Project 5

LaRia Walker

November 21, 2016

Introduction

According to Costa and Kallick 2008, Reflection has many facets. For example,

reflecting on work enhances its meaning. Reflecting on experiences encourages insight and

complex learning. When reflecting upon the entirety of this class, Leading and Managing

Instructional programs, many learned lessons come to mind. The lessons and information

that I have gained have improved my personal and professional being. Personally the

lessons have been eye-opening; while professionally, the knowledge gained have aided in

the continued development of my career.

Abstract

A single quote from Reeves book summarizes the challenges, lessons learned, and

my knowledge of leadership and management. Reeves (2008) said, the final question

therefore is not how do we make perfect decisions? Rather, the essential question is how do

we choose the wiser mistake to make? (p. 146). My interpretation of this is to analyze and

determine a route or path to take when implementing tasks and change. Sometimes the

route may not be clear of imperfection; however I have learned to plan, adapt, plan, adapt,

and plan again. I have faced many challenges as well as learned many things throughout

this course that I have not tackled before. The best lesson learned was time-management

which will affect my future career path and leadership capabilities.

Reflections on the challenges

The challenges of creating the demonstrated need, goals and objectives, and the

design of the professional development experience of my participants were sufficient for the

task presented. When planning for professional development there must be a demonstrated

need that requires attention. As I reviewed data from several counties, the challenge of

discovering an area of need was straightforward. Clayton County was below the state
average in the area of 3rd grade Mathematics. From my professional experience, 3rd grade is

the turning point in elementary education where students may begin having difficulties in

Mathematics. I had to discover both quantitative and qualitative data to support this need.

While pondering solutions to this deficient, I created goals and objectives that the

participants in my professional development session would learn and be able to do. In this

part I had to be sure to align my goals and objectives to the standards and technology

infrastructure incorporated. While planning this session I had to refer back to Reeves

information on planning and leadership. The model that I used to design my professional

development sessions came directly from Reeves. Reeves (2009) said, consider focusing

on few things: what to teach, how to teach it, how to meet the needs of individual students,

and how to build internal capacity (p. 63). The challenge was in being sure to incorporate

tasks where participants were doing hands-on activities and creating artifacts and gaining

knowledge that they can use in the classroom directly after the sessions.

Reflections on lessons learned

While designing my professional development program, many lessons were learned.

I aligned the needs of my participants and students in the county with the preferred

outcomes of my professional development sessions. The evaluation was also taken into

consideration. The sessions were aligned to the structure of a collaborative learning

environment. I also designed my sessions according to the first and second-order design

adoption barriers as described by Pat Reid in her article titled Categories for barriers to

adoption of instructional technologies. First-order barrier relate to the participants and

career field. These barriers usually involve lack of equipment, time, and the training of

participants (Reid, 2012). In order to avoid these barriers, I scheduled the sessions in the

Summer which included a stipend, and follow-ups during the year with pre-approved

substitutes. All of the equipment which consists of computers would be provided. The

second-order barriers which consist of the participants beliefs and attitudes were challenged

with the planning of engaging modeled lessons, strategies, and techniques.

Reflections on the value (managing resources)

Effective management is needed in all levels of education. Management is required

in and out of the classroom. When managing people, spaces, and resources, developers

must take the best possible scenarios into consideration. I have learned many aspects of

managing a group of individuals. Not only are the professional needs important, but so are

the personal needs. The space provided must have adequate room, break areas, and

resource adaptability available. These meaningful partnerships are important to the

professional development process. When managing resources, especially people, Reeves

supplied a great example to how to enrich the professional knowledge of the participants

without making the feel like the academic deficient is their fault. Reeves (2009) said, when

changed is reframed from a personal attack to a new, meaningful, and exciting opportunity,

then the odds in favor of successful change are altered dramatically (p. 11).

Reflections on the value (leadership and management)

Leadership and management are highly similar. I have learned that in order to lead

a group of individuals whether students or faculty and staff, one must lead by example. As

a result of this course, my career trajectory will hopefully increase upwards as the years

pass. The knowledge and lessons learned will guide my path into teacher leadership. My

personal opinions of great leaders are those who lead with their students and teachers in

mind. I have experienced several leaders lead only with the students in mid, without

considering the daily tasks that are laid upon their faculty. If ever given the opportunity to

lead, I will keep Levin and Schrums thoughts in mind. They believed that effective leaders

focus on improving others leadership skills, delegating tasks to empower of others, and

developing positive rapport among the staff. The moral of a school is what keeps the

students and educators motivated and enthusiastic about trying new and emerging

innovations.

Conclusion
 As the conclusion of this course nears, I have learned several topics from the

readings, meetings, assignments, and my peers. If presented with the same tasks now as

opposed to in the beginning of the course, there are few matters that I would approach

differently. The main thing that I would do differently is the managing of my time more

effectively. Each task took longer than I originally expected. This is a known change that I

must implement. Reeves (2009) said that implementing change requires focus, clarity, and

monitoring (p. 123). This personal change will give me more clearly defined thought

processes and less stressful career and personal life. The knowledge and skills that I have

gained will follow me throughout my future career goals and placements. The knowledge

that I have gained will be beneficial to those in leadership as well as others who may be

seeking teacher or administrative leadership.

 References

Costa, A. & Kallick, B. (2008). Learning and leading with habits of mind. Retrieved from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108008/chapters/Learning-Through-

Reflection.aspx

Levin, B., &Schrum, L. (2012). Leading technology-rich schools. New York, NY:

Teachers College Press.

Reeves, D. (2009). Leading change in your school. Alexandria, VA: Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Reid, P. (2012). Categories for barriers to adoption of instructional technologies. Education

and Informational Technologies, 19(2), 383-407.