Week #2 in CEDO 565

This week in CEDO 565 we took a look at data and how it can be used in a leadership role. In the book we read two chapters on "Assembling your team" and "Communicating your Leadership". I have been a part of the hiring committee for 4 of the positions in our 10 person department and I can say with certainty that John Gabriel is 100% correct about there needing to be a "fit" for your team. We have had tons of super qualified applicants for my school that have not worked out with the district not because they were not capable, but because they were not the right fit for the multitudes of people that have already established themselves in the district. It is tough realizing that it is nothing personal, it is just the nature of human interaction.

The "virtual data retreat" that we embarked on I took a look at the WKCE data for my district in reading, science and math. My district is very fortunate since it is over performing for its socioeconomic indicators. I can tell you with certainty it is because of good teachers teaching motivated students that have parents who are active in their child's education. The trifecta of student achievement is at work in my district and I am happy to be a part of it. We spend almost $200 more per student than the surrounding districts, and my district has ridiculously high property taxes to support such spending since the tax base is firmly blue collar. Yet, parents in my district have defeated every "tax payer alliance" or "citizens for fiscal responsibility" measure that has come to a vote. The community's dedication to education is unwavering. I am truly lucky to be where I am.

Week #1 in CEDO 565 - Leadership and Planning

There is light at the end of the tunnel!  CEDO 565 is the second to last class in the ME-IT at Cardinal Stritch and we'll be done by mid June (if all goes according to plan).  I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the masters program and have found it much more topical than other programs I have been a part of.  Speaking of topicality, I just found out last week that I was being tapped to become the new science department head at my school. CEDO 565 couldn't have come at a better time as I am a little freaked out about the idea of leadership where there is no formal power.  Our text book, How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader by John Gabriel, gives numerous examples in the first chapter of positions of authority that hold no formal power.  It also gives a few hints about what skills are needed to be successful in these situations. Lets hope that I can crib enough information from both the book and the class to be successful at my new position.

We have also done some leadership inventories as well as looked at a TED Talk about the future of Africa and how important education is to transforming life there.  It is a very powerful lecture and if you'd like to see it take a look below. It is well worth your time.

Weeks 3 & 4 in CEDO 555

This week we are putting together the foundations of our portfolios.  It has been amazing to look back on all of the stuff we have done.  It has been a great year and a half so far and I look forward to the next couple of steps in completing the course and portfolio.

In order to organize the portfolio we were asked to evaluate and choose a set of standards to base our portfolio around.  For me I choose the NETS*T from ISTE. ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education and the NETS*T are the National Education Technology Standards for Teachers.  These five standards give a great baseline that I can use to better guide my work on the portfolio.  You can read all about these standards at http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx

We have also been working on a pretty cool project to get our students into creating portfolios with technology.  I chose to create a project for my AP Physics students to create a portfolio that works with their reviewing of class material and provides them with proof that they learned college level physics in my class. It seems like such a win win, that I am a little embarrassed that I did not think of it before this point.  Thank fully we had this course to push me in the right direction. It will be fun to see the project in action next year.

Week #2 in CEDO 555

This week we are goal setting and laying the foundation for what our portfolios will look like.  I started putting together my digital portfolio at https://sites.google.com/a/wolfmail.stritch.edu/wilkinson-professional-portfolio/ Over the next few weeks I'll be putting together a portfolio of all of the work I've done in this masters program. I'm really looking forward to looking back on the last year and a half and see how much we have learned.

Here are the mission and vision statements I will be using for my portfolio (so far)

Personal Mission Statement

To stretch the school day for my students using technology so that students get personalized, targeted instruction that best meets their abilities and interests. I will do this by creating a web 2.0 site to structure my courses around. The complete overhaul of my 4 different classes will take approximately 4 years and will be done in collaboration with my fellow physics teacher, John Kozicke.

Vision Statement

A “flipped” student centered classroom using moodle

Imagine that it is the start of the 2016 – 2017 school year and you decide to step into my classroom. The students are working in small groups around the room.  Each group is working on a different aspect of the homework and are preparing to present their findings. Some students are using their iPads and laptops to double check the electronic text book for definitions. The text book is an electronic copy of course work and has been formatted in both ePub and PDF so some students are using PDF markup software to do their work electronically.  Other students are using the course website to listen to the lecture they were assigned online. These lectures have been made by me and use the skills and thoughts found at http://vodcasting.ning.com/ where I am a regular poster.  Another group of students are working on the class moodle website on the dynamic problems that change per user based upon skill level. I am working with all of the groups to coordinate the work and answer any questions that may arise. The course is completely student centered and meets the students where they are.

Week #1 in CEDO 555

This week we began looking into what an electronic portfolio looks like in the teacher education.  When looking around I was struck with how few portfolios are readily available on the web. I had thought that this assignment would be a piece of cake and that I would be swimming in examples in the matter of minutes. As it turns out e-Portfolios are rather closed off from public viewing. After some reflection I realized the wisdom in this.

A lot of the people making e-Portfolios are pre-service teachers. By having e-Portfolios easily visible to the world, the portfolios are not made in a way that the accrediting institution has any filter on what is put into said portfolio. This is a recipe for disaster as students in my generation tend to "over share". I can think of 2 examples of being on a hiring team, wanting to hire some one and doing a quick "facebook" check to see if they were posting to the world about teacher - inappropriate things that students could get into. Needless to say neither of these individuals were hired. I think it is smart that institutions do not let a professional portfolio go out into the world without oversight.

Here are four different examples of portfolios that I have found that might be useful for getting familiar with the whole portfolio as a professional development tool.

http://astralsite.com/eportfolio/index.html - This ePortfolio highlights her work not only in Education Technology, but also the business classes she has taught http://dennissteigerwalt1.efoliopa.com/employment  - This ePortfolio is used as an electronic resume for a professor who wants a position as a digital coordinator of portfolio work. Yes, this is a portfolio from a guy who wants to coordinate portfolios… http://people.senecac.on.ca/john.macbride/Site/Welcome.html - This ePortfolio is used to show case some design work of a professor in their classes. It edges the boundary of personal and professional portfolios, but the organization is top notch.

• https://lehmanedu.digication.com/topnoahberger/Independent_Learning - This ePortfolio is a more recent one that is used for a pre-service science teacher to show off what they have learned. It provides a more current example than those above.

In addition I have found a really good blog on issues of technology in education. Check it out if you have a couple of minutes:  http://schinker.wordpress.com/ 

Winter Break Update

It will be a couple of days before winter break starts, but I wanted to share a little project my physics classes have been working on. They have been trying to figure out the speeds, accelerations and forces involved in Mario Kart. They love the idea and after a little grumbling about why they have to take data and cannot just play, the students seem to really get into it.

Week #6 In CEDO 550

Well, another class down on the path to the MEIT. This week we examined the different legal issues surrounding the implementation of virtual schools. Act 222 of 2007 established boundaries about what virtual schools in Wisconsin could look like and how they could behave.  You can read the audit findings that were called for in the legislation here  It is some pretty interesting stuff.  Virtual education is a hot button issue and everyone is trying to control the game it seems.  As access becomes more and more common and technology infrastructure becomes cheaper and cheaper it would stand to reason that virtual education will only grow at an exponential rate. We need to be on our toes to make sure that the growth is not too fast and not too hindered by unnecessary restraints.  What ever happens I feel that I am a little bit more prepared due to this class and its focus on the "hows" of online education.