Leader of Service Journals

-Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership

and Postsecondary Education
University of Northern Iowa
-In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the
Advanced Studies Certificate
-by
Tara K. Zehr
Berg Middle School
Newton, IA
(July 2015)
-Dr. Nicholas J. Pace

Leader of Service Journals

Below are the reflections from my past 9 days of Seminar in Educational Leadership.
I could tell from the course timeline that we were going to be presented important
information from a range of experts. The timeline did not do justice to the variety of
topics we were going to cover in these nine days. I would say that I came into this
summer with some beginning knowledge of what would be expected of me as a
future administrator. I came into this summer with an understanding of the type of
administrator I thought I would be. I came into this summer with a small
appreciation for my colleagues and what they could do for me. In these short nine
days the amount of growth I showed in these areas amazing me. This summer
changed me more than I thought possible.
Week 1 Day 1 Tuesday, June 16, 2015 Michael Weiglein Presentation
I appreciated Mike Weiglein from the Piazza speaking to us on leadership this first
day, but I had some areas of concern from his presentation. First, he said
leadership is a teachable skill and I dont know if I believe that entirely. Maybe he
meant that you can teach skills to make someone a better leader, in which case I
agree. However, if he meant you can make anyone a leader I dont know that my
experiences allow me to believe this. My second concern, he is part of the John
Maxwell team. I just felt like I was being sold something opposed to learning from a
knowledgeable source. One thing I like about this program is that I get a sampling
of several different thinkers and authors. I just dont like the idea of only focusing
on one way of thought or one author.
Despite these issues there were quotes I took from his presentation, growth is a
continuous process and Everything rises and falls on leadership or Leadership is
influence, nothing more, nothing less. Or my favorite quote from the presentation,
you can get there first, but if no one is following you, then youre not leading. I
think this is an area school leaders may need to improve. There are times our
administrators have ideas and new techniques for us to try, but we have so many
things on our play already we cant get behind it. While they may have a great idea
they are leading but no one is following because we are unable to take on another
task. So are they leading at all?
Week 1 Day 2- Wednesday, June 17, 2015 Deescalating and Resolving Conflicts
There were several good things I could have pulled from Lt. Marty Beckners
presentation, many things that Ive heard before. The one piece of advice that I
hadnt heard, but will take with me is the 10 minute rule. I liked the idea of having
a cut-off time for a meeting if it isnt going anywhere. Obviously if the meeting is
productive, you arent going to stop it, but I like that you have an end in sight.
There was so much that I took from the Roark Horn hour. Becoming a principal is a
mindset change from, I did something good today to I helped someone do

something good today. I really appreciated when he gave us an interview

question: Whats your leadership style? His answer was, dont have one set style.
You need to have a variety of styles and be able to go between them. This reminds
me of watching college basketball. For instance, when you watch Duke or Syracuse
basketball you have a pretty good idea what type of team you are going to see
come on to the floor regardless of the players. His answer reminded me we dont
want to be Coach K or Jim Boeheim, we need to be able to take all of our tools and
make them fit the needs of our students and our teachers. Thank you for bringing
in Mr. Horn. I really appreciated his hour in class.
Week 1 Day 3 Thursday, June 18, 2015 Day in the Office
I was able to participate in the Day in the Office activity and it was a frightening
experience. I was so nervous to sit in the hot seat without any background
knowledge. In fact, the time flew by. I appreciated getting feedback from the
current administrators in the room. It meant a lot to see several of them stay
throughout the activity. Clearly they see the importance of this activity when they
are willing to stay here throughout the morning. I needed to remember my 10
minute rule from my previous day reflection.
More important to me than my 7 minutes in the chair was the opportunity to watch
my classmates. I found myself quickly thinking through the experience and trying
to think what I would do. It was really good for me to hear how other classmates
handled situations and especially hearing the feedback. So far today has been the
most valuable day for me.
Week 2 Day 1 Tuesday, June 23, 2015 Midwest Institute: Inclusion &
Communication for All
Today we participated in the Inclusion Conference and listened to the Keynote Panel
of Jamie Burke, Tracy Thresher and Sue Robin. Everything they shared with us was
important and stuck with me, but I think Sues behaviors were the most impactful to
me. It appeared throughout the entire presentation she struggled with controlling
her behaviors, noises and movements. However, as soon as she was able to begin
communicating with us she immediately typed, I am sorry for my behaviors this
morning. To me that was the entire point of the keynote. Prior to learning to type
to communicate she would have been able to know she was struggling controlling
her behaviors, but she would not have been able to communicate with everyone
else. It was very moving to me and very obvious just how frustrating and how
relieved she must feel to be able to communicate. It must be frustrating because it
took her so long to tell us, but it would also be such a relief to get it out to the
world.
Week 2 Day 2 Wednesday, June 24, 2015 Resumes & Entry Plans

Im trying to decide which of our speakers during seminar today was more
engaging, beneficial and important to me at this time. Between Tracy Godon,
Dewitt Jones and of course Nick Paces twenty minute article discussion I am having
a difficult time ranking the content. I think Tracys information about resumes,
covering letters and interviews is the most important to me in the immediate future.
From her presentation I most appreciated the breakdown of the cover letter. It was
all information that I am sure I could have looked up, but it was nice to have her go
through the format: intention, promotion and action paragraphs.
Dewitt Jones presentation on entry plans was both overwhelming and helpful. It
was helpful because it is obvious that a well done entry plan will be able to set me
apart from other candidates, assuming they are not UNI grads. However, where it
seemed to be overwhelming is that it doesnt seem to be something you can plan
ahead for. Obviously I have never applied for an administrator position, but I have
to imagine when you get the call for an interview you have on average a week
before the interview. It just seems like a lot of work, definitely worth it, but in a
short amount of time. The final thing I liked about Dr. Jones visit was I felt he
genuinely wanted to help us with our entry plans. A lot of people will tell you to call
them with anything, but with Dr. Jones and Tracy Godon I felt like I could actually call
them for help. That is one thing Ive found throughout all my time at UNI, this is my
third program, people genuinely want to help you succeed.
Week 2 Day 3 Thursday, June 25, 2015 The Culturally Competent Administrator
Today was more beneficial than I originally thought it would be. I wasnt sure how
much I would get out of the DITO debrief, but it ended up being nice to talk to more
people about the debrief. I had two thoughts on the debrief day. Would it be
beneficial to be able to debrief with the person from the other class who had our
same situation? It might be nice to talk to someone who had the same situation to
see how they handled it differently. On a similar note, would there be any benefit to
having the same situation done twice in a row? Im thinking someone gets one
scenario while the next person up is removed from the room. Then the second
person comes in and gets the same scenario. The second person wouldnt get as
much out of it, but Im wondering how it would go for the rest of the group. It would
be nice for us to see how two different people handled the same situation. I dont
know, just a thought. The DITO was a great experience; dont get me wrong, I was
just thinking about different experiences.
The Culture presentation was better than I thought too. I didnt think it was going to
be bad, I just thought it would be the same thing weve heard in the past; but it
wasnt. I really enjoyed listening to Bev and Denise especially their Core Values of
Cultural Competence. The one that stuck with me the most was Engagement is
more important than agreement. This is exactly what Ive thought of, but havent
been able to put it into words. I see this all the time at school. People are quick to
agree to do something, but then they dont actually follow through with it.

**Appropriate timing for our Cultural Competence discussion one day before the
Supreme Court decision to allow gay marriage.**
Week 3 Day 1 Monday, June 29, 2015 ELL and the Principal
Today Dr. Tammy Gregersen came and talked to us about English Language
Learners. There were several catch phrases I will take with me from her
presentation. One of the first things she said to use was ESL wont fit into one mold.
That makes sense, but it is good to always hear it.
Something I really liked, that I didnt ever really realize was the difference between
ESL and ELL. She described ESL as what were teaching students and ELL as the
students themselves. This was a good presentation for me to participate in because
I do not have a lot of experience with ELL students. At the same time though there
were times it was difficult for me because I didnt have past experiences to pull
from. Probably my favorite quote from Tammy today came when we were
discussing the quiz. Someone said they were surprised the correct answer was false
to the statement concerning students learning faster than adults. She said, Adults
learn faster, students learn better. I have never heard anyone say it like that, but it
makes perfect sense!
I dont know if I completely agree with her statement that all peer teaching is
positive. I have had the privilege of teaching several enhanced students and I have
found they dont want to be the teachers to their peers. Now, because they dont
want to doesnt mean they shouldnt. There are definitely times I have matched
teachers up and required that peer teaching component, but I dont know that it is
necessarily their responsibility. There are times those students should be advancing
their own learning while the rest of the students, who need the extra assistance,
can be retaught by me.
Week 3 Day 2 Tuesday, June 30, 2015 Personal Wellness & Spouse Panel
Josh, Amy and Jeremy came and talked to us about life as a principal and spouse of
a principal today. Much of the stuff was things we have already heard from our first
year of classes, but its always nice to be reminded of the important things. My first
thought while seeing the panel was, is this the Joe Gentry group? Obviously not, but
I felt like Amy and Josh fit the roles of Kristi and Sutt perfectly.
What I heard from this panel was include your family. This really stuck with me
because I have been having a difficult time picturing myself anywhere but in
Newton. I am a Newton alum and that has been my only teaching experience. Dr.
Gilson said at some point this summer that we needed to create a radius we would
be willing to commute/move to. I was struggling with that because I am really
happy where I am, I have my support system in place, I love my house and
neighborhood and I am happy to raise my family in this community. I was afraid
from talking to other people that it was too difficult to move from student to teacher

to administrator in the same district. I am happy to hear from the panel that they
are all Waterloo people who returned to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area. I am happy
to hear that Dr. Gilson stayed in Oelwein most of his career. By this eighth day of
class, I have finally come to terms with the fact that Im okay to stay in Newton. I
believe Ive made solid relationships with my staff, my family will already be
included in my school life and I have a strong support system in place. Will I look
other surrounding areas, yes, but am I good with the fact that I might wait for a job
in Newton to open.
Week 3 Day 3 Wednesday, July 1, 2015 Leader of Service Project Sharing
On the drive to class today I began writing my reflections in my head. I was ready
to say I liked the build up to the experienced better the experience itself. I was
ready to say I would have rather written the paper and put in the thought than
actually doing the presentation. I was ready to say if I was presenting I would have
rather presented to my cohort; however, that might still be the case.
The actually presenting was really powerful to me because I was able to hear myself
say over and over again that I wanted to make Newton a better place for the
students. Building from my reflection yesterday, today just reconfirmed that I want
to be a principal in Newton and preferably in my current building. Im glad I got to
present my thoughts to others. Im glad I got the opportunity to show what a
Leader of Service meant to me rather than fitting it into a specific format; like a
power point. I do still think I would have rather talked to my cohort and heard from
my cohort, but I now understand the purpose of presenting to the other group.
These past two days were extremely powerful in terms of thinking of my future.
As I mentioned in my introduction and hopefully showed throughout my reflections
this was a summer of great change for me. Through these experiences, specifically
the Day in the Office, Deescalating Conflict and the Culturally Competent
Administrator, I gained a whole new appreciation for the day to day lives of
administrators. All three of these experiences took my basic understandings of
educational leadership and advanced them to a higher level. Day in the Office
reinforced the range of issues that are going to walk through our door on any given
day. Deescalating Conflicts gave some great insight into how to handle the issues
that well face each day. Finally, the Culturally Competent presentation reminded
us to be aware of everything and everyone around us. The Culturally Competent
Administrator presentation helped me form two of my core values to be a Leader of
Service: Building a Strong Community and We > Me. Both of these values require
the idea of looking outside of yourself and your viewpoints. Realizing the big picture
and what and who it takes to get there.
This summer I also came in with an understanding of the type of leader I thought I
would be. As I mentioned in my final two posts I think this summer helped me
realize my path; this is where my biggest growth came. I realized I am invested in

Newton and this is where I want to stay. I realize that being a student, student
teacher and teacher in Newton may have restricted my experiences and I have
colleagues who have been many more places than me. At the beginning of the
summer I saw this as a strike against me and I felt I wasnt as qualified as some of
my colleagues. However, by the end of the summer I realize I already have the
tools in place to be successful in this community. I am invested in the well-being of
the students, staff and community, I have my family as my support staff in place
and I have a deep understanding of the true culture of the community and schools.
This summer helped me realize I would be willing to jump into a leadership position
next year or I will be willing to wait ten years because I want to be in Newton. I am
so thankful for the principal and panel discussion and the Leader of Service projects
because they were the push I needed to realize my educational leadership path.
Finally, this summer helped me gain a greater appreciation for my colleagues and
everything they bring to the table. We can only get to know each other so well
during our orientation day the summer prior to the start of the program. Those
introductory relationships are strengthened over the next year on Adobe Connect,
but again the online portal only allows us to interact to a certain extent. This
summer proved to be so valuable to strengthen our bonds to a point that I do feel I
could call on anyone in my cohort and they would assist me in whatever ways
possible. Now that I have a better understanding of where everyone is coming from
I have a better idea who in the cohort I could call with specific issues. Whether I
had a special education or good conduct question I have different experts in each of
those areas. There are even a few colleagues I am close enough to geographically I
envision us staying in contact when we get into positions of leadership. As
mentioned in the panel discussions there is something about having a conversation
with another administrator that is going to be different than talking to anyone else.
Having these connections will surely be a great tool to use as I develop my personal
wellness plan and keeping my stress levels down.
It is impossible to list everything that I learned from these nine days on campus, but
I would like to highlight one more. As a lifelong panther with two UNI degrees
already I appreciate the family-like community that has been created all along my
UNI path. I truly feel like I could call on anyone that I interacted with throughout
this summer and they would be of assistance immediately. Whether it is something
from my cohort, as I mentioned above, our professors or our speakers I really
appreciate the relationships that were made over this summer. I am proud to say I
went to UNI as an undergrad and then went back two more times. I think that
speaks highly to the people running the programs on campus. Thank you for a
fabulous experience that has defined my path as a future administrator.