but if he/she does not have a plan in place to prove to people that joining this new initiative will be worthwhile, then the leader will have a difficult time motivating his/her team. A solid plan has room to be flexible when unexpected results or events occur. It also provides a firm ground for moving forward with the initiative as well as maintaining momentum.
Being a leader with a plan builds trust between the leader and his/her team because they know the direction and can see the progress being made. And when team members trust their leader, they feel more comfortable implementing the initiative and encouraging others who maybe more pessimistic to get on board and join the movement.
All of these thoughts and considerations stemmed from an assignment which had learners elaborate on methods of implementing change when the change is not overly accepted by many staff members. The 'Positive Change' assignment really made me think about how I as a leader would respond to negativity towards an initiative. Many new initiatives proposed by school boards are met with pessimism. So, this activity really has merit. I think a solid plan with clear indications of the how, when, who, and why of it can change a lot of negativity in to optimism. It seems more and more expectations are placed on teachers to boost the school's EQAO results and produce evidence of how we plan on getting students to levels 3 & 4 as well as evidence of them achieving these levels. And in the case of those not achieving, we are again expected to prove how we plan to get them there the second, third, fourth time around. If most of this planning is in place for teachers when a new initiative is set out, then I think more teachers would be willing to get involved and take a risk in their own practice. The 'Positive Change' assignment really challenged me to consider the possibility of having to garner support when there may not be a whole lot.
Many of my colleagues have expressed ideas and initiatives implemented in their schools, which has provided me with some insight to possibilities for my school. The discussions between colleagues has provided me with a solid basis for which to begin establishing a technology team with in my school. The examples of assignments and tasks developed by my peers has given me an excellent starting point for implementation. I can now share these ideas with others in my school to determine who would be interested in integrating technology in to their programming, in hopes that our example will encourage, inspire, and/or motivate others to do the same, just as I have been by my colleagues in this course.
I am interested in gaining some more insight in to establishing a BYOD program at my school. I think it is imperative that we consider the possibilities of such an implementation, considering that many of our students have their own devices. And, knowing jobs and professions rely more and more on technology, especially the devices and programs that allow for collaboration, it will be necessary for our students to have a solid understanding of the power of electronic devices as well as the proper etiquette.
