Reflections

I met with a dedicated teacher today to discuss an item related to our APPR plan.  She was passionate about the inequities she sees in the process (outside our school). She was upset about the recent town hall meetings and the suspension of the meetings by Dr. King. No matter how we look at the assessments, it still remains high stakes for ELA and Math teachers in my building. They are preparing students for tests based on content we haven't fully digested or "adapted". My teachers do not have enough resources to fully implement lessons as indicated.  We barely have enough staff to do what we need to do. Books and resources are long dead casualties of our budget process. Our plan also requires the use of a third party vendor assessment for our local goals. We haven't fully digested or adapted that assessment either.  I also can't imagine we will ever accept the notion of six days of high stakes testing for middle schoolers (and elementary students!). The overu...

Last year, I had the opportunity to write about the Corinth Middle School’s launch of a PBIS program . This new initiative was the result of data examination the year prior showing our students were missing too much core instruction due to discipline referrals. Rewind one year ago, I was the (new) principal of the school helping to launch this new approach. While learning all I could about PBIS, I was also reading Leverage Leadership , by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo. Chapter 6 focused on Staff Culture as a critical lever. As I read more and more in his book, it became paramount to have the right people on the bus. The bus became my PBIS team and they really helped frame the culture of our building. In addition, my team leaders were on the bus and were (and continue to be!) supportive in their carryout. I had no blockers or sabotagers on the team. In the school, maybe. But not serving on the team. "Turning a failing school around demands a culture where everyone is on the same page, ...

If you are a teacher or principal in NYS, you have probably found yourself in the same position. I spent last week entering state provided growth scores for teachers. I spent a few minutes this morning trying to guess where my own score would fall. Tony Sinanis, a principal from "downstate" published a blog entry that resonated with me yesterday. He talked about being a 9. A 9, according to NYSED, is the beginning of the effective range. Something like being in the deep part of the pool but still holding onto the side. I look up to Tony so I was relieved to be in such good company. You see, my state provided score was also a 9. I should have left it there. Instead, early this morning, I sketched out what my final score will be and it is in the developing range. Just barely...think kiddie pool. I was pretty upset when I first realized this today. But, then I thought of my teachers. I thought of the teachers whom I know are HIGHLY effective and did not earn that rating. I tho...

8-8-13 As part of my personal/professional goal to improve my administrator practices, I applied to become part of a neat, online School Administrator Virtual Mentor Project. It has been organized by George Couros (@gcouros) and includes over 300 principals all across the US and Canada. I am excited to network with some new mentees and am looking forward to learning from my virtual mentor, Andre Meadows, a Jr. High School Principal in Illinois. Our first assignment is to blog about "Why I Lead". The timing of the reflection has come at the same time when I am supposed to be reflecting on the just released NYS Test Scores. I lead, with support from my entire building and amazing team leaders, because we believe in our school. We believe that what we do matters for students. We instruct, advocate, empathize, forgive, reteach, believe and listen to and for our students. Our state scores don't necessarily reflect all of that. Not yet anyway. Not in the way the system is cur...

7-30-13 There is something about conducting interviews for a new teacher that inspires me. We recently held interviews for a new special education program we are developing at the elementary.  Maybe it is the newness, the energy, or the combination of different ideas. At the core, I think it is the possibility the teacher brings to help our students. It is easy to become distracted by everything we juggle (Common Core, APPR, Project Based Learning, etc.). But, before we can tackle any of the “content” or initiatives, we have to connect with the hearts and minds of our students. @DCulberhouse recently wrote about this idea in his  blog ,  In that post, he talks about “inside out” and “wrong side up” leadership.  I am one of those inside out leaders, at times. Preparing or chairing a CSE meeting, I try to put myself in the shoes of the parent. How would this meeting make me feel? Have we treated her/his child as I would want my child tre...

The longer I am in administration, the less I realize I know. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just the pace of the position. Way back when, as a special education teacher, I walked into my Superintendent’s office to pick his brain about National Board Certification. I was intrigued and wondered what his thought about my pursuing it might be. I walked out convinced, by him, that I should look closer at the field of administration. What? An administrator? No way. Well, never say never. I miss the classroom terribly but still remind myself that I took this leap because I wanted to impact more students and support more teachers than I was able to do as a Resource Room or Self-contained Special Education Teacher. Fast forward 10 years through my beginning administrative years a special education coordinator to a PPS position and now to a shared Director of Special Education / Middle School Principal position. Last year, 2012-2013, was my first year juggling both role...