Leadership in IT Development

Recently I had to design a half day PD session for my school. The age and size of people might be different but there are a lot of similarities and characteristics of professional practice that I believe we are naturally able to do as teachers. It is important to remember that we are not there to lecture, we are facilitators of knowledge. No one wants to go and listen to someone ramble on for 2 hours. Our role can be seen as an attentive listener and "co-learner". As a leader I know that I don't know it all and it is important for those around me to see that I to am vulnerable, looking for answers but not afraid to say so! My continued learning journey will be by learning from others around me, from my own teachers/principals/mentors and from my students and staff. I know that I am surrounded by really articulate and knowledgeable people at my school. I am excited to move forward as a tech leader within my school and work in partnership with this crew! Recently, I have been reading the works of Amy Edmondson and some excerpts from her book "The Fearless Organization". I think it is helpful to look at each of these zones when planning any leadership opportunities.

Leadership in Program Implementation

As I continue this learning journey through my IICT Specialist AQ I am reminded the role of "leader" encompasses many hats. I am a leader in my classroom first and I am working towards being a leader with not only my current staff but potential newbies to school. It wasn't that long ago that I was a new teacher. So much to learn in what felt like so little time. I was constantly amazed at the wonderful work that was being done in the classrooms around me and the knowledge and creativity of my fellow teachers. I was fortunate enough that I had a wonderful mentor. In his "spare" time he was a Sergeant in the Reserves of the Canadian Forces and he had a true passion for Science and all this tech. What a score for me. He was patient and kind and shared resources and much needed guidance. Over this Distance Learning period I have been thrown into more digital tools that I ever thought I would utilize or to be honest, enjoy using. I am thankful that I had such a mentor to plant that seed so that when the time came I was open and willing to dive in and explore a different way of teaching and learning. I really believe that it important to share with and support those around us, whether it be our students, our fellow teachers or our parents.

Some beginning thoughts...

Well, I wasn't sure I was going to do this course this summer. I decided to do my Part 2 during Distance Learning thinking I would have the time....lesson learned! My rationale was that I wanted to complete what I had started and in fairness I was still in that frame of mind of developing programs and activities online for my students next year. Next year....is not really in the distance future as much. It is right around the corner and we are going to have to be ready for anything. Leadership is about being informed, intuitive and flexible enough to take on what might come in the future. For me, I am looking forward to continuing to be creative. I have been more creative in these last few months than I have in a long time. To be honest it has been so tiring but invigorating at the same time (does that even make sense?). I am looking forward to further developing the resources and strategies from IICT Part 1 & 2 to create a solid leadership path in my IICT - Specialist.