In my original post for LRNT 525 titled Leadership reflections, I focused on the qualities I felt a leader needed:
– To be fair-minded, supportive, and honest
– Adaptability
– Knowledge of technology and willingness to learn
Within these I clearly saw specific qualities that I have seen good leaders have and ones that I knew poor leaders had lacked. I have been very fortunate to have worked with some fantastic leaders who have led by example and were just wanting to do all that they could to allow their teams to be successful. It is from those fantastic experiences that inspired my list.

Now at the end of our 9 week course, I still feel that the same qualities are important, but they are not the only ones that I think of, especially if it is a leader trying to bring change into an environment. Leading change is very difficult, especially if there is any resistance to it. Being clear and concise when explaining why things are happening and what the desired outcome is. Allowing opportunities to collaborate and ideally question what is happening and why can be so beneficial to getting everyone on board. Being clear with what the end goal is, so it is easy to see where we are heading and how to get there. Really, it is all about being clear, honest, adaptable, and reliable. As a leader, showing those qualities will allow you to make an impact.

In my current setting, I can lead change in a few ways. As a classroom teacher I have the opportunity to introduce new ideas, content, technology, or topics with my class on a daily basis. I try to go into each lesson being honest about my knowledge and comfort level of the content, this allows me students to see that at times I am learning right alongside them. I also have the opportunity to be working with a student teacher this year, which allows me to lead her in building the beginning foundation of what type of teacher she will be at the end of her program. Making it clear that we don’t need to know everything all the time has allowed her confidence to grow and her to take more risks with what she is willing to teach. At my current school, there are four of us teaching the same grade level and I often have the opportunity to lead our team in professional development in technology and specific curricular areas. This allows our team to work together to develop resources or content to support out students. Since I am more comfortable using technology than several colleagues, I also take on a technology leadership position within my school where I am always to go to person for any issues. This has allowed colleagues and students to see me as someone who is willing to help, but also teach them how to do things with technology.

After completing my MALAT program, I hope that I am able to maintain the drive to stay current on technology and use that to further my understanding more. Although I love being a classroom teacher, it may be fun to take on one of the technology positions within my district to help develop new courses, or training, or even help bring in new ideas into the district. I am someone who isn’t set on just one path moving forward and I am excited to see what happens next.