My Final Reflection for the Leadership and Technology EDCI 325 Course

Way back in January (which seems like forever ago!), I wrote my first blog about the traits of leaders I have admired throughout my life and career. I wrote about how there wasn't just one person who stood out, but the characteristics of many that made the impact. My list of traits included being approachable, leading by modeling, and demonstrating empathy by using their own experiences to connect with teachers and the struggles they face.  In my second blog post, I wrote about what I would like to become as a leader; I said that "I want to be transparent in my 'why' first and then my 'how.' I want people to feel that I am approachable and that I understand what they are going through and what they might need. I want to be "followed" because of what I do and not because of a title."  

As the semester progressed, I had the unique opportunity to watch my school leaders tackle the tough job of addressing and dealing with the COVID-19 virus and all of the changes it brought to the world, in life and school. This was NOT an easy undertaking, yet my administrators handled it with professionalism and grace, all while considering the impacts on the staff AND the families and students of our school. I was able to hear about the differences in leadership styles between the schools within our district. The principals at my school were cognisant of "long term" needs as well as the immediate. They didn't share all information at once, because not all of it was necessary and some of it was most likely going to change. This was a welcome approach by the staff. Not all schools in the district followed this approach, and that led to some doubling back by others as they realized the information shared was changing or had changed before it even happened. Basically, by sharing too much information, all schools had to do extra legwork to reexplain expectations and what was going to happen as schools prepared for remote learning.

The idea of being a leader has not been something I ever thought I wanted to be. That has changed over the past few months. Let me explain. For the past five years or so, I have been using ClassDojo as a tool to communicate with families and to provide positive reinforcement and incentives to my students for choosing to be upstanding school citizens. After the first year or two, ClassDojo reached out and asked me to become the "mentor" at our school, basically, the teacher leader. I accepted the responsibility without really knowing what it meant; all I thought of was that I would be there to help other teachers in my school who were using ClassDojo and needed help. I did not try to push ClassDojo on others, except for my teammate. I didn't want to be seen as pushy, and I was happy to keep doing what I was doing without making a fuss over it. As the configuration of my grade level changed, and we became a team of 4 teachers who shared all the students, I introduced ClassDojo to the rest of the team and brought them on board. I helped them set up classes, learn how to post to the parents as a group, and how to send private messages, as well as troubleshoot issues that inevitably popped up. I knew that some other teachers in the school were using ClassDojo, so I sent an email just to let them know I was here if they needed anything. Through all this, I still never thought of myself as a "leader." 

Fast forward to March, and things changed. Now that we were going to be working remotely, LOTS of teachers ended up hearing about ClassDojo from other teachers as well as administration. I was given permission to post on behalf of the school (only admins and the ClassDojo mentor can do this), and I offered to keep track of who was joining ClassDojo. As of now (May), all but one grade level (K-6) is using ClassDojo, even the interventionists and Unified Arts teachers are on board to help stay connected to students and families. The emails asking for help started to roll in. 

One thing I realized early in the transition to remote learning was that I was genuinely enjoying the work I was doing to help otherS. In turn, other teachers started to reach out for tech support that was not related to ClassDojo. I was getting questions about using Google Classroom, uploading videos or audio, etc. Not only was I providing this help to adults but also to all of the 6th-grade students. I was creating tutorials (both video and through google docs) and trying to troubleshoot issues online. I realized that I was becoming a leader, and it was happening just as I hoped. People were coming to me because they knew I WANTED to help. I don't have the title of leader, but I am showing that I am approachable and willing to do what I can to help others. This is the first step towards what I would like the next phase of my career to be, as an Educational Technology Specialist. 

I am one of those teachers who is enjoying teaching from home. I thrive through the use of technology to teach; I enjoy the small group work with students and the fact that, even though we aren't physically together, I can still have an impact on their learning. This semester has not only given me to tools I need to start becoming a leader but has also given me experience in being a leader. Most importantly, I know that not only do I WANT to be a leader, I CAN be a leader.