Blog Post #8 Face to Face Meetings 10/21, 10/22

This weekend’s classes were very informative and useful.  Attorney Roberta Rowe gave us useful and practical information regarding “basic search and seizure”.  She also discussed how bullying could be physical, verbal and psychological.  She added that it is the district’s responsibility to protect, train staff and students, and investigate complaints, and remedy bullying.   At my school our school principal Mr. Jeff Hohne takes the time and visits each one of the classroom at Mt. Whitney and gives a 10 minute presentation about bullying. I think this an effective way to handle it. An assembly would also be a good idea, but visiting the classrooms makes it more personable and students are allowed to ask questions and make comments. Attorney Rowe also spoke about “Child Abuse Reporting Requirements”.   Mrs. Rowe advised us that we are all mandated reporters and that we just need a reasonable suspicion in order to facilitate a report.

On Saturday Dr. Linda Hauser did a very dynamic presentation on how to conduct a productive meeting. All of her ideas and tools were great. I have been involved in the ELAC meetings at my school for several years and plan to apply some of what I learned in the very next ELAC meeting at my school. The next speaker was Dr.  Kevin Torosian. His presentation was very informative.  There was so much new information for me about school suspensions and the educational code.  Dr. Torosian was so knowledgeable, but his last statement is still with me. “If you are raised by wolves, what are you”? It really made me think about how some of my students struggle to do the right thing, but haven’t been given the tools by their parents to help them live the life they deserve to live.  Dr. Wise gave us a presentation on “FRISK” and what a wonderful tool it may be! I know I will be sharing it with the administration at my site.

The last speaker Dr. Walt Buster talked about the book called Motion Leadership by Michael Fullan.  Dr. Buster shared with us the six secrets of change which include: Love your employees, connect peers with purpose, capacity building prevails, learning in the work, transparency rules, and systems learn. Number one, love the employees may be the most challenging probably for most administrators.

Overall, I think this was a very productive weekend and I learned more than I imagined I would learn. Thank you for your presentations.

Blog Post #7

Leadership Connector, Trust (C. 6)

I found practical, the advice given by the author in this book. Some of the advice should be obvious and basic, but unfortunately there are leaders that do not practice some of these norms.  In my twenty-one years of teaching, I have worked under several leaders.  Some were good and some were marginal. I relate to the story of Mary who had invited the Marching Turnaround Cadets as I too had made mistakes as a teacher.  Many years ago, I was working at my first teaching job in Porterville, but living in Visalia. I read in the Visalia Times Delta that there was going to be a play in Spanish in the local theater and thought this would be a great idea for my students to attend for extra credit. I called the playhouse and asked them if the play would be appropriate for high school students and they assured me it would be.  I went to work the next day and invited my students to attend. That weekend for the grand opening of this play, my husband and I went to see it and OMG I was terrified. They used so much vulgar language I was embarrassed.  Since the play was not in the city my students were living, I only saw one of my students there.  That weekend I wrote a letter apologizing to that student and the parents. I told them that they had trusted me and I had made a terrible mistake and that I was very sorry and that that was never to happen again. That morning I called the girl and told her I have something for you and she said, “I also have something for you too” She also had a letter from her mom addressed to me. I said thank you and put it away.  When she left I read it and she said that she had thought to call the principal, but that her daughter liked me very much and begged her not to call. I was so embarrassed. I was a brand new teacher, but this lesson stayed with me always. I learned that parents trust us with their children and that we should take every precaution we would want any teacher to take with our own children.  From then on I always preview any film, movie, play, song or anything I will show to my students before I even consider showing it to them.  I used this experience as a learning lesson. Trust is definitely very fragile.

Blog Post #6 - Leadership Connector Continuous Renewal

Leadership Connectors is without a doubt one of my favorite textbooks during the course of this Master’s Degree and Credential Program. Chapter five is one of my favorites. It spoke to me not just as a possible administrator, but also as a veteran teacher.  Many times I have neglected my health because I did not think that I had adequate time to go to the doctor, the gym or to cook healthy food. This reading made me aware that in order to do all the things I needed to do I urgently need to take care of my body and soul.  I also appreciated the section in this chapter that refers to “reflection”.   I have been using reflection as a teacher for several years. It has helped me to deal with students, and colleagues. If a student misbehaves in the classroom I ask the student, “Please go outside and wait for me, I will be outside in a minute or two”. Sometimes the student wants to talk about it right away and disrupts my class and I again say, “Please go outside and wait for me.”  I take a minute to calm down, since I may be upset about the interruption.  I then assign the rest of the class to work on an assignment.   In the meantime I am thinking about how I am going to handle the situation.  This has helped me so much, because by the time I am outside to talk to my student, he or she has calmed down and so have I. The student 8 out of 10 times is giving an apology and I am giving a warning or a punishment, but one that fits the crime and not one as a result of me being angry. I presume the same idea works as an administrator dealing with a conflict. Reflection is the key.

Blog Post #5 - Leadership Connector, Competency

I appreciated the advice given to future administrators in chapter 4 on leadership competency.  Here the author stated the importance of maintaining good relationships with people we admire and that avoiding negative people is a must. I agree with both statements. I never really had a role model when I was a new teacher. I did not even do the required student teaching, and instead I did an internship. I really regret this now.  Even though I needed the money, and needed to work, having a mentor would of have saved me a lot of headaches in my first few years of teaching. I had to learn basic teaching everyday techniques on my own. I understand that being an administrator is a different experience than being a teacher.  However, a mentor could also help if I were in a role of a new administrator. Having good relationships with other administrators could only help.  I now have several friends and colleagues that are already administrators and have given me practical advice. Avoiding negative people is something that I definitely take to heart. I remember when I was in college and was working part time as a teacher’s aide, and I heard some of the teachers and administrators complaining about their students constantly. I realized then and I realized now that, if I ever get that negative, I need to leave this profession. I cannot believe some teachers that are constantly complaining and yet they continue to teach. I wonder what motivates them to come to work every day. 

Blog Post #4 - Leadership Connector, Safety

"No tolerance policies are examples of inflexible procedures.  In the name of consistency school boards often adopt no tolerance policies to demonstrate to the community and to potential offenders that the district is tough on crime and violence."  It is sad how some administrators just see rules black and white and fail to see that there are exceptions to every rule. As teachers and administrators it is important to remember that we are dealing with children and that decisions we make can drastically affect their lives.  Being flexible is not being weak, but being fair. As teachers we also have to remember to be flexible, I have seen teachers bragging about not allowing a student to take a test even thought the student had an emergency.  It is important for administrators when they see a student, a teacher and an administrator being a bully to stop them and confront them and stop their behavior.

Blog Post #3

“Support begets support” How true is that!

If administration wants us to help out, but if we as teachers do not feel supported it is difficult to be motivated to volunteer and support their programs.  I am fortunate because my administration is very supportive. I attended the Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish Literature conference this summer. I donated a whole week of my vacation time, and did not get paid, but my school supported me by paying for the conference at a cost of over $1,000.00. This mutual support in return has helped me to be better prepared for my AP Spanish Literature class.  Although this is a very good a way to support a teacher, there are other ways I had felt supported by my school administration. For example, if a parent ever calls to complain, I know that my side will be heard too. I know that if I need materials for my class, my administration will try its best to provide those materials for my class.  Since we are in the process of developing our Professional Learning Communities (PLC) our department has been supported by providing substitute teachers to cover our classes in order for all the teachers in our department to work together.

Blog Post 2: Written Based on Chapters 1 and 2 Leadership Connectors

I was very impressed on how accurate and practical the advice and guidance was in this book. I have been teaching for over twenty years and had worked under four different principals. While reading these two chapters I could see various characteristics from each one of them.  I noticed their weaknesses in some areas and their strengths in other areas.  My first principal was a very intelligent man. He would always frame situations as opportunities. This helped us feel that our goals were achievable."Reframing offers the opportunity to build on what works, not to lament what you cannot control."(Hensley & Burmeinster, 2009)  My present principal has many good communication skills. I  respect him and admire him. At the beginning of every school year he sends a letter to each teacher telling us about everything that has been going on at school and at the end of the letter, he personalize each one of them.  He write something like this, " I am so pleased to have you as part of our school 's team.  You are an amazing teacher and I appreciate everything you do for our students. I know that you had volunteered in ELAC and that you had made a connection with the Spanish speaking parents. Please continue the great work!" Somehow receiving a letter like this makes everyone feel appreciated. He is a great communicator. He has been able to motivate us to volunteer for activities we normally would not. "Support comes in many shapes and forms. It might be financial, material, physical, emotional, human, and/or moral".  Yes, teachers need the support from their administrators, but in order for administrators to know how to support the teachers, their is a need for administrators to find out where teachers may need the most support.  I am encouraged that this book provided with ideas how to obtain the above stated information.In summary I am very inspired after reading the first two chapters of this book.