Lessons Learned the Hard Way

At my school we meet in subject content groups called professional learning communities (plc)to discussion common testing, planning, and lesson plans. So much of what we do in these meetings is oral. We discuss and discuss and discuss. On some sort of regular basis a teacher will share a lesson that he or she is presenting. So, I had the bright idea that my plc group would benefit from a wiki. My plans involved obtaining wiki software and have it installed on the school’s servers. That would give our group maximum access with practically no space limitations. If the wiki worked, the entire school could benefit from this collaborative tool. I found some free software which is the software base for Wikipedia. I checked with the tech people at school to see if this could be done. Neither of them saw any problem. My next stop was to visit with my Principal.


Here is where the lesson got hard. The Principal is a fanatic about these plc meeting and does not entertain anyone messing around with them. Well, I thought that he would be pretty pleased with my idea because a wiki is a great tool to use in conjunction with the established order of things. In my defense, I knew that he had a sick child at home so I did not want to keep him any longer than necessary. After explaining what I wanted to do with the wiki, I waited for him to say it was an excellent idea and that I should go ahead. That is not what happened. Instead he took me to task on many issues dismissed me and my idea in short order. I was really upset. Reflecting on what happened, I realized that he had no idea what I was talking about, and I did not fully explain to him what a wiki was or how it could supplement what we were already doing. I had no reason to be upset with the Principal, it was my fault.



The lessons learned: 1. Be sure that the person with whom you are speaking understands what you are talking about. Assume nothing. 2. Be sure to explain any and all technical terms and technology before you explain what you want to do.