This week has been challenging. Governor Walker's budget repair bill, the media surrounding it, and the emotional roller coaster in my school building has left me exhausted. I think I've progressed through the four of the five stages of grief this week. Am wondering if and when acceptance will come...I feel defeated and frightened.Throughout this past week, I spent a considerable amount of time considering what leadership role I should take on the 7th grade floor and within my building. I decided to keep my cool, as I wanted to attack on facebook and scream from the rooftops, and speak privately with most of my focus on listening to others vent. I cyberlobbied and made phones calls to Madison to voice my opinion and spent obscene amounts of time following the news as well as reading articles forwarded by colleagues and e-mails from WEAC. As the protesting in Madison intensified so did my emotions. The doer part of me feels guilty for not being in Madison, protesting with my state-wide colleagues. But, I know that doing the job I'm dedicated to in the classroom is important.
This week's readings of Chapters 2 and 3 from How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader left me wondering how I can influence future hirings in our building and be an active participant in the interview process. One line from "Chapter 3: Interpersonal Leadership" especially struck me. "[Leaders] need to know their teachers well enough to determine when they truly feel passionate about something versus when they are annoyed." I feel that too often, and especially this week as our passion boiled over, administration viewed our emotions as annoyance when in fact it was much deeper than that. This led to a few confrontations. I've always felt it important for leaders to know their colleagues; this week further reinforced my conviction. In "Chapter 2: Strategic Leadership," Gabriel stated the importance of getting a feel for applicants' work ethics, "seeing how willing they are to sponsor activities not attached to stipends." With the state of education in flux, this statement holds a lot of water....I'll just leave it at that.
As I make my way through the Review Guide to Using Data in School Improvement Efforts, I've been struck by a couple of things. One, is the importance of USING data as "evidence of student learning." We've begun to collect data in our district from benchmark tests but have yet to DO anything WITH the data. Second, "schools that are committed to using data to guide their work allocate time for teachers to meet, discuss, reflect upon data, and make informed instructional decisions." I'm waiting for this to happen but am not holding my breath! I've tried to "lead" by speaking with my direct administrator as well as department chairs about frustrations with how we're collecting data and what we're doing with it to no avail. As I continue into through the guide, I have a feeling I will run across many more items of interest to share with leadership. Sharing via a document such as this is non-threatening and non-confrontational, a bit unlike me, but the right path to take.
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd."
-Voltaire
-Voltaire
