Entering a school as a first-year principal, there will be many pitfalls working with an established school community, including staff, parents, students, and community stakeholders. Within the community, there will be expectations of how I should do my job, usually through comparison (either positive or negative) with the previous principal. While some members of the community will be afraid of change, others will point eagerly to issues that are important to them. There may be a morale issue among staff; teachers may have the desire to continue doing “business as usual” without my interference. I am confident that there will be many times when I am told how “we” do things in the school.
Before my tenure begins, I will review the school data, familiarize myself with the demographics of the school, investigate the school and teacher websites, look at student performance on state and county assessments, review the School Improvement Plan, examine technology use and recognize the impact of school climate data. I will create my own vision for school improvement, putting student achievement and safety in the forefront while supporting the growth of all members of the school community. Though this will be my own personal vision, I will open a dialog with the stakeholders, introducing myself to faculty, parents, and students and demonstrating their individual and collective importance. I will meet with the Leadership Team as a group, and invite each of them to meet with me individually to share with me their background and their personal visions. During these conversations, I will begin to share my own vision. As the school year progresses, I will get to know my staff, visit classrooms and interact with students, and work to ensure that parents and community members are active partners within the school. While I am becoming acquainted with everyone, I will be an active listener, maintain an open dialog, and demonstrate my true desire to enlist everyone in school improvement and student growth. By living my own vision, gradually enlisting others to work with me, and really listening to the concerns and interests of stakeholders, I feel that I will overcome or avoid the pitfalls that could be in my path. Letting staff and parents know that they are valued partners, that I will not make changes for the sake of change alone, and that my central focus is always on students, I feel that I will develop meaningful relationships and form partnerships that support the school. Though I must be strong enough to make changes, I have to enlist others in these change actions by demonstrating their importance and their positive impact on the school community.
This course has prepared me to become a twenty-first century instructional leader through our use of real data. The issues and concerns that we discussed as a collaborative team – academic performance of students, school climate, diversity, integration of technology, use of resources, and involving the community – were especially relevant because the data was from my school! Looking at school data through the eyes of my team-mates and then performing a root-cause analysis, I saw a picture that I recognized, but with a new spin. Using the collaborative approach to work with a team of professionals gave fresh perspective and allowed me to consider alternate viewpoints to address school-based needs. Supporting an action plan with research ensures that, while fresh approaches are put into place, best practices for student learning, professional development, and use of technology are enacted. The continual reference to and evaluation of the vision and instructional goal requires the leadership team to have an important and relevant focus for their decisions.
A variety of school community members are specified within my administrative action plan. Alongside the administrative team, the school leadership team is essential to the development and implementation of the plan. The plan recognizes the importance of many leaders, including curriculum and instructional specialists, teachers (special education, general education, ELL, math intervention teacher, media specialist), peer mentors, technology specialists, parents, community members, and the technology team. Each of these leaders plays a vital role in meeting the instructional goal of the school, which focuses on improved math performance of students. Ongoing professional development will encourage all teachers to accept varied leadership roles. Additionally, parents, community members, and high school interns have active roles within the plan.
Ultimately, the strength of an administrative action plan will be the ability of the leadership team and school staff to make it a reality. Its effectiveness will be clearly measured through student performance data. It will be crucial that the school leadership team continuously reviews student data and revises the plan to respond to the evolving school community.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
O&A Individual Reflection #1
The structure of the Organization and Administration course has helped me to develop an understanding of concepts prior to implementing them in my Administrative Action Plan. Each week, our administrative team discusses a series of questions and then responds to the team challenge. Our collaborative discussion leads my thinking in new directions as team-mates share innovative ideas and suggestions based on their varying professional backgrounds and experiences. Following our team discussion, I have further investigated discussion topics through references in the resource library and other professional journals and books. I have focused my reading on topics that support my Administrative Action Plan and are beneficial for my needs at the elementary instructional level.
I liken the model of this course to the collaborative model employed by administrators in schools. Observing my principal, I see that she rarely makes decisions in isolation; rather, she brings topics to the school leadership team, holds roundtable discussions with teachers and teacher specialists, and engages in conversation with her administrative peers and leaders. Decisions are made based on the shared knowledge and input of all stakeholders, and often include research into best practices and related topics. Our work as an Administrative Leadership Team within the course mirrors the practice that a school administrator employs before taking action.
I have appreciated the weekly input from our instructor. Through both news items shared with the entire class and messages in our team discussion forum, Frank has encouraged our work and made sure our discussion is appropriately focused. The ELC resource library and references shared by classmates have helped me with my research citations. Ongoing support with finding these references is appreciated. Additionally, I am sure that I will benefit from ongoing technical support as we use Web 2.0 tools and other technologies in our coursework.
My only question about the format/content of the course is whether I will garner the optimum information through my readings and independent work. Since we had whole-class discussions in previous courses, I was exposed to a broad range of experience and opinion. In contrast, the format of this course is encouraging independent thinking and research, teaching me how to approach an administrative task rather than teaching the “right answers.” As we proceed with our coursework, I will be interested to see how confident I feel with the knowledge I am gaining and its application within the action plan.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Individual Reflection #3
As a principal, my vision of student access to the curriculum must be shared with all members of the professional learning community so that everyone has a clear direction towards which they are working (DuFour & Eaker, 1998). Ongoing dialog about the necessity of aligning the written, taught, and assessed curricula will help teachers to recognize and understand the impact of their instruction on student learning. Providing differentiated professional development focusing on the application of UDL and effective teaching strategies to relevant curriculum indicators will enable teachers to envision the aligned curricula. Utilizing strategies such as peer coaching and the clinical observation cycle while maintaining a focus on curriculum will allow teachers and administrators to observe and support instructional growth. Allocating appropriate and necessary resources toward professional development, common planning time for grade level and co-teaching teams, dedicating monies to technology renewal, and providing access to curriculum resources and experts will demonstrate my commitment to the efforts of teaching and assessing all students within the curriculum.
As teachers grow in their instructional expertise, student assessment data should reflect achievement gains. Continuous progress monitoring through formal and informal curriculum-based assessments will allow teachers to directly correlate student strengths and needs with curriculum indicators. In turn, this will allow them to plan for targeted instruction to meet the needs of their students. As a principal, I will lead teachers through the data collection and analysis process, partnering with teachers to serve as an advocate for students and their access to the curriculum. Through these various steps – sharing a vision, engaging in ongoing dialog, providing differentiated professional development, allocating appropriate resources, and implementing continuous progress monitoring and data analysis – I will use my role as instructional leader to ensure that students learn the intended content and meet high performance standards.
Resources
DuFour, R. and Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at work: best practices for enhancing student achievement. Bloomington, IA: Solution Tree.
As teachers grow in their instructional expertise, student assessment data should reflect achievement gains. Continuous progress monitoring through formal and informal curriculum-based assessments will allow teachers to directly correlate student strengths and needs with curriculum indicators. In turn, this will allow them to plan for targeted instruction to meet the needs of their students. As a principal, I will lead teachers through the data collection and analysis process, partnering with teachers to serve as an advocate for students and their access to the curriculum. Through these various steps – sharing a vision, engaging in ongoing dialog, providing differentiated professional development, allocating appropriate resources, and implementing continuous progress monitoring and data analysis – I will use my role as instructional leader to ensure that students learn the intended content and meet high performance standards.
Resources
DuFour, R. and Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at work: best practices for enhancing student achievement. Bloomington, IA: Solution Tree.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Individual Reflection #2
As a school administrator and instructional leader, I would expect to see a wide range of instructional technology included in the written, tested, and taught curriculum that is striving to meet the needs of 21st century learners. First, it would be my job to ensure that all instructional staff members are comfortable and competent with the use of technology as a tool for design and implementation of instruction, as well as assessment of student progress. As part of the curriculum, students would use software and Web 2.0 tools that would allow them to create their own products, expressing themselves through words, art, music, video, and multimedia presentations; this would include basic software such as word processing, spreadsheets, and multimedia tools available as stand-alone software as well as web-based technology. Once students have had experience with these basic tools, I would expect that all six purposes of technology would be addressed: connecting, collaborating, evaluating, accessing, conferencing, and reflecting (JHU). In addition to the use of computers and Web 2.0 tools, I would love to have tools such as digital cameras, video cameras, scanners, and SmartBoards in classrooms and in the hands of students. The ongoing, effective use of these tools would ensure that students are being prepared for the data-driven 21st century environment.
Many of the same tools that will prepare learners for the 21st century will also enable teachers to differentiate for the needs of all learners. As educators, we need to look at all avenues in which technology can support learners: presentation, engagement, expression, and assessment (CAST, 2007). Text-to-speech tools like Kurzweil can allow students who struggle with reading to access grade-level curriculum; likewise, audiobooks (such as through Audible Kids) and other digital text provide the opportunity for students to access texts at multiple levels of comprehension. Engaging students requires that we harness their interests and enthusiasm; presentation tools such as Animoto and ZohoShow allow for high-interest instructional presentations. Within the realm of engagement, tools for connecting and collaborating including Skype, Skrbl, YakPack and Writeboard encourage a high level of participation among students. Students should access and evaluate digital sources through sites such as del.icio.us. Throughout these activities, students could utilize screen readers to ensure access to print. Moving into the area of expression, students can use programs with word prediction and spell check features, such as Picture Word Power, Clicker5, and WordQue. Adding in programs such as Inspiration and Kidspiration, as well as web-based programs like Bubbl.us, would allow students to demonstrate their thinking through concept-mapping. Text-to-speech software and voice output devices are also imperative to differentiate for students who struggle with expressive language. Finally, students could use a variety of software and Web 2.0 tools to present their final projects for assessment. Blabberize, LetterPop, SlideShare, and Zoho provide students with alternatives that tap their strengths and support their needs. It is my hope that, over the next few years, many of the applications that are available as assistive technology software packages (such as text-to-speech, voice output, and word prediction) will be updated and available as Web 2.0 tools that students can access from any setting; this will be a boon to creating a culture of Universal Design for Learning. As an administrator, I would celebrate and promote the use of technology that ensures equal access to the curriculum for all students. Spotlighting effective use by teachers would create a culture that embraces instructional technology and provides appropriate tools for students.
References
Center for Applied Special Technology. (2007). About CAST. Retrieved February 7, 2009, from http://www.cast.org/about/index.html
Johns Hopkins University. Week 3: Curriculum and 21st Century Skills [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://cte.jhu.edu/ELC3/FramesIndex.cfm?CFID=60563&CFTOKEN=40198709
Many of the same tools that will prepare learners for the 21st century will also enable teachers to differentiate for the needs of all learners. As educators, we need to look at all avenues in which technology can support learners: presentation, engagement, expression, and assessment (CAST, 2007). Text-to-speech tools like Kurzweil can allow students who struggle with reading to access grade-level curriculum; likewise, audiobooks (such as through Audible Kids) and other digital text provide the opportunity for students to access texts at multiple levels of comprehension. Engaging students requires that we harness their interests and enthusiasm; presentation tools such as Animoto and ZohoShow allow for high-interest instructional presentations. Within the realm of engagement, tools for connecting and collaborating including Skype, Skrbl, YakPack and Writeboard encourage a high level of participation among students. Students should access and evaluate digital sources through sites such as del.icio.us. Throughout these activities, students could utilize screen readers to ensure access to print. Moving into the area of expression, students can use programs with word prediction and spell check features, such as Picture Word Power, Clicker5, and WordQue. Adding in programs such as Inspiration and Kidspiration, as well as web-based programs like Bubbl.us, would allow students to demonstrate their thinking through concept-mapping. Text-to-speech software and voice output devices are also imperative to differentiate for students who struggle with expressive language. Finally, students could use a variety of software and Web 2.0 tools to present their final projects for assessment. Blabberize, LetterPop, SlideShare, and Zoho provide students with alternatives that tap their strengths and support their needs. It is my hope that, over the next few years, many of the applications that are available as assistive technology software packages (such as text-to-speech, voice output, and word prediction) will be updated and available as Web 2.0 tools that students can access from any setting; this will be a boon to creating a culture of Universal Design for Learning. As an administrator, I would celebrate and promote the use of technology that ensures equal access to the curriculum for all students. Spotlighting effective use by teachers would create a culture that embraces instructional technology and provides appropriate tools for students.
References
Center for Applied Special Technology. (2007). About CAST. Retrieved February 7, 2009, from http://www.cast.org/about/index.html
Johns Hopkins University. Week 3: Curriculum and 21st Century Skills [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://cte.jhu.edu/ELC3/FramesIndex.cfm?CFID=60563&CFTOKEN=40198709
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Curriculum Theory: Reflection #1
The purpose of school is to prepare students for their future as productive, socially appropriate, caring members of society. As such, students must be instructed in the areas of basic skills (reading, writing, and math) as well as general knowledge areas (social studies, science, visual and performing arts, and health and physical education). In addition, students must develop critical thinking and problem solving skills; instead of memorizing facts and information, students should learn how to learn (Burello, 2001). They need to become savvy with technology and see it as meaningful tool.
Beyond knowledge and skills, schools have a responsibility for developing interpersonal skills and providing character education. Focusing on interactions with peers and adults, acting as good citizens, and developing personal responsibility are all examples of ways that schools support interpersonal growth of students. Additionally, schools have a responsibility to teach students enabling skills, so that students know how to approach difficult situations with confidence and efficiency.
Within the school setting, a core curriculum of basic skills and knowledge should be taught to all students; Elkind’s developmentally appropriate approach enables students to make meaning within a responsive content (as cited in Burello, 2001, p. 120). While students should all be instructed with common curricular goals, differentiated approaches and techniques must be available, with trained teachers available to provide appropriate instruction in a variety of settings. All students should have the opportunity to complete a college preparatory program as described through the Education Trust (Detroit Public Schools, 2007), but they should also have the option to choose vocational training or alternative programs to train for careers that match personal skills and interests.
My work as a special education teacher embraces a developmentally appropriate approach to learning. I work with students in a variety of settings, including the general education classroom, a one-on-one setting, and a small-group special education classroom. At times, I use methods that mirror those within the general education curriculum, while at other times my teaching is based on direct instruction scripted programs. All of my instruction is based on the Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum as modified by my students’ Individual Education Plans; I also use Frederick County Public Schools Essential Curriculum for identifying appropriate instructional goals. What varies is that students may not be taught on their enrolled grade level; they may instead be developing skills that they have not yet mastered from previous grades. I also vary the level of support that students receive, and differentiate the response style that I require from different learners.
In addition to the written curriculum, I teach a curriculum of respect and appropriate social interactions. Co-teaching with a speech pathologist and several instructional assistants, we incorporate social skills training into daily lessons. Character education is a critical piece of my teaching and is a focus within my school. I model my expectations for students and create an atmosphere of mutual respect. Outside of daily classroom interactions, I serve as a teacher mentor for a child who does not have positive role models in his life. Preparation for productive adult life includes not only basic knowledge and skills, but also character and social skills development.
Beyond knowledge and skills, schools have a responsibility for developing interpersonal skills and providing character education. Focusing on interactions with peers and adults, acting as good citizens, and developing personal responsibility are all examples of ways that schools support interpersonal growth of students. Additionally, schools have a responsibility to teach students enabling skills, so that students know how to approach difficult situations with confidence and efficiency.
Within the school setting, a core curriculum of basic skills and knowledge should be taught to all students; Elkind’s developmentally appropriate approach enables students to make meaning within a responsive content (as cited in Burello, 2001, p. 120). While students should all be instructed with common curricular goals, differentiated approaches and techniques must be available, with trained teachers available to provide appropriate instruction in a variety of settings. All students should have the opportunity to complete a college preparatory program as described through the Education Trust (Detroit Public Schools, 2007), but they should also have the option to choose vocational training or alternative programs to train for careers that match personal skills and interests.
My work as a special education teacher embraces a developmentally appropriate approach to learning. I work with students in a variety of settings, including the general education classroom, a one-on-one setting, and a small-group special education classroom. At times, I use methods that mirror those within the general education curriculum, while at other times my teaching is based on direct instruction scripted programs. All of my instruction is based on the Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum as modified by my students’ Individual Education Plans; I also use Frederick County Public Schools Essential Curriculum for identifying appropriate instructional goals. What varies is that students may not be taught on their enrolled grade level; they may instead be developing skills that they have not yet mastered from previous grades. I also vary the level of support that students receive, and differentiate the response style that I require from different learners.
In addition to the written curriculum, I teach a curriculum of respect and appropriate social interactions. Co-teaching with a speech pathologist and several instructional assistants, we incorporate social skills training into daily lessons. Character education is a critical piece of my teaching and is a focus within my school. I model my expectations for students and create an atmosphere of mutual respect. Outside of daily classroom interactions, I serve as a teacher mentor for a child who does not have positive role models in his life. Preparation for productive adult life includes not only basic knowledge and skills, but also character and social skills development.
REFERENCES
Burrello, L.C., Lashey, C., & Beatty, E.E. (2001). Educating all students together: how school leaders create unified systems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Detroit Public Schools. (2007). THE ANATOMY OF SUCCESS: Lessons from Schools on the Achievement Frontier [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://olms.cte.jhu.edu
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