Week 1 of CED 599

This is the first week of CEdO599 Culminating Experience - Digital Futures. Our objective is to create a project that we can utilize within our profession while showcasing what we have learned throughout this masters program. I am choose to focus on creating and managing lessons for my flipped classroom for the 2012-2013 school year. Check out the highlights of my project, including my SMART goals. 

This course provides me with such a great opportunity. It is incredibly valuable to work on something that I can utilize in my future. I am very excited to take what I learned from this program and integrate it into my career. One of the biggest challenges will be overcoming the frustration of independently learning about some of the technology resources that I am choosing to use. My largest source of anxiety will be figuring out how to successfully use moodle. I am however excited to take on the challenges that I may encounter and I am motivated by the thought of how this project can positively impact my students. 

Week 6 of CED 565

This was the final week of CED 599 Leadership and Planning. This week we were asked to reflect on the following questions. My responses follow each questions.

• Your definition of teacher leadership?
•  Leadership to me is about making the right decisions for your team. A leader should be informed when making choices. This is why so many leaders focus on data-driven decisions. Leaders are not only responsible for making decision, they are also responsible for implementing change. A leader must collaborate, plan, and communicate his/her decisions with the rest of the team. This is a vital process during the implementation of change. If the team does not "buy in", change will not occur. 

• How has your definition of leadership altered or been reinforced? Has your opinion of your leadership potential changed?
• My definition of leadership has evolved from a pure decision maker to a collaborator and initiator of change. I now realize the vital role of communication and collaboration that leaders must integrate. I also appreciate the difficulty that leaders experience when trying to implement change. 

• Do you agree with our textbook's assertion about "improving education from within"?  If so, what will you do to help?
• I do agree that a lot of improvement with education can occur from within. The teachers have the know how and the ability to make a difference. I believe that the biggest obstacle to internal improvement is the resistance of change or the fear of the unknown. I think that a lot of the experienced teachers are comfortable with the way that they currently teach their lessons. These lessons may be effective and may have worked for years; unfortunately, if the world around us is changing and the teacher's lessons remain the same, then old lessons inevitably become inefficient. 
• The world is changing and we need to make sure that students receive the skills they need to succeed. I think that this concept is a big shift of thinking and therefore a struggle for experienced teachers. A student's experience at school use to be about the knowledge that students received. The internet now makes this same knowledge available to students at any time. I think that current teachers need to focus on providing students with the skills they need to succeed in the future. We need to instill curiosity, collaboration, and creativity within our students. They need to learn how to obtain and analyze information. They need to learn how to create solutions to real problems. These skills will allow them to succeed on their own in the future. 
• My role in this process is to remain current with new pedagogy. I need to stay in touch with the changes in the world so that my teaching methods can evolve with the world around us. I need to be a model for other teacher's so that may learn from my success and failure. I need to communicate and collaborate with others so that these changes can impact as many teachers and students as possible. This process will allow me to make the biggest impact on education.