Final Reflection for O & A Course

Indeed this course has helped me to see that to be an administrator will require a multi-facet of leadership strategies to be able to effectively lead a school. Among that good communication skills will be of precedence because of the multitude of personalities you will be expected to lead from your staff, students, parents, community and other stakeholders.

To me it is important to build a true team with the same shared vision. I think this is going to be a challenge for me. I can recall on our chat session, Principal Frank discussing his challenge when he became principal. He stated that the school was so divided that in their first staff meetings everyone was spreaded out across the bleachers. Hence, I think that is common practice to a degree for us because we lead our classroom domains, but educators have to learn that it is more advantageous to work together towards a common goal.

To counteract this I plan to do an enormous amount of getting to know you and team activity exercises. Though it will be important to get down to business, I believe in building an atmosphere of trust. I want them to understand my passion for students’ learning and I hope to see the same in them. I want the staff to understand that they can come to me to talk about issues and in turn I want them to understand I will not “bite my tongue” to address issues to them. I plan to use tact when necessary and firm leadership as the same. All of these ideas will help them to learn my diplomatic leadership style.

I think that in order to conquer pitfalls that could be revealed in my first-year as a principal it will be important to surround myself around those that have a general interest in the success of the school. These will be the persons that will help me to succeed and will utilize their strengths to provide you with the resources to assist you. Also, I think that having a mentor principal would be advantageous. (Especially with a principal that has experience and proven success in administration.)When we had the chat session with Ryan, Frank and Susie, I realized that each one of them was different type of administrators but they all had something to contribute to us as candidates.

This course has prepared me to use 21st century leadership skills by implementing different forms of how I can collaborate with my staff. I will meet with them when necessary but I am eager to utilize other Web 2.0 collaboration tools to motivate the staff.

Educational leadership in my opinion is a responsibility that should be shared. I feel that all educators have the duty to learn to lead...and then lead. I plan to do that by developing teams and spreading the leadership every year. What I have found as a teacher is that oftentimes some of my colleagues have hidden talents and in some cases have not had the opportunity to cultivate or exhibit it because they have been doing the same thing for years. Then on the other hand you have some that have been leading and they are awful at it. My motto will be that EVERYONE will LEAD! Everyone from teachers, students and parents. And with that we will incorporate all types of leadership seminars to assist parents with leading other parents and their communities, teachers leading other teachers in the school, and students leading other students in the school.

With these few strategies I hope that I will have success my first year as a principal.

This semester we took the Organization and Administration course. This course was arranged differently from the previous courses. Differently from the perspective that our team was an instructional team that had to analyze one of our team members' home school and develop an action plan for that school based on the information that was provided to us. There were some challenges and triumphs that I see contributed to this set up for our team. But most of all I think it helped me to be able to examine my standpoint and how I would deal with the scenario in real life.

Our team was arranged with a facilitator and a reporter. The facilitator served as the principal and the reporter did just that reported information that needed to be posted, similarly to a school secretary. I think that I was working with an extraordinary group of people; however, I just was not comfortable with the off-balance of the tasks and the individual team roles. For eight weeks I have only been scheduled to be the facilitator once, hence that is not until the forthcoming eighth week. So looking at the delegation of roles there was no equity among them. Consequently, when I voiced my concerns on two occasions, it was more or less ignored. But ironically, I don’t think that it was done purposely, I think that my other group members did not want to deal with it as it seemed as if I was “complaining”. So after voicing it twice I decided to let it go.

What I learned from that situation is that as an administrator it is necessary to address and rectify situations. You don’t want a member of your team feeling “left out” or that their input doesn’t matter. The feeling of being ignored when you are among a group that is suppose to come to a consensus on issues and matters can create dissension among the group or have a team member not willing to give their all. Maybe one thing that can be explored is a way for the instructor to intervene when things seem imbalanced among a group. In a school setting, when there is discord among grade levels, the school leader is responsible for balancing out the roles or settling in accuracies. But again I am not going to let it hold me back, I am just learning from experience.

One of the triumphs that I would say is that everyone has given input that I feel would really progress a schools’ academic performance. Our school of discovery is a school that did not make AYP last year. So when you are trying to determine what is the best action plan to ensure success the next time, it is not an easy task. I don’t even think it is an easy task for those that serve in the capacity of school administrators at this time. I feel that my team came up with numerous profound ideas that if put into practice it could assist the school with excelling on their next MSA testing.

One area that I would like to see more support within this course is a direction of analyzing data. This is a component that I noticed we all were below proficient in, and I think that maybe a section on how to analyze data would be useful when analyzing a plan for students.

I believe that the overall objective was to put us in a situation that was like on the job training. It was a real life situation that we were required to develop members of an instructional team and their usefulness, we were to develop activities to support our plan of action, and we were to have constructive discussions that challenged us to think and explore new thoughts from one another with the ultimate goal of how will it impact the improvement of our students’ reading scores. I earnestly feel that all of these assignments and team tasks would be needed to effectively fulfill an administrative role in a real life situation. And I appreciate the experience and feel comfortable that when I become an administrator I will have gathered tools and strategies to use to organize and administer an instructional team.

Definition of Curriculum...

How has your definition of curriculum been shaped by the course readings and discussions? How and why has your definition of curriculum changed?

Initially, I defined curriculum as a document that was used to guide our lessons and control what was being taught in the classroom. (If that had a negative connation it was suppose to be that way:))

But now I have a new found respect for the curriculums that are being developed and revised in our county each year. I look at the curriculums now as a useful course of study that is provided to teachers to deliver explicit instruction in the classroom. Ironically, this is necessary so that school system can meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Before, I viewed the written curriculum as a useless document that was developed by “naysayers” that did not have the competency to understand how math should be taught to students. I felt like the expectations of the teachers were impossible and as long as I made sure my students were delivered the concepts according to the required state standards then I was doing what was needed for a learning community in my classroom.

But now I feel I was so wrong in my interpretation! The course readings and discussions with my colleagues have helped me to see how dynamic the curriculums that are developed in our school district really are. Especially in comparison to some of the curriculums that my team members are forced to use to teach. In an activity we had to examine elements of our team members school curriculum and I was saddened of some of the conditions that other teachers are expected to teach from. This made me have an appreciation for what my school district develops for our teachers.

For instance, In Glatthorn’s text Developing a Quality Curriculum he revealed to me the value of a school district having a quality curriculum for their schools. Particularly, I realized how individualizing the curriculum can simplify teaching students with different aptitudes and learning needs. The curriculum that I analyzed met the requirements of the components of the curriculum to be considered a curriculum of excellence according to Glatthorn’s book.

My only opposition is that the textbook that is being used is not aligned with the state standards. To be frank, they have placed our 5th grade students in a 6th grade middle school book with the efforts to increase the rigor among students learning. This makes teaching difficult to find additional items outside of the textbook materials to reinforce the skills to students. From my research, most textbooks are aligned in a developmental sequence that ultimately gives the students what they should learn by the completion of that grade. Since the textbook for grade five was developed for students in grade six those fifth grade students are missing a huge component that would help them to make connections in mathematics in the future. To illustrate for you what I am saying, when it was time to teach adding and subtracting like denominators, we had to use a previous textbook because the current textbook considered that concept (along with others)a prerequisite skill for their textbook.
But all in all, our fifth grade mathematics curriculum framework is aligned with the Maryland State Department of Education Voluntary State Curriculum. The curriculum framework makes it easy for a teacher to differentiate instruction to meet the goals and objectives for all students in the classroom. Moreover, it provides the resources that teachers need to infuse technology and effective learning strategies for struggling and advanced students.

This class has helped me to determine what to look for in a quality curriculum and how vital it is for a teacher to scrutinize the curriculum they are teaching to students.

For the 21st century learners, it would be ideal to include instructional technology in students’ learning curriculums. Computers and digital media would make learning more engaging for the students of today. In the written curriculum, suggestions can be made of websites that teachers can use for resources to teach or reinforce a concept. The taught curriculum is curriculum of the concepts that the teacher actually teach in the classroom. Teachers can use digital books and web 2.0 tools to connect the students to meaning and understanding of concepts in the curriculum. I would like to see teachers using blogs for student reflections and literature book discussion groups. With the tested curriculum students are expected to know the fundamentals of surfing and navigating the internet and the functions of basic keys on the computer. In retrospect, if students are using the computers and internet in the classroom then they will not have a difficulty with the standards related to technology on the test.

With the science portion of our district testing they are moving towards having all of the 5th grade students complete the state assessment on the computer. My opinion of this is that they will have the students test on the computer to satisfy the NETS-A requirements for the county, however it seems meaningless to me if the technology is not embedded in the curriculum so the students can practice and benefit from using technology throughout the school year.

Our students of today are very different learners. This generations’ thinking requires multiple visual assimilations to grasp their interest in learning new and innovative concepts. As a school leader my goal will be to seek teachers that are willing to use technology, visual aids, manipulatives and other hands on teaching tools to entice students to learn concepts they are trying to teach.

I think that promoting centers and stations are excellent ways to infuse technology into the classrooms. Hence it is an effective way to employ technology into the taught curriculum. I would promote flexible groupings in the classroom so that students could have a variety of tasks and a plethora of digital media that can be used daily in the classroom. I believe that integrating technology is a resource that can be used to differentiate instruction so that students will have the opportunity to learn. I foster the use of technology by including it in activities, lessons, and assessments in the classroom. For example, I use the Interwrite whiteboard for visual and tactile learners, speakers and headsets for my auditory learners and computers for my sequential learners.

I get pleasure from adding a variety of technology to instruction. Hence, with the proper school leadership teachers can learn to build confidence in utilizing technology; therefore they can facilitate the knowledge to create an atmosphere where technology flourishes in the classroom and we will have schools with productive climates for learning in the 21st century.

My Philosophy on the purpose of school...

My philosophy about the purpose of school is that school is an institution that is for learning.

I feel that it is a place where students go to learn and teachers are there to guide them to learn.

I believe that everyone should be afforded the opportunity to attend school and obtain an education. Additionally, I feel that parents should guide their children to an understanding of the importance of education by making sure that they attend school. In some countries students have to walk miles and miles just to go to school to obtain skills for an education while some do not have them privilege at all because they have to work to help take care of their families. In my opinion, everyone should have the opportunity to attend school.

When a student attends school I feel that schools should be an environment that is conducive for new and innovative learning. A school should exhibit learning on the wall of the hallways, in someone’s voice over the intercom and it should be displayed in students while walking the halls. Students should be happy to attend school each day. When a person enters in a school building, they should see a school climate of learning.

In retrospect, students should learn to read, write, learn a variety of languages, compute math and learn technology as a priority in today’s curriculum. I feel that with the diversity of cultures that are entering our schools it is important that we become more flexible to learning other language as well as the basic skills. I do agree that English should be the first learned language, however we could start our young school starters with diversity when they enter kindergarten.

For me this notion also stands the same for technology as it is ever-evolving. As technology changes I believe that soon it will be including in state standards from K-12. What I have found with using technology and multi-medias in the classroom is that it helps with differentiating instruction as well as enhancing the diverse learning styles in the classrooms. I believe that integration of technology is the pathway to academic success in the 21st century. Additionally, the complexities of computer technology could assist students with the logical reasoning that could be applied to curriculum today.

My career demonstrates my beliefs because I currently teach 5th grade in a Title-one school and my goal is to expose students to as much technology as possible. In our school we have limited resources but that doesn’t stop me from making sure my students learn. I was a career changer that chose to teach to make a difference in American schools. And each year I strive to make an impact on my students by stressing the importance of obtaining an education.

But most of all, I have a strong passion to assist students with learning gaps to get them on track with their learning. I believe that all students can be successful, it just takes a teacher with a passion to teach to engage students to learn.

Post-Observation Reflection

After the post observation, I had the opportunity to review, analyze and reflect on the video conference that was held. It was clear that at the start of the post-conference video we both seemed a little antsy. I think it was difficult for Mr. Novice to see me in the role of a supervisor than his “everyday” colleague. But I think my nervousness was stemming from the anxiety of fulfilling the conference video presentation requirement.

We meet in my classroom at a round table that is normally used for parent-teacher conference or grade-level meeting. I felt this was a non-threatening place to meet because we have had several meetings together here before. I chose to sit adjacent to Mr. Novice as oppose to, across the table from him. I chose this seating arrangement because I wanted it to be a comfortable meeting so that the dialogue would be free, friendly and flowing. As an aspiring school leader, I want to be able to be a “democratic” supervisor that creates a reflective atmosphere for the staff that I work with. Hence, I did not want to seem as if I was “playing principal” but in fact, the information that I was to provide from the observation was information that could be utilized to enhance his performance as a classroom teacher.

One thing that I learned in “communication 101” years ago is that making eye-contact helps to create an effective environment for communication. The person you are communicating with will observe you as someone who is attentive and listening to what they are conveying. So this is what I strive to do from the onset.

Interestingly enough, we had to stop and rewind the recording three times because it was almost impossible for Mr. Novice to keep a straight face whenever I gave the introduction to the post-conference. I was taken aback because I realized that his thinking was as if I was “playing principal” and that I was going to have to switch my position if I was going to appear as a supervisor during this post-conference.

After the third time of rewind, I told the volunteer that was recording to keep rolling the tape and do not stop and start over even if Mr. Novice continued to “act out”. At that moment in my mind, I think that I was thinking that as an administrator there may be some instances where some of my staff may not take me serious or would challenge my authority during times of conferences or disciplinary action meetings. And I would need to be able to successfully conduct a conference without letting those types of antics become interferences.

When the recording started again, I watched my disposition and body language on the video. I observed my body language as if I was trying to exert power from the onset. Initially, I was speaking very fast and my eyebrows were lifted. I was also using finger gestures that appeared as if I was demanding attention. To confirm my observation, I rewind the recording and muted the sound to watch my actions. I seemed very frustrated and in a haste pace to finish the conference.

Contrary to my actions, Mr. Novice changed his course of disposition as well. He suddenly demonstrated a rather closed body language with his arms and legs crossed. At that moment I think that I was backing him in a “defensive” position, which is what I was striving so hard not to portray.

My tone was soft and firm and as I commended Mr. Novice on the areas that I revealed to be his strengths. His arms almost instantly unfolded. He then began a steady nod of agreeance as I praised him for relating the context of vocabulary to real life situations so that the students in his classroom could understand. He then responded with “ it is important to me that students understand the context of words and not just memorize the definitions so I believe providing them with examples can help apply an association with the word.” That statement open positive doors for me and at that moment I knew that we were very close to to the reflectivity that I was aiming for with this conference.

When I pulled out the classroom observation form, I asked him had he had the opportunity to look at the observation form that I previously sent him via e-mail. He interjected and stated that he wanted me to know that I did a very thorough job at capturing the events of the lesson. He continued by stating he was impressed to see that I had forwarded it to him for review before the post-conference and that I should mentioned the process to our current principal. I then asked him how did receiving a copy of the observation before this post-conference make him feel? He answered that it helped him to recall the events of the observation which creates dialogue in the meeting. He continued by saying that he has had two informal observation and both times they were rushed or he didn’t recall the lesson because he wasn’t given the opportunity to reflect on the lesson. At this point, I felt that the post conference had taking a turn for the best.

In retrospect, it was a complex meeting. I am not one for center-stage but what consistently raced through my mind was that my professor was going to view this video and I could not look as if I could not handle a post-conference. It started out rocky but as it continued I think that my novice teacher took a different perspective of my role and advice. All and all, I think that the post-conference was collaborative and it offered an enormous amount of reflection.

At the end of the video, Mr. Novice thanked me for the recommendations and said that even though this was a video for my class he wanted to try some of the suggestions and provide me with feedback on the outcome. (I smiled.)

I had the opportunity to observe the set up of classrooms on the 3rd grade level. It was very interesting to see how all of the room arrangements were very different among the four classes. One room was arranged in a traditional room set-up (Room A), two of them had the students seats arranged collaboratively (Room B and C) and the last room didn’t seem to have any order to the arrangement of the classroom (Room D). My initial reaction was that the classroom setups were probably geared to the teaching style of the teacher.

Room A was a huge open space that had desks arranged in rows. It was set in an array of 6 rows of 5 desks. The teacher’s desk is located at the front center of the room. On the walls there are maps and posters that clearly identify this is a science and social studies classroom. The teacher seemed to position herself at the front of the classroom during instruction time. It was more of a directed instruction. The students did not get out of their seats but the way the desks are arranged it seemed to be a tight squeeze to move around between the desks.

Room B and Room C were set up similarly. The two classroom teachers team teach so therefore I noticed that the two rooms mirrored one another. My assumption is that though the students switch classes the teachers wanted to have continuity between the two classrooms for the students. The desks were arranged in 7 quads of 4 desks. I gathered this was done this way so that the students could engage in collaborative work more freely. In Room B the teacher’s desk is off to the side near the closet area. In Room C the teacher’s desk is located behind the visualizer. Both classroom teachers appeared to walk the floors of the classroom as they gave instruction to the students. Room B had students working in groups at all measures of the classroom. Some students were even stretched out relaxed on the floor as they collaboratively worked in groups.

Room D seating arrangements did not seem to have any order. Some groups had 4 desks some had 5 one group had 6 and there were a row of desks toward the back. There was not a teacher desk visible. As I walked around the room I found the teacher’s desk in the back of the room hidden behind a divider. Ironically, this is where I found the teacher J as the students were working independently.

All of the rooms had at least five computers. However, none of the classes had students utilizing them while I was scanning the room.

As I reflect on my analysis of the room arrangements of the classrooms I think that how your room is set up can clearly help supervising staff know what method of instructional teaching you use in your classrooms. I think that as teachers we all have different teaching styles and in lieu of that students’ have a variety of learning styles. In my opinion, it is important to add that same diversity to the classroom so that you do not force your teaching style on students that may learn differently.
I learned that as a future principal it will be vital to inform my staffs of the importance of arranging their room so that it meets the needs of all students because how a room is arranged could impact a student learning.