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.