Final Reflection

Many of the conversations and discussions that I have had over the course of this practicum, are an extension of the conversations that I have been having over the last couple of years. Discussing with challenges, successes, and opportunities in education. Although the emphasis was on educational technology, technology is a tool, that when incorporated effectively, changes the pedagogy. The fact that these discussions were similar to our normal day to day interactions helped me realize that educational leadership is not about a position or title within the school. My greatest fear when I started this practicum was that I would alienate my "teacher" colleagues by aligning myself with the "leadership" group. As I wrote in one of my earlier reflection I have always been fearful of saying I was interested in leadership. This practicum process helped me redefine what it means to be a leader in education. It does not have to mean that you are the principal or the superintendent. My new definition is that of a person that has a desire to improve the education of our students and takes action to make the necessary changes. There are educational leaders embedded throughout our school. Each emphasizes different elements of educational change that they are passionate about. There are many areas that have a teachers leading change within our school. For example some teachers drive changes in assessment and some influence how we view literacy across content areas.

Although formally I have finished my practicum, this process of change is ongoing. These conversions about education and the role of technology will continue over the next school year, as they were prior to the start of my practicum. To me this practicum has been a success. It has advanced understanding of where we want to go in terms of educational technology, and has helped people see the effectiveness of allowing students the freedom to show their understanding in a variety of ways. The largest measure of success for me is seeing the engagement of teachers in this process of change. When teachers want to share the work that their students are doing they are genuinely excited. I also feel another important factor in the success of this practicum was the way that we shifted the focus from issues and problems of educational technology to success, this change in attitude is critical to see successful pedagogical changes. I look forward to continuing the discussions with this group over the next school year, and continue my role as an educational leader within my school.