Ending with a New Plan

I’ve been looking forward to taking this class since I enrolled in Lamar’s masters in educational administration program a year ago. I’ve been working at a one-to-one computing campus in Klein ISD since August 2006. Last April, I moved from the classroom to the Instructional Media Coordinator position on campus with high hopes of positively impacting the continued use of technology for instructional growth and innovation at our school of at-risk students. Staffing and equipment changes have kept me from charging forward as thoroughly as I envisioned. But those changes are very similar to the kinds of changes and adjustments I see my campus director and associate director work through every day. In my job, I’ve learned that it’s important to take care of my “To Do” list efficiently and proficiently so that I can move to the next task and project on the ever-growing list.

In a campus position, having a clear vision of the big picture and reaching for research-based resources allows me to work best – making the best decisions and recommendations I know to make, supporting teachers and students in the ways they most need, advising administrators and district personnel with my perspective as a solid teacher in a one-to-one classroom with a more global campus and district view now, and doing things right the first time. In many ways, I’ve been living this class since I started at Vistas, moving in practice through the theory and research we’ve read and blogged about since the week before Thanksgiving.

While that might sound like an advantage, I’ve found the class more challenging because of it. “Blog about…” is something we’ve assigned with students at Vistas for the last few years, especially in the English Language Arts and Reading classrooms. In EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership, blogging has been the publication aspect of three weeks worth of assignments. Sounds easy for someone who has been asking others to do it, right? In actuality, it’s been difficult for me to step back to what I used to know (or not know) and to imagine what it would be like if only my students could use a computer anytime I or they wished. Quite frankly, working in a school where meaningful daily technology integration in each class has spoiled me. I’ve had access to the digital tools we’ve learned more about in this class, and I’ve been using them for instructional delivery and lesson design, records management, and communication with stakeholders. In my current position, I’m planning, delivering, and supporting staff professional development established based on the needs of technology users documented in the campus STaR chart and in district technology self-assessment tools and initiatives. I’m involved in the policy talks that address content filters, the need for appropriate levels of access to Web 2.0 tools for differentiated instruction at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels, and connecting the IT and EdTech perspectives in a district whose long-range plan for technology includes one-to-one computing for all students. In practice, I’m getting great real world experience and fantastic opportunities to show my growth in the portfolio for principal candidates.

Despite what I’m learning in my job, I’ve failed to apply the lessons to my participation in this class. I have not tackled my “To Do” list diligently, even though it’s been provided for me on a week-by-week basis. In many ways, I’ve been like my students. I’ve known I could do the work but have not managed my time well, allowing other responsibilities (including my role as mother and wife and my job) to remain in the forefront. Reflecting on that performance, however, has yielded valuable learning for my continued work with this program and my growth into a campus leader.

First, I know that time management is critical to success. When I don’t manage my time well, I do not perform well – alone or in collaborative settings. When I fail to collaborate, I create work for myself that I don’t always have the energy to expend. More importantly, my work lacks a richness that collaboration provides as an individual explains, clarifies, adjusts, and formalizes his or her ideas and positions. That’s been an important lesson for me to realize. I really understand that working with others in professional collaborative situations benefits everyone involved. In schools, professional collaborative projects benefit the community of learners in which we all belong as professional educators in the 21st century.

Next, the work I have completed for this class and the ideas that this class has helped me verbalize and envision clearly validate the strengths I have as a campus technology leader and contributor to the district’s future as it adds additional one-to-one computing campuses. The needs to provide differentiated staff development based on experience and instructional use of technology are real in Klein. I can see this as I help address staff needs after 3 years in the one-to-one computing environment. I can see and ask questions teachers in Year One on a one-to-one campus don’t yet know to ask. Because I have developed this maturing understanding, I also have the ability to help develop the tools the district can use to continue one-to-one growth.

Finally, I know that practicing what I help teach and advise is the best way for me to stay abreast of best practices in the 21st century school and integrate them as part of my professional practice. I need to continue to utilize blogs, wikis, and other collaborative work spaces to learn, share my experiences, and notice trends among 21st century learners and schools. I need to spend time each week exploring the rich information available online related to technology integration and best practices. I can help develop campus communication tools including a campus technology blog so that parents and community members can log in and see how we use technology to meaningfully impact students’ learning and help them graduate.

Blogging will be part of my job in the spring semester at Vistas, not because my boss has required it but because I see real value in using the tool for student, parent, and community communication. The blog will serve to educate, share knowledge, and solicit information for technology use in the classroom, school projects, and community outreach. It’s needed, and I understand practices and parameters that will allow me to professionally author it. I know I’ll have to build awareness among stakeholders so that they know to access it, and I’ll have to make it easily accessible and richly created so that it becomes a valued source of information. Those goals are clear, and they are attainable if I plan the work and work that plan.

As I conclude this class, I find myself setting goals of transformational practice as an Instructional Technology Coordinator. The spring semester will be busy, but I really look forward to the growth and maturity I have the potential to gain professionally as I pursue a campus blog, continued staff development, and personal education in both the Lamar program and as an independent learner in the 21st century.