While there were
many parts of this class that made me grow in my technology use and
understanding, two components stick out as the most valuable and
enlightening. The walk through activity
and creating a time for professional development for teacher leaders were the
two assignments that I felt changed me.
The learning walk
through began with the development of the walk through form. I knew what it was like to be on the teacher
side of the walk through from our many years of the IPI walk throughs with
district principals. I used that memory
and experience to help me create a form that I felt would provide me with the
ability to take down some simple data to help me guide my discussion during my
meeting with these teachers after. That
was something really missing during the IPI walk throughs, there was no real
feedback or discussion. After seeing a
few examples of walk through forms online, I was completely overwhelmed by how
complex and detailed some of them were.
I sat and took some notes about what I really wanted to see in the
classroom and how it would help me in my own areas of need, specifically
engagement.
I felt my form was
perfectly adequate considering this activity was supposed to be very informal
in nature. I really enjoyed being in my
colleagues’ classrooms as well as the post observation discussions. Not only did it do me good to be in there as
a scheduled observer for a real lesson, it really gave me insight as to how my
principal feels when she is coming in to do a formal evaluation of my teaching.
The thing I have
found myself doing since this activity is, while I am teaching or planning a
lesson, I will think through “How would this look on my walk through form? Will the students be able to identify to an
adult what the goal of the assignment is for this lesson? Will the students be engaged and
collaborating? Will there be creativity
displayed and will every child be sharing and listening?” It really opened my eyes to what my routines
are and how I need to expand my view of what I am doing as the leader of these
kids to their learning. I realized I
should be doing more.
The second
activity that I found eye-opening was the Professional Development
activity. What I enjoyed most about this
process was trying to think about what would teachers most appreciate during PD
time and that is the last part, TIME. In
creating the day’s activities, I specifically was sure to put in just general
time for exploration, a concept I wish more teacher leaders would incorporate
into their PD work. There is so much
value to just giving time to discuss a new application or method or website or
engagement strategy.
One of the
reasons I also benefitted from this assignment is that my appreciation for all
the people who are responsible for creating professional development grew
exponentially. Being part of the Instructional Leadership Team at our
school, I am always advocating for incorporating more exploration time and
multiple days of training on something new. The reading about adult
learning definitely helped to open my eyes on the process adult learners take
over my 4th graders. Adults do need to be approached very
differently.
Overall, this
class brought me a new perspective in the area of technology use in our
schools. There are many considerations
to be made when planning for how to use technology safely and appropriately in
our schools. The goal I have every year
is to work smarter, not harder. This
class has given me many avenues to help me reach that goal.
