Standard 7: Utilize Instructional Frameworks for Teaching to Improve
Practice
With taking courses in administration
through this program, initially it was slightly intimidating and pushed me to
change my mindset from teacher in the classroom to more principal, whole staff,
and surrounding community. I think the biggest big idea that I walked away with
was the difference between parent involvement and parent engagement. The
courses o Engaging Communities and Teacher Leadership led in many conversations
talking about this difference, and how to better parent engagement within our
buildings. With reflecting it had me realize and almost analyze the leadership
I have seen at my school and what they have not.
With
completing the VLA assignment and conducting my principal interview, it allowed
me to dig deeper into the inner workings of Horizon and where our vision came from
and think about where it could go now that we are under new administration
leadership. I remember discussing and deciding on this vision/mission statement
4 years ago in a staff meeting. I remember very vividly that our principal at
the time wanted a mission statement that the staff would be able to remember
quickly and be able to verbalize if asked on the spot. I am going to be honest
though, I had to look up my school's “vision” statement on our school’s
SharePoint page to truly answer this question. However, I believe that now that
my school is under new leadership, it will be tweaked to some extent. According
to our school’s SharePoint page, our school's vision is to do the following:
“We continuously improve and function collaboratively to increase all students'
success by: 1) Honoring academic background, life experiences, culture,
and language of all students through aligned curriculum and best practices. 2)
Building positive relationships in a safe, consistent school environment that
ensures all students reach their full potential and 3) utilize standards-based
assessments and effective teaching strategies to maximize student growth.
With
talking with our new principal, he explained how our vision as a school stems
from our district’s overall vision of “Our mission is to help prepare our community's children to be
successful, contributing members of the community. Our students learn in an
environment that is positive, caring, and focused on their highest academic
potential” (Mukilteo School District homepage). The two visions are aligned
with wanting to give students a place to feel safe in their learning. Believing
that if the students feel safe at school and have those positive relationships,
they will be able to dig deep and focus on their academics-which will mold them
into knowledgeable members of society.
One of my favorite articles that we
read and discussed in Engage Communities course was the Healthy and Proactive Approach
article. One of the ideas that I
really liked from the reading was to "survey the customers" I thought
that this was a great way for principals and schools to really COMMUNICATE with
parents and receive immediate feedback. I feel that the area of communication
was an area of struggle for my school and our community. There is a major
language barrier, but there are ways to try to bridge that gap. And the first
step in that is making every parent feel comfortable with being on campus. Another
thing that I took note of was the management walking around section. Where the
principal actually meets and talks to parents. Not avoid them at all costs. My
previous principal used to hide in her office and avoid parents and sometimes
staff at all cost. She would not interact with staff and had seemed to have
made students and parent interaction even lower on the totem pole for her. In
seeing reading discussing with classmates the power of getting parents not only
involved in school but ENGAGED with decision making, and the effects that has
on kids, is amazing. If I ever decide to become an administrator down the road,
one of my biggest goals is to communicate and connect with parents on a regular
basis. In order to do that, I would have to invite the parents IN. Not push
them away and make them feel unwelcomed. I am seeing this year with our new
principal he is almost the complete opposite. Rarely ever in his office. Always
wandering the halls, playground, lunchroom, and in and out of classrooms. He is
PRESENT and interacts with our parents. Experiencing these two leadership
types, has definitely allowed me to see what is beneficial for our buildings
culture and climate, and what is not.
The
second big idea that I took from the Engaging Communities course, was doing the
Community Engagement Plan. I think going through that process allowed me to see
the strengths that my school has in this area and also the areas that we fall
short in. Doing the research about our school’s demographic was definitely eye
opening compared to other schools. Knowing that our demographic plays a huge
role when it comes to teaching practices and standardized testing, needing to
reach more than half of the population with English language support. Knowing
those numbers, as an administrator it would cause me to think about the
services and practices we are providing and what new ideas can we implement. I
believe that my previous principal started to take the steps towards this, but
needs more support and staff buy in to make it successful. Reading the articles
about the benefits of trying to implement dual language programs in schools,
both of the articles were very interesting to read and allowed me to see that
my principal was on to something with the idea of implementing Co-Teach, but
just needs more support and resources.
In the
first article it talks about how principals really struggle with the
implementation of it, due to the lack of preparation programs or school
districts that actually provide the pre-and in-service trainings. In article
one, it states that “Each principal was critical of existing structures that
segregated students, adopted new structures and staff responsibilities to
promote inclusion, engaged community building and professional development to
change teacher expectations and build pedagogical competencies to provide high
quality instruction in two languages, and created systems of communication with
families whose home language was not English” (7). In reading these articles,
it allowed me to reflect on what my previous principal tried to do in order to
bridge the gap with our high population of ELL students. Over half are
Hispanic, so reading how dual language programs work, this could be a very
beneficial thing for a school like Horizon. As school, we just currently
struggle with getting the staff to buy in to the idea, and with new leadership,
his understanding of this program that was developed before he arrived is hard
for him to grasp and work with to support.
In class
(engaging communities) we talked about how it takes 3-5 years for a new
“program” to take shape. With experiencing and being a part of the ELL/SPED
co-teach pilot, I see how important it is to see these ideas through. The first
year we had ALL teachers-4thgrade team and the support staff on board and
trying to make this concept work for our students. Which resulted in amazing
growth and improvement in test scores. However, being a part of the team this
year with new people, it has not shown to be effective, as the new staff did
not support or buy into it as much. I think overall with this idea, I have seen
the importance of how key the role of administration and their leadership is
with these types of ideas and change. It is extremely important for leadership
to be there to support their staff and “get down in the trenches” with them
with this type of work. You cannot expect to lead your staff and not be “with
them.” I think that is another huge concept that I have not fully experienced
as a teacher from my leader, but know it is important when the time comes to
lead.
In the
end, these courses opened my eyes to the balancing act principals have to take
on when it comes down to it. Principals need to be strong in knowledge, people
skills, and have the strength and willingness to try and try again when it
comes to the success of their building. Knowing the importance of
communication, using resources that are provided within the building and in the
community is also a huge factor. And lastly, seeing your school’s need and
proactively seeking a way to solve and provide the best for students and staff
is also extremely important. That as a leader, you must make yourself known and
a part of the team. Not close yourself behind office doors and hide behind a
desk. That being seen and building relationships with students, parents and
staff is key for a healthy school. It is not easy to please everyone but
showing that you are willing to listen and work together to create the best
learning environment for the kids is what is really comes down to. With taking
these administration classes, I am not sure if being a principal is part of my
path yet, but my eyes are definitely opened, and my thinking has broadened a
lot more as an educator. I now think about not just about making a difference
in my own classroom but, what more can I do about the building I work in and
the community that surrounds it.
References:
Community–School
Partnerships. (n.d.). The
SAGE Encyclopedia of Out-of-School Learning.
McEwan-Adkins,
E. K. (2005). How to deal with parents who are angry, troubled, afraid, or
just plain crazy. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Corwin Press.
Owens, R. G., & Valesky, T. C. (2015). Organizational behavior in education: Leadership and school reform. Harlow, Essex: Pearson.
Utt, J.
(2015). 10 Ways Well-Meaning White Teachers Bring Racism Into Our Schools.
Retrieved from https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/15508/files/folder/Assigned
Readings/Building Support and Avoiding Racism?preview=544197.
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