Reflections of Self

I really enjoyed the opportunity to complete a full clinical observation cycle, as it gave me the chance to take a deep look at the process and at myself. I worked with a first year kindergarten teacher and we both learned a lot during the process.

In my opinion, the post conference went well for both of us. I was able to share some information that the teacher agreed was helpful and she was able to give feedback about how I handled the observation process.


Reflections on Environment
The environment for the post-observation conference was the teacher's classroom. This location was selected because it allowed me to refer to the areas in the room during the discussion and would be comfortable for the teacher. I sat on the left of the teacher for our discussion, which meant we were often face to face, but there was nothing between us, like a desk or table.

After watching the video recording of the post-observation conference, I noticed that there was constant eye contact between the teacher and myself. I am known for facial expressions when speaking, so that is something I worked hard to keep under control. I often used a head nod to show agreement as well as comments such as 'right' and 'yes'. I discovered that the transition words I used during the conference were words such as okay and alright.

The observation was focused on three (3) particular students, and in my recounting of events during the post-observation conference, I had difficulty being sure I was matching the correct information with the correct student name. The teacher and I worked it out, but this would be important to pay more attention to during future interactions.

Reflections on Strategies to Improve Instruction
To open the post-observation conference, I referenced our pre-conference and shared the pre-conference documentation. In addition, the teacher and I had discussed a word assistance poster that I had seen in another classroom. During the post-observation conference, I provided a copy of the document for the teacher to duplicate for use with her students during kid writing activities. The teacher and I reviewed a behavior tracking form from the observation and we discussed the behavior of the three targeted students based on this documentation.

I allowed the teacher to share her reactions and reflections for the observed lesson and then shared my information after clarifying her thoughts. We discussed her opening activity and I provided some suggestions for keeping the targeted students focused in a whole group setting. The teacher received this input well and it seemed she would attempt to implement some of the suggestions. Keeping track of student names (all three began with J!) so as not to confuse behaviors between students is very important. In the future, I would try to have a picture of the student in advance, so that later reference to a given student would be surely be accurate. Once we clarified the students during the opening of the post-observation conference, I feel confident about the accuracy of my comments. I did suggest that a change in grouping of students might be a way to keep the targeted students more on task and the teacher was receptive to this, commenting that now that she knows the students better, one of the groups did need adjusting.

One thing I had noticed during the classroom observation was that the teacher speaks really quickly. I was nervous to bring this up, because it seems very personal. However, when working with younger students, a teacher's tone of voice and pacing can really affect student behavior. I suggested she consider slowing down and to monitor how that affected the students. She took this 'criticism' in stride and seemed eager to make adjustments. After reviewing the post-observation video and closely watching her facial reactions and body language, I could see that she was not insulted at all and I was glad about that. I did note in the video that I said the teacher should try to slow down and lower her voice. In the future, I would choose my words more carefully and say something like, 'Have you considered slowing your voice down? or "One thing that might have an effect on students is a slower pace." The use of the word should seemed very directive.

The teacher commented that she is frequently watching the time because there is so much to get done. My suggestion here (as a victim of over planning, myself) was to try planning 3 days worth of activities that actually last 5 days. That way, she can focus more on the quality of the work getting done, over the quantity of work to be done.

Having never taught kindergarten, I questioned the teacher about her activities to be sure I was clear on the expectations and goals for student learning. I had prepared notes in advance covering the different areas of the lesson, so as the teacher shared her thoughts I was able to provide suggestions along the way. The teacher was disappointed (and had expressed concern) about the amount of students she could see during her rotating groups. Since the initial observation, she had restructured the group work and reported that she is now seeing more students. I had some suggestions for this, but held them back since she had improved this on her own.

Conference Behaviors
Prior to the post-observation conference, I planned to use the collaborative approach with this new teacher. I had sketched out the following flow of conversation: clarifying (t), listening (s), reflecting (s), presenting (s), clarifying (t), problem solving (s+t), encouraging (s), negotiating (s+t), standardizing (s+t), reflecting/summarizing.

It was difficult to refer to the plan during the post-observation conference, but after analyzing the video, I found I had been able to stick to the plan pretty well. The areas that could have been more deliberate were clarifying (t), problem solving (s+t), negotiating (s+t), and summarizing (s+t) at the close of the conference. I tend to think these areas were not comfortable for me due to the fact that I am not the teacher's actual supervisor. I do not have the ability to hold the teacher to any plan we develop and therefore probably shied away from the activities that would seem evaluative.

All in all, the entire cycle went well! I would think that with more experience and practice, it would become second nature to identify the correct approach for different teachers and apply the matching continuum of behaviors during the cycle.

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Classroom Arrangements

The arrangement of a classroom provides information about the learning environment and the teaching style of the teacher. The placement of student desks, teacher desk, and supplies dictates the path of movement around a room and can also work to create a learning feeling (or not) in a room. As a classroom teacher, I experimented with many room arrangements and have even let the students decide seating location and placement for portions of the school year. Having been out of the classroom for five years now, it is interesting to observe how different teachers have their room setup and how the students interact in the setup.

I visited a variety of classrooms during the past school week and found it interesting to see that every teacher sets up the room in a different way. In some cases the student desks are grouped and in other rooms, the student desks are removed from one another. Some classrooms have the teacher desk near the door and in others the teacher desk is in the back. The organization of the room provides clues as to what is happening in the classroom. One of the rooms I visited had no teacher desk, which I found very interesting. When I asked the teacher about it, he replied that there just wasn't room for a teacher desk. This particular teacher is a teacher that integrates technology into many classroom activities and has found that using the laptop with the LCD projector works fine using a student desk.

A diagram of a first grade classroom is seen here. The student desks are organized into four groupings and the teacher desk is in the back of the room. At times students face the front wall and other times they shift to face the left wall of the room to see work done on the whiteboard (not interactive). Otherwise, when the students are working, they face each other. I enjoyed watching them work together, ask one another for help and engage in social interactions. The pattern of movement is clear and the students were able to move from learning center to learning center with little chance of bumping one another. The elementary classrooms in my district have 3 desktop computers and 1 laptop computer. In this room, the students used the 3 desktop computers during center time to work on a skill based reading program. The computers are also used to access educational websites by students. The laptop is also available for student use, however many teachers house the laptop at the teacher desk which reduces student use.

Some second grade rooms I visited had a similar setup to the first grade room and the equipment and materials were used similar also. When I moved to a third grade classroom I saw a shift in student placement as can be seen in the diagram below.


















The student desks, while grouped together, are all facing front. The teacher desk is out of the way in the back left corner. Students are able to move around, but with the rows all facing front, it makes movement between rows difficult , especially for the teacher. The teacher holds reading groups and students work independently when not in the teacher group. At these times, students are able to work together, but the room arrangement does not facilitate groupwork for the most part.



The fourth grade classroom in the the above diagram is far from the arrangement of the first and second grade rooms. It is closer in nature to the third grade room, but now the student desks are not touching one another. The students are in rows all facing front and in their own space. Due to the amount of students and the room size, this type of arrangement makes movement around the classroom more difficult. I plan to visit this room again to see if the teacher reorganizes the student desks from time to time. The placement as I observed it may seem very teacher centered, but can also be seen as very modular. The student can quickly turn and move desks to form and reform groups when needed.

From my observations, when student desks are arranged all facing front, the learning environment is more teacher centered and movement around the room is more difficult. I noticed more and more of a teacher centered setup as I moved up the grade levels. Primary grade rooms, first and second grade, were arranged in cooperative groups, had clear pathways and used learning centers during group work. Third through fifth grade moved further away from grouping students as the grade level increased. All elementary classrooms have 3 desktop computers and one teacher laptop. Teachers use the computer equipment differently from one classroom to the next. Although there is a K-6 technology curriculum in place, there is no expectation that it is implemented in a systematic way. This creates pockets of use and students are exposed to the amount of technology with which their teacher feels comfortable. It is my role to work with the teachers on effective use and often model and co-teach to increase the integration of technology.

Room arrangements reflect the purpose of the classroom. In my opinion, teachers need to be more purposeful in their arrangement to facilitate collaborative working groups and the increase chances for student interactions for learning. As a supervisor, observing various setup will help when it comes time to consider professional development opportunities. A supervisor might choose to have teachers observe a teacher that uses an opposite setup and discuss the pros and cons of each. Also, when planning for professional development on instructional practices, the supervisor may include workshops on collaborative and cooperative learning. A supervisor might arrange seating in faculty meetings in differing ways to demonstrate to staff how arrangement impacts the interactions.

I will continue to observe room arrangements on future visits to classroom and consider how the setup aides or hinders the learning environment.

Things Change!

~Individual Reflection Log #3~

I had previously considered the principal to be the manager of the building. Through readings and discussions, I now see the teachers, students, secretaries and custodians as managers of the building - all under the direction of the principal. The principal is the leader of the show, as is the conductor for a well run orchestra. In both cases, the leader/conductor works hard to get all parts of the organization/orchestra to work together to make beautiful music.
I've generally considered myself to be very efficient at getting things done, and also effective at moving things forward. In the past, I might have considered these qualities enough to be a leader. I noticed over at The Edge of Tomorrow, Ben Grey states that he'd prefer to be an exceptional leader. I've given that some thought and looked around for a word that described the type of leader I'd like to be and I came up with ~ surprising. I'd like to be a surprising leader. Not surprising in the sense of being unpredictable, but surprising in the sense of being refreshing and invigorating.

I want to be the leader that promotes positivity with a feeling of shared community in a familial type environment. I want to work with staff that focus on student learning in ways that are best for students. In order to be this type of leader, I will be open and honest, as transparent as possible, support change as needed, and support staff through changes. I will lead from the front, so to speak.

These leadership goals lead right into the impact that a positive school culture would have on efforts at school reform. The culture of a school needs to be positive and supportive as school reform needs the support of the entire community. A school culture that is respectful of differences, but keeps the focus on student learning will be better equipped to work together through a school reform program that will certainly be challenging. School reform is not easy and often requires folks to rethink their practices. A culture that is able to support itself from within will be more capable of sustaining efforts at systemic change.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/izzyplante/ / CC BY 2.0

Effective Leadership

~Individual Reflections Log #2~

As a non-administrator, I often find myself assessing and analyzing those in leadership positions. I really feel that I have worked to give them 'the benefit of the doubt' because there was no way I could know ALL they have to deal with. I hear many teachers say, "I'd never want to be an administrator". The reasons usually have to do with the long hours, parent issues and the multitude of personalities that must be managed.

Through readings and group discussions, it would be impossible not to look to current administrators with which I have dealings. I now look at them with new eyes. I find myself considering the different styles and methods with which I've seen them interact with staff, parents and students.

The concept of an effective leader has begun to take shape in my mind. The effective leader is a person that is able to motivate staff to work together to achieve a goal. There are many theories of leadership, with a great many focusing on leadership in business. An educational leader can incorporate many of the components of business leadership, however, there are unique components that must be focused on in a school setting. The backbone of leadership, in my opinion, is for the leader to put forth his/her principles and get the staff behind these principles toward the vision.

An effective school principal must have goals, but will be flexible in working with staff to achieve those goals. The leader will empathize with staff ~ be able to listen, hear and provide feedback on ideas and situations. As a continuous learner, the leader encourages collaboration and open communication in a positive environment. These efforts enable the stakeholders to operate with a true feeling of fellowship.

When drawing these conclusions about principal to staff relationships, I continue to see parallels to teacher to student relationships. The above writing, in my opinion, is a perfect description of a classroom community.

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Image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aunto/2909023432/sizes/l/

Transformational Leadership

~Individual Reflections Log #1~

Transformational leadership is the type of a leadership that, when employed by the leader, is able to get stakeholders to buy in to the vision for the organization and work together for real change. Along the path of transformation, the leader guides the group toward a goal, while often not setting the exact course to get there.

To get a real sense of transformational leadership, one can consider the things that it is NOT. Transformational leadership is:
- NOT a tit for tat relationship
- NOT a 'do as I say' relationship
- NOT management
- NOT about rewards and punishments
- NOT about being in a power position

It is my opinion that many teachers consider the principal the manager of a school. The principal works to set the schedules, coordinate staff development, keeps the day to day operations of the building going, etc... The reason I think many teachers see principals as managers, rather than leaders, is because the principal may not be as enthusiastic or as clear about a plan for transformation. In many cases, the teachers see each new year come with a new initiative, but don't grasp how it's all part of a larger picture. I think the most important part of being a transformational leader may be making sure that the folks you are working with realize that there is a transformation in the works. After this week's readings and discussions, I have been reflecting more carefully on the role of our elementary level principals. I know they work to develop a sense of camaraderie between staff members and around the vision for their building.

For instance, this school year we will be introducing the role of literacy coaches in two of our buildings. How this introduction of the new role is handled by the principal, how literacy coaching fits into a larger vision, and how literacy coaching is defined for staff will affect how successful this will be. As I reflected more consciously about our principals, I realize that they work hard to keep staff focused on the vision of student achievement and they allow the staff to develop unique plans for working with students toward that goal. However, I am not positive that the staff are always fully invested, or if they are simply 'doing' the business of the activities. I will be watching this much more closely after the readings and discussions.

A transformational school administrator that has the development of successful citizens as a school vision could easily be passionate about integrating technology with instruction as a way to make that vision become reality. Student learning (about themselves, about their learning, about the world) is a topic that all teachers are interested in and passionate about. The use of technology for learning is not a new idea, but is new to many teachers that have believed technology to be an add-on or supplement to 'regular' classroom activities. The knowledge that the world has changed and technology is a learning tool, is an idea that a transformational leader can really get behind. Many teachers need the leader to show them the big picture of what is going on with instructional technology and help them figure out the pedagogical modifications that need to be made. The leader can employ the use of technology tools to guide the staff to figure this information out as a community of learners, almost as students of the principal in a project based learning experience. Staff will come out of an experience like this with the ability to reflect on how the use of an online community worked for them and the leader can take that opportunity to compare the experience to the classroom experience. The technology is NOT the focus, the learning is the focus. The leader will have to remain focused, enthusiastic, and supportive.

I have been a leader in the area of instructional technology in my district for the past five years. I have goals, I work to encourage buy in and am very passionate about my vision for instructional technology. I cannot say that I am a transformational leader in this area, as I cannot yet say for sure that I have any followers!

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/randyread/ / CC BY 2.0

Communication in Learning

This week members of my program cohort completed a Communication Styles Inventory and based on the questions (which, in many cases, had two very good choices), I was found to be a sensor. Some words from this 'communication character' were: doer, decisive, pragmatic, independent, assertive, practical, opportunistic... Honestly, I think many of those characteristics can be seen as negative and positive. I wasn't sure I was pleased with the outcome of the survey.

However, I also rated high on the feeler scale, which made me feel a little better. Some words from this 'communication character' were: patience, perceptive, understanding, respectful, accepting, people oriented...

I do see myself with the sensor qualities, but also felt that single description did not factor in my 'feeling' qualities. Therefore, I'll be referring to myself as a sensor/feeler:)

The reason for completing the communication styles inventory was to determine my communication style for the purpose of later using the information to build teams for coursework activities. As a sensor/feeler, it seems I'm looking for some thinkers and intuitors to be in my group. Although I know combining these other communication styles to my style might mean that it will be more challenging and maybe take longer to get things done, I bet they'll be deeper in content and contain more vision than I could on my own. I guess that equals a collaborative team!

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In order to keep up with the fast paced, focused coursework, I plan to keep an organized plan for working on individual, as well as group activities. Scheduling 'class time' with family to dedicate attention and focus to the program is a must. The weekly checklist is most helpful as it provides due dates and activity topics at a glance. I will also need to be logging in frequently to actively participate in discussion boards.

Activities in the courses will involve team activities. In an online team activity it's important for groupmates to be in frequent conversations about content and deadlines. It is imperative that the group break down activities and share in the responsibility for the completed product. I plan to play an active role in all team activities. I will be sure to take note of due dates, contribute my very best work, and keep track of project status.

I feel confident in my knowledge of the online community setup and location of necessary activities and files. This orientation was helpful for learning navigation, expectations and for the opportunity to interact with cohort members in structured activities.

Flickr pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhillary/353738538/sizes/o/

Orientation Reflection - Week 1

The opportunity to learn about how to use the Electronic Learning Community was very valuable. It's nice to have time in advance of the coursework to learn how to navigate around and how best to communicate with other participants.

I feel very comfortable getting around, understanding how to make posts and how to keep myself on track with the coursework and materials. My biggest concerns with online learning are keeping the pace and not waiting until the last minute to complete assignments. I've struggled with this in the past, and plan to establish 'working times' dedicated to the coursework, just as you do when participating in a face to face course.

Welcome!

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I've started the coursework for a certificate in School Administration and Supervision! I'm thrilled to be in the program and will use this site to post reflections on the activities and experiences!

Feel free to visit and check on my progress! I'd be thrilled to hear thoughts and opinions of others!

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Program Details:

ISTE has partnered with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to offer an 18 credit online Graduate Certificate in School Administration and Supervision. The ISTE JHU Certificate is designed to provide aspiring administrators and supervisors with effective strategies and tools for infusing instructional technology to ensure student success.

You will engage in a year-long program combining 5 online courses offered in 8 week segments, a customized internship, and face-to-face work sessions that launch in June and conclude at ISTE's NECC the following year.

• Effective Leadership
• Supervision and Professional Development
• Organization and Administration of Schools
• School Law
• Curriculum, Theory, Development, and Implementation
• Internship in Administration and Supervision

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