Dorie+Vickery

Welcome!
I am currently working for Central School District, Monmouth/Independence community. Starting August 2 I will be the principal at Monmouth Elementary School.

My husband and I have been married seven years, both of my kids at home will be attending Sprague High School next year. I have three adopted children who are 25, 23, and 22. They also live in Salem.

In my free time I enjoy running. I hope to run a 1/2 marathon this fall...maybe.

@Major Project

Learning Journal Tuesday, June 15 I spent the morning discussing budget cuts for next year. Not a fun conversation to have! Later today I hope to continue some professional reading and maybe make some notes about my final project. I am not sure what would be a valuable outcome in the way of a project for this course.

Right now I am creating and updating the parent/student handbook. I would like to include a technology use section aligned with district policy. Could this be a project? I believe there is a need for parents and students to know how we use technology within the school setting. A similar document could be added to the staff handbook.

Another idea would be to plan and prepare for a parent informational night regarding technology and the use of the internet. I believe @http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ is a great resource for parents.

Sunday, June 20 After reading chapter three and writing the reflection I'm beginning to think that my project should be planning/preparing for a parenting & technology information night. I could weave in many of the concepts of chapter three without getting into religious terms. More on this idea later...

Sunday, June 27 I can't believe it has been a week since I last updated my journal! Time flies when you are vacationing.

I just completed my links to the abstract and my proposal. To complete this task I used trial and error, mostly errors. One of the links "main page" went to the Wiki page for Nancy Link. I'm not sure how this happened but I figured out how to fix the problem. I am beginning to see the benefits of using a wiki however I have not spent any time viewing the pages of others. Still more to learn!

Wednesday, June 30 I just spent a few minutes researching the topic of cyberbullying, partly for the session three assignment and for my project. I love double dipping. This pdf will be great resource for my parent information night!

@http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED507549.pdf

Thursday, July 1 I just posted my written assignment for session three. The research led to several other topics related to cyberbullying. I had a difficult time narrowing the topic to content that would be reasonable for the assignment.

One of the articles I found was //Split Decision//s.

@http://www.principals.org/Content/158/PLMay10_casesinpoint.pdf

The topic of school law is always of interest to me and this article does not disappoint. Two similar cases involving internet use and two different courts hand down different rulings. How can a student use MySpace to degrade the principal and the act is protected under free speech? One court ruling greatly limited the reach of a school district when it comes to internet use off campus.

Connecting this to //Habits of the High-tech Heart//, we have failed to adequately prepare for the misuse of technology by teens. Now the issue of cyberbullying is reaching both into the courts and into district/state policy. What a mess!

Sunday, July 11

It has been awhile since I updated this page. My family had a Disney adventure over the 4th of July weekend. It was crowded but very fun. Lots of hang time with my teens.

Today I am working on my project, preparing for a parent information night about technology and the various aspects of online activity for children ages 9 and up. I would welcome any suggestions for resources! I am guessing that the parents of Monmouth Elementary are not very familiar with social networking, online searches or the risk involved with children having open access to the internet. Part of the presentation will be in the computer lab. I will spend some time walking with parents through websites and resources.

I also need to visit other Wiki pages - Christie Petersen's caught my eye...

Christie and I will both be starting as elementary principals this fall. What an exciting time! The project she is working on is to develop a wiki for professional development. I am not yet ready for that step but it is something to think about.
 * Christie Petersen's project and journal:**

Journal - frustration with Goggle - but an area that I'm not at all familiar with. We rely on technology to work for us and when it doesn't, things can escalate and the amount of time wasted is a real issue.
 * Brenda Pettigrew Dobbins:**

Major project - this is again outside of my experience. Something to do with Digital Artists - but I don't have a clear understanding about the project. I'll have to revisit later and take notes!

I am enjoying the fact that this class has more than just educators. (public school teachers) For my entire career I have had classes with only educators. What a joy it is to learn about other fields!

Time to read for my class that starts tomorrow - //Leadership 360// by Maxwell. Looking forward to the class!

Saturday, July 17

The week in Newberg flew by! The leadership class, learning about my leadership strengths, was very enjoyable. The afternoon class, EDFL 700, was a little bit challenging. I'm not sure if it was the afternoon hours or the content.

I spent today reading and attempting to get caught up.

I have spent some time researching my project for this class. Tomorrow I'll spend more time putting the project together.

Monday, July 19

Back on campus - EDFL 641 we did True Colors today and I finished up my leadership self assessment. EDFL 700 was very confusing. I do NOT have a background in statistics. I'm still not sure if I grasp the concepts presented today. Given the looks going around the room I don't think I'm alone. I'm liking this cohort model more everyday!!

I need to get some things finalized for my major project. Hopefully I can work on that some more tonight.

Tuesday, July 20

Reflection during EDFL 641

Transformational leadership - this is what I aspire to be...leading by transforming others, empowering, able to move the team/group organization forward to accomplish amazing things.

I'll be doing my leadership paper on Transformational Leadership.

Team leadership - I've come to realize that this style of leadership can be effective IF the group dynamics are in place and the individual team members are properly trained. Monitoring is key.

Need to explore application of this model.

Sunday, July 25

I just rediscovered common sense media!!!!!! The website has updated since I last paid a visit. They now have free educator curriculum. I signed up and now have access to all kinds of resources and curriculum to pass on to parents. There is enough content that I could do one information night a month.

The survey will have to be adjusted since I'm uncomfortable asking some of the more personal information.

I like the data presented in parent form - and the readability of the handouts.

Most of what I will use is the Major Project page.

Tuesday, July 27

I spent some time looking at the major projects submitted by Rudyane, Rob, and Brenda M.

Rob completed his on policy for internet use within the workplace. I was surprised to learn that some policies include what you say about work from home. Does this conflict with free speech? Just curious..

Brenda completed a Google site as a resource for her students. The page is very nice organized and is user friendly. I loved the pictures!

Rudyane's project is similar to mine, with a focus on parents and internet safety. I liked the idea of teaching students online etiquette.

Tonight I hope to finish up my paper for EDFL 700. I've decided to look at a possible correlation between work environment and leadership style for elementary school principals. I met with Kathleen this afternoon and she was a big help for framing the research. :))