Standard IV: Human Resource Leadership
A.Professional Development/ Learning Communities: The school executive ensures that the school is a professional learning community.
Energizers for PLCs and Staff Meetings
In collaboration with fellow cohort member, Andrea Dagnalan, the following presentation was created as a resource for ways to engage and energize staff during meetings or coaching sessions. I will have ten strategies readily available to utilize during the facilitation of staff meetings and PLCs as the instructional leader.
The below are the agenda and a visual from the Unpacking the Standards PD as well as MindPlay PLC brainstorming notes and PLC minutes. As a result of this PD teachers were able to practice unpacking the standards and identify tiered vocabulary words for instruction. As a result of this PD I understand the importance of gradual implementation and will be able to meet the needs of my staff modeling the expectation.
Photo Gallery
Below are some pictures from MindPlay Program Overview and Planning session as well as the Unpacking the Standards PD.
After facilitating Unpacking the Standards PD to empower staff an email was sent to express thanks and to request feedback to drive our continuous improvement efforts. The results from the survey were used to develop the next PD/PLC. I understand that analyzing staff feedback will help me assess and meet the needs of my teachers and school.
Based on walkthrough data, there was a need to closely examine the alignment of standards, instruction, activities, and assessments. Our teachers were unpacking the standards and we wanted to provide support with alignment. I co-facilitated with my Principal Mentor, ELA/SS and Math/Science Curriculum Specialists, and cohort fellow. I facilitated the Science and Social Studies PLC portion of the professional development. I am prepared to have conversations, sometimes difficult, around new district initiatives to improve teaching and learning.
PLC Minutes and Documentation
The below are examples of PLC minutes that I co-facilitated to impact student achievement and continuous improvement.
B.Recruiting, hiring, placing and mentoring of Staff: The school executive establishes processes and systems in order to ensure a high-quality, high-performing staff.
The following presentation was created from participation in a book study on The First 90 Days. I will be able to foster relationships after the hiring process and build relationships to provide coaching to ensure the school and students have high-quality, high-performing staff.
Interview Panel
I have had the opportunity to serve on the interview panel for the following by co-facilitating the interview process and/or conducting reference checks:
Based on the above experiences I will be able to collaboratively facilitate the interview process to hire highly-qualified, highly performing staff. Some components I would like to see included in the interview process are as follows:
- Curriculum Specialist/Instructional Coach
- Dean of Students
- Nurse
- CTE teacher
- Exceptional Children's (Inclusion) Teacher
- Academic Tutor
- School Counselor
Based on the above experiences I will be able to collaboratively facilitate the interview process to hire highly-qualified, highly performing staff. Some components I would like to see included in the interview process are as follows:
- Student(s) included on interview panel
- Facilitate a mock lesson with group of students
- Ask character questions
C.Teacher and Staff Evaluation: The school executive evaluates teachers and other staff in a fair and equitable manner with the focus on improving performance and, thus student achievement.
Formal Evaluations
As an instructional leader, there is always a focus on improving instruction. During my residency, I had the opportunity to conduct numerous formal observations. As the instructional leader of the school I will be able to evaluate teachers in a fair, equitable manner and utilize the results of the evaluation for improvement. See the below examples.
Observation Process Reflection
The opportunity to conduct formal observations was invaluable. As an instructional leader observations are a major component to the success of student achievement. It is vital that I communicate clearly and effectively the opportunities for growth as well as the areas of strengths. Below are (some) other takeaways from the opportunity to conduct formal evaluations:
- Conduct pre-conferences and post conferences in the classroom
- Be in the location of the observation ahead of time
- Allows for observation of transitions and direct instruction
- Record what I see
- T- chart: Left side record teacher actions, words; right side record student's responses and actions
- Provide timely feedback
- Next day if possible
- Ask questions
- Be specific with feedback
- Glows/Grows
- Follow-up