Change - It's taken place

Throughout this class we have been asked to participate, read, and research what it means to be a leader. I feel that my definition of leadership has been altered from this class. Prior to this class, leadership has been, to me, a job role title. Now, I feel that it isn't just a job title, but a way that a person approaches change. Do they take a lead to effect change or are they the Will of the group and just sit back and wait for others to start the change process for them. As a teacher leader, you can be involved in many levels. Just because you work in a high school, you can be a lead other places outside of department head. Any teacher leader can spearhead the acquisition of new technology and software.

Throughout this class I was given more confidence to be a teacher leader. In my current teaching position I have always seen myself as one day becoming the department head, and my current department head has indicated she will see me succeeding in that position. I have started to see myself as someone who can make a push towards getting new technologies to help move our department forward. Through my questioning and persistence, we have been able to acquire a SMART Board for our department. I take every opportunity to learn new technologies that become available to us. I am currently in a group of teacher who are piloting clickers and mobis. I don't think I would have taken that on if I had not seen another opportunity to lead in my department.

I do agree with the book that we need to "improve technology from within." The people making decisions about education in our communities rarely have experience in education and just try to put band-aids on leaks. They need to spend time finding the cause of the leak and figure out the best way to fix it. No one can disagree that teachers are creative. We need to find new ways to work our budget and ensure that our teaching is suitable for the students we currently have, not students we had 10 years ago. My license is built upon the improving from within theory, through PDP's. We need to make ourselves knowledgeable about what is available and out there but we can't always get the new shiny object just because it's desirable. We had a teacher in our school ask for a SMART Board and the principal refused her because she already has a mounted projector, an ELMO, and t.v. If she can improve on what she has, she does not necessarily need a piece of equipment that costs a couple thousand dollars. She needs to find effective, efficient ways to utilize what she has to enhance her curriculum. The technology is only useful if we are willing to use it and it is the best way to implement the subject. I try my best to use what I have and not ache for what I don't. I can only tell myself that my students will learn daily from me.