that learning technology and then integrating it is very uncomfortable and intimidating. However, I know that as teachers we must stay up with the times. We also need to be true "learners and gainers of knowledge" if we want our students to be the same. Also, I think that we must find a way to encourage teachers to do this without taking any more of their family time. I am now at a time in my life where my family demands are a lot lower than others with little ones, kids in high school, etc. I can understand teachers' initial negativity to something they feel will cause more work for them when they can not fully understand its usefulness.
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