CEDO 565 - Week 4

To kick off the school year this year we had a speaker on being a leader and how everyone is in a leadership role whether they like it or not.  I have been thinking about some of the things the speaker stated and how they relate to what we are learning in this class on leadership.  I have realized I am comfortable being the leader in my classroom and in a few of the committees, but the administrative leader talked about in our book, How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader, is a role I am not striving to take on.  I have learned throughout this course that, although I have had administrators that I felt were ineffective, I need to realize the struggles they are going through as well.  Not only do they have be accountable for test scores, budget, student behaviors, etc, but they also have to work to create a positive working environment.  Creating an environment where all employees feel welcomed, appreciated, and work well together is nearly impossible.  I did enjoy reading the tips given in our book on ideas the administrator could do in order to validate teachers.  I really liked the idea of performing simple tasks for the teacher (like making copies) in order to help free up some of their time and make them realize that you understand they have a lot to do.  Overall, I am learning a lot about how to be an effective administrators, but I am not sure it is a role I will want to take on in the near future.