Class Reflection

Roberta Rowe had an abundant amount of great information.  I really appreciated hearing about all the technology that is our there and how students are using it.  It is important to keep updated with all of this, such as Facebook, Twitter, blogging, texting, etc.   When we are in administration we need to know the appropriate actions to take when we are faced with "cyber bullying" and/or "sexting".  It can be frustrating because things may seem a little backwards in the sense that kids know more than adults about some of this technology stuff.  It is because of this that it is important that as adults we keep up to date on what is out there.  If it wasn't for this class I probably would have never taken the time to figure out what twitter was or even how to blog, and yet kids do it all the time.

I enjoyed listening to Dr. Hauser on effective meetings.  Some meetings just never felt effective nor efficient, yet we were doing what we were suppose to do by having an agenda to keep the meeting going.  After listening to Dr. Hauser about what a good agenda should look like, it began to make sense why some of our meetings did not flow.  The planning before the meeting is just as important as the meeting itself and should probably take a lot longer than the meeting. I will definitely keep her sample to use in future meetings.

The last part of the day was spent reviewing expulsion and suspensions.  This was eye opening to hear of the "big 5"  which are mandatory expulsions.  The pamphlet was very helpful and will definitely by useful in the future.

Trust #7

As I read this chapter I began to reflect on my relationships that I have with family and coworkers.  I found that when you are building a healthy and positive relationship, trust naturally builds.  I like the simple things that this chapter presented when building positive relationships. I also took note to the suggestions to avoid betrayal and perceived betrayal.  The one I really liked was to listen more than you speak.  I think many times we want to solve problems or do what we feel is right. I think when that happens we forget to listen to our staff and their needs or we listen and do not follow through. This can definitely feel like a betrayal of trust.

Continuous Renewal #6

This chapter couldn't have come at a better time.  At this point in my life I am trying to incorporate balance in my life.  I know many of us have our plates very full with finishing up our master's, credential, teaching, coaching, being a mom/dad, wife/husband, etc.  As I read this chapter I started to reflect on what I should change about myself to help find this balance.  I remember a service I went to that talked about two people. The first person always took on everything that people would ask of him.  He was doing so much that he ended up not finishing all the things that was asked of him and had not done some of the things to his best ability.  The second guy did not take on everything and knew how and when to say "no".  However, he was able to finish what he had agreed to do and had time to go ahead and help out with what he first had said no to.  I think that finding balance in your life also has to do with learning how to only take on what you can physically and emotionally handle.  

Competence #5

If a leader frames "I don't know that" as a catalyst for action rather than an excuse, people will join him in the quest at hand.

This section was very interesting for me as I aspire to be an administrator one day.  I think that will be scary and intimidating to be in a new position.  However, this section helped me see that it is fine to not know all the answers, but to not use it as an excuse and try to find the answer.  I think you can still be respected even though you don't know all the answers.  It stuck out to me when the book said to "listen, observe, reflect, analyse, find mentors, make mistakes, spend the time it took to learn from the mistakes, and make the necessary changes".  It is comforting to know that these are things you can do when you are starting something new and do not know all the answers.  I think it is easier to admit you don't know and figure it out, rather than try to fake it.