What is your general
definition of teacher leadership?
Teacher leadership is when teachers go above and beyond
their roles and responsibilities that take place outside of the classroom. They
become a leader for the teachers, students, and school by being active in
different aspects of the school itself.
What examples of
teacher leadership have you observed or experienced?
For example, we have departments in our school that teachers
are a part of to help build on what is going on in the classroom. We have
teachers that are mentors to our new teachers that get hired every school year.
Our school also has a hiring committee that meets during the summer and
throughout the school year to interview new teachers for vacant positions.
How is leadership for
meaningful technology integration different from other kinds of leadership?
Leadership is leadership no matter how you are looking at
it. A person is going above and beyond to be in charge of something to help
others. The only difference between these two things is that leadership for
meaningful technology integration is dealing specifically with technology.
From your perspective,
what are the benefits and the challenges of teacher leadership for technology
(for teachers, for students, for schools, for the profession)?
Those that are integrating technology have to know so many
different things to work with the technology and make it meaningful in the
classroom. There are a lot of aspects to look at when you want to integrate
technology into the classroom. Teachers must be kept up to date with the ever-changing
technological world. They must see what they need to do to help their students
become successful with technology. Sometimes students and teachers are learning
how to use different sources of technology together rather than the teacher
always being the leader. There may also be a case when the student is the one
being the leader because they are more familiar with the technology they are
implementing.
Digital
Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (Chapters 1 and 2)
Chapter 1: The
Evolving Educational Landscape
Choose two
characteristics of today’s learners and the resulting disconnects that they are
experiencing in schools, provided by (Ian Jukes, Ted McCain, and Lee Crockett
(2010), and post an agreement and/ or disagreement to our course blog.
1.
“Digital learners prefer to access information
quickly from multiple-media sources, but many educators prefer slow and
controlled release of information from limited sources.”
I completely agree with this to a point.
Students always want the answer right away and sometimes don’t take away the
meaning of the answer and how they found it. They have so many ways to getting
the answer that they use every source that they know of instead of finding one
source that can help them find all of the information at once. Educators want
to be in control of what digital learners are doing and how they are accessing
their information online. I want to have control due to students understanding
the process of finding the information. I don’t want my students to go fast at
times that way they know why we are using that source or why we have to do a
certain step before we find the answers that we are searching for.
2.
“Digital learners prefer to network
simultaneously with others, but many educators prefer students to work
independently before they network and interact.”
I can relate to this quote, because in math I
want them to understand the concept that is being taught before they work with
a partner and get confused. I want my students to have a firm understanding of
what is being taught before they reach out to others so that a misunderstanding
or confusion occurs. Looking at it with a digital aspect, students need to
learn how to do things online on their own before they interact with others.
They need to know what they are doing before others get involved.
Chapter 2: Why
Schools Must Change
According to The
National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) ten guidelines have
been identified to assist school leaders in integrating technology in their
schools and leadership practices. Which
two guidelines seem the most important to you?
1.
The principal must provide appropriate
professional development time and resources to support effective classroom
implementation of technology.
2.
The principal must do whatever it takes to
ensure that all staff has early access to the very same digital tools that
students will be using in their classrooms.
I think both of these are very
important because before we can implement technology in our classrooms we need
to have training on them and time to get comfortable using it.
Brianna,
ReplyDeleteIt may be because I know a little about you and where you teach that offers me a different perspective, so I can say that you are in a unique position to really affect some of those changes in your school. You have a strong knowledge base and are courageous enough to support the new teachers, which are trying to integrate technology, while also modeling and teaching veterans how to do the same. Your responses in this post support my comments and I know you can be successful in doing that work. It won't be easy, but well worth the time and effort of leading by example. Thanks for sharing your perspective!
Brianna,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your definition of teacher leadership. I think that you really hit the nail on the head with it. Mine was very similar. As far as examples of teacher leadership that you have observed, I'm definitely impressed that your school has mentors to your new teachers that get hired. That, in my opinion, would be very beneficial to the new teachers. It would also give the veteran teachers time to meet and learn about their new coworkers. I remember when I first started subbing, and my thought was "I'm allowed to be in charge of all these kids?!" It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. I know I would have loved a mentor to help me get myself established. Since starting to teach math at the college level, I have been very lucky to have the guidance of several veteran professors who go our of their way to help me if needed. I picked one of the same characteristics of today's learners as you. I agree that students today want answers NOW and often don't want to do the work to make the needed connections. I also feel that we are seeing more and more young teachers who are trying to utilize the current technology in their classrooms.
"Sometimes students and teachers are learning how to use different sources of technology together rather than the teacher always being the leader. There may also be a case when the student is the one being the leader because they are more familiar with the technology they are implementing." I liked how you put this in. Definitely we are learning with and from our students if you (a teacher) are implementing new technology. My students have shown me how to do several cool things on my iPads, for example, and I in turn have shown them a few of my tricks. Teachers CAN'T be afraid of allowing students to help fuel instruction and to brainstorm new ways of attacking a problem or alternate ways of completing an assignment. Art allows me to be very flexible with my students and I love when they get satisfaction from enriching my knowledge. They light up and smile when they realize they have helped you and the two-way exchange is wonderful! I enjoyed reading your thoughts. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteMentors are an important role to fulfill. Mentors can definitely provide leadership and support to new teachers. I agree with the importance of training and time to get comfortable with technology.
ReplyDeleteI really like Laura’s comment, “Teachers can’t be afraid of allowing students to help fuel instruction”. We learn so much from others, and we have to be willing to let our students know that we have been in their shoes. We need to make our learning experiences authentic, and by showing students we are learners too, helps build relationships of trust.