Post-Observation Conference Reflection

As this was my first “formal” post-observation conference, I was very happy with the outcome although I definitely need to work on some particular areas. Ms. C and I sat a few feet away from each other on the same side of a desk against a wall. The post-observation conference occurred in my office because Ms. C shares her classroom with another teacher, who was teaching at that time. It would have been ideal to have the conference in the classroom where she teaches.  However, it was great that Ms. C had the video tape of her observation so that if we needed to discuss an event that either I or her could not recall, we would be able to refer to the video. I definitely need to improve my eye contact and use of my transition words (mainly “uhmm”) not just in this conference, but in my daily life as well. I also am very animated with my hand movements and am not sure if that presents a distraction to the listener. I tend to do that when it’s my first time explaining something new or if I am a bit nervous.  Overall, the conference kept a positive tone throughout, which comes from us already having a good working relationship and I communicating to her that I am there to help and that she can trust me with any questions or concerns she may have.  I smiled throughout the conference so the she felt more relaxed. She did respond to my suggestions positively by writing down notes and frequently nodding yes, confirming if what I was saying was true, and saying “Gotcha” and “I agree.” We sat with our bodies facing each other throughout most of the conference which provided a message that we were open to receiving and sending information.

Prior to starting the clinical cycle with Ms. C, she did mention to me what her certified observer pointed out as her strengths and areas of improvements, so we were aware of certain points to focus on. Ms. C already possessed a copy of the Instructional Framework 2.0 Rubric, so she was aware of the points that were going to be addressed in the conference. Since I videotaped Ms. Cook’s observation, I provided her with the footage immediately after. I informed her to watch the video at least three times. The first time would be to get over the initial nervousness of watching herself on videotape, which is a very nerve-wracking experience for any teacher. The second time would be to note her general impressions of what she and her students did during the class. The third time was to look at specific actions that she thought she really did well on or that she wanted to improve. I set a date for three days later to discuss our findings as I was going to watch the video as well to fill in any holes in my verbatim script that I created while observing her class. I used the district’s feedback planning tool to determine what questions I would ask during the post-observation conference, what I thought were her strengths and areas of improvement, and what would be her next steps. When we met for the conference, I asked her first what her general impressions were. While listening to her, I noticed that she brought up many of the same points that I provided as evidence for her ratings. I then provided her with my script and my feedback to review. We then went through each of the TEACH Key Actions (1 – 9) to discuss the evidence for the ratings she received. Ms. C commented on each of the key actions and relayed if she agreed with what I said based on the evidence from the video and whether she needed assistance with that particular key action.  Ms. C has taught in an adult Vocational-Technical post-secondary school for a number of years but this is her first year in a high school setting. She is used to lecturing for six hours straight every day and teaching the students the skills needed for their particular job. After being in high school for three months, she notices the huge differences in what she was asked to do before and what she has to do now. Her teacher toolbox has expanded exponentially since she started with us but she is still very brand new and is not always sure what the best strategy is during certain times in her class.  Because of this, there were times during the conference that I wanted to just give her a list of strategies that she could use for some of her areas of improvements, but I asked her first what she thought she could do so that she would have a say in her own practice. She was very honest in saying if she was unsure or if she did not know. For her strengths, I repeatedly told her she did a great job on those areas so she did not feel defeated.  I also made sure to speak in terms of “We” so that she did not think that she had to figure out everything by herself.  She even mentioned that my feedback was a lot more specific and helpful than she received from the certified observer and gave her a lot more confidence because she knew exactly what she had to work on. One area of improvement is that I need to stop saying “We will figure out a way to fix…” because it might send a message that it is not an issue we will deal with right now.  This is why I made sure to ask what her top priority was for us to work on, which she mentioned planning her lessons in advance.

I noticed that my predominant supervisor behavior was presenting. I gave my own ideas throughout the entire conference because I wanted to address all of the areas of improvement and not just the one priority she chose to work on. Because she lacked the experience, I wanted to show her that I and other teachers face the same issues and ways that we addressed the issues. I also used listening frequently by acknowledging her point of view and concerns that she had. I wanted to know that this is all about improving her practice and not some standard school agenda. Since she is a first year teacher, I do feel that these two behaviors were appropriate for her developmental level, but I should have been more direct in our problem solving so that a definitive plan was created and our next steps would have been more concrete. I will still work with her on her planning throughout the next weeks.

Classroom Arrangements

Because we are a small school with only 20 classrooms and between 450 and 500 students, most of our classes are quite large depending upon the grade level and content area. Because of this, the arrangements seen most are clusters, pairs, and tables. Fortunately, there were not many classrooms except a couple that were in the standard formation. Both of those classrooms were not intended to be classrooms, but due to insufficient space, they have been converted for this school year. One of the classrooms with the standard formation is the hospital suite. The teacher has not been able to create clusters due to the desk type in the room. The desks are the tabletop with the chair attached, which makes it difficult to put them in clusters. However, the teacher does have three round tables that are used for group work when needed. Because the room was meant to be an exclusively hands-on area, the hospital beds are located along the perimeter of the room and there is a nurse’s station bolted to the middle of the room, which also limits how the room can be arranged. The other classroom, which was never meant to be a classroom, is the observation room for the hospital suite. It is a third of the size of a normal classroom and is very cramped for space on all sides. However, the teacher is able to teach in the hospital suite to do hands-on activities or labs when needed. With both of these classrooms, there is essentially little walking room for the teachers and most of the instruction is done in the front of the classroom. 

There are three science labs with round lab tables, which lend itself to cooperative groups. For this year, two of the regular classrooms used for science courses received rectangular lab tables to allow for cooperative groups and for more experiments to be performed. One other room used for science is also a very small room but is able to accommodate clusters of 4 desks. For these classrooms, they allow the teacher to walk around and in between tables/clusters.  The art classroom also has tables and provides enough room for the teacher to circulate.  The gym also has tables (when health as opposed to physical education is being taught), but they are arranged in a U shaped. This allows the teacher to reach all students but uses more time to get around the classroom because of the lack of direct paths. The couple of classrooms with pairs allow the teachers to be able to reach very student, but if there are triplets in rows, it makes it difficult for the teacher to be able to reach the students who are sitting in the middle seat.

All of the standard classrooms have a mounted LCD projector in the front of the room so direct instruction usually occurs in the front of the classroom. They also have projection screens that are hung from the chalkboard and mobile SMARTBoards. Due to The hospital suite, observation room, science labs, and gym have mobile SMARTBoards with a LCD projector attached. In the hospital suite, there is a lack of electrical outlets, so the board can only be placed in select parts of the room in which all students would have direct visibility. In the observation room, the ceiling is so low that the board cannot be moved due to its height. Even in the science labs, due to the location of the lab tables, the board can only be moved to the front and the back of the rooms. There are no desktops located in the any of the classrooms because every two or three classrooms share a mobile lab. There is a computer lab with 28 desktops for use that is arranged with clusters of four, pairs, and one row of eight desktops along one side of the room. The arrangement is not only due to the location of the Ethernet drops but also so that a teacher can see every screen as he or she walks around.  

In most of the classrooms, accommodations can be and has been made with students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or 504 plans. Those who may benefit from being partnered or in a group with other students that may be performing on a higher skill level would work better in classrooms with pairs, clusters, or tables. Also, students who have vision issues are usually sitting close to where the projection screen or SMARTBoard is located.

Even though some rooms lends itself to movement throughout the classroom, I feel that most of the teachers are more comfortable teaching in the front of the room and only circulating if a student has a specific question during independent practice or group work. Most confrontations and disciplinary issues occur in the classrooms as opposed to common areas at the school and could be due to ineffective circulating by the teacher around the room. Less off-task activities occur in classrooms where the teachers are able to reach students quicker and are able to continue teaching while keeping close proximity to students who are not engaged. Due to the large classroom rosters, it poses barriers for teachers to be able to walk around and increase the likelihood for students to be off-task.

I think that possible classroom arrangement is a valid point to bring up while supervising teachers, especially for those who have classroom management issues. Teachers have to realize that classroom arrangement allows students to be in a certain mindset for what is going on in the classroom. When they see in individual seats in rows, it can remind students of testing and of classrooms where all talking is mostly done by the teacher. However, when students see tables and clusters, they should expect that at some point they will have to work in groups and have academic discussions. I think some of our teachers get nervous about changing their classroom arrangement because our student population is very resistant to change.  As far as professional development is concerned, teachers can definitely benefit from receiving information regarding possible arrangements. Usually the teachers’ main concern is finding a way to fit all of their students in the room as opposed to arranging the room based on the type of activities that will be done. Teachers also need to know that it is ok to pull out the measuring tape to measure the room and the furniture and equipment so that they have a more realistic view of how the room will be able to accommodate different arrangements. 

Reflection Log: Week 8 - Final Reflection

One idea that I found particularly interesting from the readings and discussions during the Effective Leadership course is that a leader must be trustworthy in order for people to follow him or her. Before I actually saw it in writing, I never thought that trust played such a pivotal role in leading people. “Trust is a significant factor in successful schools (Tschannen-Moran, 2004).” For some people, they lead by fear or intimidation and that is what makes subordinates follow them. But are the subordinates truly invested if they are only following a leader for fear that they will lose their job?

According to Evans (1996), “We admire leaders who are honest, fair, competent, and forward-looking.” As subordinates, we look to our leaders to direct us and we trust them to lead us in the right direction.  Because that trust is present, we are then willing to put in the extra time and effort to reach our goals. “Even when school leaders work to build a common vision and foster acceptance of group goals, without trust these leaders do not inspire their constituencies to go beyond minimum requirements (Tschannen-Moran, 2004).” In an educational system that is losing more and more funds every year, those within schools have to take on additional responsibilities in order to sustain the school environment.  There is no room in many schools for working to the rule.

As stated by Evans (1996), “Genuineness and effectiveness make a leader authentic, which is a credible resource who inspires trust and confidence, someone worth following into the uncertainties of change.” By no means will the leader always be correct, but when an authentic leader shows a “we are all in this together” attitude, it allows subordinates to feel comfortable taking risks and asking questions when clarification is needed. As a professional teacher, I have witnessed and experienced the effect that not trusting those who are leading you has on a staff member’s self-confidence and on the overall morale of the school. This type of environment causes competition between staff members to determine who the better teacher is and causes attempts to outperform one another as opposed to working collaboratively. Teachers also do not take constructive criticism well and will be highly defensive about what they do in their classroom. They are constantly worried about being judged too hard or unfairly because it is not the exact way a leader might do things. Ultimately, good teachers end up leaving the school and flourishing somewhere else.

As a teacher-leader, I show my teachers that not only have I had to struggle like them, but that I am not so far removed that I cannot bring myself back to where they are. According to Tschannen-Moran (2004), “Trustworthiness had to do with concern for relationships combined with a concern for the task.” I do not tell people to do something without providing them with clear instructions and clear goals and I would not want someone to allow me to stress over something that could have easily been explained. When you are not concerned about how your subordinate gets tasks completed, then it sends a message not caring about the well-being of your people. “To consistently serve as a model of trustworthy leadership, it is important for educational leaders to reflect regularly on their words and actions (Tschannen-Moran, 2004).” Subordinates are watching every move you make and every word you say to observe acts of guidance. Just as I tell the students applying for internships, everyone is watching everything you do. Whether someone is watching you or not, your actions and words should be consistent. Consistency from a leader allows for people to know what to expect and be comfortable with the fact that a different personality shows up every day. I remain the same person I always am no matter what. My teachers know what to expect from me and that they can trust me. They are able to feel comfortable enough to tell me when they are struggling without fear that those same words will show up in an evaluation.

Facilitating the creation or revision of a vision is one of the most challenging concepts I encountered. According to Shipman, Queen, & Peel (2007), “A living vision provides a focus that engenders strategic directions for leading the organization.” All stakeholders must be involved in the development process so that each group has an investment in the vision. Developing a vision takes into account “common causes, interests, goals, aspirations, and direction (Dufour, Dufour, & Eaker, 2008). All creators of the vision should be able to precisely convey what their role will be to contribute towards the success of the school (Shipman et al., 2007). A vision must ensure that all students are included so that a collective effort can be made from all stakeholders. According to Shipman et al. (2007), principals to need to ensure “that all students are being prepared to meet the national and global challenges and possibilities.”

By all means, I do believe that everyone involved in the school should convey the same message and work towards the same goals. The challenging part is coming to a consensus and having agreement with the vision. Knowing that all stakeholders must be represented and have input with the vision creation seems like a daunting task to have to facilitate. It is also very obvious that the process is not something that can be completed in a short period of time. It takes absolute commitment, patience, and diplomacy to truly implement and motivate stakeholders to see the process through to the end. Although, I have not had the experience of participating in the process of creating or revising a vision, our school will tackle the task of revising our vision this school year.

Simply put, effective leadership is showing your subordinates that no matter what titles people have or how many years experience certain people have, everyone should be trying to reach the same goal. An effective leader understands how to lead EVERYONE and not just a small group of like-minded individuals. I thought it would have been easier to have a team of people who think the same, but I have come to realize that type of setup stunts the growth of the team members and ultimately the remaining staff and most importantly the students. Disagreements do not equate to defiance. There is more than one way to complete a task and an effective leader has to be flexible and open-minded to be able to take into account everyone’s opinions that are attempting to be in alignment with school mission or goals.

As far as educational technology is concerned, there has to be mind shift to truly embrace the integration of it throughout a school. Not only is it expensive investment equipment wise, but it also a mental investment. It has to be realized by the whole staff that students cannot graduate and be technologically illiterate in our society. Technology has become such an integral part of our daily lives that it is not something that can be ignored anymore. An effective leader has to find the people and the means that can make things happen even when the school is plagued with a small budget. This is where partnerships and community links play an important role. An effective leader needs to show that not only are we concerned with graduating students, but graduating them with the 21^st century skills they will need to be successful after they leave us for the real world.

Just as with teaching, knowing the ins and outs of becoming an effective leader is not an exact science, but being able to examine and reflect on the responsibilities and actions of successful leaders is half the battle. Actually communicating that message to the subordinates is where the real challenge lies.

Dufour, R., DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting Learning Communities at Work™: New Insights for Improving Schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Evans, R. (1996). The Human Side of School Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Shipman, N. J., Queen, J. A., & Peel, H. A. (2007). Transforming School Leadership with ISLLC and ELCC. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Tschannen-Moran, M. (2004). Trust Matters. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Reflection Log Week 3: The 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader

The 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader Self-Assessment Strengths and Weaknesses with Correlations for Student Achievement

Strengths

1. Situational Awareness (0.33)
2. Resources (0.25)
3. Order (0.25)
4. Culture (0.25)
5. Focus (0.24)
6. Optimizer (0.20)
7. Relationships (0.18)

Weaknesses

1. Flexibility (0.28)
2. Monitoring/Evaluating (0.27)
3. Discipline (0.27)
4. Change Agent (0.25)
5. Input (0.25)
6. Communication (0.23)
7. Affirmation (0.19)

From what I can observe (and I am definitely not a statistics expert!), a number of my weaknesses have higher impacts on student achievement than some of my strengths. This informs me that I definitely need to work on Flexibility, Monitoring/Evaluating and Discipline. Change Agent and Input are secondary areas of improvement. With regard to Flexibility, I have never really been a confrontational person or even the purpose who will express their feelings, but working in an urban district is slowly teaching me how to be more direct when needed. Although I did not rate myself extremely low for this responsibility, I personally want to be to able to deal effectively with a lot of differing opinions. I am sometimes a "I will just do it myself" type of person and I have to learn to let other people do things their way. With regard to Monitoring/Evaluating, I have improved in providing feedback, but I still need to work on consistently monitoring gains and losses. Although I keep detailed records of end products, I sometimes do not document the pre-assessment data. I am then not be able to accurately determine growth or areas of improvements accurately. With respect to Discipline, I am able to deal with students who I have had in my classroom. They understand my high standards and expectations and I can run my class smoothly. Now that I am out of the classroom, I have not had that chance to really let students know who I am and what I am about and cannot often reach students in my teachers' classes when they are making it hard for them to get through their lesson. Since I am over the Career & Technology Education (CTE) department, we have to abide by a whole separate set of guidelines that require double the work on the teachers. I wish I can protect them from this but they are the experts in their industry and therefore I have to rely on them for certain information.
I did rate myself a 2 for Change Agent because I tend to shy away from defending myself or ideas on certain issues. I usually let others battle it out and wait for the final decision, but then I regret not saying what was on mind and end up complaining internally about the decision that was made. I just want everything to be peaceful and smooth, but that does not always mean it is a good decision for the school. I would like to speak up more and worry less about others' opinions of me. As for Input, I do try to gain insight from other people but end up completing a task the way I want to do it. My area of improvement is not asking for input, but it is taking that input into consideration when making a final decision. I am excited that what I rated myself the highest on has the the strongest correlation to student achievement - Situational Awareness. I always think about how others perceive information and how they will utilize it. I try to play the whole scenario in my head so that I know how to best handle the situation and provide step-by step guidance. Overall, I am not very surprised by the results of this self-assessment, but I do realize that to be an effective leader, I definitely have to improve in some areas.

Reflection Log Week 2: Transformational Leadership

• What does transformational leadership means to you? 
• How do you define transformational leadership based on your reading?
• How can transformational leadership flourish in a learning environment?
• How can transformational leadership impact the way an administrator leads a school?
• How can transformational leadership impact the school administrator as he/she leads integrating technology with instruction?

Transformational Leadership is guiding people to a destiny greater than just showing up to work and getting a paycheck. It allows for people to invest in something deeper than just power, position, and money. It leads people to go beyond themselves and focus on the bigger picture rather than just themselves. It instills the concepts of values, morals, and purpose to come into play when influencing followers. According to Cox (2010), Transformational Leadership consists of four components:

1. Charisma or idealized influence - leader is trustworthy and carries himself or herself in a manner that demonstrates genuineness and conviction
2. Inspirational motivation - leader communicates the vision in a way that provides hopefulness and optimism to the followers
3. Intellectual stimulation - leader allows followers to take the foundation and be creative in reaching the vision
4. Individualized consideration or individualized attention - leader sees each and every person in the organization as an important part by respecting, listening, and praising each individual contribution to the team

A learning environment or organization is one "where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together (Senge, 1990)." Transformational Leadership falls exactly within a learning environment. A learning environment can only occur if the components of Transformational Leadership are present. In order to be able to learn, discover, and collaborate within a group, that group must be provided the freedom to do so. 

Transformational Leadership allows for an administrator to not have to carry the burden of running a school by themselves. It relieves the pressure of having to develop all ideas and get the rest of the staff on board with those ideas. The administrator will be able to articulate their goals, hopes, and vision to the staff and have the staff help each other to reach them.This then allows for a shared vision to come into play and allow all staff members to share the responsibility in attaining that vision.

As an administrator facilitates integrating technology with instruction, Transformational Leadership can open the eyes of teachers who may be fearful to delve into something new with their students. Teachers may complain that using technology in the classroom takes too much time or the teachers do not have the proper skills to teach students how to use the technology properly. With Transformational Leadership, teachers should be inspired to at least see how the technology can be used to enhance instruction and be able to formulate how they can use it in their classroom. For a reluctant teacher, being forced to use something they are not comfortable with will only lead to more resistance. Providing unlimited support and models for them will not only allow them to feel more comfortable, but to then seek out other technology-based ways that can assist them in the classroom.

References:

• Cox, R. (2010). The Transformational Leadership Report. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CGMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.transformationalleadership.net%2Fproducts%2FTransformationalLeadershipReport.pdf&ei=kGQxUKfAO-Gi6wGM54HoDw&usg=AFQjCNGh38dUUDoD04I7PkkFDi8W29xkhA&sig2=25aOjh0cDmRZJijUtQEFvA. [Last Accessed 19 August 2012].
• Senge, P. M., (1990). The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday.

Orientation Week 2 Reflection

• What are your expectations for this program? What do you hope to accomplish?

• Now that you have a good sense of the types of online activities and the rhythms of an active participant, what steps will you take to be successful in this program?

• Where do you still need additional support to be successful

During this next year, I am hoping to learn the ins and outs of school administration. Although, I get a small taste of some of the roles and responsibilities of the administrators in my building, I would like to get the full picture of the when, the why, and the how of situations that most administrators deal with daily. I feel that this complete picture will allow me to truly understand how to balance the demands of the teachers, the school district, the students, and their parents and the best approaches to dealing with all of them.


I will definitely schedule "study time" so that I can truly devote myself to the courses. It is easy to put off the activities because you always think you have enough time to finish them, but time flies quickly. Being able to stay on top of deadlines by using tools such as Outlook or Google Calendar and spreading out readings and activities throughout each week will definitely lead to doing well in this program. Also printing and/or saving the activities definitely help refresh your memory.


Currently, I do not need any additional support at this time, unless the program offers free babysitting while I get my work done (just kidding...that is a great idea though). I am focused and excited to be in this program and committed to really try to be in the moment when learning new things so I can definitely become a reflective practitioner and perfect my craft.