Module 1 Weekly Reflection

The first week of EDL 655 has been busy and intense.  There is much to learn in this course, with its focus on design thinking, social media, personalized learning, and more.  In this first week, we were placed into groups for our group project.  I am very excited to be part of Group 2 with Elise Harp, Ryan Horton and Ryan Irvan.  We are using a Google Doc to collaborate and have decided our project will be on school culture with a focus on restorative justice.
 
I will admit, this is a new topic for me.  Not school culture ... the concept of restorative justice.  As I shared with my group, I am the CEO for my charter school with little classroom experience (the only experience I have is that of a substitute teacher when I lived in Michigan), and my charter is exclusively virtual which does not really lend itself to much discipline (other than some plagiarism claims, which all schools, including universities, experience).​  So in addition to contributing to my group, I will be spending some time learning more about this concept of restorative justice.  This is something I have also offered to lead in the group - the gathering of our research, as it will truly help me understand the topic and allow me to better support my peers in the group.
 
This week I shared my story with the group, and using my own lack of understanding on the topic, asked questions to not only aid in my understanding, but hopefully the understanding of some of our end users, such as parents and the community.  We may all be in the same boat if we do not come from the education space.  There are seven 21st Century Learner Outcomes, and I believe I am showcasing critical thinking and problem solving, as I need to learn this topic to be able to fully support my team.  I have shared my growth opportunity and am taking full advantage of the resources we are coming up with to study and learn about restorative justice.  I can see this as a powerful tool, too, for scholars to interact with their teachers and peers at Compass Charter Schools.  What we need to do is ensure they have a safe space to ask questions and ask for help to understand a topic.  It can be scary, and it was for me too.  How can a school leader not know about restorative justice?  I owned my shortcomings, shared that with my peers, and am taking the steps to learn.  We have to make sure our scholars can also do the same without fear.  It is intimidating – I can speak to that firsthand.
 
This idea of seeking help is something that will ensure our scholars are prepared to be successful in today’s global society.  There is an abundance of resources across the globe and to be prepared means to know how to access these resources.  There is not a standardized test to show mastery for some of these topics.  Mastery comes from knowing how to ask the right question of the right individual.  Mastery comes from understanding the answer and being able to apply it to the topic at hand.  When I watching the video "The People Verses the School System" I could also put my head down and think, how far we have come in so many fields, except the field of education.  I remembered my first cell phone and now the ability to text from my watch.  And yet, the classroom looks the same for so many.  That is not the way to ensure our scholars are prepared.

I take this to heart, too, knowing the mission and vision for my own school is to prepare self-directed learners, one scholar at a time, who are prepared for their future successes.  They will only be prepared if they can think critically.  They will only be self-directed if they know how to understand the right question to ask.  There are so many examples from this past week alone on this area.  I met with my charter authorizer, who asked a question of a peer and received a response.  I said to her, that was not the right question to ask.  We have to know what to ask to be successful.  

This first week has truly been an eye-opener.  I have some learning to do, and need to prioritize my days and weeks for the next two months to ensure I can learn and apply that learning here in this course, and in my personal and professional lives.