Key Area 4

"The true aim of everyone who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions, but to kindle minds."
Fredrick W. Robertson

The study of organizational change fascinated me. I had never read or studied anything like it, but I found truth in much of what I read and discussed in class. When I first took my transition and change management class, Platte High School was in the process of switching to block scheduling, and the information resonated with me. Now as I look back at my materials for this class, I see how much it pertains to our upcoming consolidation with the Geddes school district. It just goes to show you that while death and taxes are certainties in this life, so is change.

Organizational Transition Plan

A recurrent theme in my portfolio is the satisfaction I derived from being allowed by my professors to take what I'd learned and apply it to my own situation as a teacher. You will notice that two of my artifacts for this portfolio relate to the implementation of block scheduling, This has been one of the major organizational transitions that I have faced while working on my degree, and projects like the organizational transition plan helped me synthesize the new situation I found myself in.

Platte Elementary After School Program

I did my internship fairly early in my program for a very important reason. I was pregnant and knew if I needed to put some extra hours, I should get that done before the baby arrived. Since I was already working full-time, I wasn't sure how I was going to get into the elementary school to work with those kids. I finally approached the director of our after school program. I proposed that we add a computer activity to her schedule once a week. I would be in charge of all development and implementation. She was always looking for something new and was pleased with the suggestion. I also asked if we could include some classes for middle school so I would have more time to work with them. I was a bit nervous about this project because I had never taught any grade younger than 7th. It was as much a learning experience for me as it was for the after-school kids. The students I worked with did very well in the computer lab, making this a very neat experience for me. For my artifact I'm including the journal I kept chronicling each day of my program.