That's All Folks!

The mock interview was very helpful. Although I was very nervous, it was refreshing to have someone take the time to sit with me and review the questions that may be asked during an interview. It was not scripted, instead we talked through each question. I appreciate all the positive feedback and the time this person took to coach me. I enjoyed this process and the way it was conducted.

CAPSTONE REFLECTION

This paper made it relevant that it is extremely important to fully know and understand the current reality of your school.  In order to make change, it is important to know where you are in order to make effective and efficient steps towards a positive change at your school site. It is also important to know your current reality to know what change is appropriate for your site. There are many great teaching strategies and best practices, but what works for one school may not work for your site.  It is important for administration to see that and tweak things to make them work their school site.

Budget Reflection

Another great assignment to see a different side of administration that we do not see day to day as a teacher.  It was interesting to see where monies where allocated.  The reasoning for where the money would be put always came back to how it can positively affect student achievement.  It was great to see how closely the principal, GIS, and office manager work together with school finance.  All three of them had input when working on the budget assignment.  Everyone had there own responsibilities, yet it was clear that my principal knew what was going on.  This is something that I remembering hearing at our last class meeting.  Although you delegate the work, as a principal you still want to make sure you know what is going.  Stay in the loop.  It was nice to see how it worked at my school.

Fact to Fact Reflection

This was a great class that was very informative for any future administrator.  We started the night with three presenters from Clovis, Sanger, and Visalia.  We learned the importance of the hiring and firing process.  It was made very clear from all districts that "you are who you hire".  It is important to take the time and do the background  checks on candidates for a job in your district.  Also, they all continued to make sure we understood the importance of documentation.
Next we had CADA come in and talk to use about listening and respect.  We did a great activity, which showed us how to truly listen with respect by not interrupting.  That was a bit challenging, especially when you want to agree and tell your story.  It was a great way to show what it is to listen respectfully.
Listening to Dr. Terry Bradley was such a great opportunity.  His explanation of school finance, history of different propositions, court rulings, and components of a budget was extremely informative.  After listening to him made me realize that I have so much to still learn.  I am thankful to know that we have a great support system in our district and that there is always someone who can answer your questions.

Putting it all together

Through out this book there was so much valuable information for leadership.  In the end it felt like all connectors begin with building relationships.  When you build a relationship you build trust, safety, communication, the ability help yourself and others find balance, and trust from others about your competence.  The key is relationships.  A great leader has the ability to build a healthy and positive one with their staff.  I aspire to be able to have a staff that looks up to me with a positive outlook.  It is about valuing what we have and treating it delicately. I hope to be remembered and touch so many lives as Jeff did.

Class Reflection

Roberta Rowe had an abundant amount of great information.  I really appreciated hearing about all the technology that is our there and how students are using it.  It is important to keep updated with all of this, such as Facebook, Twitter, blogging, texting, etc.   When we are in administration we need to know the appropriate actions to take when we are faced with "cyber bullying" and/or "sexting".  It can be frustrating because things may seem a little backwards in the sense that kids know more than adults about some of this technology stuff.  It is because of this that it is important that as adults we keep up to date on what is out there.  If it wasn't for this class I probably would have never taken the time to figure out what twitter was or even how to blog, and yet kids do it all the time.

I enjoyed listening to Dr. Hauser on effective meetings.  Some meetings just never felt effective nor efficient, yet we were doing what we were suppose to do by having an agenda to keep the meeting going.  After listening to Dr. Hauser about what a good agenda should look like, it began to make sense why some of our meetings did not flow.  The planning before the meeting is just as important as the meeting itself and should probably take a lot longer than the meeting. I will definitely keep her sample to use in future meetings.

The last part of the day was spent reviewing expulsion and suspensions.  This was eye opening to hear of the "big 5"  which are mandatory expulsions.  The pamphlet was very helpful and will definitely by useful in the future.

Trust #7

As I read this chapter I began to reflect on my relationships that I have with family and coworkers.  I found that when you are building a healthy and positive relationship, trust naturally builds.  I like the simple things that this chapter presented when building positive relationships. I also took note to the suggestions to avoid betrayal and perceived betrayal.  The one I really liked was to listen more than you speak.  I think many times we want to solve problems or do what we feel is right. I think when that happens we forget to listen to our staff and their needs or we listen and do not follow through. This can definitely feel like a betrayal of trust.

Continuous Renewal #6

This chapter couldn't have come at a better time.  At this point in my life I am trying to incorporate balance in my life.  I know many of us have our plates very full with finishing up our master's, credential, teaching, coaching, being a mom/dad, wife/husband, etc.  As I read this chapter I started to reflect on what I should change about myself to help find this balance.  I remember a service I went to that talked about two people. The first person always took on everything that people would ask of him.  He was doing so much that he ended up not finishing all the things that was asked of him and had not done some of the things to his best ability.  The second guy did not take on everything and knew how and when to say "no".  However, he was able to finish what he had agreed to do and had time to go ahead and help out with what he first had said no to.  I think that finding balance in your life also has to do with learning how to only take on what you can physically and emotionally handle.  

Competence #5

If a leader frames "I don't know that" as a catalyst for action rather than an excuse, people will join him in the quest at hand.

This section was very interesting for me as I aspire to be an administrator one day.  I think that will be scary and intimidating to be in a new position.  However, this section helped me see that it is fine to not know all the answers, but to not use it as an excuse and try to find the answer.  I think you can still be respected even though you don't know all the answers.  It stuck out to me when the book said to "listen, observe, reflect, analyse, find mentors, make mistakes, spend the time it took to learn from the mistakes, and make the necessary changes".  It is comforting to know that these are things you can do when you are starting something new and do not know all the answers.  I think it is easier to admit you don't know and figure it out, rather than try to fake it.

Safety #4

As educators we constantly learn the importance of safety for all of our students.  This is something that we make as a number one priority.  However, this chapter was eye opening for me when it began to talk about adult bullying.  I rarely see that being address, yet it happens in schools.  I thought it was interesting to read about the different types of bullying.  I never thought of teachers who get away with more than others, or the one who receives more than others could be considered as a bully.  It is important as an administrator to be consistent with everyone on staff and to not be afraid or timid to address these issues.

If students do not feel safety at school, then it is impossible to focus on their learning.  I believe this is the same for teachers.  If they do feel safe, whether it is emotional, physical, or psychological, it can way heavy on them and then their focus is no longer on teaching students.  It is important to develop a culture of safety for everyone on a school campus.

Support #3

Support can make or break the way you feel when you go to work everyday.  Although it is important to be supportive with materials and making sure that your teachers have what they need for the school year, it really stuck out to me about the importance of emotional support.  It was very eye opening to read "Teachers First".  We do constantly say that children need to come first, which is true to a certain extent.  If teachers are not being supported and are barely keeping their head above water, then how is that good for kids?  When teachers are supported, recognized, valued and respected then they will feel great about doing their job and coming to work everyday, which will positively affect children. I really liked when the book stated, "The best way to increase student achievement is through the teachers". 

Communication

Communication is the key to leadership.  We consistently hear that relationships and communication are very important aspects of leadership.  However, non-verbal communcation is very important.  In the section "Why Are They Meeting In The Parking Lot", it reminded me that it is also important to also learn to use and understand the nonverbal communication that you may be sending out or recieving.  Usually if you have a hunch that something is not right, than most likely it isn't. I think it is very easy for teachers to speak their minds after the staff meeting. Unfortunately, it doesn't solve the issue at hand, instead teachers can become very emotional all the while the principal may not even know there was a problem.  I thought it was a good idea and important to have a teacher that you can trust that can help you understand the issues that teachers may have and are not being spoken.  Bottom line it is important to have great communication no matter what method is used (email, newsletter, meeting).  It also important to find proactive ways to help with issues and being able to listen activily to all sides.

1st class reflection

After watching the Daniel Pink Drive Video it gave me a few motivational techniques that can be helpful as a leader.  People are motivated when they have buy in to what they are doing.  This gives them a purpose and passion that naturally keeps them motivated. It was interesting to hear that people will give more and expect less as long as they are doing something that they are passionate for.  It was also interesting to hear that merit pay doesn't work in situations were the task that is being asked of someone is very complex and not straight forward.  I feel that as an educator our job is very complex and after seeing this video, I do not think merit pay will make teachers better teachers.

OMG I am finally here!!

Ok peeps...I had another blog but for some reason I could not figure it out for the life of me.  So, hopefully second blog is a charm!  I am finally here...woo hoo!