Comments for Making Sense of It All...

Comment on Finding the Balance… by Shaun Loeppky

Shaun Loeppky — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:08:50 +0000

I think there needs to be input from all levels, but it the end the teachers need to take ownership for their students. I strongly believe that if teachers are presented with the challenge and are encouraged to develop objectives (SMART goals), they can work towards solutions, be it data driven, collaboration etc. We are professionals after all…we care about their learning! The division’s role should be as a facilitator for the areas that should be addressed and assist if teachers need help to achieve those objectives. That’s it. I agree with Rob’s comment (hope I get it right)It is not a PLC if it is mandated (or something like that.) Should the division ask for the objectives from the PLC? Absolutely. Ensures accountability and in those rare cases, motivation.

Comment on EC&I 831 Course Reflection by Dave

Dave — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:36:57 +0000

It sounds like you have made significant strides on the technology journey. I have to admit, if I don’t blog for a day or two, I think I am forgetting to do something. Maybe its caught me too!

Comment on EC&I 831 Course Reflection by Dean Shareski

Dean Shareski — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:48:36 +0000

“I’ve actually had the urge to blog”….nice. Very nice.

Even the concept of consolidating your learning would be a great way for teachers either directly involved or otherwise to gain insights into the great work you’re involved with everyday. You have the opportunity to work with great teachers, work through some tough issues and those experiences are certainly worth sharing.

You go girl!

Comment on EC&I 831 Course Reflection by kibrown

kibrown — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:20:32 +0000

It sounds like you’ve entered the dark side and are embracing technology in new ways. I appreciate what you mean by wondering how to manage the various digital assignments for the class. I don’t feel I’ll be done until the final evaluation.

Comment on EC&I 831 Course Reflection by Shaun Loeppky

Shaun Loeppky — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:19:50 +0000

A paper would of been SO easy…
Your reflection reminds me of how tired I still am… I think it will take many weeks to still reflect on the content. Great to have you as a classmate. Great work!

Comment on Teacher Competence and Transparency by Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:56:12 +0000

Accountability starts by knowing what outcomes you find important and have a means of measuring and determining success. What defines a successful teacher – it’s certainly more than his/her students’ performance on mandatory tests. What defines a successful student – grades, test scores, getting into college? What defines a successful school – graduation rate, higher test scores that a “benchmark” district, decreased violence/increaed student attendance? Too often we neglect to think deeply about what we see as true goals for students, teachers, schools, the community. Establishing a culture of success is challenging and takes time. Many schools/districts succumb to short-term thinking and planning about goals and change directions as leaders, ideas and trends come and go.

Communication is critical. Fortunately, we have a variety of means to communicate with our constituents.

Bernajean Porter said, “You get what you get because you do what you do.” Her point was that you need to have a clear sense of purpose in all you do and understand your organization’s willingness and ability to change.

Comment on Digital Project Reflection…and then some! by Shaun Loeppky

Shaun Loeppky — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:22:41 +0000

I take a different spin on your post. It is unfortunate to think that sometimes in order to be a change agent in a school you must be in an admin position. Unless you have an individual in a school that as a teacher models advocates these practices, I can’t see any other answer.

Comment on Digital Project Reflection…and then some! by Dave Bircher

Dave Bircher — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:24:02 +0000

I think you have found how it is difficult to initiate some new projects and then battle the political spectrum. With any idea, one has to think it through as much as possible, which can be tough at times. I think you have a great idea and once a few buy in, it can take off. I think that is the same with most stuff. The collaboraion in this class has been great and a learning experience for me.

Comment on Digital Project Reflection…and then some! by Laurie

Laurie — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:34:21 +0000

That was my frustration too! I began a wiki two years ago hoping that it would be an avenue for teachers to collaborate. I had demonstration lessons and online documents for teaching reading comprehension strategies available and was hoping that teachers would make the wiki great by sharing their strategies and documents. I had no luck. Even my consultant equals at the district level did not collaborate on it. For example, one of the wiki’s was on reading assessment. The process first made known by Faye Brownlie, where one uses grade level text to get information about student’s reading comprehension allows teachers to assess their whole class in a small amount of time. I was hoping that educators would seek and find their own passages from current materials in schools and add them to the wiki as well as fine tune the student response and rubric. I was actually quite disappointed that there was no buy in. I thought that this was a terrific opportunity for educators to participate in creating a wonderful reading assessment tool.
That is one of the reasons I got into administration….to work at the school level on curriculum and instruction. To date, I have been able to achieve more at the school level I think than I was able to achieve at the district level. Since I can work with the students and the teacher, I see more of a buy in by teachers. For example, I did two sessions on blogging in our school space just before report cards. I had five teachers attend at this busy time and more are asking for repeats. Out of the five, five are now using their school blog on a more regular basis. They will often consult me when they run into difficulty. I think they see me using it myself and with kids and it motivates them to use it with their own students.

Comment on Theory to practice… by Shaun Loeppky

Shaun Loeppky — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:13:27 +0000

Hi Tammy.
Do you have a link to your major project that I could look at? Curious!