Post-Observation Thoughts......

The post observation conference was held in the classroom of the teacher, during one of her and mine free periods. There was a small table in the back of the room that we used during the hour long follow-up. We sat next to each other rather than across from the table creating a more collegial environment and open for discussion and sharing. One thing that I noticed was how I would use a cup of coffee to help me divide up the conversation. During the first part of the post observation, I summarized the observation with the teacher listening. Through her visual clues, I knew if we agreed on an observed behavior or item and when we did not agree or clarification was needed. Since the beginning was a summary, I ended up doing most of the talking. A few times, I would ask some questions to clarify what I had seen. The observation sheet has a space for writing questions which helped a lot in the post –observation. I had many questions that guided the conversation towards academics, rules, physical space and other ideas. As I asked a question, I would sit back
(take a sip of coffee) and visually let the teacher know that it was her time to talk and analyze the situation. The whole observation process was smooth and we were both pleased with the results. I have done observations in the past and new the process to help the teachers best I could. We both were able to learn from this experience while helping student learning. The teacher was given some great ideas to use for the same lesson next year, but also ideas that can be implemented immediately in the classroom to improve the atmosphere. I do feel that the meeting was a bit long and felt bad taking away from the teacher’s planning period, but it was a great form of individual professional development. Another issues that I was worried about was the grade level (4th) having never taught it before, I was worried that the teacher would not value my input. In the future, I would like to email the summary to the teacher, along with some of the questions that I had jotted down before the post observation. This might help the teacher to have more thoughtful answers, reduce the stress, and shorten the time of the meeting. Overall, it was a great experience and felt awesome to be able to share knowledge with a co-worker through observation.

Classroom Arrangements

Room arrangements can give a quick glimpse of what might be going on in the classroom. If you see individual desks all facing the front, you may infer that teaching is mostly teacher-centered with direct interaction with individual students. If you were to see a large circle, the class might be set up for student-centered learning with the teacher acting as a leader or facilitator. A bunch of desk here and there might mean that centers are used with students being able to interact with their peers and their teacher. Whatever the case, it does give us something to work with without being too intrusive in the teacher’s classroom atmosphere.

During my “walk-around”, I was able to quickly assess and tally the rooms throughout the entire school. I noticed that in most Elementary classrooms, there were horseshoe arrangements for entire class activities. Some rooms also included carpets with seating charts labeled with tape. In addition to the horseshoe, there were centers set up around the room and places for individual work. Each room had a clear traffic flow and it was obvious that differentiation goes on in the classroom through each day. Students and teachers take turns at being the centers of learning while the teacher has a clear unobstructed view of the classroom for behavior and work issues. Lastly, the classroom set up was very efficient and allowed for supervision to take place without interruption of the classroom activities. Again, since the school is small in size, but large in structure, the rooms lend themselves to being able to have such a variety of seating arrangements in one classroom. In other schools, this ideal situation would not be possible.

In Middle School and High School, classrooms were mostly made up of tables put together in either a horseshoe arrangement or clusters. This setting lends itself for group work, teacher lead discussions and lectures on the board. A few select classrooms, were able to have small group and individual work areas, but the restriction was mostly due to furniture and space. It is quite obvious that the majority of time in the upper grades is spent with lectures and then small group work. Two main goals of High school are to prepare the students to be collaborators and ready for university work. Therefore, the classroom set ups make sense.

In each classroom (with the exception of 1 out of 23), there was only one computer and it was for the teacher's use. This computer would then dictate where the teacher’s desk was located since the outlet and Ethernet cable are limited in reach. Most teachers throughout the school would have their desks in the front of the room, but not near the door. Some of those teachers did express interest in having the desk in the back to help monitor student activity, but the computer location restricted such luxuries. I find it very concerning that students do not have more access to computers in the classroom. In fairness, there are computer labs which may be reserved, more computers in the library, and wireless internet for laptops which many students bring. Technology is part of many of the teachers instructional tools, but without constant access, it can sometimes be hindered throughout the lessons.

In conclusion, it is awesome to be aware of how much insight a small quick observation can provide you. As supervisors, we will need to be able to make more detailed observations to help staff development. But classroom setup is a great window into the classroom environment of the teacher and student learning.

Reflection Log #3

The school culture is a living, breathing and growing part of any community. When that community is in need of improvement, we look to reform models for help. As effective leaders, we need to be aware of how this change will affect each member of the school community. If the reform model is implemented well, then the culture of the school will only become stronger. But if that reform is put together without much planning and preparation, the culture could suffer drastically. Culture is unwritten rules in the school which each participant interprets differently. As the culture is more clearly defined, that definition will become more unified and enhance the school for the benefit of the learners. In order for administrators to be more effective, they need to take advantage of all of the reform models and technology tools (Web 2.0) that are available to help inform the community, provide professional development, and implement the strategy to improve the school.
As the course progresses, we are learning about new reform models, how to evaluate them, how to prepare the staff for the change and how best to use technology. My concept of administration isn’t changing but growing and becoming refined after each week. The information is helping us to become more well-rounded and prepared leaders for the future. I have always been aware that the school culture is there, but unaware of how much it affects the school and, in the end, student learning. In order for us to be the effective leaders we should be we must have a deep knowledge of how the school is running and what are the best ways to implement change. Change is something that will be constant and necessary no matter where we begin our careers. It is also important for us to observe and respect what has happened before our arrival, use that information and apply it to decision making for the future of the school. Administration is going to be a lot of prep work, tough decision making, long hours, and many other stressful parts of the job description. But with the proper knowledge base and preparation, we will succeed and share the benefits with the entire community making it a very rewarding job that I want to be a part of.

Effective Leaders

To me, an effective leader was one who got things done and in a positive manner. I wasn’t wrong, but over the past few weeks I have learned there are a lot more aspects to it than that. Effective leaders need to be vulnerable, good listeners, allow for growth of the community, transparent, servants, and many more things. Each week’s reading gives me more insight into the strengths (and weakness) that I have noticed in my administrators and myself. Being more aware of these characteristics is a huge opportunity to allow me to become a good administrator.

One of the things I have appreciated the most is the need to be transparent. I have mentioned this many times in other blogs, discussions and papers and I hesitate to mention it again, but it is so important to being an authentic leader. Students love to know why and how, even my daughter continually asks “Why?” My job as a teacher, a parent and especially an administrator is to have as many of those answers as possible to earn trust and respect. Trust goes a long way allowing people to invest in your ideas and goals. When, they know that you are a good leader, they will enjoy following and helping to lead when appropriate. Sometimes we don’t know the answers and that is when we are transparent and vulnerable allowing others to step up and help.

One of my personal traits that I have learned to be a strength is that I trust people. Sometimes with too little reason, but trusting your staff gives them the confidence to explore and try new strategies that allow for growth of the community and student learning. If you do a good job of hiring and capacitating the current staff, you become more confident in letting them work independently and create trust.

We are only a few weeks into the course, but I am gaining more knowledge and experience with each discussion and article I read. Continued education is another big aspect of being an effective leader and I am confident that JHU will continue to provide me with excellent opportunities and examples from which to learn.


Live, Learn, Love, Teach....

Transformational Leadership

Traditional schools take on the mechanical approach and focus on order, efficiency, reliability and keeping everything "regular". Another way to look at schools is that they are complex adaptive systems. These systems are in a constant state of change, reacting and adapting to all of the inputs from the members of its community (teachers, administrator, students, and even parents). In the complex adaptive systems, there are five attributes or characteristics. Interrelationships explain the synergism that is present as students and teachers co-evolve with the school. Diversity emphasizes that it should be encouraged rather than ignored or forgotten. Also in complex adaptive systems, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts showing us the potential for growth in nonlinear situations. This then fosters the idea of self-organization giving the members of the system the chance to meet the challenges they face. Finally, in adaptive systems, we have attractors which allow students to be more self motivated and teachers to focus more on learning rather than discipline.

From an administrator's point of view transformational leaders need to keep in mind five issues. Firstly, schools should be learner-centered where the focus is on students to be more informed and independent and less direct instruction. Next, administrators need to make sure that standard are met, but they should be viewed as tools and not hurdles. Also, teachers need to be given enough time to share their expectations with peers and students. This allows for sharing of responsibility and improving the school environment. Teacher self organization is also very important as providing this type of atmosphere will let them improve their practice. Lastly, administrators are burdened with the necessary responsibility to teach the public about the importance of schools. Leadership is a complex role, but with a carefully mapped out plan and goals, it can create the best possible learning environment for the community.

As transformational leaders have various roles and responsibilities, technology is a tool that must be embraced. Such tools will allow teachers to create more interactive classrooms that can be learner centered. Other tools will give administrators the voice that they need to share their goals and accomplishments with the community. Another way to utilize technology is providing teachers (and students) with the opportunity for professional development and sharing learned ideas with peers. Complex adaptive systems are exactly that, complex. Being a principal in today's society is a huge role as we need to take our teachers, our students, and even the parents into the global community in order to help our students be independent leaders of the next generation.

Personally, I am ready for this challenge and embrace the idea of being a transformational leader. Technology is a tool that I enjoy using and understand very well. Currently as the Athletic Director, I am aware of the necessity of "gather the troupes" and getting them on board with and as involved with the community as possible. Communication with the school and its members is another goal of mine. We have a website, send out emails and even update the bulletin board. As teachers volunteer to help out with the after school activities, I am aware of providing them with the support that they need and the positive feedback required to motivate the teachers which in turn will motivate the students to enjoy their activities, become risk-takers, and life-long learners.

Live, Learn, Love, Teach....

Where do you still need additional support?

From JHU, I would love some support via email. When new news is posted on the site or a post is made to a comment I had, an email from JHU would be great. I check email all day long and it is the easiest way to get information to me. From my cohorts, I look forward to open and constant communication. From what I have noticed so far, this will not be a problem :)

What have you learned about your communication style? How will this impact you as an online learner?

After completing the Inventory, I had 4 points for Sensor, 3 points for Thinker, 2 points for Feeler, and 1 point for Intuitor. I understand that I am pretty well-round and can adapt to various needs for the group. If a leader is needed, I can step up and do that. If it is a worker, fine. I am a realist at heart and do enjoy leading and helping others to make decisions. The inventory did help me focus on how I will best help the group, but at the same time, it reminded me how I have a few characteristics of all the groups giving me a chance to understand how other are thinking too. I will most likely be one of the first to post assignments and help organize group activites. I enjoy leading and I know that is the main reason I decided to join this program.

How will you be a contributing member of your team? How will team activities impact your time management?

Being a member of a team is a responsibility that we all need to take seriously. Projects that are too big or that need lots of input require teamwork. I am ready to dedicate the needed time to help all the members of the team in order to create reflective and thoughtful assignments. Some team activites will require sacrifices of blocks of time in order to facilitate the communication. With my family, job, and friend supporting me, I will have this needed time to dedicate to my JHU team each class.

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 order to succeed, I will need to set aside time each day, read all of the post, be an active listener and a reflective thinker. JHU is providing us with the chance to learn not only from books and the instructors, but from our cohorts and life experiences. We all have something to share and through this program with dedicated time, we will all learn more than we had anticipated.

What, if any, concerns do you have about online learning?

My main concern would be what would happen if internet access was down for a period of time? I would hope that a phone call could help the situation and remedy it until internet could be established again. We will depending a lot on the internet and fast connections. We are all aware of problems that can arise such as computer issues, connectivity problems on both ends and other things. I am sure that JHU has allowances for such cases, but it is a concern nonetheless.

What is your comfort level with the ELC?

The ELC seems like a great way to communicate. A few times a download would freeze, but a quick refresh would remedy the situation. I have always enjoyed online work and embrace all of the tools that the internet has to offer. The ELC is another tool to add to the belt, but a very useful and complete one. I look forward to using all that it has to offer in communication and safety.