Reflections

And just when I thought I would settle down for a long winter's nap, I am hit with a blogging challenge from Tony Sinanis . Tony is one of those principals who sets the pace for me and challenges me not to become set in my ways or thinking. I've never "met" him in person but follow him on twitter weekly. I know better than to ignore Tony. So let's get started on this challenge. HERE ARE THE RULES OF THE CHALLENGE: Acknowledge the nominating blogger. Share 11 random facts about yourself. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you. List 11 bloggers.  They should be bloggers you believe deserve a little recognition and a little blogging love! Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they’ve been nominated.  (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)  11 Random Facts About Me... 1.) I once traveled to Scotland and London with a dear group of female friends. Was the best tri...

Earlier this month, I was presented with an amazing opportunity by the School Administrators Association of New York State (SAANYS). They were assembling a group of principals, representing many areas of New York State to meet and have dinner with the Board of Regents in Albany. The guests included Commissioner King, Chancellor Tisch, and Deputy Commissioner Ken Slentz. I think the intent of the meeting a positive one. I appreciated the chance to hear from other principals many of the same concerns I have: The Common Core transition has been bumpy. We understand the modules are intended to be adapted and not necessarily adopted. I was relieved to discover my ELA and Math teachers were much like other teachers in NYS struggling with the volume and pace of the modules. There is a sense of empathy that comes from knowing your struggles are not yours alone. Commissioner King recognized that sympathetically and reminded us that this implementation will be a process. The best part about...

These last few weeks took me all over in many different roles. Some of the work was online supporting other administrators in reading the book -- Mindset by Carol Dweck (a must read if you have not!). Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to talk about our school and its implementation of PBIS at the SAANYS conference in Rochester, NY. The highlight of the night was sitting at the SAME table as Peter DeWitt , Carol Burris, and Vicki Day! It was like having a backstage pass and being granted access to some of the rockstar people I follow and admire most. Another part of the work was that of advocate for students with special needs. That is the work that began my career and, at times, the toughest work I do. Woven into these weeks was also a PD session with teachers from another district using ideas from the book, Explicit Instruction (by Archer and Hughes..another must read!). These events were all on top of my primary work of being a MS Principal/Director of Special Educati...

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...