Would I Want to be in My Meeting?

As a teacher, I always held myself to the standard of answering the question, “Would I want my child, in my classroom?” As an administrator, I am now asking myself, “Would I want to be in my department meeting?”

Since I have started judging myself based on my own likes and desires, I have included technology and strategies that I would have liked to use in my classroom. I have started flipping portions of my department meetings. I flip the portion that would be considered “lecture style.” The flip portion is information about teaching or questioning strategies, increasing student engagement, information about John Hattie’s and Marzano’s research, etc. Each time I flip, I try to use a different resource for example Zaption or Screencast-o-matic or even youtube. I am attempting to show my staff members a resource they can utilize, how they can customize it for their classroom, and opportunities to evaluate the resource’s strengths and weaknesses (is it anonymous, can I keep data, is it easily accessible, etc).

Going back to my question, “Would I want to be in my staff meeting?”

I decided to evaluate myself on our district Danielson rubric as a teacher would be evaluated by myself. Overall, I had some strengths and some weaknesses. All my teachers had an opportunity to be involved in discussion, ask open-ended/higher-order questions, and I had imaginative and extensive use of technology. Disappointingly, I did not ask my teachers to reflect or to bring closure to the meeting and I did not “assess” the learning objective. When I started this journey of flipping, my first department meeting started and the teachers walked in and would not talk, except to whisper to each other. I took this as a sign that either they did not understand my expectations or this was something foreign and new to them. By the second meeting, the conversations starting flowing. By the third meeting, I had teachers choose my department meeting over other departments. As one staff member was leaving, after coming to my department meeting for the first time, he commented, “Wow this is very different from the other department I attend.” Reflecting on my department meetings since the beginning of the year I have seen a huge increase in participation, engagement, and involvement. I do think as a teacher, I would rather come to my department meetings then others I have been to in the past. Could I make them better? Of course, and I hope I will as I continue to reflect on my effectiveness.

Next time ... reflection and closure will be part of the ending activity.

Student Engagement

@Vocaroo

I found a new website, http://vocaroo.com. This website allows for you to record your voice and share. All you do is click record, save, and pick a way to upload the recording. You can share the recording via website link, via QR code, and many others (including downloading). This could be extremely useful when providing students their accommodations of having a test/quiz/assignment read to them. Having students listen to a recording of the exam being read to them is beneficial because it allows for students to remain in the classroom with all students when they are taking their exam, it allows for consistency for how the question is read to the students, and it allows for students to move at their own pace through an exam. Students can chose to have a question read or chose to skip it. Allowing students to move at their own pace will help with classroom management. Using this resource requires work upfront, but it allows the student to be in control of their accommodations.

 How this could really look:
1. Create a test online
2. Go to http://vocaroo.com and record yourself reading a question to the test.
 3. Save the link for the question. Hyperlink the question to the vocaroo link of your recording of the question. This allow the student to play the recording of the question if they prefer and as many times as they need to comprehend the question.

A second way you could use this:
1. Create a test on paper
2. Go to http://vocaroo.com and record yourself reading a question to the test.
 3. Save the QR code for the question. Paste the QR code on the test next to the question (or even on a separate numbered sheet for already created tests). The student will have to download a QR reader on their phone and can then scan the image to listen to the question being read to them.

You can record all the questions individually so that the student can link to certain questions they need or you can record all the questions on one link in which the student needs to pause between questions. Recording all the questions on one link will not allow a student to pick and chose whether or not they want a certain question read. One link will require a student to listen to the whole exam and will make replaying a single question more difficult.

Thankful

The month of November is always summed up with a single holiday, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is much more than eating with friends and family, it is also about giving thanks. This year I have so much to be thankful for. I am thankful for my new job affording me opportunities to work with an amazing staff and going back to my passion. My passion has always been working with students who learn differently than the majority of other learners. Working with special education students and staff allows one to be creative, requires for us to be collaborative, and necessitates us to use a “Community approach” to learning. When educating a student who learns uniquely, it truly takes a village to help them make progress and growth. Working with this village is the most rewarding part of my job. I am thankful for the dedicated special education staff I have the honor of working with on a daily basis. The amazing conversations we have and the professional development we engage in always centers around the students and how we are going to meet their needs. We work hard and consistently do our best for our students. I am thankful!

Feedback

An Obsession or Love for the Job: My Journey

My first two years as an administrator I was obsessed with my job. I wanted to learn everything so that I could move upward in the organization. My quest for knowledge meant that I volunteered or agreed to do everything! I was on every committee, went to every sports game (weekends included), I went to every board meeting, I even joined our parent/professional organization. I arrived to work before 6 a.m. and was leaving after 9 p.m. (with a 90 minute round-trip drive). This obsession made my "To Do List" for everyday something that I could not escape. At night trying to relax, meant thinking about what was happening tomorrow. I was so focused on tomorrow, that I did not experience or fully engage with today. I was exhausted emotionally as well as physically. I was the first one arriving to school and the last to leave. I was sprinting through a race and am not sure that I was 100% available for anything. I know I did not listen to all conversations with a completely open-mind and I know that I did not reflect. When people asked me if I loved my job, I always responded with yes, but now I know that I was obsessed. I am now in my fourth year as an administrator, in a completely different district, in a completely different type of administration, and I can say that I love my job! I think I work just as hard as I did in my earlier years, but now I am moving at a healthy pace. I am taking breaths before I react, I am listening to people with an open-mind, and I am reflecting each day, even multiple times a day. I am taking time to do things that I enjoy (Twitter chats, EdCamps, reading educational books) or am learning to enjoy (writing a blog). Doing these activities are helping me to grow in ways that I could never imagine. Instead of searching to learn "Everything" about an organization, I am learning how to be a better leader. This shift in thought, has helped me to fall back in love with my job and truly enjoy each day. I have heard many times that you need to, "Take time for yourself" or have something to do for "Fun." For me it was deeper then that. I needed to shift my thinking. I needed to realize that I was moving at a pace that did not allow for me to enjoy what I was doing. By slowing down, I see that I have time to do the things I love. These things that I do for fun, no longer interfere with my "To Do List" for tomorrow.