Culminating Experience - Week 1

My culminating experience is one that I have been looking forward to for some time. At the beginning of the school year, our grade school principals made changes to the elementary schedules that caused some major problems when it came to reporting, GPA calculation, and meeting minute requirements. As a result, our school president asked me to look at developing a schedule that could be used at both grade schools.

This new schedule had to address certain shortcomings of the current schedule. The biggest challenge was that the two schools share teachers. So, in addition to prep time, I also had to figure in travel time between the locations, about a 10 minute trip.

I have been thinking about this project all winter and am now ready to move forward. I think I have a good plan in place and I should be able to accomplish my goals in the given time.

Writing the proposal for the project really made me realize how much time had to be put into this project. I have done schedules before but have not had to write down all of the steps involved.

As this project moves forward, I will be taking tips from the change game that we played in our last course. I have lots of talking to do and lots of questions to ask before putting together something that will solve the majority of our issues. I have never been one to back away from a challenge. I cannot wait to get started.

Leadership and Planning - Week 6

I really took a lot from this course. It made me look back at changes that I have been a part of while at Messmer. In many ways, it reinforced my method of implementing change. I have not treated all changes the same way. Only a handful of them were widely discussed with different stakeholders. Others were decided between me, the principal, and the president. The method was determined by the scale of the change. Small, school level changes were done with smaller groups (like our fall registration process). Larger changes (implementing block schedule, switching to Google Apps) were a much longer, thorough process, involving many different people.

I have noticed many people in my schools being teacher leaders since starting this class. Previously, I considered them people who go above and beyond what was required, not necessarily viewing them as teacher leaders. I now have a little different view of what they do and how they affect others. We have some really strong leaders at all of our schools, which is encouraging.

My opinion of my leadership potential has not really changed. I know I can lead but I am the type who likes to work in the background and not really be noticed. I don't even want credit for the changes I put into place. I want to spend my time making sure the change goes smoothly. I have confidence in my leadership abilities. Now, with a change in my position at Messmer, I will no longer be able to work behind the scenes. That, in my opinion, is a change for the better. An announcement will be forthcoming on my new appointment. Stay tuned!

As far as improving education from within, I think communication is the key to improving. I need to make sure I keep talking with others, being in the technology field, I also need to make sure that I provide as many forms of communication as possible. The more ways we have to communicate the more we will communicate. Communication improves how people view the school, the students, the administration, the parents, and the mission.

Leadership and Planning - Week 5

Holy cow! What a tough, frustrating game. Just when you think you were making progress your next move gets shot down. I have been involved in a number of changes at our school, from a new student information system, to personnel issues, to a new schedule at the high school. I know that we talked a lot with different groups during all of these changes but I don't remember talking as much as we were required to talk during this game. It was very disappointing that, at the end of three simulated years, we didn't get very far.

I know changes take a long time. I have mentioned before that our school is going through some major changes in personnel after the departure of our principal/vice-president of 22 years. Our president has authority to fill this position. He is taking his time and thoroughly thinking things through. These changes will affect everyone at all of our schools. His decision have the potential to reshape our school and change its direction for years to come.

One more week in this class and I can honestly say I have taken a lot away from this course. As I transition from technology into administration I will need these skills to be successful. This course came at the perfect time.

Leadership and Planning - Week 4

Well, the Change Game certainly was interesting this week. I think our group felt pretty frustrated when we were denied moves for going too fast or not getting enough information. It was good to see that we were in the same place as the other groups when the hour was over.

After the game was over I took some time to think about the change process in our school. I should have applied what I know to the game. Instead, I tried moving too fast. I compared the game to what we recently went through with changing our high school schedule.

For years we had a straight 8 period per day schedule. A few years ago we looked into alternative schedules including modular, block, and rotating day schedules. We surveyed schools, talked with students, staff, board members, and parents. We gathered all of our data and presented it to the administration. They then took the information and did some more data gathering and research before making a decision. That process took almost 2 years.

After it was decided that we would switch schedules we had to plan the change. We setup professional development days and days when we tested the schedule with students. That feedback was gathered we were able to tweak the schedule to fit our needs. The beginning of this year was the implementation of the schedule. We have been reviewing it and taking feedback along the way. We will also ask for teachers to complete an end of year survey. This information will help us further refine our schedule.

Now, I need to apply that method to the game next week.

Leadership and Planning - Week 3

So, after reading the Tune In article, I remembered that I was a member of Generation X. I remember hearing that term in college and I didn't think much of it. After all, I was never really into Pearl Jam or Nirvana, was not a latch-key kid while growing up, and certainly did not reject the rules. I just didn't seem to fit that group.

I look at the description of Millennials, and I see that in some of our newer teachers. They are really team-focused and generally upbeat. We are now working on taking a few of the stronger people and mentoring them for leadership roles within the schools. Hopefully, we can make them into long-term faculty at our school and they can become our future leaders.

I really enjoyed the Who Moved My Cheese video. It was fun matching up people I know and work with to the characters in the story. As I spent time with people today I found it hard not match them to one of the characters.

For the next couple of classes we need to be online early. I am looking forward to the lessons and wonder what could be in store. Talk to you all next week.

Leadership and Planning - Week 2

Data. It has become a really important part of how schools operate in today's environment. We have spent a lot of time in the last year looking at scores and focusing on data driven instruction (DDI).

We recently invested in some software to help us analyze and compare scores. We will be able to quickly look at scores of standardized tests, school tests, term grades, and more. We will also be able to look at data based on gender, grade level, ethnicity and compare scores to absences and disciplinary records. We will be able to use this data to not only check our proficiency in different areas but we will also be able to watch trends so we can see who is at risk of dropping out so we can step in to help. This part of the program will look at live attendance, disciplinary, and grade data so the results may change day-to-day.

This is a new process this year and the software is going to be put into place this spring. Over the summer and into next fall our teachers and administration will be spending a lot of time sifting through data and looking to fill holes in our curriculum. This will be a big project and one that will hopefully make a positive difference in the performance of our students.

Leadership and Planning - Week 1

How do I lead in my school? Well, that is a question that is changing for me on a daily basis. For the last 10 years I have been the Director of Technology. I have been in charge of many large projects and initiatives. I have led our staff through changes to our student information system, changes with technology in the classroom, and professional development sessions regarding a number of different topics. I have improved many processes and procedures along the way like student registration, parent/student/teacher communication, and more.

Over the past 6 months, I have been asked to lead in different areas. In the last issue of our alumni newsletter, the Messmer Today, I was added to the list of administration for the first time (inside of the front cover). This spot has always been reserved for the very top leaders of our school.

I am now being asked to take over the disbursement of our Title funds, oversee additional personnel and departments, and taking on some larger, long-range projects. It is an exciting time and I am enjoying the changes. It will be interesting to see where this goes from here.