"Criticism like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots." -Frank A. Clark (Hall ch 6)
Wow! What a quote. The key is to have tact when you are giving criticism. Whether the criticism is given informally or formally it can make or break the spirit of the person being criticized.
I can remember my first year as a teacher. I had a principal who was very critical and had zero tact. She was truthfully just plain mean. The things that she said to me informally throughout the year had really broken my spirit. She initially said that she hired me because I was so enthusiastic about teaching - and in fact I was. However by the end of the year I was truly questioning my decision to become a teacher.
As a leader we have to understand that it is our responsibility to lift up are workers. We are responsible if they fail, we are responsible to help them succeed and to grow. Being a leader is not just being the boss. Where a boss may rule with an iron fist and a sharp tongue, a leader must rule with caring hands and gentle words.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Teams and Groups
As I was reading in Hall I found myself thinking about the groups and teams that I had worked in and I am currently working in. I really liked the way that the book broke down the stages of teams and groups.
When groups are just beginning, or "forming" they are just getting together and they are in what is referred to as the "honeymoon" stage. Everyone is happy and they are careful not to offend eachother and so on. They do not want to make anyone mad....yet.
After that they go through a period of "storming" where the time is a bit rocky. The members have settled in and become comfortable enough with eachother to tell be more open and honest whether it hurts or offends.
After they have survived their rockiest point the group begins "norming" where they have set the standard that they as a group or team feel is what they must live up to. Finally the group begins "performing." Once the group reaches this stage they are working at their best and the result is of quality.
This can apply to groups in the classroom (brick and mortar or virtual) or it can apply to the work environment (which can also be brick and mortar or virtual). Currently I am working with a team and I really think that we have hit our "performing" stage. I feel like this group that I am with right now is the best that I have ever been with as far as a grade level team - or maybe this is the first group that I have been with that has reached this stage so quickly.
I think this would be a great way to have secondary and post secondary students evaluate their groups at the end of a project.
When groups are just beginning, or "forming" they are just getting together and they are in what is referred to as the "honeymoon" stage. Everyone is happy and they are careful not to offend eachother and so on. They do not want to make anyone mad....yet.
After that they go through a period of "storming" where the time is a bit rocky. The members have settled in and become comfortable enough with eachother to tell be more open and honest whether it hurts or offends.
After they have survived their rockiest point the group begins "norming" where they have set the standard that they as a group or team feel is what they must live up to. Finally the group begins "performing." Once the group reaches this stage they are working at their best and the result is of quality.
This can apply to groups in the classroom (brick and mortar or virtual) or it can apply to the work environment (which can also be brick and mortar or virtual). Currently I am working with a team and I really think that we have hit our "performing" stage. I feel like this group that I am with right now is the best that I have ever been with as far as a grade level team - or maybe this is the first group that I have been with that has reached this stage so quickly.
I think this would be a great way to have secondary and post secondary students evaluate their groups at the end of a project.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Integration and Applcation of Technology: Taking the Leap
Our text this week talked about integrating technology and making it work. Integrating technology is way more that just using it to outline your lessons. It is much more than a PowerPoint. Though I would say for someone who is just starting to use technology in their Teaching, PowerPoint is a good place to start. The key is to move out of the traditional mode of teaching.
This is not to say that you should just take the technology and throw it out there without any instruction. It will take a lot of modeling and practice for the students to truly benefit from the use of technology. It is important to remember that even though the students take hold of their own learning the teacher does not just sit back and let the students run wild with their new 21st Century skills. Students should still be monitored and the teacher should still give input.
I have really been working toward a true integration of technology. I know I have talked about it before, but I am so enamored with the success that my students are having in their use of Edmodo. I have such a hard time getting my fifth graders to open up and actually participate in class. Now that I have given them an alternative method for discussion they have really taken the bull by the horns and are showing huge growth in their thinking. I have gotten away from leading small group discussions around a table to simply monitoring my students lead groups and giving input as needed. I never anticipated that my groups would be student lead but I am totally amazed!
This is not to say that you should just take the technology and throw it out there without any instruction. It will take a lot of modeling and practice for the students to truly benefit from the use of technology. It is important to remember that even though the students take hold of their own learning the teacher does not just sit back and let the students run wild with their new 21st Century skills. Students should still be monitored and the teacher should still give input.
I have really been working toward a true integration of technology. I know I have talked about it before, but I am so enamored with the success that my students are having in their use of Edmodo. I have such a hard time getting my fifth graders to open up and actually participate in class. Now that I have given them an alternative method for discussion they have really taken the bull by the horns and are showing huge growth in their thinking. I have gotten away from leading small group discussions around a table to simply monitoring my students lead groups and giving input as needed. I never anticipated that my groups would be student lead but I am totally amazed!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Leadership in Technology
As I reflect on the reading and discussion that we have been doing so far I have really tried to think about what kind of leader I am. When I think of leader one of the first things I think about is the control that a leader possesses. Yes, being a leader is much more than being in control, but I do feel that how you handle the control determines the type of leader that you are.
I do know that I like being in control, sometimes I can be a bit of a control freak I guess. A lot of times my mode of leadership depends on the situation that I am in. For example, I am a new mom and when it comes to my son I feel that it is my way or the highway. The only person that I feel has to right to share that area of control is my husband. We want to be positive, Godly leaders for him in every aspect of his life.
In my work environment I don't mind being a follower. I teach reading (which is not one of my favorite areas) so when our reading team is planning I am more than willing to sit back and let others take control. However, when it comes to something that I feel more passionately about or something that is my brainchild I do have a harder time not taking the reigns. I tend to like to step up more when I feel comfortable. Technology is one of those things.
This school year I have been taking a different approach in my classroom. I have gotten brave and decided to take on technology with fifth graders. Let me tell you, that is an eye-opening experience. I have had to become their sensei! I work with a lot of low socioeconomic students and many of them do not even have computers at home so this has been an adventure. When teaching students to use a technology that they are not all that familiar with there has to be a level of patience. It is so easy to get frustrated when they don't know what you mean by "copy" or "file" or even "right-click". I have a tendency to want to just do it for them, but I know that I can't. I have to take a step back and then give them step by step directions.
My students have been very successful and I am so proud of them. They are completely engaged in my classroom now and I think that they are even taking more of an ownership of their learning experience. As leader that is an area that I still have control over, but I have been able to hand it over to them.
All of this brings me to what we talked about in our meeting; what does success look like? Well, in my classroom I feel that my administrator can walk in a see that my students are having some true success. We have stepped out of the box in my reading class and we no longer use the basal textbook. Our reading is all novels and short stories. My students are grouped by their instructional reading level and each group is reading a different novel. Trying to get students to have a conversation about their book is like pulling teeth. You run into students who don't want to talk out of fear that they will be wrong, students who don't do the reading and so on.
This year I have begun using Edmodo with my reading class. I use it for exit tickets, reviews and reading discussions. I no longer sit at a table with my students trying to pump information out of them. They are now facilitating their own discussions and really digging into the meat of their novels. I think that this is really helping my students because they are learning some real life skills on the computers, they are more inspired to get into their novels so that they can work on Edmodo and they are not as reserved about talking because they are able to think about what they are going to type.
I believe my students and I have reached a level of success in our classroom. I gauge that success based on the fact that they are all engaged, they are all learning and they are learning to manage their own learning.
I do know that I like being in control, sometimes I can be a bit of a control freak I guess. A lot of times my mode of leadership depends on the situation that I am in. For example, I am a new mom and when it comes to my son I feel that it is my way or the highway. The only person that I feel has to right to share that area of control is my husband. We want to be positive, Godly leaders for him in every aspect of his life.
In my work environment I don't mind being a follower. I teach reading (which is not one of my favorite areas) so when our reading team is planning I am more than willing to sit back and let others take control. However, when it comes to something that I feel more passionately about or something that is my brainchild I do have a harder time not taking the reigns. I tend to like to step up more when I feel comfortable. Technology is one of those things.
This school year I have been taking a different approach in my classroom. I have gotten brave and decided to take on technology with fifth graders. Let me tell you, that is an eye-opening experience. I have had to become their sensei! I work with a lot of low socioeconomic students and many of them do not even have computers at home so this has been an adventure. When teaching students to use a technology that they are not all that familiar with there has to be a level of patience. It is so easy to get frustrated when they don't know what you mean by "copy" or "file" or even "right-click". I have a tendency to want to just do it for them, but I know that I can't. I have to take a step back and then give them step by step directions.
My students have been very successful and I am so proud of them. They are completely engaged in my classroom now and I think that they are even taking more of an ownership of their learning experience. As leader that is an area that I still have control over, but I have been able to hand it over to them.
All of this brings me to what we talked about in our meeting; what does success look like? Well, in my classroom I feel that my administrator can walk in a see that my students are having some true success. We have stepped out of the box in my reading class and we no longer use the basal textbook. Our reading is all novels and short stories. My students are grouped by their instructional reading level and each group is reading a different novel. Trying to get students to have a conversation about their book is like pulling teeth. You run into students who don't want to talk out of fear that they will be wrong, students who don't do the reading and so on.
This year I have begun using Edmodo with my reading class. I use it for exit tickets, reviews and reading discussions. I no longer sit at a table with my students trying to pump information out of them. They are now facilitating their own discussions and really digging into the meat of their novels. I think that this is really helping my students because they are learning some real life skills on the computers, they are more inspired to get into their novels so that they can work on Edmodo and they are not as reserved about talking because they are able to think about what they are going to type.
I believe my students and I have reached a level of success in our classroom. I gauge that success based on the fact that they are all engaged, they are all learning and they are learning to manage their own learning.
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