8-18-10 to 8-20-10
8-18-10
Although I have two other schools, this was to be my first day at this school as an administrator and a campus curriculum leader. My principal met me at the door and immediately put me to work. I met with the administrative team and helped to plan the teacher retreat. Of course I was on the agenda. We spent most of the day behind closed doors with this activity. The rest of the time I visited the classrooms and introduced myself to as many teachers and instructional assistants as possible. I was nervous and excited at the same time. Maybe I wasn't too nervous about the job of campus curriculum leader. I've been in this role for several years at several different schools. Some of the teachers had even attended some of my workshops. The thought of wearing that "other hat" was becomming a reality.
8-19-10
The All day retreat. My principal introduced me as the new AP intern and also the new campus curriculum leader for math and science. I followed this by letting everyone know what my role would be as CCL, along with expectations and how at times I would be functioning as AP intern. I also asked each staff member to complete a needs assessment.
The rest of the time was spent talking about rules and expectations.
My principal involved the team in sopme team building exercises and we viewed a Team Building movie.
8-20-10
I met with all the grade level chairs to discuss dates and times I would join them for weekly PLC meetings. It was decided that at this weekly meeting I would discuss lesson plans, common assessments, analyzing data, and next steps, other concerns/needs.
The first few days went rather smoothly. The staff seemed quite friendly. But still I sensed something was not quite right. Something was missing, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew I would have to investigate.
8-23-10 to 8-27-10
8-23-10
Prepared for open house. Help with printing materials, typing the agenda, and setting up in the media, and scheduling.
8-24-10
During open house I was asked to greet parents, introduce myself, and direct parents to the approriate classrooms. This gave me an opportunity to develop relationships with the parents.
The rest of the week was spent doing walk throughs and attending to the math and science needs of teachers.
On Wednesday I got to do my first walk through with my principal. It was quite different because as a Campus Curriculum Leader I have done many walk throughs but they are a bit longer than the 3-minute walk throughs and a lot more revealing as far as needs of the teachers. My familiarity with the K-5 curriculum was quite helpful during the walk-throughs.
I also helped with car-pool during the first 10 days of class, and assisted office with redirecting parents and answering questions about bus schedules and room assignments. Today I also met with my 5th grade teachers to discuss the use of science kits and common assessments. I scheduled a time to come back the next day to observe and assess any needs.
8-30-10 to 9-3-10
During this week I distributed text books, created a sign-out process that would hold teachers more accountable for student calculators, met with each grade level during their PLCs. During the meetings I always ask: What's going well? What's not going well? What can we doing as a PLC to improve student learning? I focus a lot on Data.
The 5th grade team wanted to meet after school on Friday to plan next steps after reviewing their data. I was able to make a few suggestions based on their data. The rest of the time was spent designing engaging, appropriate math, science, and reading centers.
I continued with trying to put a finger on what I sensed was missing from this school environment. This led me to have conversations with the Principal, AP, and the 2 academic coaches who were starting to see some of the same things.
Teachers were quite friendly, but very complacent. Uhmmm ..thinking...Although teachers had an entire day to practice routines and procedures, I didn't see a lot of practicing. After two weeks, student behavior was terrible. Unless the students were fighting, I didn't witness a lot of teacher corrections. Misbehavior was greatest on the 4th and 5th grade halls. Walk-throughs revealed substandard instruction not supported by the NCSCOS, math centers were not age appropriate and I didn't observe a lot of higher-order questions. Wow!! I think I have my finger on the problem. But first, I want to know what you think.
Joyce,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned you have been doing walk-throughs. Indeed, it is helpful to be familiar with the grade levels, as you mentioned. However, have you found that there have been any "disadvantages" to that familiarity as well? I am in the same boat as you in that I'm now doing "walk throughs" with teacher that are former teaching-mates. How have you dealt with that? Have you found that some have questioned you about what you have noted during the observation due to the fact that they know you're familiar with their teaching? If you have come up with ways to deal with this, let me know!
It's amazing to me that some of my former teaching mates seem very casual during walk throughs. I would have expected to see more "best foot forward" activities during walk throughs. Have you experienced this?
Also, during a workshop I attended for assistant principals, an administrator that was in my small group shared a novel way to share teacher walk-through data that was done at his buildinng. At that school, teachers bring their walk-through binders to grade level meetings to share with the team comments regarding instruction. Then, the teachers use the data to brainstorm ways to improve instruction. I thought this was a great idea. I'm not sure teachers in all buildings would be comfortable sharing their feedback, but I think if the walk-through data was used for "improving instruction" it might work. What do you think?
I am responding to your Tuesday blog. Your retreat appeared to have been an interesting one. Meeting other AP interns is a value to your time. The many experiences that they have to share with you should offer more information that you may possibly learn from. This retreat apparently had many great activities for leaders in training.
ReplyDeleteYour principal is apparently working with you to provide many opportunities for your internship. A retreat is an excellent venue for increasing your educational resources. I am certain that you gained information that will help you become a great AP. May God Bless You.
I was very excited about our staff retreat. Our principal took us bowling nd provided lunch. We split up into teams and played hard. I thoroughly enjoyed it because although I am fond of bowling, it gave me a chance to meet the staff and have some fun with them, before I had to do administrative things with them. I got to be a real team player and we just had a great time. I was alos involved in the planning stages of our retreat because I had to secure a bolwing alley and get all the bowling prices and secure a lunch deal. I also learned from this experience how to get an activity bus and how to figure out the mileage and his pay for the budget. I hope everyone had a great staff retreat. Mine sure was.
ReplyDeleteJody, these teachers were never teaching mates. I was already working as a campus curriculum leader doing walk-throughs at other schools. This is a new school. My observations are not official and are truly meant to improve teaching and student learning. Recently I asked my teachers how they wanted feedback. I had thought about doing it at the PLCs and making general statements, but they decided they wanted one-on-one feed back with suggestions.
ReplyDeleteJoyce it sounds like you are getting a lot of experience with your principal and AP. I think they are really includeding you as a part of their team.Walkthroughs are nice because you can see what everyne is doing. It is really hard for me to do many walkthroughs and teach.
ReplyDeleteJoyce, I'm sure you were quite disappointed about some of the things you observed during the walk throughs. What do you think the administration will do to address the substandard teaching? When I mentioned some areas of concern to our administration team, I was told that those teachers would not be assigned any low achieving students for the next school year. Of course my response was that this action was not a solution to the problem. There are students who will not receive quality instruction this school year if we do nothing to help teachers who are not practicing BEST PRACTICES. This suggested solution made me think that our school was making teacher centered decisions and not student centered decisions. However, after my comments to our administrative team, it was decided that any teachers who need help with instructional methods and classroom management will be assigned a peer partner for collaboration purposes.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a lot to contend with between two schools. I don't know how I would manage, but the good thing is you are getting a wealth of experience between the two. With a new title will come new responsibilities and even though others know of you and have had workshops with you there will still be that air that you are a principal. That, to me, will be the biggest hurdle to overcome. For you it is just a transition from one name to the other because as a curriculum leader you are really doing some of the same things as a principal. Continued success to you! Can't wait to hear about your further experiences!
ReplyDeleteI love that you collected data from staff members through doing a needs assessment!! Allowing staff members a way to let their thoughts and beliefs be heard is a wonderful tool for maintaining a positive morale and a great way to get buy-in from staff members on future programs or initiatives. I have also never been a part of a team building session that incorporated a movie! This is an idea that I think could be truly beneficial. There are some great educational movies (i.e. Waiting for Superman) that could help staff members grasp the vision that the administration has for the school and its future. I would love to use this idea at my site.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are having some great training, please keep in mind the vast number of walk-throughs we will experience in our future positions; I made this comment because I can agree that we do a huge amount of work but those walk throughs should allow teacher to reflect on their current practices, and review what strategies can be used to assist them on the most current practice. Quick question has your school combine EC, with Reg. Ed classes as of yet.
ReplyDeleteWe have classes that are considered EC clustered. An EC teacher will come in during Math and Reading and work with a small group of students.
ReplyDelete