Policy Reviews

Discussing the policy reviews showed how, much of the time, there is a gray area. Many situations do not have clear answers. It is important to look at each situation on an individual basis and then there is still a judgment call that must be made. Also, I did not realize that school districts did not have to follow their own policies in their Board Policy Manual. It seems to me that if the district does not follow it’s own policies it sets a negative example for when those same policies must be enforced.

Counting Basketballs

I still don't believe there was a gorilla.
Steph :)

gorilla video

I'm sure a lot of other people are going to be commenting about the Gorilla video, but I can't help myself. This was my second time watching it, but it was even more fun this time since I was able to wait until the gorilla made his appearance and then look around for people's reactions to see if they were noticing it. I made sure to find this video and book mark it immediately. What a great video to one day show to a faculty to prove the importance of having evidence of different learning modalities during each lesson. By demonstrating the fact that some people do not notice a dancing gorilla, if that does not prove that people's minds are wired differently than nothing will!

Gorrilla Video

http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/15.html

Basketball video

I think it would be appropriate to use the basketball video to introduce a staff discussion on change. When we continue to use the same techniques with our students, and we concentrate on a specific measurement, sometimes we do not see the "whole picture" of our school, and we miss other important pieces of information.

The link to do this for yourself is http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/flashmovie/15.php. If you san't see it here- you can purchase it here.

Teacher Pay and Student Performance

I thought the discussion between teacher pay and student performance was interesting. We know that simply paying teachers who are in their positions now more would not effectively raise test scores. I think there can be a way that paying teachers more could lead to higher test scores, although I am not sure if it would make things better or worse overall. Rather than having salary schedules, teachers could be considered like free agents in baseball are , with a minimum salary. Schools could then sign teachers for whatever their market value is; the better the teacher, the higher the salary. In this scenario, paying teachers more could lead to increased student achievement. There are some potential issues with this, such as 1) districts would have to value teaching ability over saving money, 2) without equitable funding, poorer districts couldn't afford the best teachers, 3) an effective way to determine the quality of a teacher would need to be created, and there are most likely more than I am thinking of now. I also wouldn't want to be the first administrator to try to implement such a system. It is certainly interesting to think about.

Chapter 8 evaluation models

Exhibit 8.1 made very clear to me the differences between the several ways to evaluate teachers. I know some teachers who have elected the goal-setting model (where contract language provided for such an option) but I hadn't been as clear as I now am on why they chose that method. According to the text, the goal of the remediation model, with the standard formative and summative instruments that are most familiar to us, is to "Bring all teachers to a minimum level of performance." No wonder that model is so much less useful for experienced teachers. Because it "Works best with teachers with correctable teaching problems," it is a poor fit for good, experienced teachers who want to explore new methods and develop new skills. This goal-setting model gives teachers a framework and "permission," so to speak, to deviate from the norm. The portfolio model has a student assessment equivalent in special education. Districts are allowed to evaluate a few percent of its IEP students by portfolio rather than by standard ISAT. At its beginning four years ago, the burden was excessive and few teachers had the time resources to assess this way. The state has since trimmed down the required contents list and is now more manageable.

Chapter 6 Induction

After twenty years in education, this term "induction" should have been very well known to me, but almost the entire chapter was news to me! The recommendations for principals on page 111 crystalized every struggle I have ever watched first year teachers face. Take another look at it and see if you don't find yourself nodding your head in sad agreement. The first point sent me back to the very beginning of my career. I was a first-year special ed teachers aide working for a first year teacher in a self-contained behavior disorders school. The room we were assigned had been vacant, and whatever furniture, games, and materials others wanted had been taken out. What a sad disaster. She lasted about a month. The second point is so political. New teachers get the large study hall supervision, and veterans with more pull get something soft like before school hallway duty; an assignment which does not infringe upon their prep times - that time the newer teachers need more of.

IIRC & CPS

One of the things I thought was interesting was the data from the IIRC website and the comparison of the southern school with the Chicago school. The southern school I felt like I understood pretty well. It seemed to have a lot in common with my school, which I have looked at a lot on the IIRC. When I looked at the Chicago school's numbers, I could tell something was strange about it by comparing it to the rest of the district. The fact that it was charter school that was probably not easy to get into made me think about what happens to students who can not attend charter schools. I also found the Chicago school to be interesting since the district's CEO at the time is now the United States Secretary of Education. I was a little concerned about the district's performance at first, so I did some checking. Ther CEO had been there since 2001. From 2002-2008 their percentage of students meeting and exceeding standards went from 60% to 75%, however, the state's percentage went from 60% to 75% over the same period of time, so Chicago closed the gap on the rest of the state by 7%. It looked to me like he was doing a good job and there was an upward trend in student achievement. Hopefully he'll do well on a national level.

A Sad Event

We just got terrible news. One of our teachers has experienced a terrible loss. Her two grandchildren were suffocated in a hide-and-go-seek accident. I'm sharing this because I think that all administrators should think about how they communicate personal tragedies with staff. I've witnessed many bitter feelings against administrators because they did not communicate well or in a manner that staff felt was appropriate in times of extreme emotion. I think that the principal of this building did a very good job. She contacted the counselor and they untilized the school phone tree after calling staff members that are especially close to the teacher. The counselor then set up an EAP counselor to meet with us after school. This doesn't always happen.

using the IIRC

I have used the Illinois Interactive Report Card (IIRC) many times this fall since learning about the importance of data driven decisions in EDL 505. After our work this weekend, I am able to make more use of the financial links. We studied in class this weekend how the large dollar amount of administrator salaries in large districts is actually a relatively small percentage of the the education budget, typically 3 to 5 percent. I looked at the data for my small schools and found that the salaries for only two or three administrators represents over 10 percent of the education budget in our rural districts. That, of course, is a result of the lower administrator/student ratios in the small schools. It's because of that declining ratio that had lead to a number of districts trying to operate with a principal/superintendent position.

Motivation

I also enjoyed the discussion about motivation. Discussing the theories of motivation was interesting because the teaching profession differs so greatly in this regard. Many employees are motivated by money. Many put in long hours for a bigger paycheck. Some motivated salespeople are driven by commission. However, the teaching profession doesn’t really involve hours or sales. Teachers are motivated in a much different way. I feel that this is why the hiring process is so vital to a successful district. Administrators must find candidates that are internally motivated to engage students and bolster student achievement.

Stragtegic Planning

Before I get into the insightful part of this blog (if there is one), I have an interesting comment. In class, we talked about what would happen if there were a bomb threat and the principal evacuated the school into a field surrounded by woods. As we discussed it, I realized that a situation like that never crossed my mind. As I was staying in the Union Hotel, I received a phone call at 4:30 in the morning in the hotel room. I answered the phone and it was campus securtiy. They said that my dome light was on in my vehicle. The first thing that crossed my mind was, "This could be anyone calling me...is this just like the bomb threat?" HAHA! I asked him to meet me at the locked door on the bottom floor and as soon as I saw his uniform, I went outside. I am very thankful they called! Now for the insightful part, the future wheel also opened my eyes to the details that encompass a change. My group worked hard and thought we had covered all the angles and when we started to share, that was not the case! Thanks for the insight! Sara

Final Decision

I think that one of the most important comment that I took from c lass was, "Always let people know they have a say but let them know that they do not have the final say.I agree with the idea that people want to be heard. Whether or not you can do anything about it, they just want you to listen. By letting people have a voice in a major decision, it gives them the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas. For example, I am on the District RtI committee and part of the Staff Development Team. We are looking at various universal screeners for our district. After our class discussion, I went to my meeting today and we came up with an idea to create a rubric and let the teachers rate each screener. When it comes down to choosing, the RtI team will have the final decision but all of the teacher are going to be able to share their thoughts on each. I think that when the screener needs to be implemented next year, it will be given with integrity because we will have more buy-in from all staff. Thanks for the advice! Sara Dail

Black and white areas

I really enjoyed the class this weekend. I especially like to hear that there are situations that are not black or white, but can be in a gray area. I get many calls from administrators/teachers/parents and they expect answers that either black or white. I feel now that I can give them the answer and explain it is in that gray area and not feel guilty that I couldn't give them a definite.

Interviews

I enjoyed listening to the stories about different people that had been interviewed. I forgot that you could ask to look at other references, with permission of course. I didn't know that there was a "right" time to let the candidate know that you have chosen them. I was informed right away when I was hired before the board had even met. I thought that was just how it was done. I was surprised to hear about schools that don't look into references. I would think that you would want to know as much as you could about the people that you are about to hire, especially when they are working with children. For example the guy who kept getting hired after he worked eight days at one school and two weeks at the next.

Merging Schools

I found this topic to be very interesting, because there is so much that I didn't really think about. I didn't think about how to make the transition for the students easier. This is something that I didn't think about because I was so focused on how to find a spot for the teachers and other staff that you forget about one of the most important things and that is the students. The amount of planning that would go into something like this is unbelievable and the thing is no matter how hard you try you will not make everybody happy. In the end you hope you did what was right for the students and the community.

Value of Class Discussion

What great discussions we were able to have all weekend. I must admit the real-life stories as they relate to the topic at hand are quite valuable. I think the best part of the sharing of the actual situations experienced by Dr. Closen was that many times he opened it up to the class to think about how we would handle the particular situation described. The fact that there were so many different opinions goes to show that there isn't always just one way to handle things and that each person is different as are their views.
I must admit I looked forward to hearing about all the things that were shared.
Another topic that was interesting was the topic of merging schools or closing schools. The things that need to be considered when faced with this potential situation is unreal. I never thought the would be so much to consider. The first thing that came to mind when I thought about being faced with this, I have to admit, was what and how will the kids feel about this? Will anyone take time to explain this to the students, or will it all just be a big argument about the inconvenience this would be on the parent's and/or the teacher's lives. I know this is a hot topic with all the cuts in education spending, but from everything I have seen on the news regarding situations such as this, I don't remember once hearing about how the student's education would benefit from the mergers. Quite eye-opening!!

Kelly Roehm

Reflection

I found many/all the topics that were discussed this weekend valuable. Analyzing the 2 different school's data was very interesting, with the most valuable piece being the discussion that arose from it. It was very interesting to hear the speculation and different points of view as to what each particular school's data might tell about the school. The exercise in analyzing the data peeked our curiosity into finding out more about the individual school including location of the school, demographics, etc. I thought it was especially interesting that one of the schools was a school that students had to be accepted to. Looking at the test scores in relation to the low SES status of each school was a real eye opener. I guess I have had this stereotype engrained in my mind that all low SES status schools equals low test scores. Not true I discovered. This exercise definitely provides a whole new perspective on student success in relation to the socio-economic status of the school.
Kelly Roehm

Future Wheel

As an early elementary teacher, I use webbing a lot with my students. The Future Wheel is right up my alley because it is a form of webbing. I consider myself to be good at brainstorming, especially when other people have input too. The input of others feeds my brain and spurs many ideas for problem solving. I wouldn't have thought of all of the challenges for combining two schools myself, but with the wheel and a team of people with different viewpoints, we could come up with almost every possible consideration. It is a quick way to organize the ideas of many. Most people are visual, so this would be a very effective tool to use in a problem solving or information gathering situation. It would also be easy to put away and add on to later after taking a day or two to let the ideas sink in a bit.

Thought Provoking!

After two days of listening to real experiences of a real administrator, there are many thoughts running through my mind. I was so glad to have the discussion about things NOT being black and white because I believe that it depends on the situation. Fair is not equal. Fair is where everyone gets what s/he needs (Tomlinson). I subscribe to this belief and I think it goes hand in hand with our discussion about things being gray sometimes. It's good to know that I have the flexibility to take circumstances into consideration before making a decision. Things aren't just black and white.

Additionally, I liked looking at the data from IIRC. It was interesting to see the numbers and make educated guesses as to why the numbers might be as they are. I enjoyed coming up with questions to further my knowledge about the districts we looked at.

SBM, weekend 1

I enjoyed the SBM conversation this weekend. The district where I work has one Superintendent and one Principal. So, SBM is extremely evident because we have two buildings with one administrator in each. After discussing the disadvantages of SBM I feel that they have had an effect on my district. Especially the heavy workload for both teachers and the administrators.

Black and White

Thinking about the number of things that we discussed in class the one thing that stood out the most to me is that there is no black and white area in education.  With each positive and negative scenario that was brought up we had different opinions on how to handle the situation.  I walked out of class each day questioning how I would handle the various situations if I were principal.  It seemed to be overwhelming, but the one thing that I believe is the most important aspect of a principal is to be consistent with all decisions.  No matter if it is keeping the school safe or the hiring of good staff, the way that the principal goes about these decisions needs to be consistent from day one. 

EDL 522 1/18

The future wheel we did in class today was very eye-opening! There is so many factors to think about when wanting to make a change! I enjoyed our discussions on the satisfactions of teaching and why we went into this field. The discussion on resumes and interviews were very helpful for the future!

EDL 522 1/17

I really enjoyed class today. Listening to your experiences-both good and bad were more useful than any textbook could be. Reviewing the IIRC data for a school other than my own was very helpful. It gave me practice on what to do when researching a school for a future job. Our group had some good discussions when creating a job description- there's a lot more to it than just tell what the opening is. I thought our class had some great discussions as well.

Mari Thomson

Scenarios

Discussing the different scenarios is beneficial. Many of them have both a legal an ethical question that must be considered. I think that when looking at these situations it is important to continue to ask what is best for the students. Also, today’s activity demonstrated how important it is to consider all possible challenges that must be addressed when making any major change.

Practical scenarios

I felt that the group activity which was completed to discuss the option of closing one of two high schools in a district was very helpful. It allowed me to not only organize my thoughts, but it provided me with an opportunity to hear other view points from persons in my group regarding the problem. Each group member shared different experiences that assisted in problem solving the major issues that would need to be examined in that situation. To me, this activity supports the need for a diverse team to be developed in a real situation such as this in order to fully determine the needs and to examine the solutions that arise.

Work Environment vs Teacher Salaries

The environment that is created within a school is essential to ensure that staff morale proceeds in a positive manner. I agree with our class discussion that increasing instructional materials and decreasing class sizes have a greater impact on student achievement than increasing teachers' salaries. Salary increases are more apt to be forgotten within a short period of time by personnel while the impact of instructional materials are on-going with students.