Week 8: Admin and Organization

1) This course has given you an opportunity to practice a range of leadership strategies when making decisions that require you to think politically, orchestrate collaboration among all stakeholders, and remain steadfast in your original vision. What do you envision to be the pitfalls that you might face as a first year principal, and how will you implement the strategies learned to overcome the pitfalls?

I believe that being a first year principal there would be the possibility of many different types of pitfalls: Social, Political, Fiscal and Legal. Social: If a principal is new to a building and does not have a clue as to the climate and culture of their new buildings mistakes can easily be made. It is important to have a true understanding of your school before trying to make any large scale changes. You have to know your staff in order to establish buy in. Political: There are so many hidden political agendas in school districts. If you are not aware of who is truly on your side there is a good chance that you will trust the wrong people.You need to know who is on the side of your agenda and your school. Fiscal: There are so many loopholes when it comes to budgeting and very specific guidelines it would be easy to make the wrong choices with all of the best intentions if you are unaware of the historical budget items and issues. Legal: A principal is faced with so many daily decisions and if you are unaware of the legalities behind those decisions you can find yourself in a lot of hot water. In order to avoid these pitfalls it is imperative that you surround yourself with a team who you can trust, that has history with the district and can get your back if need be. It is especially important to remember that change takes time. You can not walk in as a new principal in a new building and expect everything and everyone to change to meet your agenda. You need to get to know your staff before making any major changes, you need to have buy in and a respected leadership team to help guide you through the rough waters.

2) How has this course prepared you to use twenty-first century leadership skills as you model a new culture for collaborating, analyzing student performance, and continually reflect on instructional practices, school climate, and quality decision making?

This course has taught me to reflect on every decision before making it. Rash decisions are soon regretted. I am ready to develop a leadership team and will have the expectation that they will communicate regularly using 21st century learning tools. We will look at the data and make decisions that are driven in part by the data. We will work as a team, not in isolation.

3) Educational leadership and coordination, are not the sole responsibility of school principals: They can and should be exercised at all levels of the school organization. What opportunities for collective leadership have you provided in your plan?

There are many opportunities for collective leadership within my Action Plan. The most prevalent one would be the Assessment Framework committee and the Curriculum committee. They will be involved in man levels of building leadership and decision-making.

Week 5: O and A Reflection

I chose to respond to this post in a video format because I think it's always nice to put a face with a name. Please excuse my voice, I have a terrible cold.

• How has the structure of this course (team discussion, individual assignment) helped you to better understand the concepts presented?
• How will the structure of this course better prepare you for your administrative roles?
• In what areas would you like additional content or support?
• What questions or comments do you have about either the content or the structure of this course?

Week 7: Assignment 5 (C&I)

Over the last few weeks we have analyzed multiple aspects of the Written, Taught and Tested Curriculums. As an educational leader, what do you see as the top 2-3 priorities with the W,T,T curriculums in terms of technology? What specific steps would need to be taken at your school or school district in order to enact these policies?

I chose to answer this with video again this week. I had a little bit of trouble when trying to record therefore I had to splice two recordings together please excuse the lack of expert editing.

C&I Reflection: Week 5

• As a school administrator and instructional leader, what instructional technology would you expect to see in the written, taught, and tested curriculum of a school or school district striving to meet the needs of 21st century learners?
  
• What instructional technology would you promote to differentiate instruction for all learners? Consider some of the Web 2.0 tools discussed in Week 3 and some of the tools/ applications suggested in the UDL discussion.
  

I chose to respond to these questions via video please excuse the horrible red hat, it's the only thing that keeps my family away when I am working : )

Week 2(C&I) Individual Reflection Blog

What are your philosophical beliefs about the purpose of school, about what subjects should be taught, and about how students learn? How does your work demonstrate your belief?

I believe that every child can learn no matter what their limitations or exceptionalities are. The purpose of school is to give a student the tools that they need to excel and survive in the post school world that they will live in. We should be preparing these children for the future. They are our future and if we send them out into the world unprepared then we are not doing our job. I feel that we can learn from history. Burello states "A differentiated approach is necessary to do what our democratic, moral purposes and our practical, social and economic goals require - that we educate all students to levels of excellence that sustain both their personal growth and our social fabric." I believe that the current school subjects are important, especially Reading and Math. Social Studies and Science are also very important. However I feel we do a disservice to our students when we focus so hard on the basic subjects that we ignore things like social emotional well being and survival skills. I believe that all students can benefit from survival and team building skills. I don't understand why that isn't just as important as the basic subjects. All the book learning in the world can not prepare our students for living in the real world. It gives them a great foundation and a place to start, but not an edge.

Our students learn in all different ways. I think that many students learn best by doing. Hands on experiences that reflect the real world. Everything in the curriculum should be tied to real world experiences and issues in my opinion. I was always the teacher that seized the teachable moment, if I was in a SEDOL (my district) classroom now, this would be frowned upon. I would not be able to use anything in my class that was not scientifically or research based. This includes websites and instructional technology software. I don't know when we moved to such extremes but I do not support it in my heart, but I forced to support it in my job position. I am an Instructional Technology Specialist, my job is to integrate technology into the curriculum, but even if I know an outstanding website to help with a skill, I can not share it with the teachers because it is "not approved" or supported by research. It is very frustrating and I have been questioning whether or not I am on the right seat in this bus. I keep hoping we will turn a corner and move away from these extremes but with all the unfunded mandates coming down from the government I know that this is only going to get worse. The scripted nature of our classes now makes me wonder if I even want to teach anymore. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was 5 years old and now I am not so sure. Does my work demonstrate my beliefs? I wish it could.

Post Conference Reflection

• What strengths and/or improvement areas did you notice about the environment and tone of the post-observation?
  

My post observation conference was done in a computer lab while the class was working on Lexia. This was not ideal but we were pressed for time and had to be flexible. Sharon and I sat at a table just across from each other but where she could still see her class. We were only interrupted once, when a student with a hearing impairment was working on the program and needed the headphones unplugged so his assistant could hear the prompts. This student was moved to another location so that we could finish our conference.

Sharon was very open to the discussion. She views me as the expert for integrating the ActivBoard and was looking for ways to make her flipcharts more interactive. I was very positive in all of my comments and encouraging in my statements to improve things. I feel like my tone was always positive. The one critique I have of myself is that I should had her talk to me. I ran the entire meeting with my recaps. I should have asked her how she thoughts things went before launching into my own thoughts and ideas.

• • What strengths and/or improvement areas did you notice in the conference about strategies to improve instruction? Items to look for:

Sharon had specifically asked me to watch for ways she could improve her flipcharts and student involvement. The start of the class we were faced with technical difficulties so I had to come out of my role to get her up and running. In the post conference I reiterated what we had discussed in the pre-conference so that she knew what it was I was specifically looking at.

I always began constructive feedback with a positive comment about something that had happened during the lesson. I did not ask enough probing questions and should have led with some questions that would allow Sharon to reflect on her lessons.

I did not want to use student names due to confidentiality but I was able to recount the actions of several students....such as the one who found the lost penny hidden under the dime.

I shared my observation forms with Sharon who agreed with my assessments

• In the conference, which behavior did you seem to predominantly use? Do you think this was an appropriate approach given the developmental level of the teacher? Briefly explain.
  

I predominantly went with a Directive Informational approach. Both Sharon and I view me as the expert in the integration of the ActivBoard into the classroom instruction. I have worked on the boards for the last 7 years and I do training on the side for Promethean. Sharon received her board 3 weeks ago. She has come a long way. Before making any suggestions I would re-state what I had seen in positive terms, then clarify what I had seen and then finally I would make a suggestion. Sharon did not need to take any of my suggestions, but in fact she chose to try all of them within the last week. She emailed me to thank me and share her successes.

I think this was the best possible approach I could have used given Sharon's lack of experience using this tool. Directive Control was not warranted in this situation, as there was no need for me to make any demands for change. By definition "Directive Informational Supervision is used to direct the teacher to consider and choose from clearly delineated alternative actions" in this approach the "supervisor (me) is the major source of information, goal articulation and suggested practices"(Glickman p156). A collaborative approach is not possible due to Sharon's lack of expertise in the subject matter.

I believe that I clarified, presented and was encouraging throughout the entire experience. I laughed, smiled and still managed to deliver good constructive criticism without stepping on anyone's toes.

It was a great experience even if the whole assignment started out so rocky for me personally.

I am attaching the audio from the post conference to this blog entry.

Room Arrangements Reflection

• your overall reactions to the various room arrangements
• compare and contrast, common v. unique room arrangements
• insights you gained about teachers’ methods of instruction in your school (e.g., cooperative learning, learning centers, direct instruction, etc.) based on the room arrangements
• traffic patterns and teachers’ movement within the classrooms
• the availability of computers and their use
• how room arrangement information could help in supervising staff
• how room arrangement information could help in planning staff development

Room and seating arrangements are extremely important to the successful set up, management and supervision of a classroom. Before I have even met a teacher I can tell a great deal about their teaching style based on the room arrangement. If the students are in single rows, the teacher does not encourage group interactions. They may or may not offer cooperative learning opportunities. They probably run a very rule driven strict class. They most likely have a good handle on the students behavior but probably do not engage the students on a regular basis.

If the room is arranged in groups or pairs the teacher encourages cooperative learning on a daily basis. The classroom will most likely be loud and rowdy but with intense learning happening. Teachers that are less structured and are more likely to have students that are engaged and part of their own learning.

When I walk around my special education district classrooms, I see a variety of set ups. The students enter the BD/ED building after going through a security check and sometimes being wanded by police officers. Almost all of these classes are set up in rows that discourage interactions between the students. The teachers desk is in a corner and not used very often as the teachers are constantly holding small group instruction at round tables. When the students are sitting in their rows they are expected to be quiet and contained. There is ample room around each child's desk to allow them a solitary space. At the round tables there are small groups interacting quietly and on an individualized pace with a teacher in the center running the show. I don't necessarily agree with the rows being the best way to instruct these students. I think that they should be learning to get along, that is one of the life skills we should be trying to teach but I do understand the frustration that these teachers and students face on a daily basis so I try not to be too judgmental.

Our autistic classrooms are designed very differently. There are desks but more often than not they are in their own area for instruction. The chairs are connected to the desks so that they can't be thrown. Many of these students are non verbal and can be aggressive. Their environment is carpeted to mute all of the loud verbalizations and screaming that often take place due to student' frustration. There are many mats, special seats and sensory input areas in the classroom. The teachers desk is non-existent as it simply acts as a place to put "stuff". The teacher is never seated at their desk. In one room they have to block the door because the students will try and run out.

In our severe profound building most of the students are in wheelchairs. There are no desks. There is no carpeting. There are mats everywhere for students to stretch out throughout the day as instructed by doctors. Several of these students are fed by G-tubes. Their instruction takes place in a circle in the middle of the classroom. All of the students are positioned in their wheelchairs or standing devices in a circle around the staff providing the lesson. As the lesson is taking place various activities are continuing all around the group. There is tolieting that needs to happen, feeding and gross motor exercises to be done. Everything takes place throughout the instructional day. Obviously there needs to be thought to the layout of these classrooms and mobility can be a major issue. These issues are the reason that we are building a new state of the art school.

In our sector classrooms things are a little more normalized. There are several different layouts to these classrooms depending on the teacher and student needs.

I get a little frustrated about the placement of computers in our classrooms. They are always off in a corner and often the teacher tries to place a "student" computer on their desk. Classrooms that actually use the technology on a regular basis tend to have the equipment be more accessible. My teachers are so worried about the students breaking the equipment that they shuffle it into a corner and only venture there when prompted by supervisors.

Room arrangement information can be helpful when supervising a teacher because you already have a good idea of what you will see when you step in that classroom. Classroom arrangement can tell you a lot. Different children need different arrangements and I don't think we can categorize one arrangement as better than another. We must be open to individualizing a child's environment as needed.

Just as students' needs are unique so are the teachers. When planning professional development it is important to always take into consideration your audience. Will they benefit from hands on? or Would they be better in a lecture situation? Do they need hand outs or just demonstrations? Would sitting at tables in groups of three be better or sitting in a horseshoe? I think your room arrangements will vary based on what training you are providing. Again some teachers may need individualization as well. I have several staff that are deaf, when they attend my training I have to restructure to include an interpreter. I may need to be sitting with the group, I may need to be at the front of the room, it depends what my purpose is of the training.

Whether your audience is student, teacher, staff, administrator or parent focused you need to always take into consideration their needs. This includes room organization, form of media, types of support, ways to continue the discussions and forms of communication.