Summer-What is that?

It never fails, each summer when I am catching up on doctor appointments, home repairs, and spending quality time with my family etc... I hear... "Oh, you're a teacher... must be really nice to have weekends and summers off".  I smile and shrug it off because I've heard it before. Nonetheless, it leaves me wondering about how many in the public perceive the job of educators, administrators, and other school personnel. And, even summer time is often utilized for planning lessons, going to conferences for professional development, graduate work, professional reading, and a host of other activities that in some way are related to being better at our work. It seems to me that so many people are unaware of the demands that serving a school community brings with it. The list of duties and responsibilities are endless. But, we do it because we want to serve and make a difference in the lives of others (and the money $$$$ LOL!).  

Research indicates that "the emotional needs, labor, and work for a teacher are significant compared to other professions" ( Mei-Lin, 2009, p. 194). Furthermore, the high demands of the profession often lead to teacher burnout. The following chart offers an interesting look at the causes of burnout. This provides school leaders with a possible focus on where to offer support to decrease burnout. 

Summers-What is that? For many teachers, this is not a suffient amount of time to recover and supports are needed throughout the school year to avoid burnout. 

*Click on Image to View

Reference

Mei-Lin, C. (2009). An Appraisal Perspective of Teacher Burnout: Examining the Emotional Work of Teachers. Educational Psychology Review, (3), 193.

First Interview Today

Well colleagues I had my first interview today for an assistant principal position at Veterans Memorial Middle School in Newton County.  I feel like the interview could not have gone better.  I'm hopeful for the opportunity to begin my administrative career.  Although middle school is last in line in terms of personal preference for me, I'm just eager to get started in the administrative realm of education.  As soon as I hear something I'll let everyone know.  If you don't mind maybe send a prayer my way and keep fingers crossed.  Hope all is well with everyone's summer (or lack there of if you've been working as much as I have).  See you all soon.

Parents and discipline

As my first year as an Assistant Principal ends, I think about the many parents that I’ve conferenced with to discuss discipline issues or concerns. As I met with parents, I noticed brand new Jordans, new outfits, fresh hairstyles, or new jewelry. I would find myself asking the parents how the student received the new item when they were recently suspended or violated a code of conduct. I cannot recall any of the parents being able to justify the reason the student received the item, although the students’ behavior did not warrant the reward. Parents often pacify their children so they can be seen as the friend instead of the parent. When there is limited discipline and structure within the dynamics of parent-child relationships, the child suffers social, emotionally, and cognitively. Also, parents fail to realize that they give up their power when they just succumb to their children wants instead of making them earn them. I guess some parents need to understand the exact definition of “wants” and “needs.” A child needs consists of clothing, shelter, food, and love; while “wants” consists of items that children desire to have. If parents start at an early age instilling in children that they have to work hard and follow directions; they will be rewarded for their good behavior. Parents can’t wait until children are teenagers to try and start being parents that discipline.
Kiska

Above the Line

I have chosen to focus my summer semester blogs on the book Above the Line: Lessons in Leadership and a Life from a Championship Season by Urban Meyer, which is the book our leadership team is reading for the summer. Next year I will lead several professional developments based on this book.  I was introduced to the phrase "teach above the line" from my previous principal. While we did not study the book nor did I truly understand the full meaning of the phrase, the basic premises of thinking above the line stuck with me.  My current school has continuously performed well academically. We have ranked higher than the state and county on standardized and local assessments.  I am going into my third year as an assistant principal at this school and there has been a noticeable change in the students and their abilities in comparison to prior years. Now before I get into the "WHY" we are using this book next year, I want to to introduce you to the above the line way of thinking:


The great thing is this is an easy model to understand and live by. It can apply to all aspects of life.  


Although we have ranked high in the past, our enrollment has increased by 200 over the last two years. Students (and parents) in grades 1-5 who are transferring from other schools tend to struggle with the rigor taking place in our classrooms.  This fact is based on the extensive amount of phone calls I get because what we do is "to hard" and the increased number of students being put on our SST list. I have spoken with countless parents and assured them that their child will make improvements. In most cases this is true. In other cases additional support is required. I have a hard working staff and overall I think we exhibit a growth mindset, but I am hearing more below the line thinking from teachers when they have more than 2-3 low level learners in their class.  
"I have called their parents and they don't return my call so there's nothing else I can do."
"He never puts forth any effort in completing task."
"She is disruptive and defiant so she is not going to learn."
While these phrases may be partly factual, it is the "now what" that determines the above or below the line thinking. Johnny does not put forth effort when completing task. Do you
A) write him off because its his fault not yours 
OR 
B) take ownership of that student's learning by asking yourself what strategies can I put into place to motivate this student to do better? 
If more teachers chose answer B, I think our SST list would be shorter, our students in the RTI process would decrease, and academic achievement will increase for struggling learners. 

I am excited to read this book and put into practice the Above the Line thinking model.  I also look forward to sharing with you key points from my reading. 

Kool-Aid and Essentialism

(Author's Note: This post was originally posted on the EPEL 8970 Blog created by Dr. Hogan on June 15, 2017.)

I don't know about you guys, but I feel like my soul is running barefoot through a grassy field with my arms spread wide singing, "Hallelujah!" The Dispositions and Indicator assignment, the book study selection, Essentialism (McKeown, 2014), and our discussions in the EPEL 8650 class are exactly what I need right now.


I am ready to confess that I have been working harder, not smarter, during the last two years.

I thought that leading with a "Servant's Heart" meant doing what I can to make the lives of teachers, students, and families easier. With that in mind, I've tried to be all things to all people and it hasn't worked out quite the way I had hoped. I thought that the little tasks I spent many hours doing to make a big impact would take the burden away from others and simplify things for them.

WRONG.

I posted the Dispositions survey in my faculty's closed Facebook group in order get responses. At the time of this post, I had 9 faculty members participate. WOW. The comments include, "Amanda takes on too many responsibilities, spreading herself thin.", "She has overwhelmed herself by trying to do too much all of the times', "Let others take things off of your plate-don't be afraid to delegate things like SIEP. Let a teacher run it for you!" (Great suggestion-GLADLY!)


I have become a nonessentialist, y'all. 

I am certain that my behaviors are not only stemming from good intentions, but also from the fact that, for 12 years, I taught in a classroom where I was the only person to ensure "things" got done. I delegated what I could to students, parents, or teammates, but it was me that took on much of the responsibility. I didn't have an assistant, office staff, or faculty ready to assume the duties I really didn't need to take care of myself...now I do.

My goal for the 2017-2018 school year is to exercise my "power of choice" to "discover my highest point of contribution" (McKeown, p.25). There is a reason I am in the position of leadership and it's not to be the savior of mundane tasks. I have almost 100 people on my staff; really talented people that are skilled in logistics, organization, creative ideas, etc. They WANT these tasks and so...

I will give the people what they want.

(And you can hold me to that promise.)

I'll follow up with a post later in the summer to share how I plan to delegate this year and say "no" to the nonessential "stuff". 

Suggestions welcome. :-)

Summer School Administrator

Last week I started working as the summer school administrator for my school. Although I'd interned last summer shadowing my principal who was acting as summer school administrator, I have to admit I was a little nervous. sitting next to the person incharge is much different than being the person in charge. It's even different than being an assistant principal during the school year. Sure, I have duties and responsibilities, but the biggest difference is that I'm IT. Meaning that, I may have my principal there as a safety net should I need her, but my seven teachers and ninety-seven students are looking to me these sixteen days of instruction and re-testing for guidance and decision-making. It was a little daunting.

I didn't (haven't, won't) panic though. I am taking it one day at a time. The month leading up to summer school was a busy one for me. In addition to end-of year finalizing, I prepared for the students and teachers who'd be attending and teaching summer school. I used data to determine who would be invited, sent invitations and applications home, collected applications to determine the number of teachers I'd have to hire, created rosters; planned for arrival, dismissal, breakfast, and lunch procedures, planned pre-planning agenda, ordered air for the part of the building I'd be using, and other logistical tasks. The first day of summer school and days since have gone smoothly and I know it's because I planned for it. I have great teachers and the students are working hard. Twelve more wonderful days to go!

Credit Recovery Program

I was curious on other high school perspectives on the online credit recovery program.  I've been monitoring credit recovery the last two weeks and I find a couple of different aspects rather alarming. One aspect is the amount of students who do not get these courses completed even though they are given ample time to complete them.  The second issue I have is just how easy it is to actually complete these courses.  Students can work on all assignments other than the final exam or the EOC (if the course is an EOC course) at home.  This allows unlimited assistance on the material, not even to mention the fact that the students could actually have other people complete the work for them.  Do any other high school personnel have experience dealing with the credit recovery program?

#BlackLivesMatter

The Philando Castile verdict this weekend has been on my mind and heart. Through our coursework, we have discussed the value of equity and our responsibility to serve our students and our communities. I am often struck, however, how in our professional world we don't necessarily engage in the difficult conversations that force us to examine race and equity in earnest. I also wonder if we are really engaging students and helping them navigate the sociopolitical climate we know they are aware of and for many too well versed in its racism and prejudice. One of our roles as educators, in my opinion, is to provide environments where students feel safe and are empowered.  Thus, I remain curious about how and if educators and school leaders are encouraging discussions about the #BlackLivesMatter movement. If we are truly thinking about the social emotional needs of our students, it makes sense to consider the impact such news is having on them and offer support. This is the reality our students are trying to make sense of so what is our role? 

Summer Reflection

6/13/17: (this was originally posted on the past blog we have used)

One thing I love about being in education is the natural ending and starting of a new year. Even if we work through the summer, we are still allowed a fresh start with each August. I use summer to reflect over the past year; pieces of work that were successful and pieces of work that need redefining. As I begin to reflect over the past school year, I know an area I would like to focus more effort into next year is growing capacity with adults I work and coach on a regular basis. I often go into classrooms to support teachers and students and end up being called back due to a lack of sustainability with the teacher implementing the supports. Next year, I plan to spend more time working with teachers on truly understanding how to implement supports required for students with disabilities through modeling, practicing together, and observing the implementation with feedback.