Coaching evals

I really enjoyed all of the presentations last weekend! It would be great to have the ppt of all of them. I never really thought about evaluating coaches, but after listening to the presentations I definitely see a need. My son-in-law coaches girl's sports in Iowa and I know he feels he is constantly evaluated--- by the parents not the administration. He has had to complete several accredited classes to continue coaching.

evaluation of coaches

I'll bet I wasn't the only one of us surprised this weekend by how little formal evaluation of coaches is actually done in our districts. It surprise me, I guess, because sports and sporting events seem to be the most important part of our schools in the minds of many parents. I live and work in small towns that have been working on school consolidations for years, and it always seems that details like sports mascot and head coach assignments are the number one concern of the voters. Athletic Director Paxson sounded like he had a good handle on evaluations, with his several categories and measurable employee behaviors. Those research presentations certainly gave us something to think about. Coaches work with our students in the most removed places; late nights, out of town, far removed from any district support. We assume quality and competence in our coaches because we need to believe it, but who really knows our non-teacher coaches?
Dr. Closen, these research presentations are a terrific component of the course. They deliver great things to think about and let the students exchange ideas and experiences.

induction too

I felt the same way listening to any discussion of formal induction. I have worked in a number of positions as a teacher for special education cooperatives, and the induction has been very inadequate. Special ed coops establish student class roles that are cobbled together from local school districts. Then they look to "rent" a room from some school. That program home can change frequently. So I show up to a district to teach, but I am not a teacher in that district. I've never been treated badly as an outsider, but I sure have been overlooked. The situation is not a good one: most of the students assigned to this classroom don't live here, the teacher assigned to the room isn't employed locally. Good luck.
The point it, I don't have to repeat mistakes. As a building administrator, there will be many things I can do to help support new teachers in my building

Induction Programs

The presentation on teacher induction programs was interesting to me. My induction to teaching was being led down a hallway to an empty classroom with a couple of stacks of books a week before school started. I was helped by the fact that I subbed in the building before, but even with that, I remember thinking many times during my first month of how helpful some sort of program for new teachers would be. I do think this would be harder for smaller school districts such as mine to implement since they may only have one or two new teachers a year. As an administrator, I would want to be careful no to overlook the seemingly insignificant type of information new teachers need to know, such as how to check school e-mail, setting up your voicemail message, how to fill out and pass around homework request forms for absent students, what to do with the white, yellow, and pink referral forms, and so on. I recall this type of stuff taking up an inordinate amount of time when I started teaching. A good induction program can reduce the amount of time it takes to figure those things out, allowing more time to focus on teaching.

Professional Development

Tonight we had one of our late nights for professional development. We are still working on the RtI process in regards to disaggregating data. I know that we have a ways to go, but after listening to the class discussions, I cannot help but look at these meetings in a different light. I look around the room while someone is talking to the group, and am amused by the number of people who are paying no attention at all. It is not that the presentations do not apply to them, it is just that many people are burned out on the RtI process.

I was very intrigued to hear Dale's presentation on the behavior side of RtI. I had not really thought about that side of things because we really do not have the issues that other schools have. We all have behavior concerns, but we do not have them to the point of bringing in a consultant.

In regards to coaches and stipends. It always amazes me to hear the differences between coaches stipends in between school districts. I know that we have a weak union, and therefore do not have the best contract in the world, but I am still taken back by gap between two districts that are less than 20 miles apart.

What a Weekend!

I can't wait to get a copy of all the power point presentations we listened to this past weekend. There are so many things that need to be done in my district, and probably every district, and listening to my peers empowers me to continue with my administrative degree in order to help make a difference. I'd like to think I can accomplish "things" being a teacher, but it's not as much as being an administrator.
One of the first things I did when I returned to school on Tuesday was ask the athletic director if there was an evaluation system in place for our coaches. He said he was in the process of getting one going, but there hasn't been anything to his knowledge. I found this topic to be especially interesting because it's something I don't consider top priority, and I never really thought about it before. Coaches and teams travel all over the state and their behavior reflects on the school. Evaluating coaches should be taken seriously in all districts.
Also, I appreciate the info on portfolios. Good to know especially since I'll be completing my internship next fall. Thanks to everyone!!

Presentations

I thought Dale’s presentation about the behavior side of RtI was very interesting. I especially liked the emphasis on “real data” regarding a student’s behavior…not just a teacher’s recollection and summary of how the student behaves. I agree that teachers in the later grades are not used to teaching behavior, and I can see how a few incidents (that may not occur very often) can lead to assumptions about a child’s behavior. The daily chart and calendar showing the hotspots of bad behavior would be much more useful in correcting/limiting the problem.