Standards Reflection

Standard 1: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all student by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.  "Shared Vision"
A school leader needs to be able to communicate the shared vision so the entire school community understands and acts on the school's mission ensuring that student achievement is occurring.  In order to make sure the emphasis is on student learning, school leaders need to make sure they are managing less and using that time effectively as an instructional leader.


Standard 2:  A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional development.  "Culture of Learning"
I believe that effective schools that demonstrate high standards of achievement in academics, have a culture characterized by a well-defined set of goals that all members of the school-administration, faculty, and students-value and promote.  As a leader we need to establish and clearly communicate goals that define our expectations of our school with regard to academic achievement. 



Standard 3:  A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment. "Management"
There were several in class articles that were based on management tasks that I felt were very beneficial to read. The article Make Friends with the Clock, by David Coley and Chris Hitch emphasized the importance of taking control of your time, invovling others, and making smarter decisions in order to have time to be the "instructional" leader.  If we don't have control over our time than there is now way to achieve 51% on instructional vs. 49% on management.  During our class, I also felt that the presentation on management was useful in seeing how schools of all sizes are functioning and how they are handling the various managerial tasks that are at hand on a daily basis. 

Management Tasks and Functions Contribute to Student Learning

We know school leaders need time, capacity and support to focus on the practices most likely to improve student learning but that can't be accomplished until leaders set priorities about what's most important when dealing with management tasks.  This to me means delegating in order to find and protect instructional leadership time.


Without management, chaos will prevail and efforts for improvement will certainly fail; yet, if a principal attempts to manage a building alone, there will rarely be time for anything else.  Management tasks must be done but not necessarily done only by the principal.  The ability to delegate, trust staff members, manage your time, and to organize duties will directly affect the balance that must be maintained 

If a leader is able to manage a school well the best outcome will occur and that is student learning.  By managing well it will allow the instructional leader to plan, engage, collaborate, support, and appreciate their teachers and staff ultimately impacting student achievement and reaching the goals for the building.

Weekend 3 "Big Ideas, New Learnings, or Reflections"

A "big idea" that I took away from class yet again is that...

TECHNOLOGY is a TOOL for us to ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING!  

It is our responsibility as an instructional leader to have our staff collaborate together, including all the levels spanning from your the enthusiasts, non-users, and luddites, in sharing their strengths and areas of improvement to experience technology in different ways in order to help enhance student learning.  We need to keep in mind technology is only ONE tool out of many that in fact can help enhance student learning, it isn't the key factor in student success, that is I believe, making sure that all educators are teaching quality for all students.

During weekend 3, I also took away a lot from the crisis simulation.  First and foremost, we need to remember that kids of all ages are involved during these situations and we need to have their best interest in mind, making sure they are protected, safe, and out of harms way.  

After this weekend I now believe it is a MUST for all buildings and staff memebers to be aware of their crisis plan and practice through it yearly.  Whether it prepares us or not for the actual crisis, it will at least be on the forefront of our minds of what needs to be done and how one needs to react in dire situations.

Listening Well Takes Skill & Practice

"To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks rel advance in science."

Albert Einstein

In the blog post, Why? Why not? What if? Questioning Our Way to a Better Tomorrow by Dave Dimmett found on blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/?intc=intst it discussed the importance of not underestimating the power of listening to one another and asking questions that help us better understand our peers, the world around us, and ourselves.

As an instructional leader we can't take for granted the power of listening and what it can do to improve the quality of dialogue between teachers, parents, and students.  Shifting from Question and Answer to Question and Consider or Frequently Ask Questions to Infrequently Asked Questions?

Instructional leaders need to be the ones to push the envelope and ask the hard questions.  By doing this we can create the opportunity for innovation and creativity.  Instructional leaders can't be the ones doing all of the talking instead we need to be the listeners and ask questions which will invite dialogue and thought.

More Time in a Day for Principals...Can it be Accomplished?

In the article, Principals, What Would You Do with More Time in a Day?, a blog written by Sarah D. Sparks on edweek.org found below:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2011/10/principals_what_would_you_do_w.html

talks about the concept of teaching administrators how to schedule and manage delegation in-order to gain time, almost an extra day they say, which allows principals to focus on the INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP aspect of their job.  What a great idea and if that is true why aren't we implementing it with all principals in all schools right now!?

We have been told that principals should be spending 51% of their time on instructional matters (minimum) and 49% management (maximum).  It seems to be the flip flop in most school I've been in recently, where instructional matters are put on the back burner while principals are putting out the fires and dealing with the management issues.

The idea of having a School Administration Manager (SAM)  come in and take over the task oriented jobs, operations, paperwork, and just the day to day duties would definitely empower a principal to become the leader they need to be in which they can collaborate, be proactive, grow relationships, and be in classrooms.  Making this happen would allow principals  to truly wear the hat of the instructional leader focusing on what matters the most and that is student achievement.

    

When Using Technology Obey the the 7 Golden Rules...

http://www.fluency21.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=2070

After reading the blog entitled, The 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools, based off of Adam S. Bellow, author of the Tech Commandments, and found of eduTeacher,  it got me thinking about various questions that have come up in discussions about technology and its place in schools.  The 7 Golden Rules is a starting point for educational systems to look at to see if they are headed in the right direction when working with and trying to implement technology into schools.

1.  DON'T TRAP TECHNOLOGY IN A ROOM-  "Technology should be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible." Chris Lehmann, founing principal of Science Leadership Academy
2.  TECHNOLOGY IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT-  Professional development is a priority and just can't be done as a one shot deal learning it in an hour long how-to session.  Educators must be properly trained and integrate technology in meaningful ways in their teaching practice.
3.  MOBILE TECHNOLOGY STRETCHES A LONG WAY- Instead of turning technology off at the start of school (cell phone) students could utilize them during class time as they have access to everything.
4.  THE NEW "F WORD" IS FEAR-  We shouldn't be fearful of technology but rather learn it and help our students understand how to use it correctly.
5.  TECH TOOLS ARE NOT JUST A PASSING FAD- We need to embrace what technology can offer us and learn it!
6.  MONEY IS NOT THE PROBLEM- We can't use money as an excuse.
7.  INVITE EVERY STAKEHOLDER TO THE CONVERSATION-  As administrators we can't only rely on teachers input but students, parents, and community people need to be involved as well.

These 7 Golden Rules are good points to keep in mind when thinking about technology and its importance in the educational system as technology isn't a passing fad.  We need to be life long learners when it comes to it and teach our children the benefits of it.

Weekend 2 "Big Ideas, New Learnings, or Reflections"

The topic of work-life balance has been on the for front ever since I started the Drake Program last Fall and it seemingly keeps being brought up.  I'm not even holding an administration position but feel that the multiple roles (or multiple hats I wear) as a wife, mother, teacher, student, daughter, sister, friend are constantly in competition with one another.  As of right now my personal and professional roles are time and energy intensive so how will I ever be able to balance when I'm in administration!? 

After reading the article, "Making Friends With the Clock," I had my ah-ha moment and/or reassurance that I'm on the right track to finding balance in my hectic life, both personal and professional.  Just as the article states, "you need to manage the clock by taking control, involving others, and making smarter decisions," and I did just that (along with my husband) by making friends with Google Calendar.  This simple tool, in the short month or two we have been using it, is helping us wrap our hands around all the things that happen in a day, week, and month in our lives. It makes us aware of each other schedules and enables us to know how we can help each other out in managing it.

I'm beginning to think there is and can be balance when you learn how to work smarter, not harder and involve others to help.