My leadership experiences can be divided into two categories; during the completion of my course work which I believe is the day to day reality of a being a principal and also additional hours working in different educational settings.

Projects done during the course were mainly group projects and because of this there was need for collaboration, decision-making and sometimes working through different opinions. It was interesting to see how the group dynamics varied but how important it was to create a space where everyone felt safe to share their opinions, and getting to know who I am as a leader: my strengths and weaknesses. Completing these different projects allowed for me to be involved in academic content and pedagogical techniques, collecting and analyzing data to better teaching and learning and building relationships with all stakeholders. I think ultimately these “in-class” experiences have provided some leadership skills and knowledge that can be used in the “real world.”

The culminating leadership experiences or internship allowed for me to be part of different schools setting, from a school to a large school, working with middle school and elementary school, and other managerial leadership responsibilities. I was given the opportunity to get a glimpse into the management and operations that entails budgeting and building and maintenance. For the hours spent in the middle school I had the opportunity to collaborate with the science teachers on curriculum planning and assessment. In addition, in the high school setting I spend time observing family meetings, interventions meetings and other outside partnerships.

As I am summarizing this reflection I must say that a few take home lesson are sometimes lack of communication, resistance to change, power struggles and even some unethical decisions can occur and it is therefore important to set back and “look” at the big picture and never losing sight of your philosophy of what teaching and learning looks like. Moreover, as I reflect on my internship I realize that one of the things I struggle the most with is trusting my team or trusting that whatever is being asked of that it will be done.