CULTURE AND CURRICULUM
In my role as leader, I had the pleasure of going through the checklist at my school to ensure that all of these key factors were in place and to examine with my mentor just how well we felt that they were working and it was personally assigned to me to put a plan of action in place for anything that I found to be out of place or a potential hazard to the school building or learning environment. During the overview of the checklist there were several things that I felt needed adjusting and I will share three of those things here: 1. Restroom stalls are not free of graffiti, 2. Character education or social skills program is not currently being taught, 3. Students are not present on the school safety planning team.
The Safety Plan
It is my recommendation that the restroom stalls all be photographed by the school’s student/teacher photography team and all the things that are not necessarily a violation of school policy by being in relation to gang affiliation, could potentially be turned into art and framed outside of the bathroom or inside of the bathroom from school year to school year. But after the pictures and artwork has been created, we put together a team of students in need of community service to clean the graffiti. This will promote awareness of what the expectation is in the school, peer accountability, and make staff aware of what to watch for in the bathrooms. Removing the graffiti immediately also stops conflict because the messages between students are usually passed this way and it is taken offensively to the point that they will fight in the bathroom as well.
While there are many programs in our school that benefit the students, none of them speak directly to character and social skills. I feel that this type of program will help facilitate some positivity in the school. It will give the students a sense of self-esteem and self-awareness. I believe when students are armed with these two things, they carry themselves differently and more importantly they respect things and people around them because they can demand that respect themselves of their own space and things. These students are rarely seen defacing the school building and therefore add a sense of culture to the school. They develop positive social skills from being aware of themselves and this is something that adults could benefit from as well.
In our school students currently know little to nothing at all about the school safety plan and that is primarily because that plan has been created for them for so long and no one has thought to give them a voice until now. We have students sitting on all types of committees in our school regarding their curriculum and learning but if we don’t get their voice on how safe they feel, how effective is our teaching? This is the driving force behind my decision to change their presence on the safety planning team going forward because they see the school building through a very different lens than the teachers and it is that view that we want feedback from.
References
Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. (2015). National Policy Board for Educational. https://www.npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Professional-Standards-for-Educational-Leaders_2015.pdf
The Safety Plan
It is my recommendation that the restroom stalls all be photographed by the school’s student/teacher photography team and all the things that are not necessarily a violation of school policy by being in relation to gang affiliation, could potentially be turned into art and framed outside of the bathroom or inside of the bathroom from school year to school year. But after the pictures and artwork has been created, we put together a team of students in need of community service to clean the graffiti. This will promote awareness of what the expectation is in the school, peer accountability, and make staff aware of what to watch for in the bathrooms. Removing the graffiti immediately also stops conflict because the messages between students are usually passed this way and it is taken offensively to the point that they will fight in the bathroom as well.
While there are many programs in our school that benefit the students, none of them speak directly to character and social skills. I feel that this type of program will help facilitate some positivity in the school. It will give the students a sense of self-esteem and self-awareness. I believe when students are armed with these two things, they carry themselves differently and more importantly they respect things and people around them because they can demand that respect themselves of their own space and things. These students are rarely seen defacing the school building and therefore add a sense of culture to the school. They develop positive social skills from being aware of themselves and this is something that adults could benefit from as well.
In our school students currently know little to nothing at all about the school safety plan and that is primarily because that plan has been created for them for so long and no one has thought to give them a voice until now. We have students sitting on all types of committees in our school regarding their curriculum and learning but if we don’t get their voice on how safe they feel, how effective is our teaching? This is the driving force behind my decision to change their presence on the safety planning team going forward because they see the school building through a very different lens than the teachers and it is that view that we want feedback from.
References
Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. (2015). National Policy Board for Educational. https://www.npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Professional-Standards-for-Educational-Leaders_2015.pdf
Teacher Coaching and Development Process Sabrina L. Manuel College of Education, Grand Canyon University EAD 530: Improving Teacher Performance and Self-Efficacy Mr. Beckerman May 11, 2022 Observation Pre-Conference The preconference that took place in the video is very similar to the pre-conferences that I have experienced as a teacher, however, it has not been frequent enough as of lately. The coach/administrator in the videos shown here appear to be very interested in the lesson and has gone as far as finding out what other classes are following the same concept as the teacher that’s about to be observed and that is something that is very different. The teachers were asked about the lesson plan and the content contained within it. The coach wanted to know exactly what to expect to see and if the students would be doing anything specific that the teacher would like for her to observe specifically for some feedback. Both teachers in the pre-conference put some effort and thought into their lessons because they were able to elaborate on things with a very genuine concern for the details of the lesson and how it would impact her students learning. Classroom Observation The coach is looking for the lesson plan that was submitted and ensuring that it is the same lesson that was submitted so they can follow along with the lesson. During the classroom observation we are going to be looking for specific things such as success criteria, lesson outcomes, student engagement, teacher supports for the students and the ability to engage students in the lesson. During the observation the coach is simply in the classroom to observe, and any feedback should be shared during post-conference not during the lesson, so you don’t intimidate the teacher or the learning environment. I feel that it would be very disrespectful for an administrator or coach to take over my lesson just to demonstrate my lesson and how you feel it should be taught to my students. Post Observation Conversation, Opening Comments and Specific Evidence The coach was mindful to start the conversation out with thanking the teacher for an opportunity to learn something new from him while observing his class. Before beginning she told him exactly what he could expect during the meeting and how she planned to help him in the areas she noted. She gave positive feedback first, but then she asked him to reflect on his lesson for himself and that led her conversation to the teacher speaking about things and her coaching while also referring to things that she saw as well and allow the teacher to further elaborate on those things. She would often refer to something positive to make sure that the teacher didn’t feel like they were only talking about the things that didn’t go right during her visit. When she did speak on the things that went right the teacher took the lead on why those things happened and she coached him on how to improve in other areas using those same strategies. By using the chart from the observation tool, the coach was able to show the teacher the difference between where they scored and where they could improve. They discussed several strategies that fit under those key areas of the next level up. When an administrator or coach presents feedback as a question, it allows the teacher to think about themselves and then answer with an opinion that usually matches that of the person sitting in front of them based on what was observed that day because people are the most critical of themselves. I think the most effective way to observe a teacher is to do it more frequently and I know that research may not agree with that but according to Marshall (2019), she also feels that if an administrator is in the classroom conducting more visits the feedback and observations would be far more effective and the information would be more accurate. The teachers also need support and training in areas where they don’t feel they are performing well. Contrary to what most people think, teachers are aware of their shortcomings, and they want a PD on things that can help them to improve in their career. I don’t believe that anyone intends to fail the students in their classrooms by not providing them with rigor and effective lessons but some of them just honestly are stuck with the obstacles that kids face in society today. References Danielson, C. (2009). Talk about Teaching: Leading Professional Conversations. https://bibliu.com/app/#/view/books/9781483373805/epub/OEBPS/cover.html#page_1 Loewus, L. (2017). Principals are Loath to Give Teachers Bad Ratings. https://web-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=2a3e0343-f9c4-4bb7-8cd7-10461e205a27%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=124284922&db=ehh Marshall, K. (2019). Rethinking the way we coach, evaluate, and appreciate teachers. https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/rethinking-way-we-coach-evaluate-and-appreciate-teachers |