My aha--Jason McLaughlin

One thing I am taking away from this weekend is the importance of getting insight from people you can trust or have experience before you make a final decision on a situation.  I can see that as you gain experience you could rely on others a little less, however, you should always keep an open mind when you make administrative decisions.  Sleeping on things before you make a decision seems like a good idea.  I heard so many options that I had not thought about for situations today and yesterday. When I heard others express their view/concern I could understand where they were coming from.  Getting insight on a situation is a good idea. Ultimately the decision must be made by you as the administrator and you must stand by your decision.  I am going to definitely ask for insight as I gain my professional experience in administration though.

Ah-ha for 10-11

It seems every class in this program we tend to get in to discussions about about poor administrators and teachers. It truly is amazing how many poor teachers and administrators there are in Illinois and Iowa, and I assume every other state in the United States. I am amazed that they are allowed to continue to keep their jobs even though everyone around them knows they are not doing their job. In a discussion with several other people last night they brought up the fact that in no other major job market is there something like tenure which ensures someones job. One person for example who works for John Deere stated that if they had someone who was not doing their job like they were supposed to would be fired no matter if they had worked for 6 months or 6 years. So I guess my ah-ha is to ask when and where did tenure originate? I wonder why no other profession has something so similar, yet something so important as educating children does.

Ah-Ha from 10/11

Since we have a ten minute break and I was able to get onto the blog, I thought I would share my "Ah-ha" moment from the first class session on Saturday.

When my group was discussing the case studies, the first case study gave five scenarios for hiring a new math teacher within two weeks.  I discovered that my original answers indicated that I was thinking too much like an administrator. My discussion group both felt hiring the high school teacher was the best option, and I had disagreed.  When I examined why, I decided it was because the principal at the high school "didn't want to lose him."  What??  Was that why?  What am I - in some old boys network where I am avoiding conflict with a colleague instead of making sure the teachers are happy so they do their jobs more effectively.  If the high school teacher wants to move, and I DON'T let him, he may file a grievance (in some districts) because he is already an employee and kind of has "dibs" on any jobs that come up in the district over an outside like the professor's wife, who was my original first choice.  I have officially changed my mind and I think I agree with my teammates. :)

Jennifer R.

New Posts for EDL 522

Here is where you will post your comments and reflections. I hope you enjoy the class.