Department Meetings

We had our monthly department meeting yesterday and did an activity where we split teachers in groups and had them focus on the 10 TES Standards as well as the rubric.  We had teachers discuss the difference between Ineffective, Needs Development, Proficient and Exemplary.  What we are finding in our school is that teachers are frustrated because they are not receiving many Exemplary.  We are also finding that the term "Needs Development" has a negative connotation and is quite harsh to give. One thing I will say is that before I share any evaluation where I rate a teacher as ND, I always have a conversation first.  I spoke with my group of teachers yesterday and tried to reiterate that we ALL need growth and development in some areas and it is OK to have areas of ND.  We were also trying to instill that Proficient is the expectation and that it means you are an excellent teacher.  Exemplary is a whole new level. We tried to explain that in order to be Exemplary in certain areas, you have to be worthy of imitation, a role model, as well as a leader.  You have to be CONTINUALLY doing something with leading in each category.  Is this the same in other schools?  How do you communicate to teachers that ND is just an area for growth and your job is to help them to improve, that proficient is amazing, and that exemplary is ROCK STAR?  I just feel that teachers are struggling right now that they don't understand what all goes in to being exemplary.

Summer Reading

For the past 15 years, we have had required summer reading for rising 9th graders. Students select from a wide variety of books and over the summer are required to read. In the first 2 weeks of the school year, students are assessed on the reading and have to complete a book project. What I am seeing is that the majority of students are not doing the reading, therefor, they are failing the assessment. In the third week of school over 50% of students are failing LA. It is becoming very difficult for these students to ‘dig themselves out of the hole.’ I mentioned to our LA department chairs that we may want to re-think our summer program and they were not receptive to the idea at all. Several schools in my county have totally done away with summer reading because of the same reason. Instead, they do a reading project at the beginning of the school year and allow 5 weeks for completion. What these schools are finding is that LA scores are the highest they have been in years. Even after showing the data of success, our department chairs are still resistant to the idea.

I am looking for suggestions of how to address our LA department chairs to re-evaluate the summer reading or ways to encourage (make) our rising 9^th graders read.

Fixing Unforeseen Issues

The past two weeks have been a challenge for me. I had a workshop for the IB-MYP for Maynard Jackson and King Middle schools that did not go over well with the staff members. First, here are some background information for you to fully grasp the issue. The MYP spans from 6 to 10 grades which means the program must align between the 2 schools. IB views the High School and Middle School as one program even if they are in two separate buildings. The challenge I have is working with the High School IB Coordinator to build understanding with the middle staff. I have a every good rapport with my middle school colleagues. I know that the middle school staff is enthusiastic about the IB-MYP. However, the High School Coordinator has a perception that our middle school teachers are not doing enough to prepare the middle school students for the IB-Diploma Programme (DP). A video testimonial was presented in the IB-MYP workshop that casted my middle school colleagues as ineffective. The problem with this video is that I was unaware of its negativity. I did not create the video, the High School Coordinator created it. A lot of my colleagues came to me complaining that the video was a gross inaccurate picture of our middle school. One of the arguments against the video was the fact that the High School had the middle school students for 2 years to prepare the for the DP given that the program starts in the 11 grade. I invested a lot of time building relationships with my colleagues. And I was highly upset that this would now create a rift in that relationship. How do I move forward with correcting this?

Building Capacity Dilemma

My school is in year 3 of our School Improvement Grant and our focus this year is building the capacity of our teachers and teacher leaders so that the work will continue post SIG. My dilemma as the SIG coordinator is that some of my teacher leaders are not on board with the initiatives so much so that they do not read emails or respond to requests from me to complete tasks. My issue is how do I build leadership capacity or sustainability if my teacher leaders are not on board with the plan. I meet with them once every two weeks and any initiatives are discussed with them during a leadership meeting where they have a voice. I encourage them to voice objections or concerns and I address those concerns. The coaches provide support for them as well. I worry that as soon as the  SIG ends, they are going to go back to doing what they were doing before SIG and that would be a great detriment to the students we serve.

Dealing with Students Who Refuse to Go to Guided Study/Advisement

I had a moment today where my frustrations got the best of me.  I have a teacher who continually sends me emails of when my students do not attend her Guided Study, which is a time for students to study, catch up on course work for their classes, etc.  This is done in conjunction with their lunch period.  I have two students in particular who are extremely defiant and refuse to follow my directions.  I have called both sets of parents, had parent conferences with them and their child, given Restricted Lunch for a week where neither student attends, assigned ISS for not serving Restricted Lunch as well as not attending Guided Study, have offered incentives just to go to Guided Study and nothing is working.  I didn't want to assign them OSS because they need to be in school.  However today, they got the best of me and I assigned them OSS because they blatantly told me they will not go.  They do not view this as an actual class so they refuse to go.  My next step will be to find them every period during their GS in the lunch room and escort them to class.  I will continue to monitor their attendance and put them on a Behavior Contract and a Rule 12 if they continue.  I am just at a breaking point because I have never had students refuse to do something I ask of them in regards to being completely defiant.  I even have built a relationship with them since I see them quite often for this repeated behavior.  Any suggestions of other roads of interventions I can take to get these students to attend class?  I physically cannot escort them to class everyday.  I am at a loss.

The Book, Zapp - Leadership and Empowerment

As we progress through this semester,  a book that I read came to mind.  The book is entitled Zapp and the author is William Byham.   The book, Zapp, dealt with the concept of leadership and change.   Byham addressed the need for administrators to empower their staff with the tools necessary to bring about the change that will sustain ongoing success for their schools or organizations.  This book also discussed creating an environment of change through empowering others with the belief that they are stakeholders, which will then lead to a sense of ownership.  Additionally, it discussed how sometimes change starts with one person realizing that change is a part of evolving process that leads to a person or company becoming the best they can be.  The process starts with the realization that there is a need for change, identifying the reason for the change, the end result, and the steps needed to successfully get you there.  As I worked on the culture paper, the book reminded me that leaders have to ensure that every staff member feels empowered and is accountable to the success of the school.  As a leader, this book helped me in the area of empowering others with specific examples, such as positive reinforcement, being a good listener, and facilitating issues, rather than always being the one to solve or make decisions that affect an entire school.  More importantly, the book exemplified how change does not occur immediately.  It may take several days, months, and years.  Change may also consist of several attempts before you begin to see the results of your change.  Lately, I have struggle in my current role.  My school has been making achievement gains, yet in analyzing the culture of the school, I realized that there are still members who do not feel empowered or apart of the school.      I found the book encouraging with its message staying focus and knowing that you will eventually reach your goal.  If you get a chance to read it, I am sure you will enjoy it!!  It is an easy read and more importantly, I think its realistic of what goes on in our schools.

Tutoring Suggestions

I have a tutor program for 9th grade at-risk students and have matched students with an upper classman tutor. The tutors meet with the 9th grader 3 times a week for tutoring, support, accountability etc. A lot of the 9th graders have responded well and appreciate the tutors and support. But I have a handful of students that do not respond at all. These same students are failing classes by not preparing for test, NTI's, do not do homework. Their tutors are getting frustrated and I totally understand.
Any suggestions are welcomed for how to motivate these 9th grade students. How do I get across to them the importance of education and get them motivated?