The end of the first year is here. What a challenging year. However, I have learned a lot about myself both as a student and a professional. As a professional, I have taken the things learned in class and applied it to my new school. The most important thing this first year has been the knowledge I have gained about being a leader. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team was a very critical book to me. I marked and reread it like a “Leaders for Dummies” book. How to build a team and how to get them to work together for the good of the corporation is a pivotal part of the book to me. I firmly believe that had I not had the prep work in the summer, my first month as a principal would have been rocky. Even though the endless hours of MBTI became daunting, I feel I know myself better as a leader now than I ever did. I look forward to taking each part of this journey and constantly questioning my leadership.
Personally as a student, I had to learn how to do everything again. This whole program has me questioning my abilities in almost everything and that is not a bad thing. The ability to write and the ability to manipulate technology have been the largest learning curves. Using a WordPress site has pushed me to my limits and I must say that I still feel quite inferior to others in the class. The learning process has been huge. However, I have time with this aspect of my learning. I realize that the professors are not expecting the same from me as from students like John. However, I never want to disappoint them. The bigger issue to me has been the mechanics of my writing. I felt confident as a writer prior to this fall. Now, I must draft my papers at least 4 times before I submit. I solicit help from AP English teachers to teach me how to be better. And even then, I bite my lip as I push the button. My goal is to eventually submit a paper that is mechanically error free. Always the dream, maybe next year.
