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.