CEDO565 Session Two

Wow, I've been hearing for ages now, "data driven decisions" and how important they are to our field. What I rarely heard was how to get ahold of that data and how to use it. In lecture this week, it was brought up that a mountain of data without any analysis and application is still just a mountain of data. I feel that way all the time - like I can get my hands on good data but I simply don't know how to put it all together in a meaningful way in order to make better decisions both in leadership for the school/district and in my classroom. I feel like I can navigate pretty well around WINNS and will be able to pull the data together and I'm anxious for the group session we're having on Sunday to talk about how to put the data to use. I've never been on a data retreat and so am a bit anxious to begin the virtual one and to see how that relates.
With all of the talk of what I haven't done with data, I do need to mention that I do use informal data collection to drive decisions in my classroom all the time whether it be a quick survey on student expectations or a reflective evaluation geared towards the staff to gain feedback of the implementation of a particular program or event.

CEDO565 - Session One

So, as I was going through some of the leadership profiles and assessments, I couldn't help but think back to college and completing the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator. My organized persona loves filling out the assessments, tabulating the answers and then arriving at an "answer", reading the descriptions and thinking to myself, "Hmm.... very interesting." The other thought that struck me immediately was how different my husband and I would be reflected in the leadership qualities and virtues. Sure enough - after all I did make him do the profiles too - where ever his abilities were high, mine were low and vice versa. I must admit, it did take a bit of figuring out as the qualities and virtues assessments from ASCD didn't explain the results, rather they just gave a label. I did go to google books and was able to read excerpts from the text the assessments came from and that helped a great deal.
Ultimately, the profiles didn't really tell me anything I didn't know about myself, but they did change my view of the qualities and abilities that I showed strength and weakness in. For example, I already knew that I was organized, pretty creative and always have more ideas than I can possibly follow through on, but looking at it through the lens of educational leadership gave me new perspective. It helps to explain why I struggle with getting my peers on board with ideas because I'm not terribly strong at building/maintaining personal relationships with my peers in general as I have only a very small group of individuals with whom I share that personal relationship. The Balanced Leadership Profile was extremely helpful at getting me to view the characteristics in a leadership light as it allowed me to answer questions with a specific initiative in mind and the 7-4-3 report was the one that really turned on the light bulb for me!
As far as the text is concerned, I initially was wondering how big the schools are to have teacher leaders to fill all of the descriptions mentioned and then I took a step back and realized that's not the premise (thank god!). I understand that the groundwork is being laid in the text to set up the reader for the "thriving as a leader" part, but I can't help but want to flip forward in the book and get to the good stuff... I think if I spend some time discussing with my group on the roles and qualities presented in chapter one then I'll be able to get a better handle. (Right now it's a bit dry and not very dynamic compared to other texts we've used like Digital Storytelling and Presentation Zen :)
I currently act as a leader in my school by actively participating on the district leadership team. This group has been building in an effort to take more ownership in school and district events. I am a representative for the high school and we work to plan staff development opportunities as well as set building and district goals. It's the third year since the team was developed and it will be my second year. I really like the team because the membership is dynamic and growing every year. I'm also a member a number of committees like our Alumni Hall of Fame, Technology Committee and Building Improvement committee. All of these require my time and energy to get players to the table to discuss initiatives and improvements.
I think that reflecting back on my weaknesses, one of my favorite leadership roles was to engage the entire high school staff in a secret addition to the homecoming talent competition. I organized and helped to teach the choreography of the "Evolution of Dance" to the staff and we performed in front of the school. It was probably my best example of connecting to my peers in a manner unrelated to the "regular" school business.