Curriculum Relevance

I have been a curriculum writer for our World History classes for the past three years. What I have been able to pick up through this class and through the reading has changed many previous misconceptions that I had regarding the makeup of that curriculum. The realization that all curriculum should be written to fit the population of the school has been an extremely positive change to what will be in the curriculum in the future.

Also, the idea presented in the readings this week refer to the idea of schools being people and not programs is something that I had spent much time in thought over in the last five years of my 15 years of teaching. It brings to mind the idea that we can put as much effort into new ideas and thoughts, but all that we come up with must make its way to the person at the end of the line...the student. My action research on motivational techniques utilized by administrators and teachers will be an enjoyable one for me. I look forward to analyzing ideas of veteran teachers and comparing those with the ideas of new teachers, and through comparison and contrasting methods, coming up with something that can be collaboratively shared with all shareholders in the educational life of students.

Blogging

Blogs have many amazing uses for an educational leader.  The opportunity for educators to use the blogs as a central location for new ideas is primary. Many educators come up with brilliant ideas and often use any piece of paper to jot down those ideas down. With the ability for smartphones to tap into the internet from anywhere in the world, anybody, including educational leaders, can tap into their blog and record great ideas. Blogs are also an easy way to get students practice their writing skills in a journal format. Many students love to type on a computer more than they love to write by hand.  Students using the blogs can share their ideas with friends while practicing their writing skills.  The blog provides both teachers and students ready access to each others ideas. Furthermore, blogging gives people a chance to capture images to help tell their stories or ideas in multiple formats, from different angles. Blogging is a limitless opportunity of shared collaboration between administrators and teachers, teachers and students and even parents and the educational community.