EEND 680

EEND 680: 21st Century Educational Leadership

End of Course Reflection

Through taking this course, 21st Century Education Leadership, I have gained a better understanding for why central office makes the decisions they make and how they come to these conclusions. My district just started having an administration team come to a different school for Learning Walks on a weekly basis. Their goal is to go to every school three times this year, as there are 10 schools in our district. When they are doing these walks, they are having classroom teachers from that school and the building administrators be involved. I honestly didn't really understand the purpose of Learning Walks but after going through a series of Learning Walks myself in this course, I have an understanding for the why and how to do it. I find myself defending some of the decisions that central office is making after taking this course as our district currently has a very us (the teachers) vs them (central office administrators) mindset. I hope that the practice of Learning Walks expands in our district to allow more opportunities for teachers to experience the process fully. 

I am most excited to revisit how, when and why we teach digital citizenship. I was on a committee at the end of last year that made changes to the device bootcamp that all 3rd - 5th graders go through in our district as they are 1:1 with iPads. The feedback was that the updated bootcamp was good but nothing is done after that district wide to reinforce using the technology safe and responsible. Some schools are fortunate enough to have a librarian that covers this in their library time but what is taught and what is covered varies greatly. When I discovered that our district is suppose to have a set digital citizenship curriculum per our board policy, I am fired up about working with the Technology Department and the Teaching & Learning Department in my district to make this happen. We need to determine how and when this curriculum will be taught so it is meaningful for the students. I am excited because I got the conversation going by encouraging we all celebrate Digital Citizenship Week in an few weeks. Everyone jumped onboard, so the teacher librarians are currently planning the week's activities with the other librarians in the district and I am determined to pull this together district wide in the next two weeks! (I will have more time that this class is over, right?)  I think the biggest thing is we can't stop the conversation of what does it mean to be a good digital citizen? The conversation needs to continue to happen with teachers, students and administration. 

Photo credit: Broward County School Board

It was also great that we looked at and talked so much in this course of what makes a 21st Century learning space, as I found out last Wednesday that my library is officially being re-modeled this upcoming summer! I have been meeting with the district's Building and Grounds Department about what the space should be and how it should function. I felt like I was able to talk knowledgeably about my needs due to what we learned in this class. I am very grateful that what I am doing in my job relied so much on this course. 

I have really enjoyed collaborating and talking with Melissa and Maureen throughout this course in our weekly discussions. I found this method of discussion so much more effective than the entire class being involved every week, because as we progressed through this course I really got to know these two as professionals and also their school districts. It was great because we had an elementary, middle and high school perspective for the discussions! Working in a district that is only K-8, I am not sure what a 21st century learning environment looks like at the high school level so it was very interesting. 

Thank you again for a great class and I hope everyone has a fantastic school year! 

Artifact #1: Professional Development

I choose this artifact as Professional Development is an important of being an educator and districts are always looking for the most effective way to implement meaningful Professional development. Teachers should work hard to stay up to date with the latest happenings in education and this includes technology. The tricky part with staying up to date with technology is that is always changing! One effective way to assist teachers with the latest technology is for the district to create a badging system. I created a new professional development opportunity for the teachers to choose what technology tool interest them. The teachers are able to work on it at their own pace with the support of the teacher librarian as well as the instructional coach. To kick off this badging professional development, all the badges will be technology based but moving forward other opportunities would be available for the teachers to improve their instruction. While creating this experience, I found it challenging to come up with a professional development plan that would be meaningful for the teachers but they also wouldn't feel like it was one more thing on their already full plate. I think the plan I came up with offers this! Teachers will be to work on their own as they want but also staff meeting time will be set aside for teachers to work on it as well! I truly believe that this will not reach every teacher in my building but it will get those teachers who are on the fence about using a new technology and will offer them the support to try it! I am excited to share this model with the other teacher librarians in my district to hopefully collaborate with the Teaching and Learning Department to make this a reality in District 97.  

Artifact #2: Learning Walks

Imagine a school where every classroom door is open to anyone walking in at anytime to learn and grow from one another! Imagine a school were planning time is spent observing their colleagues and reflecting on what was observed! This can happen! During this class, we kicked off learning about Learning Walks by watching the video titled, The Learning Walk, from Teaching Channel. 

From Teaching Channel 

I found this video and all the article we read on Learning Walks very inspiring that I was excited for the opportunity to create a learning walk form to use at my school. Click here to view the learning walk form I created. I centered my learning walk on four concepts:

• Student engagement
• If the class was using technology
• If yes, how did the use fall on the SMAR model
• Take a ways and wonderings 

When creating the form, I wanted to make sure that the form was easy and quick to use but also meaningful. I also didn't think everyone in my school is familiar with the SMAR model, therefore I included a photo of the SAMR model in the form to ensure that when the staff is using the form they are understanding what the question is asking. During the reflection more conversation will be had about the SAMR Model and how teachers can enhance their technology integration. 

Retrived on 9-21-19 from https://blog.neolms.com/levelling-up-in-the-ed-tech-integration-process-the-samr-model/

Looking at student engagement was so an important aspect that I wanted to focus on during the learning walk. I think that so many teachers think just because I am using technology my students are automatically engaged. This is not true and it is important to determine if the students are engaged in their own learning. It was essential to me though when creating the form, to ensure that if technology wasn't being used the form would still be relevant and meaningful. This is why I found asking the final questions of:

• What is something you can take back to your classroom? 
• Do you have anything you are wondering about what you observed in the classroom?

These questions are universal to any classroom you observe and will lead to meaningful conversations after the learning walk is complete. 

I had the pleasure of completing a learning walk in a 1st grade classroom and a 5th grade classroom. I found setting up a time with a teachers for me to come into their classroom that also worked for my schedule to be the most challenging part of this entire assignment. Both teachers were very welcoming but due to a strict master schedule and guest visiting the classroom it took quite a bit of conservation, text messages and emails to nail it down. Once we got it lined-up and completed the learning walk experience I found it very beneficial. I loved making it a priority to spend time in another teacher's classroom and I took some many ideas back to my own classroom. You can read my full reflection of the learning walk experience here.