This is going to be thrown down as a bullet list and I will admit it's going to be done in a hurry. Right now I feel like Santa must feel like on Christmas Eve. Hey, it's his fault right? Leaving present delivery until the very end.
- Colin, I love how you write. The quote used in Colin's "Collaboration vs. cooperation segment is important to restate. Leaders should steer a clear path but should also represent a collection of willing minds that take part in developing great ideas. I commented on Colin's mention of innovating how we grade students. As a former elementary teacher (in many ways, I still am an elementary teacher) I feel strongly that grading scale on a report card that goes home four times a year does not pay dividends and now I can honestly point to tools that can revolutionize the way we share progress with students and parents. I have been doing some R&D with an app called Doodlecast Pro which allows students to create short screencasts of whatever. As a teacher, I can now have a student explain the steps necessary to achieve a standard or sketch out a concept as the screen records. The student then saves the image to the camera roll and uploads it to their Google Drive. They may even email the video using their Google Email that only allows them to send to their teacher. I then forward the screencast to the parents who receive it before their child arrives home. I can honestly see a day where the parent/teacher conference as we know it becomes obsolete. Now if we comes to terms with that sticky digital divide.
- Thomas' nailed one critical piece in applying meaningful leadership. His experience with the projectors happens in our district at times when little consideration has been given to the voices on the front lines. I remember watching technicians installing new flat screen tvs in the upper corners of classrooms AFTER teachers received digital projectors and smartboards. I spent some time attempting to contemplate a reasonable explanation for this so I could better understand but I ended up thinking about something else. (I attribute this to delayed attention deficit) Giving committees the environment to research sound practices and applications while surveying the field of tech users would make for great leadership but at a risk and if I was told explicitly that "risk" is upon us then I would be at the ready to apply everything I could to mitigate my leader's risk.
- Andrea brings out great points in her blog and I am in awe at how thorough her posts are. The post referenced how great leaders incorporate creativity by those who relying on the leader to empower them. I specifically grabbed the notion that "playfullness" be brought back. I started to consider the possibility of using a game-show theme to motivate teachers to better understand the connection between standards and essential questions and "i can" statements.
- Tiffany's blog was one of the most thought provoking for me. I started to consider how embedded leaders can realistically innovate. I know this can be done and thought of precedents to this. My list was short as it included how Finland closed down it's own teacher training universities and how Gorbachev enacted such reforms as perestroika. However, my list of passionate citizens who granted themselves permission to develop a better way was much longer. As I write this reflection I ponder how Michelle Rhee attempted to innovate (reform or call it what you will) the Washington D.C. school district and how unpopular she was for doing what she did. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_%22Superman%22)
- My post simply attempted to map out some goals I will follow as I progress through my career. I would to one day lead a new academy that does not recognize a summer vacation and incorporates structures from every aspect of researched based instruction using instructors that incorporate a philosophy of differentiating for every student. I will achieve this through economics more than anything else. I will pay a salary that is worthy of great teachers and then let their abilities take over. There won't be much money left over for text books. That's okay because we won't need them. There won't be money left over for technology. That's okay because the staff will help write the grants and reach out to the community to offer this. If I get the chance to apply this, it will be at great risk to my own reputation but as I read all of these wonderful posts, one thing stood out. An effective leader will leverage risk instead of skirting it.
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