Week 5 Reflection

When I first heard the title ‘Instructional Leadership’, I thought this class would be quite different that what it actually turned out to be. I believed that it would be more curriculum based and not technology related. I believed that this class would prepare me for learning, evaluating, and training others on instructional strategies. As an administrator, one must be highly aware of the needs of the campus. An administrator must recognize and address the needs of the campus. This includes using the strengths of the campus to address those needs successfully while trying to improve the weaknesses. As an administrator, he/she must consider what is needed, the weaknesses of the campus and the overall strengths in planning staff development to meet those needs, address the weaknesses and improve on the strengths. I feel that this course did not meet my overall expectation or vision. While I find technology extremely important to the success of a campus, I felt that this course did not address the needs of campuses – finding practical ways and strategies to incorporate technology in the classroom. In my opinion, this course dealt mostly with recognizing the importance of technology in schools, a fact that we all don’t disagree with. Now the question becomes, how do we use technology?

As to my outcomes that I envisioned, I believe the course covered quiet comprehensively the importance of technology on a school campus and the need for it to be incorporated into the classroom. I believe that this course somewhat touched on how as an administrator to address those needs, but what lacked was the practical application. I believe that this course lacked the exposure or experience with possible instructional strategies and applications for technology. I did find it somewhat helpful to research the district and campus goals along with the Campus Improvement Plan in relation to technology. I would have liked to then taken that information and used it in a more practicable way. The question I would like to have addressed is what strategies and techniques can be used to meet those needs goals.

As stated before, one outcome I did not achieve was exploring a more applicable approach to technology in the schools and classrooms. I would have like to focus more on methods and techniques for implementing technology and improving instructional strategies in the classroom and addressing such things as dealing with teachers with little technological experience and skills. I would have liked to explore deeper into various content areas and addressing the needs to those areas. Each area is unique and different in terms of what they need to be successful, strategies, and methods. I would have like to at least touched on different areas, assessing those needs and then developing strategies to help them within their content area. This includes using technology and ways each content area can use technology to cover TEKS and meet the needs of the students.

I was successful in carrying out the course assignments. I am capable to reading directions, following the assignment rubric and incorporating the necessary information for a particular assignment. In that way I was successful. The question then becomes did I find the information I acquired helpful and relevant to my course of study and did I find it useful to me for future reference. While some information gained such as district and campus goals and examining the Campus Improvement Plan was helpful and will find useful, much of the information I presented in the course assignments were not helpful. While I find it important to reflect as I move through a processes or class, I felt that this class used a substantial amount of reflection, but not much ‘meat’ to reflect upon. I would have liked to done a bit more practical assignments then reflect on that and its usefulness in future settings. What discouraged me was that I felt that this class was a bit more research based rather than concrete application.
Another aspect in connection to this course that discouraged me was the discussion board process. While I do recognize and appreciate the importance of the discussion board, I felt the process was tedious and non-helpful. I did really see a practical meaning to posting separate for each quote. I also had difficulty responding to others on the board for each of their quotes. I recognize that not all people work the same as me and I found myself getting that requirement done that the last minute. While I had my quotes posted by day 2, others did follow the same path therefore I found myself at the mercy of others to complete an assignment.

The skills analysis and surveys did not really help me much. I realized that I had a fairly good grasp of my technological skills. I really did not learn much about myself. The other aspects of the surveys dealt with campus and district aspects that I had no knowledge on and therefore was unable to accurately and intelligently answer. I felt that this class did not successfully cover the positive and negative aspects of technology, at least none that I was not already aware of – lack of skills of some, protection and security issues, and budget. One area that I did become more aware of was the connection between state goals and the goals of the district and ultimately the campus. While I was mindful of the connection between the three entities, I did not quite grasp the ‘trickle down effect’ it has on each layer.

One value of blogs in terms of education is the opportunity to share with students and colleagues in a more worldwide arena. I think this would be useful to connect students and teachers from other areas to discuss and experiment with instructional strategies. This was my first opportunity to use a blog – while I did find it interesting and one some level helpful, I did realize that it can’t be helpful if people are unaware of its existence. That may be one area to address; how do we use this tool efficiently and effectively in the classroom? I do recognize its usefulness and value in terms of sharing viewpoints and suggestions. This can be particularly helpful with schools with limited resources and materials.

In terms of using the blogs with students, access to inappropriate materials and pictures is always a concern. It is troublesome to find a way to access the usefulness while still adhering to the security aspects of the schools and districts. It will be a struggle to strike the balance between the two. The legitimacy of the information may also prove difficult. If using the information on the blog for research purposes, you are relying on the truthfulness of the information. If the information is not particularly honest, this can cause problems. It will be important to explore the rights and duties of the schools and district when using blogs in the classrooms. As I stated in a previous assignment, security, privacy, and ethics should be incorporated into the technology curriculum as well as in staff development for teachers.

This may prove to be useful as well. Like the discussion board, blogging can serve as a good venue for sharing ideas and collaborating with other colleges within the district or beyond. Blogging can also be used in the classroom a means for evaluation and assessment. I would think blogging would be useful when sharing ideas and communicating with parents. While we must always be mindful of the privacy aspect of students, it would be a great tool to share with parents such things as homework issues, ideas that worked at home with specific skills or help ideas and information regarding a course. Since files can be uploaded to a blog, teachers can upload course requirements, syllabuses, and general information regarding a particular class. In terms of student needs and benefits, blogging can provide an additional opportunity for students to practice communication modes and writing skills.