565- Week 4

I found the change game to be quite frustrating. I have never had much tolerance for the politics of education. I don't appreciate the bottom line being dollars and cents rather than what's best for children and those who teach them. I am interested in how this game is totally played out. I understand the complexity of the process a little better after playing on Monday, but it was disheartening to finish our first year making, what seemed to me to be, little progress. The feeling of just spinning our wheels was a little too close to home. Reading about the change process in education has helped to give me a new perspective on the change game. Considering the phases helps me to envision a better systematic approach. It took us almost the whole year to realize how valuable collecting data and talking to the stakeholders is as a starting point.



With the budget and education crisis we are in at this time, I have found the School Change Toolkit to be helpful for analyzing new developments as they present themselves. Actually, the more I learn about the systematic organization of education, as well as, the process and power of strategic planning, the more freightened I become for our children and our community. I found the following thought to be particularly hard-hitting. "...too much change at once, especially too much unexpected change with consequences people don't fully understand, can result in failure." (School Change Toolkit) Change is definitely needed in my district, and with education in America as a whole. However, education in Wisconsin is being forced to change too quickly. Being driven by the lack of money, I don't see how many of the changes are beneficial for our children. One of the thrills of teaching, for me, has been the "on top of the world" feeling I get having the opportunity to impact the lives in my classroom and school. With the current and impending trauma to the district's budgent, I fight the temptation to feel deflated and helpless. I appreciate the leadership training we are receiving. I pray that I will be able to use it to the fullest as we fight this battle to save our future.