Books and Course Outline Arrive!

August 19 my Fullan book finally arrived. August 20 my course outline and subject description arrived. I am now armed with the resources.

Reading 1:

Donham, J 2005 ENHANCING TEACHING AND LEARNING

Reflections: When I decided to become a TL I had this feeling that it would be okay if I was technologically challenged. I thought, I am old and I will just focus on the book and resource side of things. YEAH RIGHT... Last year I took ETL501 ? and went to a technology conference in Shanghai. It was a new vision for me to now become tech savvy and I jumped in. I even brought a new mac! I love it!

TL...Leads from the MIDDLE

The idea of making decisions with imperfect data is so true. Data is never perfect and another area that I would like to avoid like the plague. But...having a collection analysis available over the last 5 years has been invaluable to our library. It was used to help procure funds for updating the collection and a $300,000USD extra-ordinary budget was given for over a three year period. This year is the end of the money and we will need to go back to the admin and present statistics on how our collections have improved. The data is invaluable!

Attributes of TL:

Internal locus of control

proactive people look for change opportunities

persevere

passion-helps sustains ones energy as a leader.

Vision: sharedness, concreteness, clarity (Fullan) focus for developing goals and objectives

Opportunism: ready to seize opportunities as they arise.

Mission:

Resourcer for students, teachers, parents and admin.

collaborate

communicate: clear articulate

listen

negotiate

expertise: organize information sources, use information technology efficiently

establish process for continuous reflection and assessment.

opportunistic disposition allows the TL to watch for ways to integrate the standards in to the academic program.

Say-do ratio: This is one area that I have to make amends with Clarence for not doing his

animoto at the end of the year. Though I don’t want to take total blame I need to make amends.

Donham mentions that TL always have to be “sharpening the saw” (Covey). This is the process of life long learning and getting my masters has proven to me just how important this learning is.

Great reflection questions:

What will I do differently from what I did last year?

I will not just be there to help teachers, but will be looking for ways to integrate my standards into their units and look for ways to assess them.

What will I stop doing that I did last year?

I will not force myself to collaborate with grades EC, Kg, 1 and 2. I will focus on 3-5.

How and when will I know when I am making progress?

I feel like saying, “when I drop dead from exhaustion.” We continue to make progress. We went from a scheduled library to a mix schedule/flex. I am working closely with the tech coordinator. More than ever! We will be collaborating with grades 3-5 on an inquiry unit this year that is really guided by inquiry and UbD.