Well, this day seemed so far away just twelve days ago. That day was pretty exciting, but the next day - when everything started sinking in - was a little nerve-wrecking. Funny thing is, all of these people whom I thought more knowledgeable than I, were thinking the same thing. Well, some of them were.
This was a incredible two-week stint. I have learned so much that I think I will not realize half of it for a month or so. I have been trying to think of adjectives for my classmates, and some little thing that I can remember them for ... still working on it.
Everyone is so thoughtful and diverse. Many are intimidating without meaning to be, but others are so kind you think of them and smile.
I hope we get to work together during the winter course - now that we know each other, distance is no issue!
Hey, join our Facebook group! And start posting things ...
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wow - was I ever wrong.
One thing I am continuously learning about myself is that I have a problem with assuming how things will be instead of being open-minded.
Today when we had a video conference with Bette from Alberta Ed. I thought - it would not be very interesting. Politician = not exciting.
But Ms Grey is not a politician, although she is certainly aware of that aspect of her position.
She was engaging and informative and entertaining.
She understood where we were coming from and gave us all the impression that not only were we being heard, but that she WANTED to hear from us.
There is too much to write about, but I really appreciated her candor. She demonstrated great leadership skills and the important message for us is that we need to be able to reframe our ideas so that a larger audience will listen to it. It isn't that we are changing our ideas, it is that we will be able to get ideas out to more people in order to get things moving forward.
What wasn't said is that we have to be ready to compromise in order to get some movement. She mentioned that problems are sometimes forgotten when solutions do not seem to be forthcoming. That told me that we cannot be so committed to our idea of change that we are willing to let the whole thing die. That will be a big lesson for all of us.
Anyway, I cannot even begin to think about all of the things I have learned from classmembers and guest speakers. I cannot believe there is only one day left. I am excited for the changes I will be bringing to the next semester and the next class we will be taking.
One more day ...
Today when we had a video conference with Bette from Alberta Ed. I thought - it would not be very interesting. Politician = not exciting.
But Ms Grey is not a politician, although she is certainly aware of that aspect of her position.
She was engaging and informative and entertaining.
She understood where we were coming from and gave us all the impression that not only were we being heard, but that she WANTED to hear from us.
There is too much to write about, but I really appreciated her candor. She demonstrated great leadership skills and the important message for us is that we need to be able to reframe our ideas so that a larger audience will listen to it. It isn't that we are changing our ideas, it is that we will be able to get ideas out to more people in order to get things moving forward.
What wasn't said is that we have to be ready to compromise in order to get some movement. She mentioned that problems are sometimes forgotten when solutions do not seem to be forthcoming. That told me that we cannot be so committed to our idea of change that we are willing to let the whole thing die. That will be a big lesson for all of us.
Anyway, I cannot even begin to think about all of the things I have learned from classmembers and guest speakers. I cannot believe there is only one day left. I am excited for the changes I will be bringing to the next semester and the next class we will be taking.
One more day ...
Monday, July 13, 2009
Gary Spence director of IT
Today we met another great leader. Very engaging speaker who obviously uses humour in his relationships.
The salience is far too expansive to cover in this format. There truly was too much to cover.
However, the process was simple - don't do anything that the teachers won't use or that doesn't increase student learning.
This is inspirational that these leaders are all worried about learning above anything else. I can tell why they are successful leaders - there goals are the goals of education. I am sure they inspire those who work with as well.
Characteristics: I was impressed with his respect for others; some of the things he said that exemplify his characteristics:
Be committed to kids, staff, and excellence; have integrity ("open and honest" - again!); have dignity and respect; be visionary – know where you are going; be humble – recognize everyone is important; you can’t know it all, rely on your peers, give credit to others often! – "be hard on ideas and soft on people", be technical savvy - know what you don’t know and know who does know it, but don’t allow yourself to be mislead; Pedagogy – stay up on research, always consider the teacher eye-view; Other: remember that technology is neutral, be transparent, be pragmatic, be a strong negotiator and an advocate for students.
The salience is far too expansive to cover in this format. There truly was too much to cover.
However, the process was simple - don't do anything that the teachers won't use or that doesn't increase student learning.
This is inspirational that these leaders are all worried about learning above anything else. I can tell why they are successful leaders - there goals are the goals of education. I am sure they inspire those who work with as well.
Characteristics: I was impressed with his respect for others; some of the things he said that exemplify his characteristics:
- "Reasonable people will come to the same conclusion if given enough information."
- “Every voice is important”
- if it doesn’t fit the vision, don’t do it
- and once again: relationships built on great communication skills!
Be committed to kids, staff, and excellence; have integrity ("open and honest" - again!); have dignity and respect; be visionary – know where you are going; be humble – recognize everyone is important; you can’t know it all, rely on your peers, give credit to others often! – "be hard on ideas and soft on people", be technical savvy - know what you don’t know and know who does know it, but don’t allow yourself to be mislead; Pedagogy – stay up on research, always consider the teacher eye-view; Other: remember that technology is neutral, be transparent, be pragmatic, be a strong negotiator and an advocate for students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
