Navigationhome Introduction to the Portfolio Philosophy Statement Mastery of Policy 5310 Mastery of ISLLC Standards Mastery of Praxis Elements Mastery of ISTE Standards Mastery of Leadership Dispositions Reflective Entries/Explanation Influence on Student Achievement/School Improvement Resume |
 ResearchMy reading pointed out there is no standard definition of LEADER. This intrigued me so I did a little research and found hundreds of varying definitions everything from (well developed educational interpretations with diagrams and plans to implement) to simple (commander of a workforce or the first shoot of a plant). I find it very interesting that leaders are so important to the function of managing a population and founding America itself; and still it is impossible to define what a great leader is. This leads me to the HUMAN factor. In my experiences with great leaders there is a common thread, the connection between the leader and the disciples so to speak. Some people are natural leaders and some are trained in the art of administration. A leader is hard to define and be accurate 100% of the time, but I am sure we could all describe a poor leader, the qualities of a great leader, and recognize the difference when we see it!Fairness, consistency, reasonability, predictability, supportiveness, and ethical modeling are the frame work guiding the decisions of a principled leader. A principled leader must always be non-judgmental, show empathy, and remain flexible when interacting with staff that doesn’t share their perspectives. The individual principled leader bases decisions on their moral and ethical virtues as standard scaffolding for a vision to be implemented by the staff. In conclusion the principled leader based on their values creates principals and guidelines to govern the people, therefore the principals are a cushion and a foundation between the administrator and the personnel. If principals are clearly set, they must be maintained, and also give a strong framework, document ability, and structure to the faculty. PracticeUnder the guidance of WJU staff I have served on the curriculum team, participated in a WV curriculum audit, lead book studies with my PLC team, supervised athletic events, and band performances. I devised a plan to monitor student activities in the hallways before school and implemented the system with great success. I was always there in support of our faculty members who experienced hard times this year, helping to organize fund raiser dinners, t-shirt sales, and just there for a leaning post or someone to talk to. I was involved in the discipline proceedings with students, and plans of improvement with the school staff with successful results. I attended local school board meetings, and familiarized myself with the scheduling process at Suncrest. I reached out in the community to build lasting bonds and seek partners in education for our programs. I was involved in IEP meetings, teacher nominations, and workshops for professional development and ELI (policy 5310). As the current Faculty Senate President I have led many meetings with great outcomes while demonstrating professional actions and building team relationships. Teaching technology opened the door for my assistance in the schools use of technology throughout the building. I have spent many hours this term helping teachers in other classrooms maintain their computer systems and save thousands of dollars for the school. I improved the atmosphere and relationships throughout my school by implementing a positive feedback experiment. I participated on the school safety team with training for emergency situations, AED (artificial electronic defibrillator), and school violence/lock-down procedures and prevention. I met with many parents along with a team of teachers to devise improvement plans to curb behaviors and improve achievement. I have mediated faculty discrepancies bringing the school back to a professional working atmosphere.ReflectionEach Monday I co-chair my PLC team meetings. I was asked by the previous leader to co- chair with her because she felt overwhelmed by the work load. Mrs. Yost is our media specialist and works long hours to maintain our library/computer center. She liked making the meeting agendas but did not want to actually conduct the meetings. She and the rest of our team like my Faculty Senate Presidential speeches and voted me the new meeting leader. So here are a few meeting notes attached to the bottom of my reflection to show my progress. (Doc 1.1 and 1.2 Prepared by Mrs. Linda Yost)I got started early at my first goal of curriculum analysis, not in vocational programs as I hoped, instead I delved into math. Strange that I find myself sorting and re-typing all of the CSO’s for math in a vocabulary more adept to student language. But that is why I stayed after school Wednesday night for two hours. Our school received a grant to be used for teacher training and augmentation of curriculum and student services. I gladly volunteered to lend my hand and worked with the 7th grade team. We enjoyed our time by making a few bags of popcorn while dredging through the CSO’s and online resources to match each goal. We have been working on individual analysis of the WESTEST scores for each student. We have identified students for interventional help, grouped students by areas they were weak in reading, math, science, and social studies. Teachers have been assigned specific students based on interest, and assessment of needs. Our school wide goal is to improve each student’s areas of weakness for every student in our building before the 2013 WESTEST. We discussed how to share the information with the students and I suggested we pass the print scores to each student in their math, science, language arts, and social studies class. With each test score in a manila folder they can hide their scores as they look at them. If they make their own map key with two different colored pencils they can hide their strengths and weaknesses. Together teachers will help students interpret their information and color their 2 highest scores and also identify 2 areas of weakness that they will work on this year. We re-wrote all the CSO’s in kid language so they can have a copy to understand what areas they need help with. I am now very knowledgeable at WESTEST score analysis with emphasis on individualizing goals to raise each student in below mastery areas. This experience was not my intended vocational agenda, although I feel it was very helpful in understanding the 7th grade math requirements, curriculum, and to see how hard all the teachers work toward meeting student needs. This meeting strengthened bonds between specialists and the entire school teaching staff. We are located on opposite sides of the building and rarely encounter due to team times, and many other factors. When the school staff works together, the students have a greater chance for success! Thursday night I again stayed after school to attend a professional development session on the topics PD 360 program and simple K12 program. I think that PD 360 is the future of school professional development as it will allow teachers to individualize their sessions, and accommodate busy schedules more readily. Online learning works! It has been proven time and again. Why not save money on presenters now and then but not completely. This is a great resource for principals who need to find topics to meet the needs of a given faculty. Friday morning I helped a fellow teacher Mr. Lenhart (math 7) with his projector and white board setup. He could not get the magic pen to calibrate to his screen. This is a very important tool for a math teacher, So I assisted. I adjusted the screen, repositioned the projector mount, de-zoomed, fixed the keystone setting, fit the image to the screen, and finally recalibrated the pen. He was very happy that I helped him on such short notice. I always enjoy people asking for my assistance, it makes me feel important! Building administrators must feel very important! Everyone needs their assistance from teachers to students and beyond! |
