Edld 5399 Week4

My Response:

*My superintendent and I met on April 27, 2012 to discuss my SISE. During this conference, he rated my performance as the top rating. In February, I was selected as the new Area Superintendent. I will be working with all the schools in Area 2 of Mansfield ISD. I will also have the role of Chief Architect of Elementary Schools.

Reflection is one of the most crucial skills for all leaders to possess. Reflection is in some ways the single most important action and often the only action that actually leads to improvement. As a teacher, I remember being taught to reflect on what worked and what didn’t, within a single lesson. I would reflect every day. Which kids got it.? Which kids didn’t? Teaching wasn’t just a job for me, it was a supreme calling, one in which I constantly was striving to make a difference. I remember a year when I had a difficult class. It became one of my best years teaching, one of my most creative, because I was constantly reflecting on how to make things better….how to reach all my kids.  When I became a campus leader, reflection became even more important. Every initiative, every faculty meeting, every staff development session I led, even conversations were subjected to analysis and reflection on a regular basis. When something didn’t work, I took responsibility for the part I played in it.  When successful, I could reflect on the steps taken that resulted in success. Looking back, I can see how successful my experience as a principal has been and reflection has been a part of the success. When implementing common intervention time and inclusion through co-teaching---at two schools now- I am able to look back and see the things that led to successful implementation. Visiting successful schools, doing book studies, getting a committee together to study and recommend changes, and then implementing change while holding each player in the school accountable….it all made a difference.

This year, I moved to a new district as principal of a struggling, title one, 80% minority campus. From the very beginning, I worked to develop a team and remind the teachers about their calling to be educators. They were hungry to learn and I capitalized on that hunger. We implemented Ron Clark strategies to improve climate and instruction. These resulted in an 80% reduction in discipline referrals. We also implemented common intervention time that eliminated pull outs and co-teaching for inclusion. It was a lot to implement in one year. But as I reflect on it, I know they were ready for change and can see so much progress. In addition, I am able to see how the positive change attracted a great deal of attention to our school, and a great deal of attention in my personal direction. Never would I have guessed when I started this new job that I would be plucked from the school after one year to become Area Superintendent. 

Reflection will continue to be important in the new job. Every conversation, decision, staff development, meeting I lead will now effect 22 schools. It will be important that I plan strategically and constantly reflect on how I am leading others.

Reflections on My Coursework through Lamar:

When I began my studies, I found taking online courses to be tricky. I found it difficult to navigate and learn EPIC at first. The first class was difficult for me, not because of the content, but because I was learning how to take online classes, how to blog, and how to get in the routine of the coursework. I’ll be honest, I have not enjoyed the blogs or wiki or really even understood their purpose. In fact, I sometimes feel like we are doing work or posting work multiple times, with little to show for it.  I feel like EPIC and the discussion board was plenty, and the blogs, wiki, and TK20 have provided extra confusion for me. I would recommend streamlining the process of submitting work. I honestly don’t see myself using a blog or wiki anytime soon in my career.  As a husband, father of three, principal, and a person transitioning into a new Area Superintendent job, I simply haven’t had the time to make my blog pretty or enjoy using it.

Assessments-  When I reflected on assessments we completed, it became apparent that I did not realize how far off my first pre-course self assessment was reality. I discovered this when I recently completed the latest post course assessment. When I completed the original one, I scored myself pretty high in everything except for facilities and budget. My first practice for the TEXES earned an 80 and showed the same strengths and weaknesses as I suspected. It wasn’t until I did the assessment again recently that I was able to reflect on the big picture of what I have learned and what I still have to learn.  I have been able to meet with my superintendent in our intern group every week for two hours. Add to that the coursework through Lamar, and I have truly discovered I have a lot to learn. There is no way I can learn it all. I have truly realized that I must surround myself with competent and outstanding people in order to effectively lead.  The other assessments we have been given have been meaningful and helped me to focus my learning.

Course Assignments and Supervised Logs-

As I reflect on the assignments completed, some come to mind as particularly helpful. I found the finance and budget class to be challenging. I have to admit that I found the assignments that had us just finding financial information in reports as cumbersome and not as meaningful as ones in which I had to analyze the data and come to my own conclusions.  I remember thinking, “why are we just looking up numbers on financial reports?”, but when we had to compare districts or make inferences about the financial situation in two districts based on those figures it made a difference in my thinking. When we had to study the history of school finance and look at numbers from today in different districts and come to our own conclusions, I found it powerful. Finding out that your state short changes kids and hasn’t created an equitable way to fund schools is disheartening at best.

One of the activities I have learned a lot from is leading our district’s efforts to register Kinder and PreK. The superintendent informed me that the strategic plan contained the goal of creating a community wide event that would be hosted at a common location instead of allowing 22 different events. From the beginning, I formed a committee that met multiple times and proceeded with a plan that would provide multiple services to families, along with registration. It was hosted at the four high schools and featured booths from departments like health, nutrition, library, transportation, campus registration, etc. We also included PTAs, games, and an area where parents could get tips and tools to help their children.  The Saturday event also featured translation of materials and help into four languages (English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Arabic).  1000 students were registered, the district was happy, and through reflecting with the committee and analyzing the evaluations, we are able to move forward in planning an event that will be even better next year.