Follow the Leader
By, Kimberly Anglin
How could I possibly summarize my experience as an MAET student? What a journey it has been. Like many of my classmates, I decided to go back to school when my teaching certificate needed to be renewed. At the time, I was job hunting, working part-time as a substitute teacher, and I had a 3-month old daughter and a 4-year old son so I was very relieved to find out that Michigan State University had a degree that I could earn completely online. Gaining some knowledge about Educational Technology sounded like it could be beneficial to me as an educator and possibly help me get a teaching job. I finished the Educational Technology Certificate Program in June of 2012 which was perfect timing because that same month, I was offered a Pre-K/Kindergarten split class teaching position at Okemos Public Montessori at Central which is located in Okemos, Michigan. This meant, however, that I had to leave my job and instead, spend my entire summer attending Montessori training at the Michigan Montessori Teacher Education Center in Rochester Hills, Michigan which is eighty-five miles away from home. This was a big sacrifice for me and my family but there was not a doubt in my mind that it would be worth it.
Montessori training was very enlightening to me. I learned much more than I had originally anticipated and gained a very in-depth understanding of the development of children emotionally, physically, and intellectually. I observed and practiced giving lessons with the Montessori materials, read books and articles, wrote reports, shared my thoughts and ideas, took pictures, and created several portfolios and lessons of my own. I was, and still am, in awe of Dr. Maria Montessori’s experiences and accomplishments. However, attending training 40-hours each week for seven weeks made it very easy for me to get caught up in my studies. Learning so much in such a little amount of time didn't allow me a chance to take a step back and look at the big picture. How does all of this apply to me as an educator?
Montessori training was very enlightening to me. I learned much more than I had originally anticipated and gained a very in-depth understanding of the development of children emotionally, physically, and intellectually. I observed and practiced giving lessons with the Montessori materials, read books and articles, wrote reports, shared my thoughts and ideas, took pictures, and created several portfolios and lessons of my own. I was, and still am, in awe of Dr. Maria Montessori’s experiences and accomplishments. However, attending training 40-hours each week for seven weeks made it very easy for me to get caught up in my studies. Learning so much in such a little amount of time didn't allow me a chance to take a step back and look at the big picture. How does all of this apply to me as an educator?
As my training came to an end and the new school year drew closer, I made the decision to continue on with my Educational Technology courses online. Looking back, I’m not sure that it was the best decision considering I was starting my new teaching job as well but I wouldn't change it for the world. I worked harder and learned more the fall of 2012 than ever before. I was amazed at how much I was able to intertwine my Montessori training with my MAET coursework. This was true especially for CEP 800: Learning in School and Other Settings. My instructor was Danah Henriksen and with her encouraging feedback, she helped me become more confident with my ability to make references to Maria Montessori’s educational beliefs. This course is one I will never forget due to all of the artifacts I have to remember it by. Not just any artifacts though. Each and every one of them I put so much time and effort into. I started from scratch, meaning that I had no experience with any of the technology tools that we used in this course. Step by step, I learned how to use each tool to complete each assignment. One of my favorite assignments was called “Digital Storytelling.” and I used Windows Movie Maker to create a digital story. My very favorite assignment for this course was an audio interview assignment called “Understanding Student Understanding.” For this assignment, I had to record myself interviewing a student. The technology tool I used was Audacity. It was very tricky at first but once I got the hang of it, I could hardly peel myself off of it. My podcast turned out so well and I am very proud of my work. I have shared it with several people. This coming school year I plan to make audio interview podcasts of both my pre-k and kindergarten students at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year to help track their progress. I will put them on a CD for the parents to enjoy.
The other class I took the fall of 2012 was CEP 815: Technology and Leadership with William Cain, Joshua Rosenberg, and Nick Sheltrown. This was by far the most challenging course for me. It was extremely thought provoking and forced me to think critically to form my own opinions on various topics. This course made a large impact on me both as a student and a teacher. We studied John Hattie’s Six Factors of Influence on Student Achievement; the child, the home, the school, the curriculum, the teacher, and the approaches to teaching. I learned about the influences technology has on a child’s absorbent mind and came to realize that each of the six factors work hand-in-hand. Each one feeds off the other. If one falls short, the others are affected by it. If one is very successful, the others feel its positive repercussions. It was very interesting to learn about the factors that influence student achievement in this organizational fashion. I plan to take what I have learned and keep it in mind when planning lessons that involve technology, reading data reports, emailing newsletters home, and when I take my students to the computer lab.
My studies of John Hattie ended up being very useful at work. At our fall professional development day, we learned about John Hattie’s findings. I of course was so excited about this since I already had quite a bit of background knowledge about this. I ended up showing some of teachers the Prezi I made on this topic. They were pleased that I shared this with them and very excited to see a Prezi presentation for the first time too. This was one of the first times that I truly started to feel like a leader. It felt so good to be the one who was sharing my knowledge and skills with other adults rather than the other way around. I think this is one of the first times that many other teachers began thinking of me as someone who is extra knowledgeable in the area of technology.
It seems like every assignment I did in CEP 815: Technology and Leadership was memorable to me in some way or another. I will never forget a researching policy I wrote about class sizes because of the feedback I got on it. Joshua Rosenberg wrote, “This is an incredible effort on your part. In fact, you went above and beyond, and wrote a really good, scholarly paper.” He went into detail about areas of my paper that he agreed with and found interesting and even went so far as to quote part of my researching policy. His final comment was “Great work, Kimberly! This may be a good example for future students; I’ll inquire you in the future about this. Thank you for such diligent work.” I have never had someone use my work as an example for others. After reading this feedback, I continued to feel more and more like a leader so this is something I will never forget.
Instrumental versus missional thinking is a concept that we learned about in this course which has followed me around ever since. In courses to follow, the comparison became instrumental versus relational understanding. Either way, the introduction to the concepts of missional versus instrumental thinking and, missional versus relational understanding has changed my outlook on many aspects of education and played a key role in my MAET experience. I never used to analyze technology tools for their purpose and necessity. I now ask myself whether or not the the technology tool I’m using serves a purpose other than just using it because it’s present and available.
One article that I read in this course really seemed to sum up what I learned about leadership in this course. This article is called “Why Should Anyone Be Lead By You?” by, Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones. The article explains how a true leader selectively shows their weaknesses, relies on intuition and timing for their actions, shows tough empathy and reveals their differences. I found the entire article fascinating and believe it to be a true representation of the type of leader that I would like to follow and the type of leader that I would like to be. I say this with confidence because all leaders are not CEO’s and presidents of huge companies. Leaders are not found everywhere but they can be found anywhere. I believe my principal is a true leader but at the same time I believe the same thing about a fellow kindergarten teacher who mentors me. To be a true leader is quite an accomplishment but not an easy task. Not just anyone can be a leader. Many people can take on a leadership role and be in charge of many people but this does not necessarily mean that they are a true leader and therefore may not have many followers. Having a Master of Arts in Educational Technology will play a key role in the development of my own personal leadership skills.
My studies of John Hattie ended up being very useful at work. At our fall professional development day, we learned about John Hattie’s findings. I of course was so excited about this since I already had quite a bit of background knowledge about this. I ended up showing some of teachers the Prezi I made on this topic. They were pleased that I shared this with them and very excited to see a Prezi presentation for the first time too. This was one of the first times that I truly started to feel like a leader. It felt so good to be the one who was sharing my knowledge and skills with other adults rather than the other way around. I think this is one of the first times that many other teachers began thinking of me as someone who is extra knowledgeable in the area of technology.
It seems like every assignment I did in CEP 815: Technology and Leadership was memorable to me in some way or another. I will never forget a researching policy I wrote about class sizes because of the feedback I got on it. Joshua Rosenberg wrote, “This is an incredible effort on your part. In fact, you went above and beyond, and wrote a really good, scholarly paper.” He went into detail about areas of my paper that he agreed with and found interesting and even went so far as to quote part of my researching policy. His final comment was “Great work, Kimberly! This may be a good example for future students; I’ll inquire you in the future about this. Thank you for such diligent work.” I have never had someone use my work as an example for others. After reading this feedback, I continued to feel more and more like a leader so this is something I will never forget.
Instrumental versus missional thinking is a concept that we learned about in this course which has followed me around ever since. In courses to follow, the comparison became instrumental versus relational understanding. Either way, the introduction to the concepts of missional versus instrumental thinking and, missional versus relational understanding has changed my outlook on many aspects of education and played a key role in my MAET experience. I never used to analyze technology tools for their purpose and necessity. I now ask myself whether or not the the technology tool I’m using serves a purpose other than just using it because it’s present and available.
One article that I read in this course really seemed to sum up what I learned about leadership in this course. This article is called “Why Should Anyone Be Lead By You?” by, Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones. The article explains how a true leader selectively shows their weaknesses, relies on intuition and timing for their actions, shows tough empathy and reveals their differences. I found the entire article fascinating and believe it to be a true representation of the type of leader that I would like to follow and the type of leader that I would like to be. I say this with confidence because all leaders are not CEO’s and presidents of huge companies. Leaders are not found everywhere but they can be found anywhere. I believe my principal is a true leader but at the same time I believe the same thing about a fellow kindergarten teacher who mentors me. To be a true leader is quite an accomplishment but not an easy task. Not just anyone can be a leader. Many people can take on a leadership role and be in charge of many people but this does not necessarily mean that they are a true leader and therefore may not have many followers. Having a Master of Arts in Educational Technology will play a key role in the development of my own personal leadership skills.
One of the two courses I took over the fall of 2013 was CEP 820: Teaching K-12 Students Online with Andrea Zellner. This is a course that will follow me forever as well. The main objective was to create an online course. It could be strictly online or hybrid. It took me awhile to figure out what I was going to do because I teach kindergarten in a Montessori school. What this means is that not only are there no computers in the classroom for the children to use but they are also not part of the “Montessori Experience.” I chose to create a hybrid math course called Just Right Math for Kindergarten. It is for students to use in the computer lab and at home in order to review concepts in math that they have previously learned in class. It could also be used for students who want to look ahead and preview math concepts they had not yet been introduced to. In this course, I became incredibly familiar with Weebly and had a chance to use a variety of other technology tools such as Google forms as a way to keep track of student progress and Voki as a way to accommodate for students who cannot read.
It could not have worked out any better that the other course I took that fall was CEP 805: Learning Mathematics with Technology with Ralph Putnam. The major project for this course was to create an online math resource library consisting of useful resources for learning math. I named mine Just Right Math Resource Library and I created it using Weebly and linked it to my Just Right Math for Kindergarten website so now my students have access to all of those math resources as well.
It could not have worked out any better that the other course I took that fall was CEP 805: Learning Mathematics with Technology with Ralph Putnam. The major project for this course was to create an online math resource library consisting of useful resources for learning math. I named mine Just Right Math Resource Library and I created it using Weebly and linked it to my Just Right Math for Kindergarten website so now my students have access to all of those math resources as well.
CEP 805: Learning Mathematics with Technology, one of the concepts we focused on was instrumental versus relational understanding. This was important to consider when choosing effective online math resources for our resource library. When referring to the TPACK framework, my pedagogical knowledge had improved. I now consider whether or not I am teaching the content for an instrumental understanding or relational understanding. Are my students only understanding how to do the work or are they understanding why they are doing what they need to do to find an answer? I then use missional thinking when deciding how technology can enhance student learning. During my spring Montessori seminar, I thought about this concept and realized how much Maria Montessori believed in teaching for a relational understanding. Pencil and paper is the very last step when learning math in a Montessori classroom. Everything is done with concrete materials first. This way, by the time they get to where they are adding two-digit numbers, for example, they have a relational understanding as to why they are “carrying the one” rather than doing it just because that what you are supposed to do and not being able to explain why. My leadership skills truly shined at this Montessori seminar as I shared this with the class. The Montessori instructor was interested in the terminology I used. I could not believe that I was actually teaching my teacher!
I have truly appreciated the education I have and continue to receive during the MAET program for all it has to offer. The assignments have been worthwhile and impacted me on both a personal and professional level. Every class was a unique learning experience for me. Before beginning the MAET program, I was an average technology user. Now I am confident, experienced and resourceful in the area of educational technology. Through my courses, I have developed a Professional Learning Community which I can rely on for help and advice as I continue to develop my technology skills and blossom as a leader in educational technology.