Administrative Reflection

Over the past 8 weeks, I felt like I was an administrator making decisions for the next school year. I learned to make decisions based on data and while aligning the decisions to the vision of the school. I think that more difficult part of being an administrator and a possible pitfall I may run into is the political side of leadership. After completing the Administrative Action Plan, I now understanding that everything must come from my vision and be based on data. Being an advocate for my beliefs and stewarding that to faculty members that already have their own beliefs and best practices will be difficult. To help overcome this pitfall I plan to build relationships with staff and earn their trust. The faculty will have to trust me to the lead them to improve student learning and achievement. I would try to meet with staff formally and informally so they are able to know me. I believe that if I am solid in my beliefs and they are evident in my words and actions then they will transcend to the people I work with.

            Another pitfall that I may face my first year as an administrator is working with supply and demand of resources and budget allocation. I think it is struggle that every administrator will face because a school needs so many things but the money is not always available. I think by being resourceful I will be able to overcome this pitfall. There are different ways to acquire necessary resources for a school. One way is to utilize the community. I believe the community has a lot to offer but they just need to be asked. I plan to develop a school-community partnership by inviting the community into the school to participate in school events. Communication with all stakeholders is important and can really overcome most pitfalls as long as it is consistent.

Through the course not only was I responsible for my Administrative Action Plan, but I also had weekly assignments with my team. The assignments enabled us to work together to come up with an ideal school setting for vision, best learning, school management, and sound principles. We developed strategies for our schools to become the ideal school. Having the team effort really provide various opinions and ideas. These communication and collaboration skills were essential in making decisions to help write our Action Plans. When I am a principal I plan to utilize these 21^st century skills when developing the vision and school plan.
Another 21^st century skill that I developed through writing this paper, is critical thinking. Really identifying the needs of the school and then researching ways to address the needs was time consuming but worth it. I feel confident in my Administrative Action Plan because it is researched based.
The most important thing I learned from developing the Action Plan is that vision is essential to an effective school. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction explains it best, “clear vision is like a good road map. Without a good map it is difficult to determine where you are going and, impossible to know when you arrive. A dynamic vision engages and represents the whole community and outlines a path to follow. The vision allows school leaders to create a compelling view that excites and engages other constituents to join in the educational journey” (2011).  

Co-Teaching and Individualizing the Curriculum

Entry #1: Co-Teaching

I think the co-teaching model is an excellent way to address different students’ needs. When I was a 5th grade math teacher, I used two of the co-teaching models. The first one I had an extra support resource teacher who came into my room and pull a small group that needed extra help to master the math objective for the day. She walked around the classroom and observed students while I taught the main lesson. Then based on student “check” work, she would re-teach a small group as needed daily. I really enjoyed having this assistance when I was a teacher because it gave students an extra opportunity to master the objective and allowed me to help other students at their desk. The downfall was that she often got pulled from my classroom to assist in other duties based on school need. She would be pulled to assist with testing or help a substitute. I could not rely on her to be there daily. As a supervisor, I would address this by not viewing resource teachers as an extra body in school but if they are assigned daily duties, then they are just as important as another person in the building and can not just be pulled on a moments notice. Teachers and students rely on routine and if something changes that routine then it throws the whole classroom off.

The second model I have utilized is having two teachers plan together and then teach the same lesson together at the same time. I like this model because having another teacher in the room allows for more students to get help during a lesson and reduces the student to teacher ratio. However, the challenge I saw to this model was that fear of “stepping on each other toes” while teaching. I think the only way to avoid this is to just to keep planning and teaching together then the two teachers will hopefully learn to compliment each other’s styles. I think a school leader can assist with this by knowing the teachers in the building and matching personalities and teaching styles together when co-teaching.

Using a co-teaching model demonstrates to students the 21st century skill of collaboration. When students see teachers working together in a collaborative way, then they have a better understand to what collaboration should look like.

Entry #2: Individualizing the Curriculum

I always liked the idea of having electives for students to choose from in order to individualize the program for students. I especially agree with the idea now after being in college. I remember dreading the basic requirement classes in college but loving the courses I choose based on interested or for my major. I also love the idea, that now in my education I take courses and gain certifications based on my own desires. For me, having a choice makes learning more engaging and I am choosing courses based on what I want for my future.

I think offering young students the same choices will give them the same feelings about their education. Allowing students more choices in what they want to learn will allow them to plan an education for themselves in order to be successful as an adult. I know that Baltimore County Public Schools allows students in high school to choose some of their classes and there are technical programs in some high schools that do the same. I think education in general would have to make some changes not just BCPS because national curriculum requires so much that there is not a lot of room left for students to make choices.

Developing Curriculum and Society

Society has always had an effect on educational curriculum from the 1890's when academic scientism was a major influence, to technological constructionism in 1990's in which the economy was booming and the internet with computers were a rising trend. It seems through the years that educational policy has changed steadily reflecting society. I believe today the major societal force that influences school curricula is foreign relations and policy. Current events happening is now other countries public knowledge, any person can "Google" statistics about countries. This free flow of knowledge and facts has allowed society to see that the United States is falling behind in education. There are videos being uploaded to YouTube everyday that show why the US is falling behind in educating it's youth. The current policies of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top,  demonstrate how the US is trying to get ahead of other countries with education.

Major societal forces through the ages has defined curriculum and presented new theoretical approaches as a result. As society has evolved, technology has evolved, and the world has evolved so curriculum has progressed to reflect the society. Leaders through the times have taken what they thought was important for youth to know to be successful in their society and issued policies that have influenced curriculum development. I see the societal forces as guides for curriculum to help prepare students for the future based on trends happening during the current time period. For example, to be successful in today's workplace you have to be a 21st century learner which means work collaborative, be a critical thinker, communicate ideas effectively, and be creative. 20 years from now these skills may be obsolete and education will change to help students at that time be ready for the workplace.

I think a school leader can be proactive in the advent of these types of influences by saying current on emerging educational research and trends. A school leader should be a life long learner which means taking courses, reading research, and reading articles that discuss emerging trends in society and education. If a school leader is able to have an idea of what is up and coming, then they will be able to mold curriculum to these new trends.