Course Reflections

When I decided to apply for the superintendent certification program, I felt assured that I knew my strengths and weaknesses. Most of the assignments thus far have solidified my beliefs. However, there have been some surprises that I have learned about myself along the way. 

Self-Assessment

Countless years of teaching experience, training, presentations, mentoring, consulting, and leading have layered my path to become an instructional leader.  My confidence has always rested in my understanding of instruction and curriculum. Domain II – Instructional Leadership is an area of strength for me and I’m sure most educators. This is the natural leadership that develops over time. Domain I – Leadership of the Educational Community was also an area of strength. I feel that this domain developed during the years of my campus administration experience. In order to gain the trust of your staff, parents, students and community, the competencies in Domain I must be evident in your daily practice and interactions. Domain III- Administrative Leadership was my weakest domain. Now that I am at the central office level and view the district as a whole as opposed to looking through the campus lens, the puzzle pieces are beginning to form into a realistic picture. I look forward to learning more about the areas that I have yet to experience up close.

Blogs and Wikis

This was a new experience for me. A lot of my teachers and students used moodle and blogs in the classroom. I had seen how exciting and time-saving it was for teachers and students. However, I had not entertained the idea of using them as a campus leader. I always thought that I was tech-savvy, but apparently I have a lot to learn. Blogs and wikis have been around for longer that I had known. I need a lot more practice to go beyond the basics to appreciate their value.

Superintendent Interview

Interviewing our superintendent affirmed my thoughts about him. He is not a politician that speaks words that we all want to hear. He speaks what he believes and lives what he speaks. I have been in meetings with him numerous times but the interview truly made me proud to work in our district under his leadership. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and can almost always identify them. I believe that as we marry our experience with our knowledge and understanding, our old weaknesses become our strengths and our new weaknesses areas for growth. As I listened to his answers, I could identify areas that I assumed were always his strengths but in actuality were old weaknesses. How refreshing to know that our leader is real and truly cares about every aspect of our district. I am very fortunate to have him as a mentor.

Internship Plan

Reviewing the plan, makes me feel a bit overwhelmed and excited at the same time. This gives me the opportunity to explore areas of our district that I have always been interested in learning more about. There are a lot of activities that I will be able to implement at the same time or in the same setting. As a principal, we had to have a broad level of knowledge and experience in all aspects of leading a campus. Now, we have to gain knowledge and experience in all aspects of the district. It was interesting to read other people’s plans in the cohort. A lot of us chose the same activities and are weak in the same areas. It will be interesting to read about the various outcomes of our plans. Having a scheduled plan will certainly guide me through this process and keep me focused on the tasks at hand.

Additional Comments

I understand that everyone is busy in the spring and knew that I would be too, but taking a class while working in the Human Resource department has been a bit of a challenge this past five weeks. It was by far the busiest we had been all year. Every Tuesday night we had budget workshops or were at work until well past 9:00PM. Therefore, I did not get to join the web conferences and felt a bit disconnected. However, I have learned a lot during this budget crisis. Hopefully, we will not have to work such late hours now since our budget has been approved and many jobs have been restored. I look forward to seeing and/or hearing the people in our cohort.