Final Reflection
In my first course with Johns Hopkins, I learned a great deal about my self and my approach to leadership. Not everything that I learned was good, but almost all of it transformed me in ways that I did not even know were important. As we progressed through the class, we examined a wide variety of leadership strategies and methods that can be used to support school and student achievement. The most challenging aspect of school leadership, in my opinion, is that in order to be an effective leader, administrators need to be students of and constantly analyze leadership theory and practice. It...
read moreFitzjarrald – Self-Assessment
This past week, I took a 21 point self-assessment to determine my strengths in areas of leadership. Within the first minute of the assessment, I could tell exactly where my strengths and weaknesses were, but it took me almost a week to digest them. The most striking discovery was that I am considerably weaker in areas that lead to increased student acievement (according to Fig 4.2, p. 63 of Marzano). Over and over again, I was marking myself low in areas of Situational Awareness and Flexibility. Some of this is definately tied to my own self-image as a young educator (which I can tell by my...
read moreFitzjarrald – Transformational Leadership
I believe that transformational leadership can be used to instigate change at all levels of education administration and leadership. Transformational leadership is the ability to enhance a follower’s morale and motivation. This type of leadership can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, but always focuses on improving the situation and innate potential of the followers. A leader can best integrate transformational leadership by focusing on four distinct areas: Individualized Consideration, Intellectual Stimulation, Inspirational Motivation, and Idealized Influence. I like to think of...
read morePost 1: Out of Our Minds… (part 1)
For the past few years, I have considered Sir Ken Robinson my professional hero. I still remember the first time I saw his TED talk (the 2005 version): It just so happened that I was in a training about classroom differentiation and the need to engage students creative passions, which is an issue that he continues to provide his expertise on. This past week, I had the privilege of seeing Sir Ken in person at the keynote for ISTE 2012. I really enjoyed his portion of the Keynote, Sir Ken is an excellent speaker! The only problem with the keynote was that he was part of a panel and did not...
read moreEntering the Stratosphe
Well, it is official, I am here at ISTE 2012 in sunny San Diego. The official convene slogan is: Expanding Horizons, but that really translates into “mind blowing shit.” On my first day at the conference I was lucky enough to be invited to the annual Leadership Symposium. In true conference form, my horizons were blown. The keynote facilitator of the symposium was author and educational leader, Michael Fullan. In his opening remarks, Michael explained to educators from 22 countries his idea and research behind the “stratosphere.” The Stratosphere is a new term that...
read more