CEDO599 Final Post

Well it has been a long journey but a fun one. I have learned a lot of new technologies and techniques that I look forward to continuining to implement in my classroom. I am very happy how my final project turned out and I look forward to the rewards and challenges I will face with implementation.

I just don't know what to do without my Tuesday meetings anymore!!!

CEDO 599 Week Two

My project is going along quite well as I continue to build and compile lectures and activities for students. I have set a variety of different areas on the websites, like a folder system, for students to access the information. The one thing that I am struggling with now is the limitations that I have been presented. I continue to find and think would be really cool for the students, but I am very limited in what I am able to do. In the end, I hope that I will have the ability to get everything my students need.

I am going to continue working on setting up my message board and response question area because this is the important area that I will be able to monitor what the students have learned and where to progress with new lessons and ideas. I am very confindent that I am on the verge of mostly wrapping this up for implementation in the fall.

CEDO 599 Week One

Overt the past few days, I've sat down and really tried hammering out my goal and final course project for this program. My goal is as stands

1. To research and implement Microsoft Sharepoint for all Introduction to Engineering Students.
2. To train students how to use Microsoft Sharepoint as the main online delivery model for course materials, documents, and presentations.

Over the past few days, I have went through a lot of frustration of working with Microsoft Sharepoint, because the program is more catered to a business environment. Educators need to alter their means of delivery to make the program work efficiently. Additionally, there has been a variety of restrictions placed on the program by our district coordinators that doesn't allow me to push the envelope and provide the students the education they deserve. Fortunately by working with them and offering suggestions, I have created a course environment that I believe will be fitting for all of my Introduction to Engineering students. Over the next few days/weeks, I will continue to look at the variety of options that the program offers and find better ways to improve my educational model for delivery.

CEDO 565 Week Six

Leadership is a position that I believe will always be an evolving field. With new technologies, ideologies, and challenges that leaders are presented with, new leaders will rise up to the occasion and show their talents. I believe that this course has help reassure me that a leader is a driven individual that can make the difficult choices that will positively affect their group or organization. While this decisions will most definetly be difficult and challenged, a leader has a true vision on what the task will complete at the end.

Teacher leadership is in a realm of its own. By being a good teacher leader, one must possess the traits of balancing an effective, highly engaging classroom with the offset of being vocal and particpating in school run activities. It is important for teachers to speak up and let their voices be heard on any issue that affects the school climate.

I don't believe my position on leadership has really changed, just reassured. I am confindent and well aware of the struggles that myself and other peer teachers will continue to face when fighting for leadership. It is important to take hard action towards your goals as a leader and associated yourself with the right people that will help you complete your goals. By improving education within, educators will continue to provide programs and activities for students that will better prepare them for the future and provide a welcoming environment for all individuals entering.

CEDO 565 Week Five

This week's lesson and in class activities were very reassuring. Whenever I have tried leading something, whether it be a meeting, a club, or an organization, there have always been tough cookies to deal with. I would try different approaches, ask them what they would like to see incorporated, and let them participate in the logistics. Unfortunately, some individuals are still going to resist the idea of change. I know in the simulation, we continually tried to incorporate the people that were against new ideas so we could pull them along the way. It was obvious that they individuals weren't going to agree to anything that was going to occur. What I learned through this simulation is teaming up invididuals who resist change with influential leaders can produce positive results, but incorporating a array of individuals, including students, community members, and leaders will result in an agreeance by everyone on the idea of change.

By teaming up a variety of parties, students, parents, and leaders, it is much easier to implement new ideas into the school setting. When our school first started to implement our Project Lead the Way program, pre-engineering, there were many people resistant to change (principals and core subject area teachers). Part of the problem was when our department first tried implementing the program, we went at it with only our department, not including the community, fellow teachers, and the administration. After numerous headaches from people resisting the program, we starting including other teachers and administration members. We took these teachers and administrators into different schools so they could see the program being implemented. After hearing and seeing the success stories of the program, our administration decided to run with the program, which has been a great success since its implementation. If we wouldn't have stepped back and added the administration and fellow teachers, we may have not had the program implemented at all.

CEDO 565 Week Four

This weeks' activities were very interesting and definitely showed a variety of benefits and struggles when placed in a leadership role. The simulation that we did in class was a difficult challenge because many of us haven't been put in that leadership role and don't know where we should be aiming our vision. I think it is important to understand that as a leader in an organization, there will be difficult individuals that will not conform to new ideas. Leaders can try and try to change that individuals mindset, but wasting too much time on that one person could be a downfall for the whole system. As a group we wasted a lot of time and resources to convince one person when that effort could have been spent better elsewhere. It is difficult to grasp this concept, but as a leader it is important to notice this to ensure a smooth implementation of change.

As for the other individual activity, it was fun to think about the morale of our school. Right now, we are finishing up the end of the year in which we are in negotiations for a contract that haven't went anywhere, just had a new schedule jammed down our throat which resulting with us teaching more classes, and the whole stress of finishing grading and packing as our school is getting remodeled. It is important as a leader to constantly praise the individuals involved to pick up their morale even in the hardest times. Great leaders offer praise whenever possible to keep everyone set on the vision of the school or organization.

CEDO 565 Week Three

This weeks' work comes at a very difficult time of the year, end of school. With all of the headaches and complaining students, I had to find time to complete all the coursework for this course. When looking at the activities this week, I really was intrigued when reading about the Millenials. There is a new bread of individuals entering the educational/business work place. These millenials, myself include are doing this different than many individuals in the past and we are willing to try new and innovative ideas. While many times these tries will result in failure, the millenial aged individuals are willing to learn from these lessons and make changes. I tried and failed miserably many times on new lessons and projects in my class. But after taking careful, detailed notes, I was able to make changes to make the lesson successful for future implementation. These changes, combined with all the technological abilities we are now presented with, will continue to shape our educational setting over the next twenty years.