Week 11 Reflection

This week I continued practicing my leadership skills.  Over the past couple of weeks I have really been thinking about the readings.  Part of being a good leader is listening.  I do a lot of leading but do I do much listening?  This question has been on my mind lately.  This week I really worked on the relationship and listening aspects.
Some exciting news- the superintendent brought two students from Yale by my room to observe my students “making”.   The superintendent is having the Yale students create a mobile maker space and she wanted them to get some ideas.  I also got the 2nd grade team on board for a grade wide spring Maker Day that I planned last summer.  The superintendent was also really supportive and said it could be the launch of the district’s mobile maker space.  Exciting!
Some boring news - I am taking the lead on designing our schools new report card.  This has involved lots of work this year. I probably should have made this my mentor project.  This week I had 3 meetings.  The first meeting involved meeting one on one with the district’s gradebook official. During this meeting I gathered as much information as I could and discussed possibilities.  Almost all of the teachers had expressed a desire in having our report cards simplified for parents so I ran a couple of possibilities by the district office.   Once I got the ok from the district office I created several different draft layouts by combining what the teachers wanted but at the same time making sure it was in line with the district’s guidelines.  The 2nd meeting involved meeting with a committee which was made up of leaders from each grade level and the principal.  At this meeting I presented the drafts and asked for feedback.  Based on their recommendations I did some minor adjusting.   The 3rd meeting involved the entire teaching staff.  During this meeting each grade level looked at the drafts and again offered feedback.  The principal then sent our draft to the other schools.