This chapter deals with a few things that I am interested in after I am in the classroom for several years. Although this chapter would be helpful for a classroom teacher to understand, I am looking at it through an administrative stand point. However, I believe that one of the main components to an effective administrator is to understand what it is like for a teacher. One of the main things that I grasped from this chapter again is how effective blogs and wikis can be in administration. I think that just like blogs can be used in professional development and in the classroom, they are versatile in use for communication from the administration. Again, I think that the blogs should enrich the face to face contact. I think that this could be played out in the use of blogs before "official" professional development. One of the ideas could be to use blogs to see what teachers want to learn about, then to see how they are implemented it and then their feedback on the whole process. I believe that consistency is also a big deal when an administrator uses a blog or wiki. One of the components is to cast a vision and if you have an administrator that sets up a program or process in using technology and then they don't update the blog or they don't follow through on what they are talking about. I believe that the vision is a big part of it, but the details to follow are also very critical.
One of the other key things that I grasped from both the discussion in class and the chapter was the use of grants for school use. I appreciated the comment on developing relationships with the program officers of the organizations. I know that funding is always an issue and if I know a basis for how to go about the process, or what name to look for on the website of the organization, I feel that I will have some kind of grasp on the next step.
The final note that I would like to make about this chapter concerns the comment on the effective administrator that was made in class. Although I do not know this administrator personally, I am gathering that one of the reasons that he was effective was because he was learning, in some regards, "on the job" and along with the other people in the educational community. Often times the best learner (and teacher) is not an expert. This administrator saw a need for change and implemented the change, and apparently followed through with the vision. I hope that one day, in a small way, I can use my knowledge and passion for learning to make a difference like this administrator did.
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