As a first year principal, one of the pitfalls I might face is skepticism among the staff, students, and community regarding my age and inexperience. As a classroom teacher, I have heard and even participated in conversations that included doubts and uncertainty when our school gained an new principal and our county a new, young superintendent. I am sure that these conversations will be much like the ones that my staff will have when I am introduced as their principal. Through my coursework, I have learned research-based practices to help me earn the respect of school stakeholders.
I have learned to fully understand, evaluate, and re-design (if necessary), the school vision statement to ensure that all the school stakeholders are working in the one unified direction. I have learned to create collaborative partnerships with the community in order to improve school culture and strengthen school programs. As a new administrator, I know to assemble a quality team with representation of all school stakeholders and then complete and study a thorough data analysis. Using student achievement data and a team of invested professionals, we'll establish a plan to better meet the needs of all learners. I will encourage my staff to participate in professional learning communities to foster a more supportive, collaborative working environment and promote best practices in the classroom. Finally, I will hold myself and my administrative team accountable, requiring us to stay current in educational trends, including technology integration and 21st century skills.
This course has allowed me to take time and investigate the practices of experienced, educational leaders and create a plan of action for if and when I become a school administrator. Because the data analysis aspects of the course were authentic and based on my home school, the course assignments were practical, even in my role as a classroom teacher. Many of the leadership skills I learned can also be applied to my current professional role, especially those regarding professional learning communities and collaborative partnerships with the community. While I can't establish a whole school mandate for professional learning communities, I can work in partnership with my colleagues to complete lesson studies and implement emerging educational trends. Now that I am aware of its affects on student achievement, I will make a concentrated effort to strengthen my community and parent relationships. I will increase and broaden my communication efforts in order to improve school climate. I hope to continue allotting time in my schedule to read and investigate the research on school programs and leadership techniques. If and when I do consider becoming school administrator, I understand the tremendous responsibility it involves and would only pursue the position if I knew I had the tools and knowledge to succeed.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Co-Teaching & Individualizing the Curriculum
Entry #1: Co-Teaching-
I believe that co-teaching can be a highly effective model if implemented with the right pair of teachers. To be effective, teachers must share a common educational philosophy and feel safe enough to teach within the others presence. Teachers also need to share a mutual level of respect and be willing to make compromises when it comes to instruction. If implemented correctly, co-teaching classroom models can offer more individualized instruction for students, a widened perspective and approach to learning, and specific groupings to maximize student achievement.
The upgrade of curriculum for the 21st century supports the co-teaching model. What better way to model collaboration and effective communication than two teachers working together to plan and implement lessons? The co-teaching model also allows teachers to experiment with various grouping methods for lessons that could be supported by stations, parallel teaching, and alternative teaching. These different groupings could assist with hands-on projects that require students to collaborate, critically think, problem-solve, and innovate--all 21st century skills.
As a curriculum supervisor, I see two potential challenges to supervising and evaluating a co-teaching team.
The model or individualized program that I would like to see implemented in Baltimore County schools is Self-Paced Instruction, usually called Individualized Learning. Baltimore County does already offer a program called Advanced Path, but this is only offered if you no longer attend your local high school, and instead attend Advanced Path centers in the evenings. While this program is not right for the majority of students, there are so many students who are very bright and capable, but become distracted or angered by their peer group. Self-paced instruction could be offered during the school day and in the local high schools, so that it would not be accompanied by the stigma of a "drop-out program." I believe that implementing a self-paced instruction program in middle and high schools would lessen the drop-out rate, class cut frequency, and make BCPS curriculum more individualized to fit the needs of all students. I would work to widen the focus in the district from strictly an emphasis on increased Adavanced Placement and college-bound student programs to include a value on programs for students who are career-bound. I would make these changes by verbalizing my committment to all students, not just those in Advanced Placement courses, and following through with decisions in staffing, course offerings, and intervention programs.
I believe that co-teaching can be a highly effective model if implemented with the right pair of teachers. To be effective, teachers must share a common educational philosophy and feel safe enough to teach within the others presence. Teachers also need to share a mutual level of respect and be willing to make compromises when it comes to instruction. If implemented correctly, co-teaching classroom models can offer more individualized instruction for students, a widened perspective and approach to learning, and specific groupings to maximize student achievement.
The upgrade of curriculum for the 21st century supports the co-teaching model. What better way to model collaboration and effective communication than two teachers working together to plan and implement lessons? The co-teaching model also allows teachers to experiment with various grouping methods for lessons that could be supported by stations, parallel teaching, and alternative teaching. These different groupings could assist with hands-on projects that require students to collaborate, critically think, problem-solve, and innovate--all 21st century skills.
As a curriculum supervisor, I see two potential challenges to supervising and evaluating a co-teaching team.
- What if the team of teachers isn't able to work together in an effective and professional manner? If two teachers were not able to work together, there are a number of possible resolutions. I would first work to mediate the situation by meeting with the teachers individually and then as a team. When meeting with the teacher's individually, I would listen for grievances. When meeting with them as a team, I would present the teachers with strategies and resources that might relieve some of the tension. Before having the meeting, I would research variations of the co-teaching model and look for resources (planning calendars, reflection guides, etc.) to supply to the team of teachers. I would also work to locate a co-teaching professional development to send the teachers to for assistance (Hopefully they had some training before beginning to teach as well). If these strategies did not improve the working environment, I would look for alternatives with scheduling and attempt to re-organize the teacher pair.
- Do I evaluate the teachers as a team or as individuals? Administrators/supervisors of curriculum are there to observe student learning---not teacher behavior; therefore, I would not evaluate the special educator and the general educator seperately. As a team, they are responsible for student learning, everyday. I would look for alignment, accountability, rigor, student enagagement, appropriate use of technology, and positive student-teacher relationships, as I am in every observation. But the co-teaching model does add a new element to the observation--roles of the teachers and positive teacher-to-teacher relationships. I would be looking for evidence of co-planning, joint delivery of instruction, and mutual respect.
The model or individualized program that I would like to see implemented in Baltimore County schools is Self-Paced Instruction, usually called Individualized Learning. Baltimore County does already offer a program called Advanced Path, but this is only offered if you no longer attend your local high school, and instead attend Advanced Path centers in the evenings. While this program is not right for the majority of students, there are so many students who are very bright and capable, but become distracted or angered by their peer group. Self-paced instruction could be offered during the school day and in the local high schools, so that it would not be accompanied by the stigma of a "drop-out program." I believe that implementing a self-paced instruction program in middle and high schools would lessen the drop-out rate, class cut frequency, and make BCPS curriculum more individualized to fit the needs of all students. I would work to widen the focus in the district from strictly an emphasis on increased Adavanced Placement and college-bound student programs to include a value on programs for students who are career-bound. I would make these changes by verbalizing my committment to all students, not just those in Advanced Placement courses, and following through with decisions in staffing, course offerings, and intervention programs.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Societal Influences on Curricula
Some of the societal forces that influence school curricula today are the integration of technology, the politics of the No Child Left Behind Act, the mainstreaming of Special Education students, the weakened economy, and the value placed on making American students competitive in global society.
Curricula are being re-written in order to appeal to the 21st century learner. Equipped with computers, smart phones, video game systems, and tablets, students are no longer enthralled in paper and pencil lessons. Curricula re-writes are now infusing multi-media in order to keep students engaged. The rationale for incorporating technology, however, is about more than just student engagement. To be competitive in the 21st century workforce, students need to leave high school with experience and proficiency in technology. Many fields are using technology to become more efficient and competitive globally.
The politics of the No Child left behind Act have, and are still, affecting curricula today. The expectation of 100% success has left curricula watered down and molded to a test. Curricula were re-written to incorporate reading and math skills which were very specific to those required for the test. NCLB perhaps also led to the combination of reading and math remedial programs with standard reading and math courses; the “double periods” were placed in students’ schedules in place of the arts.
The mainstreaming of Special Education students has affected curricula by the incorporation of differentiation strategies. Along with the suggested differentiation activities, many schools were also afforded audio versions of the texts, adapted readings, and technology in order to modify a mainstream curriculum for a student with an IEP or 504 educational plan.
The weakened economy has also placed a strain on the budgets of nearly every school system across the country, at the local, state, and federal level. Budget cuts have led to weakened or cancelled programs, fewer teachers, larger class sizes, and a depletion of resources. All this in the face of a growing student population on Free and Reduced lunch. Re-writing curricula, for non-tested areas especially, will not be made a priority when budget cuts and teacher excesses are happening.
There is also increasing value being placed on making America’s educational system and students becoming competitive globally, especially against growing powers such as China and Japan. President Obama referenced this in his recent State of the Union address. Curricula will become increasingly rigorous and math and science driven in order to ensure that American students attain jobs in the world’s most competitive fields. I also believe that this value has led to the increased attention on AP tests and SATs.
Based on these societal influences, a school leader should be proactive in attaining technology and professional development in his/her school. In order to stay competitive and ahead of the societal shifts in education, a school leader should work to have the most qualified and advanced staff. Providing staff with rich professional development and abundant resources are two methods a school leader can use to support the staff and, consequently, secure quality instruction for students.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Post-Observation Conference
As I reviewed the video of my post-observation conference, I noticed the following strengths and weaknesses in the environment and tone of the observation. The observer and teacher sat close, facing another, in two student’s desks. I believe that this seating arrangement set a collegial tone for the observation, rather than if the observer was sitting in a higher seat or behind a large desk. The observation also took place in the same classroom as the observation, which allowed both the teacher and the observer to more easily discuss mobility in the classroom and strategies for next time. I also noticed direct eye contact between the teacher and the observer which made both parties feel that their ideas were valued by the other person. There was a lot of nodding used to indicate agreement; however, I wish that I had used more positive language. I tended to use the word, “Okay,” rather than “yes” or “I agree.” Viewing the post-observation again, I noticed some, but not a tremendous amount of transition words, and an overall strong use of enunciation and delivery. The post conference could have been easily viewed and deciphered by another person.
When considering the goal of a post-observation conference—to improve instruction—I would consider this post-conference to have been a success. The teacher and observer left the observation with three agreed-upon goals after discussing the strengths and areas for improvement from the observation lesson. A statement that indicated a prior conference was, “As far as the things we talked about after first period—validating student responses, giving directions before going into groups—do you think those went better than the last time?” Later on in the observation, we also discuss our planning process. Lauren sets time management as a goal of hers, noting the time it took her to plan and revise this lesson after our discussions. The observer mainly used behaviors of listening, reflecting, presenting, problem-solving, and directing. Probing questions were used, such as “How did what you planned compare with what you did?” and “How could you have altered your plan to still meet your objective when running short on time?” Constructive feedback was used, but looking back, I wish that I would have offered Lauren more praise and positive feedback in the observation. She did so many things right, but it took seven minutes into the post-conference in order for me to list them. I can understand how that may deflate the teacher. For the next time, I will begin my comments with the teacher’s strengths. Together, Lauren and I shared data from the lesson. We used specific student’s names to reference strategies used during the lesson. We noted areas of the lesson that student’s needed clarification and alternate strategies to use such as modeling and think alouds.
I believe that I teetered between the collaborative and directive informational approach during the post-observation conference. Looking at the goals that Lauren and I set for her next lesson, some of these goals were decided on together and others were directed by me. I also noticed that I offered several strategies for Lauren to use again or to refine for the future. I directed, rather than clarifying her ideas. While there’s always room for improvement, I believe this is the right strategy for Lauren at this time because she is a student intern. Because she is not yet even student teaching, this was the first full lesson she had ever taught. Because of her experience level, the observer needs to take on the role as the “expert.” Lauren does not yet possess the knowledge about instruction that she needs in order to be the only person making suggestions to better her instruction. I believe the conference was more successful because Lauren was offered suggestions and then, of those, could choose on which she’d most like to work. As the mentor teacher, I am held accountable for the results of her growth as an effective teacher.
In the next post-observation conference, I would like to use more positive language, give more positive feedback, and increase the frequency of clarifying and encouraging, and lessen the frequency of me directing choices. I hope that by the end of Lauren’s student teaching, our post-observation conferences will function at a collaborative level.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Room Arrangements
Throughout the week, I have spent time observing the various room arrangements in my school. One of the most prominent observations was that there wasn't much of a variety. Built 50 years ago, Perry Hall High School is one of the oldest facilities in the county, and while it has received an addition to the building since then, many of the core classes are still being taught in the older building.
Having been built in the 1960s, the classrooms follow a "cookie-cutter" pattern---rectangular, two long windows, chalkboards in the front. Most classrooms are set up in either a standard formation, single rows of desks, or in pairs, facing forward. The teacher's desk can almost always be found in the upper left-hand corner at the front of the classroom. Being in an older building with cinder block walls and little to no chance of getting wi-fi, the location of the teacher's desk is restricted by the location of an ethernet jack. The major exception, however, is the science classroom. Science classrooms are much larger, equipped with labs, sinks, and windows along the back wall. These classrooms also have large tables perpendicular with the back of the classroom, rather than individual desks. And, interestingly, my classroom is an exception to the typical English classroom. I teach English in an old choral room. My classroom is large, with three tiers for seating. The desks are arranged in a U shape forming a semi-circle, but since the risers were originally intended for standing, they are not long enough for a desk and a chair. This means that my room requires the desk/chair combination seats, which are nearly impossible for some of my larger students to sit in comfortably. Occassionally I stumbled upon the unconventional classroom, with desks in one large circle or arranged in clusters, but in a building that hosts 2,300 students, I only saw four classrooms with unique arrangements.
In a secondary school setting, you rarely hear about learning centers or see the room set up into stations. Typically, students sit in rows and the teacher brings the work to them, rather than them moving to the work. However, an observer is still able to gather insights about the frequency of cooperative learning activities based on the room arrangement. The rooms set up into rows, but with paired desks, seem to indicate more cooperative learning activities. Two sets of paired desks can easily turn and make a table, as opposed to a room with long rows of desks with no spaces between them to manipulate different formations. The rooms with more defined and accessible traffic patterns indicate that the teacher might circulate through the room more often and that the students are free to move about the classroom for appropriate reasons (tissues, pencil sharpener, bathroom, etc.)
I didn't notice any significant changes to a room arrangement in order to accommodate for students with disabilities, but I spoke with some teachers about their methods to make these accommodations. All teachers said that they place students with special needs in the seats that comply with their IEP/504 plans--most often it is either in the front of the room with limited distractions or close to the door for mobility reasons. In my travels, I did not notice any classrooms with isolated desks turned away from the front of the room, although I know hat some teachers use that as a management strategy.
Few classrooms had more than one or two classroom computers. There are only 5 classrooms in the building with a class lab and two departments which own a mobile laptop cart. It seemed as though these computers were used often, perhaps everyday. There were papers on the tables by the computers, the chairs were spun around and not pushed in--all evidence that the kids had been at those computers earlier that day. There are also only 5 classrooms in the building with a Promethean/white board. Most rooms are equipped with a mounted television, LCD projector (about 1/2 mounted/1/2 not mounted), and an overhead projector). When the majority of classrooms have fewer than two student computers, it insinuates a lot more teacher-directed instruction on the internet or web 2.0 tools, than that put in the hands of the students.
Teachers could benefit from learning about the STAR sheet and its strategies for arranging classrooms to maximize teacher-student interaction. Teachers would be more conscientious about their room arrangements if they were aware of the implications research indicates it has on student achievement. Teachers would be more aware of checking the line of sight for each of their students. A staff development could be held allowing teachers to first rearrange classrooms for specific case studies and then continue into allowing teachers to redesign their own classroom's arrangement.
Having been built in the 1960s, the classrooms follow a "cookie-cutter" pattern---rectangular, two long windows, chalkboards in the front. Most classrooms are set up in either a standard formation, single rows of desks, or in pairs, facing forward. The teacher's desk can almost always be found in the upper left-hand corner at the front of the classroom. Being in an older building with cinder block walls and little to no chance of getting wi-fi, the location of the teacher's desk is restricted by the location of an ethernet jack. The major exception, however, is the science classroom. Science classrooms are much larger, equipped with labs, sinks, and windows along the back wall. These classrooms also have large tables perpendicular with the back of the classroom, rather than individual desks. And, interestingly, my classroom is an exception to the typical English classroom. I teach English in an old choral room. My classroom is large, with three tiers for seating. The desks are arranged in a U shape forming a semi-circle, but since the risers were originally intended for standing, they are not long enough for a desk and a chair. This means that my room requires the desk/chair combination seats, which are nearly impossible for some of my larger students to sit in comfortably. Occassionally I stumbled upon the unconventional classroom, with desks in one large circle or arranged in clusters, but in a building that hosts 2,300 students, I only saw four classrooms with unique arrangements.
In a secondary school setting, you rarely hear about learning centers or see the room set up into stations. Typically, students sit in rows and the teacher brings the work to them, rather than them moving to the work. However, an observer is still able to gather insights about the frequency of cooperative learning activities based on the room arrangement. The rooms set up into rows, but with paired desks, seem to indicate more cooperative learning activities. Two sets of paired desks can easily turn and make a table, as opposed to a room with long rows of desks with no spaces between them to manipulate different formations. The rooms with more defined and accessible traffic patterns indicate that the teacher might circulate through the room more often and that the students are free to move about the classroom for appropriate reasons (tissues, pencil sharpener, bathroom, etc.)
I didn't notice any significant changes to a room arrangement in order to accommodate for students with disabilities, but I spoke with some teachers about their methods to make these accommodations. All teachers said that they place students with special needs in the seats that comply with their IEP/504 plans--most often it is either in the front of the room with limited distractions or close to the door for mobility reasons. In my travels, I did not notice any classrooms with isolated desks turned away from the front of the room, although I know hat some teachers use that as a management strategy.
Few classrooms had more than one or two classroom computers. There are only 5 classrooms in the building with a class lab and two departments which own a mobile laptop cart. It seemed as though these computers were used often, perhaps everyday. There were papers on the tables by the computers, the chairs were spun around and not pushed in--all evidence that the kids had been at those computers earlier that day. There are also only 5 classrooms in the building with a Promethean/white board. Most rooms are equipped with a mounted television, LCD projector (about 1/2 mounted/1/2 not mounted), and an overhead projector). When the majority of classrooms have fewer than two student computers, it insinuates a lot more teacher-directed instruction on the internet or web 2.0 tools, than that put in the hands of the students.
Teachers could benefit from learning about the STAR sheet and its strategies for arranging classrooms to maximize teacher-student interaction. Teachers would be more conscientious about their room arrangements if they were aware of the implications research indicates it has on student achievement. Teachers would be more aware of checking the line of sight for each of their students. A staff development could be held allowing teachers to first rearrange classrooms for specific case studies and then continue into allowing teachers to redesign their own classroom's arrangement.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Final Reflection
Throughout the Effective Leadership course, one issue that I found challenging is the collaboration among stakeholders. So many of the articles read during the course, referenced the need for shared decision making, shared values, and common goals within a school. The reason I found this topic so challenging is because I was constantly reflecting on my experiences at my own school, Perry Hall High School. I thought about the many opportunities that our administrative team gives to students, parents, and teachers to become a part of the decision-making process. We have an active faculty council that meets monthly with the administrative team. We have a school climate survey that is given each year to all stakeholders and the data is compiled and analyzed at S.I.T. team meetings. We have an active PTSA and School Improvement team, both with student, parent, and faculty advisory members. We have a principal with an open-door policy—no appointment needed, just come in, and discuss concerns or ask questions. But even with all of these efforts, I’m still not sure how many teachers, students, and parents feel a part of the decision-making process. Throughout the course, I have been considering what the answer to this problem might be, and how with all of these efforts, a sense of community is still not present at Perry Hall. I questioned my thoughts, how would I go about growing a collaborative culture at Perry Hall if I was the principal?
Our school, like many others, has a leadership team comprised of administrators and department chairs, and while this team may consider input from other stakeholders in the school, they have the final say in making decisions that will impact the entire school. Often, the full rationale for these decisions cannot be shared with the school, and so teachers, students, and parents are left feeling helpless in the decision-making process. While I understand that there is some information that cannot be shared for legal reasons, more rationale and explanations must be shared with the teachers, students, and parents, in order for them to feel like they are a part of the decision-making process. Roland Barth (2004) writes, “The health of a school is inversely proportional to the number of its nondiscussables: the fewer the nondiscussables, the healthier the school” (p. 161). I believe that many of the decisions made at Perry Hall become “nondiscussables” making it difficult to grow a collaborative and open culture. I would also work to seek out the opinions and ideas of stakeholders beyond those who are on the leadership team. I appreciated reading about principals who have coffee with their teachers on Thursdays and who attend concerts, shows, and plays, but sit among the parents, rather than standing at the doors with the staff chaperones. These methods of leadership inspire me and are what I found most interesting during the course.
I was most interested in reading about servant leadership. Sergiovanni (1992) discusses the many forms of leadership in his article, “Leadership as Stewardship: Who’s Serving Who?”. While I realize it may be more idealistic than practical once in the trenches of paperwork and meetings, it inspired me and made me want to aspire to be this type of leader. The text suggests that we are taught to believe that leaders should delegate and punish, be tough and aloof; however, Greenleaf (1977) states, “the great leader is a servant first” (p. 79). I would like to be the type of leader that leads by example and motivates others to work as hard as I am working. The text discusses leading with a “moral authority.” In my short eight year career (including my student teaching experience), I have worked for three different principals and about 15 different assistant principals. Of those, I would say that I have had experiences with all different types of leaders—but the ones whom I have had the most difficulty respecting or admiring are those who delegate responsibilities from a desk chair. I hope that throughout my career, I continue to have an active presence in the building which I work. I hope that I lead with moral authority and remind myself each day that I am working for the students, not the other way around. I enjoyed reading about Mrs. Rodriguez, a principal from San Antonio, who worked to bag lunches and secure busses for a field trip to the zoo that was about to be cancelled due to district bureaucracy. It reminded me of the hours that I spent over the phone securing a motivational speaker for Perry Hall last year, whose visit almost had to be cancelled due to the new county insurance requirement. The phone calls, emails, money, and paperwork all became worth it when Jonathan Sprinkles was in our school and his message of empowerment was being discussed in the hallways and at the lunch tables for weeks after he left. This experience, along with many others that I get to experience as a Student Council advisor will remind me of who I am serving and the benefits of working on behalf of the students before anyone else.
References
Barth, Roland (2004). Culture in Question. Learning by Heart. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Sergiovanni, Thomas J. (1992). Leadership as Stewardship: Who’s Serving Who? Moral Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey –Bass.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Culture and Change
I would say that Perry Hall High School's culture is one that is primarily centered around tradition. Not only is it part of the school's mission statement--Tradition, Pride, Excellence, but it's also an older school that is currently hosting its 50th graduating class. It's located in an area that has a minimal transient population, and many of the students at Perry Hall are the children of past alumni. We also have a considerable number of teachers who are alumni of the school or have been teaching at the school for many years. All of these factors contribute to a culture of tradition and school pride. The walls and trophy cases are packed with pictures, trophies, and awards from the past. Our library walls host pictures of all the previous principals and the backs of our auditorium chairs have the etchings of previous student's notes and names. This culture has its perks--we have a strong sense of identity at Perry Hall and we have a long-standing reputation as being one of the best schools in the county. But, it is also a culture that resists change. Both the staff and the students resist change because we are so comfortable hiding behind our traditions. We think of change as a criticism, rather than as an opportunity to grow.
Perry Hall promotes a positive school culture for teaching and learning that is inclusive of all students in a variety of ways. First, we have over 85 clubs and extracurricular activities at our school and all of the clubs are inclusive to all students. There are clubs that range from the Black Student Union to the Knitting Club and by offering this range of clubs, we are able to appeal to the interests of almost all the students in the school. The majority of these clubs and extra curriculars are sponsored by staff members because we have established a culture at Perry Hall that compels teachers to get involved in student's lives outside of the classroom. This area of teacher performance is assessed at the end-of-year evaluations. We have several mentor programs in the school that promote students helping students. Whether it be National Honor Society students tutoring underclassmen or lower-level students or the peer mentoring program where model seniors act as mediators to settle underclassmen disputes, these programs are helping to promote inclusiveness and a positive school culture of teaching and learning. We also are a PDS school, meaning that we host a number of Towson student interns and student teachers. The mentor teachers and hosting departments promote a culture of teaching and learning by helping the student intern establish, develop, and refine his/her practice. Finally, many of our staff members are or have been a member of a graduate level cohort program or are taking graduate level courses. This practice demonstrates for our students what it means to be a life-long learner. I believe that Perry Hall has an extremely dedicated staff and that is the result of our school culture. Most of us are not satisfied just working within our contracted hours and responsibilities, which is why those people that do, either do not last long at the school, or simply do not make an impression on the staff or the students.
My ideas on how Marzano's research of first and second order change could be used to improve our present school culture relate to intellectual stimulation and the change agent. At first, I was surprised to find culture ranked in the first-order change list. However, once I got to thinking about it, I suppose he's right. Culture is developed over time based on the incremental and day-by-day activities within a school. If a leader attempted to change everything all at once, I imagine he/she would be met with negative attitudes and strong resistance. But changing a school culture can be done with taking one or two dramatic departures from traditional school practices. At Perry Hall, our leadership team has been struggling to create a culture of teaching and learning using 21st century learning skills and the use of technology. As I discussed earlier, this change, like many others, has been met with resistance. I believe our leadership team could benefit from Marzano's research on second-order change when meeting their intellectual stimulation and change agent responsibilities. Using Marzano's words, a leader cannot expect to grow a culture which "fosters knowledge of research and theory on best practices among the staff through reading and discussion" using gradual and incremental change. This may need to be required of the staff, rather than suggested. In terms of technology and best practices, this change can also not be met with our current set of strategies, since technology is relatively new to education. E-learning communities have rapidly changed higher levels of education and we need to prepare our students for this in the lower grades; therefore, we don't have the time for this change to be gradual. In addition, a leader cannot "challenge school practices that have been in place for a long time" with gradual change--the outdated practices need to be challenged with strategies that a school hasn't already tried. In thinking about technology integration, a leadership team might challenge the staff's current method of implementing a socratic seminar with a socratic seminar on a wiki page. Or, a leadership team might challenge the NHS's current method of tutoring with one using SafariLive or Skype. Then, the school can evaluate whether they are seeing the benefits of these "dramatic" changes or not.
Perry Hall promotes a positive school culture for teaching and learning that is inclusive of all students in a variety of ways. First, we have over 85 clubs and extracurricular activities at our school and all of the clubs are inclusive to all students. There are clubs that range from the Black Student Union to the Knitting Club and by offering this range of clubs, we are able to appeal to the interests of almost all the students in the school. The majority of these clubs and extra curriculars are sponsored by staff members because we have established a culture at Perry Hall that compels teachers to get involved in student's lives outside of the classroom. This area of teacher performance is assessed at the end-of-year evaluations. We have several mentor programs in the school that promote students helping students. Whether it be National Honor Society students tutoring underclassmen or lower-level students or the peer mentoring program where model seniors act as mediators to settle underclassmen disputes, these programs are helping to promote inclusiveness and a positive school culture of teaching and learning. We also are a PDS school, meaning that we host a number of Towson student interns and student teachers. The mentor teachers and hosting departments promote a culture of teaching and learning by helping the student intern establish, develop, and refine his/her practice. Finally, many of our staff members are or have been a member of a graduate level cohort program or are taking graduate level courses. This practice demonstrates for our students what it means to be a life-long learner. I believe that Perry Hall has an extremely dedicated staff and that is the result of our school culture. Most of us are not satisfied just working within our contracted hours and responsibilities, which is why those people that do, either do not last long at the school, or simply do not make an impression on the staff or the students.
My ideas on how Marzano's research of first and second order change could be used to improve our present school culture relate to intellectual stimulation and the change agent. At first, I was surprised to find culture ranked in the first-order change list. However, once I got to thinking about it, I suppose he's right. Culture is developed over time based on the incremental and day-by-day activities within a school. If a leader attempted to change everything all at once, I imagine he/she would be met with negative attitudes and strong resistance. But changing a school culture can be done with taking one or two dramatic departures from traditional school practices. At Perry Hall, our leadership team has been struggling to create a culture of teaching and learning using 21st century learning skills and the use of technology. As I discussed earlier, this change, like many others, has been met with resistance. I believe our leadership team could benefit from Marzano's research on second-order change when meeting their intellectual stimulation and change agent responsibilities. Using Marzano's words, a leader cannot expect to grow a culture which "fosters knowledge of research and theory on best practices among the staff through reading and discussion" using gradual and incremental change. This may need to be required of the staff, rather than suggested. In terms of technology and best practices, this change can also not be met with our current set of strategies, since technology is relatively new to education. E-learning communities have rapidly changed higher levels of education and we need to prepare our students for this in the lower grades; therefore, we don't have the time for this change to be gradual. In addition, a leader cannot "challenge school practices that have been in place for a long time" with gradual change--the outdated practices need to be challenged with strategies that a school hasn't already tried. In thinking about technology integration, a leadership team might challenge the staff's current method of implementing a socratic seminar with a socratic seminar on a wiki page. Or, a leadership team might challenge the NHS's current method of tutoring with one using SafariLive or Skype. Then, the school can evaluate whether they are seeing the benefits of these "dramatic" changes or not.
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