01.11.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:12 am by stilliamlearning
With the start of the second half of the school year comes a major time for me, as an administrator, to professionally evaluate teachers on my staff. 
It’s a task I take very seriously as an instructional leader because I feel it is one of the most solid opportunities to individually grow teachers on my staff.
Because I was trained by well by my district leadership both in a leadership cohort and as an instructional coach, I follow a process that includes three critical steps of 1) prebriefing of the lesson, 2) observation of the lesson, and 3) debriefing of the lesson. I presume this is standard in every district. but I feel pretty sure the most effective part of the evaluation process is one that many administrators minimize or put aside – steps one and three.
Probably the main reason I think the prebrief and debrief are so important to the evaluation process is because this is the time when I truly can open up the teacher to instructional growth instead of accountability — a side that I honestly believe gets me to questions and conversation that really grow a teacher both pedagogically and as a learner.
After studying Stiggins’ work on teacher growth through evaluation, our district created a conversation guide for both pre and post observation conversations. These documents are critical tools allowing the teacher to connect their lesson objective to their lesson activity. Additionally, it guides the conversation toward the departmental best practice, which is often put aside for a shiny one-time classroom performance. The prebriefing is guided by the teacher, and allows him/her to share the lesson learning intent, tools to reach the objective, and measure by which learning will be decided. I find much of my coaching and questions in this conversation to be centered on alignment of activities to objective – especially in respect to the process verbs.
My favorite conversation, however, is the debrief, where the affective levels of internalization occur with good questions about the lesson centered on whether or not the students learned what the teacher intended and how the teacher knows the students reached the intended target. Often times, this is new information for the teacher to process following a formal observation. I complete the debrief by asking each teacher to select one or two specific instructional targets to improve upon immediately – even if they are strong teachers. By the time we finish the conversations, I know our teachers are always pleased with the ability to reflect on their process and set goals to improve.
Without question, the pre and post conversations with teachers are where they get their own differentiated instruction. If we ask it from them in the classroom, shouldn’t we ask it of ourselves as administrators?
1/365 by LucasJLD via flickr; Jumping on the line by Stefan’s Page via flickr
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01.01.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:49 pm by stilliamlearning
It’s risky, but I decided to direct my teachers to a Twitter find from Tweep web20classroom…
“The Best Blog in 2009.”
I asked teachers to read it and comment. I am excited to see what they say. Here is the beginning of the post..
Indulge me.
Hit the link and read the entire post. It was the BEST BLOGPOST in 2009. It’s about using technology in your classroom. It will resonate; I am sure of it. Then, let’s begin a crucial conversation about this…
Click here to see their comments.
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12.30.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:30 pm by stilliamlearning
In these last days of 2009, I feel compelled to reflect on the progress of my professional world (and personal, but those thoughts find a more private venue). Staring out at the ever-falling snow, I realize, like each snowflake, how unique each professional day of my life is and how pleased I am for that. I have learned very strong lessons this year. I have grown in ways I never thought possible. I have taken yet another solid, sad, yet sequential step away from the naïveté of leadership into the reality of leading. The parallel of my principalship is that all the same events of learning have occurred in the building I help lead.
So with my English teacher background pulling at my creative side, I think I’ll address my ideas in a somewhat acrostically poetic fashion. Adios 2009…
Passion: I let it fade. Even a little is a lot for me. I was distracted by another p-word – politics. Funny how passion and politics can (should) work well together but often run counter to one another. In this era of public education, I think it is easy for a principal to let the day-to-day operations (demands from central office, appeals from teachers, issues with students) draw us away from what our TRUE NORTH should be…facilitating excellent teaching and learning. I remember reading in Bolman and Deal’s Reframing Organizations how politics can be used for good – providing direction while tending to the needs of stakeholders. I leave the juxtaposition behind and vow to center again. Passionpower ON!
Relationships: I started my professional life in my school feeling like I married into a very, very close family. It’s been long enough. This is MY family. And I need to spend more time with the relatives. It helps us get through the tough times. It builds trust. This is a primary goal for me to grow in 2010.
Inquiry: I must learn to be more focused. I realize in my reverie (hah, get it, unfocused thinking???) that I reflect well when I am thinking aloud with many wise…folks. This started with a group that helps set the path for teaching and learning, but perhaps I need to work on a more specific group. I wonder if there are teachers in my building who are willing to set the pace and work with me on such a task? There is so much to know AND learn about how our students are learning in our school. Or not learning. My greater fear. I need to find this group of people.
Networking: I’ve been in my district for 12+ years. I rarely make time to connect with the “outside.” My building’s instructional coach, Sean Nash, has helped me begin to bridge that gap digitally with Twitter, Ning, and blogging, but I think there is so much more to work on. I was challenged this summer by Scott McLeod to step up as a building leader in the greater on-line world. So, in 2009 I’ve been challenged and accepted the challenge. It’s a challenge I will keep in 2010 – but I think there is really much to be said for the f2f interaction that can NOT be missed. I need to step up my outside connectivity. It will make me a smarter leader.
Constructivist: I have been playing with this. I understand, that’s what all good constructivist learners do. But I need this not to be the latest fad. It’s not – but as a leader I am struggling with how to measure teacher implementation of this practice (which is obviously the best) as much as my teachers are struggling with how to make it happen in their classrooms. The issue has been and continues to be “what is inspected is respected.” (Thank you wise JROTC instructor Col Hall). But inspecting the “PLAY” while individually learning? That seems to be incombobulatory (take that Urban Dictionary) in my world. This is a goal for me to address this year. I cannot take our staff to the next level when so many parts of the plan seem to be counter-productive. I set a goal to learn more and research widely. I may need to start with Gary Stager.
Intensity: Wow. If there is ever a time to see that word in a timely fashion, it is right before a new year. I think people would say I am intense. I think I can be. I like it when it’s a good intense. I am sad when that intensity is misperceived. Scott McLeod recently shared with a few of our district leaders how we must build the feeling of intensity in the professionals around us. If we don’t, the world will continue to change rapidly and our children will be unprepared for their future. Go to CASTLE and see their work. The research is done. The case has been made. For our children’s sake, we must get intense about our profession. Time IS of the essence. Emotive agenda: intensity throughout.
Purpose: Several times in 2009 I had to check this in my life. I do feel I have a purpose for my professional placement. I remember good friend and fellow educator Jincy Trotter reminding me of this when I first became a principal, “You believe God has a hand on your life? So why stop now?” I have to reflect on that often. My purpose was joy. Bring it. Share it. Create it. If you get away from your purpose, you can lose your way. Joy in 2010.
Accountability: Funny, I think this is an area that I have done well in 2009. So what in the world is it doing on my list? Well, I think I need to mathematically adjust this word as a sum (or amalgamation of sorts) of a few other “A” words. My goal is to grow in how I promote accountability by mixing in more finesse and compassion. Here’s my stab at fake math: (ability + action + accomplish) x 2(affability + amusing) – (ambiguity + allegation) = accountability. A great friend and former admin partner Jeremy Burright tipped me on to a great book called Crucial Conversations. I’m half way through. Jeremy is right. Every principal needs to read this book!
Learning: Julie Andrews sings it best, “…I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t’ feel so bad.” I simply love learning. About leading. About teaching. About technology. About teachers. Students. Books. Friends. Feelings. When I am learning about something, really, I am happy. And when I learn with other learners – well, there is NO instrument in the world created to measure that feeling except my smile. I feel fortunate that 2009 allowed me to smile a lot. In 2010, I hope I am smiling with you.
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12.09.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:57 am by stilliamlearning
I submitted this post on Virtual Southside, my school’s professional development Ning site, the week of Thanksgiving break. My school, Benton High School in St. Joseph, MO, has been working diligently toward meeting all the requirements of our school improvement plan causing great stress on our staff. From monitoring progress routinely on work toward state testing, to improving instruction in best practices by department, to to preparing for our district walkthrough — our staff (and probably most public school instructional families) needed to remember to take care of each other in the difficult times.
BEGINNING…
I thought about it morning, noon, and night. We need help. It’s been a rough THREE months with expectations, deadlines, and accountability. The economy is rough. The war is still going. Students seem more apathetic than ever. As a principal, I want to run around and tell everyone they are doing a good job. In the back of my mind I hear, “Good is the enemy of great.” What should I say to teachers? Where do I go? How can I make this better somehow? I found the answer in three places. Those who know me won’t be surprised at what they were.
…ONE
I found one part in church. Pastor Darrell Jones said, “Be thankful, especially during this time of year! Look at what you DO have – the half full part of your glass – and celebrate and thank God for what you have! So many do not have what you have.”
…TWO
I found the second with Kurt, my husband (in case you didn’t know his name), be thankful for what you have now because tomorrow it might be gone or at least far, far away. The time you have with the people you care about and work with is precious – we should not waste it. Celebrate, enjoy, and use that time to bring joy in the moments, with comments and during our times together. You will never regret that you did that.
…THREE
I found the third in my close friends. Three of them, actually. They may not even know how much their words affected me. They told me we need to celebrate each other more. They told me it’s okay to be “blue,” that it is not weak to be emotive and passionate about what I do – as a matter of fact it’s a good thing. They told me they have never worked with a principal who thinks so much about how people feel – staff and students alike – as much as I do, and that’s really a nice difference at Benton.
MIDDLE:
Transforming School Culture. I went to hear Dr. Muhammod talk about how to transform your school. He taught me that teachers fall into three (four actually, but I combined the last two for obvious reasons) categories: 1) those who believe in children and change to help them achieve, 2) those who believe in themselves and do all they can to keep their own lives settled regardless of the outcome for students, and 3) those who either try to survive students or are too new to know where they fall.
I realized that when I was a classroom teacher, I never measured the success of my class on the few students who did not perform or engage in learning. Oh sure, they had the ability to derail a lesson if I let them. They had the power to make me feel miserable, if I let them. They even had the power to make me feel like I was not successful – if I let them. But I didn’t. I focused on how to reach them academically. I worked at how to find a way to make them the success they needed to be. And I got to know them. Crazy thing – it was the last one, the third way – getting to know them – that worked best, fastest, and most substantial. I realized as I was sending an email to a close friend and staff member – what we needed to do as a staff at Benton High School was exactly the same – we needed to get closer to the people who cause us our biggest struggle(s).
END:
Being thankful with the Power of Three is simple. The process is to help you be thankful for people or circumstances that seem difficult or uncomfortable in your life. Everyone can do it. There are only three steps. The steps have three limits or parts. The entire staff can do it, but if only three people do, it will still be a powerful three.
1. Listen to what you say. (or what others are saying). *If you (or they) complain at least three times about the SAME EXACT THING (or a version of the same thing) – it’s time to get to the bottom of the issue.
2. Break down what makes this an issue for you (or the person). *Determine WHO, WHAT, and WHY. Keep it simple.
3. Go to the person at the source. *Tell that person something personal about yourself. *Ask that person on thing personal about him/herself.*Give the person a compliment.
Repeat step 3 three times. See if things don’t change. You will find yourself thankful for that person. You will find yourself thankful for what you have. You will find yourself thankful for having done it. Join me in the Power of Three.
Photos from Flikr: One by horizontal.integration ; Two by lomokev; Three by BrittneyBush, When I grow up I want to be a Hollyhock by Fotos by Flo, The Three Flowers by le faju, tulip by reallyreallyrosie
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11.22.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:01 pm by stilliamlearning
Professional Development Feedback: 11.19.2009
What a great PD afternoon we had Wednesday. As you all read through, analyzed, and discussed the MSIP 5 Advanced Questionnaire, it was a powerful to watch you tackle the tough truths presented in the data. The conversations in your groups were passionate, honest, and forthright. We appreciate your dedication to becoming a “learning organization” by questioning our current norms and being willing to address the uncomfortable but necessary climate of change.
Below are the issues we shared/summarized from each group (sorry about the time limits), and the subsequent “dot votes.” The staff has voted to work on issue #5. What we need to decide now is how to tackle it. Please respond here as soon as possible, and let us know how you would like to work on this issue. We need everyone’s participation to ensure all voices are heard. You don’t have to agree – remember that differing opinions are what help us grow and understand.
Voting on the Issues: 62 staff voting/3 dots each
Issue #1: We need consistent and clear rules and subsequent disciplinary action for students Accountability: Personal contact, clean up our own ranks, address problems not persons. Vote: 42 dots
Issue #2: We need a regular mechanism for feedback from students about what’s going on/how they feel. Accountability: Ask students. Publish results. Do it monthly. Vote: 26 dots
Issue #3: We need to increase accountability and expectation levels for students and staff Accountability: Bring in people to talk to students/staff, CAMP data and conferences, PowerSchool gradebook updates with expectations. Vote: 30 dots
Issue#4: We need to build student and staff esteem and awards system with mailings, comments, calls and involvement Accountability: Set # of items required per session, publicize awards/incentives, address more than just academics, market for involvement, increase opportunities. Vote: 26 dots
Issue#5: We have a safety issue we must do something about; we must remove “trouble” students that inhibit learning from classrooms Accountability: Determine what constitutes a “trouble student” and set plan for how to eliminate trouble students, have drugs, gangs, cell phone, classroom management professional development. Vote: 63 dots
PowerSchool/PowerTeacher/Gradebook Updates & Expectations:
Again – sorry about the rush with the PowerTeacher Grade book training. Just a reminder for what we are asking you to do with your grade book and class assignments before the end of the semester: (remember – these are expectations, NOT options)
- Enter the course description (should be like what you stated in your syllabus at the beginning of the semester). All similar courses should have similar course descriptions (We know this is a “duh,” but we figured we should probably make state it).
- Designate in your course description what your rule/guideline is for late work. Be clear and specific. At this time, let’s keep common courses the same – turn this information in to your department chair to discuss at the next LT meeting.
- Enter the description of your assignment. There is a HUGE difference between what you are expecting the students to DO and what you expect them to learn. The front part of the assignment can be the DO, the link should be what you expect students to LEARN. If you are confused or do not understand how or why to do this, please see your content principal. It’s pretty simple, and it won’t take you much time to get used to this BEST PRACTICE.
CAMP Requirements & Reminders
In order for you to begin your conferencing with your CAMPers, Jeanette will be emailing you (one at a time due to the size of each file) the Explore, PLAN and EOC data as well as information from ACT to explain what the benchmarks mean. Remember:
- DO NOT write on the STUDENT sheet – let the student do that. It is the ONLY step we have in place for now for the student to understand and own his or her own data. If asked by the NCA team or during a walkthrough, it’s imperative our students explain that they entered their own data and what it means.
- YOU must write the answers on the sheet for the student questions. This is important as it will slow down what the student says, make them cognizant of the IMPORTANCE of the conversation (if you are writing it, it must be important!), and be legible and understandable if the anyone else ever needs the information.
WE SET A SCHOOL RECORD!!!!
There is a ton of information included in this post. Make sure you refer to it as much as possible in order to complete everything. And remember what we said to each other in the meeting – we must hold ourselves and each other accountable to make a difference. It’s true – we must help each other to become the best we can be! The tide is turning. Our amazing and glorious Sheila Wilkinson, Counseling Center Secretary, just finished compiling our 2009 student follow-up data (months ahead of the other high schools, BTW) and we set a SCHOOL RECORD – of the 218 students counted in the class of 2009 – 70% of our students were enrolled in college!!! That is 20% more than our average. You all did this (and it hasn’t been easy), but the increase in higher and higher expectations of our students is paying off. Additionally, our ACT returns are coming back in at a higher composite this year than they did last year. They always do early, but it shows that your persistence is making a difference. Kelly Lock, Erin Nash, math department…all core departments – your work with our kids in this area HAS NOT GONE unnoticed (for those of you working on this beyond your curriculum). Thank you for all you do for our students every day (and especially before 7:30 and after 3:00). For you, we are thankful!
Photos found on Flickr: “Analyzing the Data” by by jproeber
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10.11.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:48 pm by stilliamlearning
We live in an era of change. President Obama won his leadership with it. Our city council was reinvented for lack of it. 
Our School Board and Superintendent are attacked because they dare speak of it. Our country is in a medical outrage considering it. No matter where you look – change happens and reactions to such changes are as different as the leaves on the trees in fall.
Benton High School, St. Joseph School District, MO
Benton High School is in the midst of substantive change. We are moving forward as an academic institution challenging practices where data shows us we can decidedly improve. We are challenging ourselves with technology and constructivism. We are challenging our grading practices and assessments. We are challenging the very manner in which we offer education to our students and communication to our parents.
In the midst of these changes, I realized how much each individual staff member plays a part. And then, especially recently, I realized there are some staff members who are not necessarily on board with the changes. Some are open with concerns over change and open share their ideas in order to be analyzed, scrutinized, and revised or adopted by our leadership team and staff. Yet there are others on the staff who operate with covert action – defending their opposition to change based on emotional instead of rational thinking. This emotion comes in the form of loss of personal comfort, attachment to an established daily routine, or resistance to the possibility of giving up some personal power.
Insanity Defined
“Albert Einstein is quoted as saying that insanity is defined as ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result (Tangredi, 2005). An organization that does not change and evolve does not improve. An organization that does not improve is doomed to fail” (Muhammad, 2009). Where do you stand in the paradigm of change? One thing we know for sure is that unless an entire team is pulling on the same end of the rope and in the same direction, movement (which I see as improvement) is not assured. As you reflect on our your department’s and our school’s journey of improvement, are you pulling with us and in the same direction as the team?
Share your story – it will inspire us all.
Images from Google Images: www.autumnwebquest.com/images/fallTree.jpg; www.allposters.com/-sp/Albert-Einstein-Poster.
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09.07.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:37 pm by stilliamlearning
This week begins our school’s first session of job-embedded professional development in year two of our technology integration and constructivist classroom instruction pilot. I am as excited about the learning possibilities as I am about the idea of growing the most highly educated staff of TPACK teachers on the planet.
As the instructional leader of our school, it is a personal promise to grow each and every teacher in our building into the most excellent educator possible, and I will never apologize for that promise. If you are a professional educator at Benton High School, when you leave you will be a stronger, smarter, and more situationally-aware teacher than when you arrived. Promise.
In Disrupting Class, (Christensen, 2008) the author states that we all learn at different paces and have different strengths as learners. This is nothing new to us as educators. But, what I find most interesting in this book and in additional readings that Benton’s instructional coach feeds me, is that technology (laptops and web tools) offers an “interface” that facilitates differentiated learning in a classroom more than any other. The problem with that facilitation is that our teachers have never had the opportunity to learn themselves how to use them in a classroom, let alone as a learner.
Chapter Four in our The Case for Constructivist Classrooms book study, (Brooks & Brooks, 1999) we will be reading about “Posing Problems of Emerging Relevance to Students.” These are the eight pages you will be reading this month as we practice what the authors call, “learning for transfer.” Constructivist teachers, and therefore constructivist principals, pose/seek to answer ONE BIG QUESTION, give learners time to think about it, and lead learners to resources to answer it. In following this guiding principle in constructivist pedagogy, the ONE BIG QUESTION will be, “How does Wednesday’s learning fits into your practice?”
As departments, you will share your ideas to the staff, but take time to “play” with the big question first. If you haven’t done so already, Nash offers great insight to the value of play in the classroom. As you begin to try new ideas, implement new strategies, and create new problems – I suggest you seek out Mrs. Corey, our Library Media Specialist. She has an infinite volume of resources that will truly amaze you. You will not sacrifice rigor in your classroom, that’s her promise. When your department is ready, you should comment on THIS POST so that we all may learn from your experiences. I am looking forward to learning from each department in the next month!
Thanks to Google Images and salamsmkserian.blogspot.com for images used in this blog.
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08.23.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:17 pm by stilliamlearning
We started high school last Wednesday in my school district. Students eagerly, if not with a little trepidation, entered their classrooms with high hopes and fresh expectations. That is – most students.
The week prior to school starting, Missouri state exam testing results were released. The results were depressing.
In our state of 554 school districts, 74% did not make AYP. In my school district, all but five schools are on some level of the MO School Improvement “watch list.” My school is one of those schools.
As the gatekeeper of students entering my school, I feel a great obligation to protect the learning environment for the students who are by law assigned to our school. As a lifelong educator, I feel a great obligation to teaching students – all students. And it is here that East meets West. It is here where legal intentions are beginning to cause greater harm than good. 
In order to attempt to make AYP for the next school year, my school must have around 60% of all testing students score advanced or proficient in Algebra 1 and English 2. If I can’t create a situation where that occurs, Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MO DESE) offers specifically and mathematically determined thresholds to help us “make” our AYP Target – these thresholds are titled “confidence intervals (CI),” “safe harbor,” and “growth.” These thresholds are determined by student attendance (total population) and graduation rate. This is where we struggle on the journey – but it is trails West for us. We worked hard this year in both subjects, we knew we made significant progress with our students – and with the CI we survived in English. We were ambushed in Algebra.
Even if we change modes of travel, there will be no safe harbor for us.
And then, riding in from the East, are all the students who want to attend our great school. They are weary travelers with tales to match those of Canterbury – these student travelers are mad at their parents and have left home, they are pregnant and met Missouri “Romeos” on-line who offered them residence, they want to attend school with their summer friends so badly they offer addresses that don’t exist in order to come to our school. Test scores don’t worry them – they never have. Attendance doesn’t worry them – they are willing souls in August and September. Graduation doesn’t worry them – they hope they will, one way or another. And the tales grow. 
The educator in me screams “Yes! Let the children be educated.” The principal in me screams, “No! These children have homes, and their resident schools must educate them.” And McKinney-Vento says, “Yes. These children shared their sad, weary stories, and they are “considered” homeless.” And AYP says, “No. When the children leave your school for a destination unknown, you will be held accountable for their journey, and the students you legally educate will be labeled as not making adequate progress.”
If only No Child Left Behind gave credit for schools attempting to bring every child along on the journey of learning. Then every school in the nation would be clamoring for the ones left behind.
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08.13.09
Posted in Uncategorized tagged Benton, governance structure, Leadership Team at 12:51 am by stilliamlearning
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
I was selected to be an assistant principal – a coveted position in my district for sure – as my first step into administration. One month into the school year, I knew I was in a professional situation that would test my ability to apply my carefully studied ISLLC standards to the real test. With my new position as an AP, I felt like I had landed myself on one great vacation spot at the beach looking at one huge, impending storm.
Impending Storm
One month later, my principal was removed from duty. Our staff was surprised, but not really. Our district leadership decided it was best to allow the two assistants to lead the school as co-principals. I do believe I lived one of the shortest assistant principal tenures on the planet.
“…it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”
Armed with three solid months of AP experience, two years of instructional coaching background, and an ABD in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Missouri (Go Tigers!), I knew the first thing we needed to do as co-principals was get a leadership team up and running. Up to that year, the situational leadership of the school allowed for department chair meetings that were often canceled and an administrative team of three that split itself to facilitate discipline, instruction and management. It was not an odd set-up; probably relatively standard for the time period. Our assistant superintendent challenged us to design a leadership team and create a concept map of our vision of a governance structure for our school. I was never so glad as at that moment to have read Bolman and Deal’s Reframing Organizations
“…it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…”
The conversations were rigorous about who we bring to the table to lead the school in such tough times. The school had departments with powerful and politically aligned department chairs – an old guard of sorts – that protected the traditions of our locally popular high school. The school had also started down a path of transition to become a Professional Learning Community with identified coaches who were not necessarily department chairs but carried a clique of teachers with them on an appropriately identified track of learning. How did we organize this team? What personal agendas did we allow or disallow in leading the school? What would be the fallout if we did not include a known “Big Fish?” What teachers and teacher leaders were truly qualified to be decision makers for their peers. The options were endless.
“…it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…”
Our decision was to center our leadership team around the department chairs. We felt these individuals were, or at least should be, strong content knowledge teacher leaders who would help us keep our decision-making focused on what was best for our students academically. Our school has 12 department chairs on the team – four core (MA, LA, SS, SC), five electives (FL, FA, IT, FACS, PE, BUS), counseling and library. We obviously added our admin team, which included our Activities Director and an assistant principal in the subsequent years), on the leadership team as well as our instructional coach. As it turned out, the PLC coaches were not pleased with our decision. The tough conversations about our decided leadership direction provided a first conversation in what was about to become one exhausting marathon of conversations.
“…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”
We brought the team together. We studied how to be a good team. We studied how dysfunction would affect us. We studied data. We wrote our School Improvement Plan using our leadership team to lead the staff. We believed in a vision and mission and made it our own. Together, we suffered through a pounding by the press and a drop in state testing scores. We developed policy (cell phone usage and tardy) together that began to change the way we offered learning and managed classroom behavior. We grew as a team, but it often felt like we were rowing the Titantic.
“…we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…”
We felt like we were moving. We added an “At Large” member to our leadership team who was a teacher voted on by all the teachers to represent them on the Leadership Team. The tenure of that position was one year to offer the opportunity for any teacher looking to grow leadership experience. We also made a super smart decision to add our Professional Development Committee members to the leadership team. This decision was made based simply on the fact that the leadership team was making PD decisions they didn’t want denied. It was logical to include the voting PDC members a part of the decisions and save a step. Smart leaders, eh?
“…we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.” ~ Charles Dickens
So, despite NCLB goals increasing at an unprecedented rate (or at least it felt like it), our leadership team stayed focused on our school improvement and continued to study how to make our students better learners and more successful community members. We pulled together to earn NCA-CASI accreditation – a team building experience if I’ve ever met one – and we earned a humbling US News & World Reports Best High Schools 2009 Bronze Award. We were selected by the district to pilot technology integration with pedagogy and content knowledge, and Virtual Southside was born with ensuing success and a tremendous professional impact. The leadership team was pulling the staff to earn some great wins. Then, with little warning, much of our hope was dashed when our community decided to withdraw their financial support and not renew a 63 cent levy our district used for basic operations and salaries. When a strong leadership team exists in a high school, adversity only makes you stronger. We were rock solid.
Leadership Team: The best of times in the worst of times
We had our third start of school leadership team retreat today. We battled over our literacy plan. We focused on reaching each student personally with our ready-to-launch CAMP (Cardinal Mentoring & Advisement Program). We will grow our school spirit by including every teacher and every child in activities and class acclimation. We grow every time we meet together — we have a plan for that which includes bi-monthly leadership team meetings, monthly department meetings, and monthly job embedded professional development on TPACK. Our conversations are vocal and passionate now — the transformation to instructional leadership within the team is exciting and dynamic. We will succeed, hopefully with the levy, because we believe in our vision: Success for all through education!
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07.24.09
Posted in Uncategorized tagged VirtualSouthside Benton Cardinalconnection professional at 9:49 pm by stilliamlearning
This is where I used to live in the blogsphere. I originally created the site about 15 months ago for the Benton High School staff to interact with the administration. It worked for an information delivery system of sorts. There was very little interaction, albeit some, with staff members. I would say it wasn’t a bad 1.0 experience. I am ready to move on.
Our staff has had amazing success in transforming the world of professional development with this website. We have increased staff interactions by dropping walls and workdays in a phenomenal way. “VSS,” as it is fondly referred to, has taken over the need for the Cardinal Connections blog and has been instrumental in flattening decision-making and building operations in a way I could never have imagined.
Michaelangelo: “Still, I am learning.”
At 87 years old, the master wrote the words Ancora Imparo on a sketch he was working. He embraced learning during his entire life. He was a model of genius for all learners.
With that need met for our staff, I have decided to create “Ancora Imparo” to fulfill my need to grow, learn and share my thinking with any educators who might desire to collaborate with a teacher-leader learner.
Thanks for use of Image from http://www.fineartprintsondemand.com/artists/michelangelo/hands_of_god_and_adam.htm
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