The University of Lethbridge

Topic of the Day: Teacher Leadership

Housekeeping:

Assignments: Your next assignment "Annotated Bibliography" will not be due until October 19. This will allow you to work on this assignment.

Reading

Frost, D., & Durrant, J. (2003). Teacher leadership: Rationale, strategy
and impact. School Leadership & Management, 23(2), 173-186.

Background

In an attempt to "extend critical discourse [about teacher-leadership] through networking," (Frost & Durrant, p. 181) we are going to alter our course for a week to DO some discourse, hopefully "critical" through a new international network. Dr. Scott Walker, of Our Lady of the Lake University in Texas, and I have collaborated to offer y'all an opportunity to network about teachers as leaders. He is teaching a course called Leadership in Instructional Technology. The aim is to provide a mutual reading assignment and have you, with an American teacher partner or partners, engage in discussion and then "present" to both classes your outcomes in a newly created NiceNet class area we all have access to.

Module Activities:

Step 1. Join a new NiceNet class using this information:

http://www.nicenet.org
Class Name: EDUC5850/6372
Your Class Key: 282826E35
- Do so by going to the nicenet site
- Select "join a class"
- Enter the Class Key:
- You will then be asked to create a login and password. Please use your user name and password.
- Then you can go to nicenet and log on. You will be directed to the course.

Read the Frost & Durrant reading.

Step 2. Do this by Sunday, October 5.

In NiceNet, do the Icebreaker activity located in the Conferencing section. Post a new message describing for the two classes where you are right now.

Please use the Subject line: Icebreaker - Your name

Follow this protocol:

Name:
Current E-Mail address:
What I do (for a living):
Where I am:
Description of where I am now:

Reveal as much or as little about yourself as you see fit to allow others to get to know you. You must include your e-mail address for Step 3.

Step 3. Do this by Tuesday, October 7.
Quickly self-select an American partner or partners by emailing them. There are 12 American teachers and 17 of you, so there may be up to five groups of three (2 Canadians:1 Texan).

Step 4. Do this by Tuesday, October 7.

-Log in to NiceNet.
-Go to the Conferencing link.
-Add a new topic for your discussion area.
-Use this protocol as your topic name:
Your first name, last name initial; your partner's first name, last name initial.

Example: Scott W. and Lorraine B.

This will 'tell' the group what partnerships are already created. Establish, with your partner(s), who will be the "Reporter" for Step 6 below. Who will be the "Prompter" to prompt the group if things begin to lag. And, who will be the "Evaluator" to ask yourselves "How are we doing?"

Note: To make this overt, the business of establishing roles in small group learning comes straight from the text book on equal participation in collaborative K-12 learning. Actually, it comes straight from a paper An MTT student Carol Bielke wrote for EDUC 6377 that Dr. Walker is editing for publication with the Australian Journal for Education Technology. The notion serves the purpose of having group members equally share in the participation and responsibility of the group.

Step 5.
In your group's conference area discuss the reading and address two of the following items:

-Describe how teacher leaders are used in each of your schools. Give examples from each partner's school.

-Describe how teacher leaders can aid in facilitating technology-oriented change in schools. Use examples from your schools.

-Describe which framework component (Frost & Durrant, p. 183) you and your partner believe each of you could begin doing next week on your respective campuses.

Finally, in your conference area, do a quick group evaluation answering the Evaluator's question "How did we do in this group?" Do not report this back to the whole class though in Step 6.

Step 6. Do this by October 11.
In the Conferencing area, within the topic Whole Class Report Area, post your succinct responses to the items you selected and discussed in Step 5.

Read others' "reports" and comment where you see fit.

Step 7. Do this individually by October 12.
Send a candid five-minute message directly to me evaluating your group.

Note: There will be a tendency to immediately go to e-mail for discussions. Please resist this urge and work in your conferencing area in NiceNet so Dr. Walker and I can see your work. This is like 4th grade math where you must "show your work."

Note: This activity will replace what we were to do during this time frame. We'll pick up where we left off on October 12.

Note: Should you find your partner(s) do not participate, ask the members of another group if you may join them and then notify me of the change in groups.

Please be an active participant in your discussion with your American counterparts and demonstrate an active role in your learning.

Evaluation

If it is okay with y'all, I'll replace the next email activity (worth 5 pts.) with this activity.

You will receive the full 5 pts. if you:

Demonstrate an active role in your learning during this international exchange.
Demonstrate critical thinking regarding the items in Step 5.
Provide evidence or examples, as needed, to support your discussion results.
Complete all of the steps above, including step 7.

Created by Lorraine Beaudin, PhD (thank you to Scott Walker for resources)

University of Lethbridge, 2003