Clinical Observation: Post-Conference Analysis

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Post-Conference Analysis

I observed Ms. Sabrina Rose on December 3, 2012, and our post-conference was held on December 10, 2012.  After the observation, I asked the teacher to complete a brief survey/reflection about the lesson I observed.  My data collection tool, our school district’s adaptation of Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching, was filled with my notes and comments from the observation.  Before the post-conference, I labeled the data and rated the teacher based on the evidence I gathered.  I also completed a post-observation survey.  All three of these documents were ready to share during the post-conference.  Our post-conference was held via a private webinar/meeting using Blackboard Collaborate.  I was able to use the whiteboard space to upload the documents and a sample of student work so we could review them together.  We both used our webcams to see each other during the conference, as if we were in the same room. The post conference was recorded.

What strengths and/or improvement areas did you notice about the environment and tone of the post observation?

Because this conference occurred online, the variables are different than in a face-to-face meeting, yet I felt it was just as effective.  We could see each other’s facial expressions and hear the tone in our voices.  I saw her actions indicating whether she agreed and/or understood what I said.  We had tested and practiced using the online meeting space before the conference to ensure the technology worked smoothly.  From a technical perspective, the conference proceeded without any glitches.

During the post conference, I asked a series of questions to get a sense of Ms. Rose’s level of satisfaction with the lesson and if she thought it was an effective lesson in general.  I felt that my questions were kind and caring and that they did not threaten her nor cause her to feel defensive.  We were conversing about the lesson in a constructive manner, and the online format did not impede the progress of the conference.  Because we had the documents shared on the whiteboard, we had the added benefit of being able to view the same document, and could use the tools to point to text or underline certain comments.

What strengths and or improvement areas did you notice in the conference about strategies to improve instruction?

During our pre-conference, Ms. Rose shared her concerns and her goals for the year regarding improving instruction.  We referenced that conversation in the post-observation conference.  I began by sharing the positives that I saw during the lesson and commended her on how at ease she looked instructing the students, that she clearly loves what she is teaching, and cares for the students in her classroom. I told her that while I agree that her lesson was mostly an effective lesson and that students were learning, I felt that the lesson lacked real depth and did not challenge the students to use their higher-order thinking skills. I then proceeded to share the areas where I felt she needed improvement and provided suggestions on how to improve specific aspects of the lesson.

In the conference, which behavior did you seem to predominantly use?  Do you think this was an appropriate approach given the developmental level of the teacher? 

I wanted to clearly encourage and model a collaborative approach during the conference. Ms. Rose, a novice teacher needs to see the observation process as a combined effort to improve instruction for students, and not as a “gotcha” or more “directive” in nature.  I believe this was an appropriate approach.  Ms. Rose is open to improvement, is aware of her strengths and weaknesses, and is committed to doing the best she can for her students.  A collaborative approach will nurture this teacher’s improvement as she progresses and gains more experience.

Reflection - Room Arrangements

During this past week, I visited three computer lab classrooms.  I observed three different arrangements, reflecting three different teaching styles and three different school “personalities.”  I say this because I believe a room arrangement’s success depends on a number of factors:  the teaching style of the teacher, the classroom management systems in place for that teacher, and the personality of the school as a whole.

The first classroom was an “Open U” arrangement.  The computer tables were arranged around the perimeter of the room with an open area in the center.  The teacher’s desk and projection screen were located at the open end of the “U”.  All monitors were visible to the teacher as she stood at her teaching station in the middle of the room.  Students would turn their heads or chairs to see the projection screen during demonstrations or whole group instruction.  The “Open U” arrangement allows for wheelchairs, and specific special needs accommodations have been made per the student’s Individual Education Plan.  The door is located at the front of the room, and the traffic pattern is easy and clear for the students.  This arrangement works well for this teacher.  She has classroom management under control.  Occasionally, she has students working in groups, and the center space allows room for collaborating.

The large second classroom was arranged in a “Collaborative Grouping” arrangement.  There were tables with one or two computers on each, with table space available for creating art, designing storyboards or working with clay.  There were eight learning centers using this table arrangement with 16 computers and seating for 30 students.  The teacher’s desk is off to the side, and the teacher walks around the room to facilitate the activities of the students.  A projection screen is not necessary because the teacher uses Vision, a classroom management program for the 

Windows-based computers.  She can project her desktop on all computer stations to demonstrate, and can project a particular computer’s screen to all for showcasing.  Additionally, she can monitor activity without having to be physically within view of the computer.  The traffic pattern is relatively clear, and the students are busy working on their projects with their collaborative groups.  The “Collaborative Grouping” arrangement allows for wheelchairs, and specific special needs accommodations have been made per the student’s Individual Education Plan. 

The third computer lab is what I would call a “Traditional Computer Lab” arrangement.  Several rows of computers and tables are arranged horizontally, all facing the dry-erase board and projection screen.  The teacher is located at the back of the room, with the teaching computer connected to the overhead LCD projector.  When standing, he can see every student’s computer screen.  There are 35 computers and 35 students in the class.  The back row has room for wheelchairs.  Specific special-needs accommodations have been made per the student’s Individual Education Plan.  The classes are very orderly, there is a specific seating chart, and this teacher uses a traditional whole-group instructional model, giving students time for guided practice and independent activities.  The students rarely work in groups.  The room is quite cramped, but there are exit doors at both the front and the back of the room.

Overall, the three room arrangements work well for these teachers.  I prefer the “Collaborative Grouping” room arrangement because it facilitates project-based learning.  This particular teacher is a veteran teacher and very highly qualified.  She has adapted the Technology Integration curriculum to ALL project-based and has set up learning stations that students rotate in to complete the activities and projects.  She utilizes the classroom management software very well, and uses its strengths to support her teaching. This is the model I would encourage my teachers to use – even in a non-computer lab setting.

Regarding these room arrangements in supervising staff and planning staff development, I believe all three have merit for these purposes.  The “Open U” arrangement is good for whole group discussion, as teachers can move their chairs to face the center, while easily returning to the computer to take notes or look up something on the Internet, albeit a bit clunky.  The “Traditional Computer Lab” arrangement would work during meetings and professional development where a 1:1 computer to teacher ratio is needed, perhaps to learn a new software or data management system.  Personally, I see the most potential with the “Collaborative Learning Group” arrangement.  It has the most flexibility and potential to be used during staff meetings and professional development sessions to model the kind of learning activities we promote for our students.  This would give everybody a chance to see it in action without, maybe, making a “big deal” about the arrangement, and that it is a natural way to “do things around here.”

Effective Leadership - Final Reflection

This Effective Leadership course engaged me deeply as I took the first steps to answering the question, “Will I be able to become an effective leader in a large, urban school system?”  Before beginning this course, I believed I knew the definition of an effective leader.  Good leadership was a simple matter of facilitating a team of similarly skilled and passionate experts to bring about change and improvement in a school system such as Prince George’s County Public Schools.  A simple task, I thought.  Well, I discovered that it is not so simple, and that I have a lot of learning and growing to do.

I knew that good leaders needed to be authentic, ready for change, and willing to take risks.  The leadership skills of my favorite past principals and supervisors matched that description, and they made it look easy.  Honestly, I had no idea how difficult it really is.  Leadership style is one thing; understanding data and interpreting that data to influence change is another.  Data-driven decision-making skills are essential to success as an effective leader in school systems today.

In one of our Week I readings, Michael Fullan describes four guidelines for educational leaders: respect those you want to silence, move toward the danger in forming new alliances, manage emotionally as well as rationally, and fight for the lost cause (Fullan, 2007).  I found these ideas very interesting and I could see myself embracing those guidelines to grow as an effective leader. 

The guideline that struck a chord with me the loudest, was to “manage emotionally as well as rationally.”  Establishing good personal emotional health strategies will help when “reculturing” a system.  Changing the way an organization operates almost always generates resistance from the constituents, and this can be very taxing on a leader.  Personally, I have been growing in this area, as I have tried (not single-handedly) to change the status quo with technology integration in curriculum.  While facing resistance, it is very important to remain centered and healthy and to not take disagreement too personally.  While this is a challenge for me, it is one area I am happy to focus on personally.

Interpreting data and using that information to influence the direction of change is going to be a major challenge for me.  Years ago, as an undergraduate student, I took a statistics class from the mathematics department.  I was considering adding a business major to my music education major, and thought that what I learned in statistics class could be applied to whatever career path I chose.  I had no idea then how much that class would change my perspective on interpreting data.  Yet, I still do not feel skilled enough in data collection and interpretation to make sound reform decisions based on the inferences made from that data.

According to the article, The New Instructional Leadership: Creating Data-Driven Instructional Systems in School, the “heart of the new instructional leadership is the ability of leaders to shift school cultures of internal accountability to meet the demands of external accountability.”  Schools and districts need to establish the practice of constantly collecting a rich variety of data: student achievement data, behavioral data, student, staff and community surveys, financial information, and student services records, and not just one type (Halverson, Grigg, Prichett & Thomas, 2007).  In a video interview, Michael Fullan states that the public wants to “know how the school is doing” and that it is tempting to simply focus on one set of standardized test scores.  He stresses the importance of using data on student learning mainly as a strategy to inform instruction (Fullan, 2007).  I need to keep these thoughts in mind as I continue my journey as a life-long-learner with the goal of becoming an especially effective school leader.

I am in a wonderful situation in my current position as Creative Arts Technology Specialist for Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland.  It is a central office position in the department of Curriculum and Instruction.  I work with wonderfully skilled and talented educational leaders who have inspired me, and then encouraged me to move forward in Administration and Supervision.  I am able to apply the concepts I am learning in my course work at Johns Hopkins to the day-to-day activities in my current job.  Discussions and debates with my supervisor, the associate superintendent and other leaders at the executive level have been occurring naturally as we are all collaborating on resolving the current issues in our own school reform initiatives.  I even have the opportunity to practice my newly acquired skills as I observe teachers and classrooms throughout the district, shadowing school-based principals as they observe the teachers I support in the Technology Integration program at our 33 middle schools.  This experience is contributing greatly to the development of leadership skills that will most certainly be needed in the future, in whatever capacity that may be for me.

Discussions concerning educational technology for teachers, students and administrators are frequent, and I have been able to assist central office administrators in integrating the use of technology tools to assist with our work in adopting Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching model for formal observations. As we continue the process of adopting the Common Core, we tap into technology resources to assist us.  This experience will certainly impact my abilities as an effective leader in the future.

Yes, leadership style is a concept I found interesting and thought-provoking as I considered my own leadership skills and the kind of leader I want to become.  Data-driven decision making is definitely a challenge for me, but I know it is a skill I need to develop as I grow into the kind of leader I want to become.  I am looking forward to gathering and practicing new skills in professional development, organization, school law, supervision, and curriculum development, that all build up to certification in Administration and Supervision.

References:

Fullan, Michael (2007). The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

Halverson, R., Grigg, J., Prichett, R., & Thomas, C. (2007). The new instructional leadership: creating data-driven instructional systems in school. Journal of school leadership, 17(March), 159-194.

Reflections on the 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader

This self-assessment exercise was an eye opening experience.  As I was reading the assigned chapter, 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader (Marzano, Waters & McNulty, 2005), I was struck by the thought that every single one of those responsibilities seems equally important in developing an effective school leader.  I was also moved by the statistically significant correlation between many of these responsibilities and student academic achievement.  Finally, a research-based argument in favor of these responsibilities, that, without careful attention to them, student academic achievement would suffer.

In scoring the self-assessment, it was difficult to accurately determine strengths and weaknesses, as I have no real experience being a school principal.  To make this more relevant to my situation, I chose to rank what I would be most skilled in at the start, considering my interests, beliefs, and values about school leadership. I discovered that several of my strengths and interests ranked on the lower end of the scale of correlation with achievement, and vice versa: Several of my self-assessed weaknesses were closer to the top of the scale.  This was interesting, indeed.

Of the 21 responsibilities I ranked myself highest, the top seven included:  Change Agent, Ideals & Beliefs, Intellectual Stimulation, Optimizer, Resources, Input, and Involvement with Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment.  Of these, Change Agent, Resources, and Input rank almost exactly in the middle of the scale of correlation to student achievement.

At the bottom of the list, containing seven of my weakest attributes, included:  Discipline, Focus, Outreach, Relationships, Monitor/Evaluate, Order, and Affirmation.  Of these, Discipline, Outreach, and Monitor/Evaluate were those responsibilities showing the strongest correlation with student achievement, behind Situational Awareness and Flexibility!

What does this mean to me?  I conclude that all 21 of these responsibilities are very influential in achieving the goal of improved student learning and achievement.  That is why the job of a principal is such a tough one!  Looking at the correlation statistics, when weighed against my self-assessed rankings, I see that I need to further develop skills in Discipline, Outreach, and Monitor/Evaluate in order to more effectively impact student achievement. 

Reference

Marzano, R., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. (pp. 41-64). Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. DOI: www.mcrel.org

Reflections on Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership theory has influenced many administrators at the school level, and that is a good thing.  Transformational Leadership is focused on change, yet there are some broad and overarching characteristics that enable change to occur beyond expectations, often “changing followers into leaders and leaders into moral agents” (Burns 1978).  This kind of leader inspires and motivates others to work towards achieving the goals of the organization. They encourage creative freedom, provide genuine attention to the individual, and give support and encouragement to develop them further.  Above all, the transformational leader is a charismatic leader, one who evokes a strong sense of mission among all in the organization.   

This transformational leadership model can flourish in a learning environment.  The main goal of schools today is to ensure that all students graduate college and career ready.  With this goal, the learning environment must gear itself toward the challenges of the 21^st century.  School staff members need to think of old problems in new ways, creating solutions, or the process toward solutions, that adapts to the new demands.  As the qualities of a transformational leader are evident, staff members are inspired to participate in this transformational change.  This has a positive effect on the learning environment, because the common goals, ideals, and vision of the learning environment as a community are reflected in all actions, and certainly contribute to a positive learning community for students and staff alike.

When a truly transformational leader is leading a school, and is successful, the whole community is transformed into something bigger and better than first imagined.  As stated in The Transformational Leadership Report (2007), transformational leaders are connected to themselves, grounded in reality, inspired in heart and mind and have the charisma to “wear” these features at all times.  They are passionate about their vision, and live and act according to that vision.  A transformational leader generates trust and commitment because they genuinely care about the community and wants to help each individual reach their full personal potential.  Lastly, a transformational leader is a life-long learner, curious and open to new ideas.

An organization cannot change, evolve, or grow unless the leader cultivates this atmosphere.  A transformational leader gives everyone the opportunity to develop his or her own leadership capacity. When teachers and staff have a chance to explore new capacities, they become empowered, resulting in motivation to generate change and improvement within their settings. This progressive and constructive school climate is beneficial to all, and this includes the students.

Today’s school administrator must lead the teachers and staff in integrating technology with instruction.  A transformational leader sees this as an opportunity to learn and grow, to use technology to do things that would have been impossible to do without it.  Among early-adopters, technology is used to complete administrative tasks traditionally done with a pen or pencil, with a computer. Word processing is one example of this.  This use is good and important, but to promote and develop higher order thinking skills, technology integration can be the conduit to deeper understanding of complex ideas and learning.  Many teachers begin at the “word processing” level of technology integration.  However, they need to be inspired and motivated to move beyond mere word processing.  A transformational leader can inspire and motivate the teachers to expand their understanding and take personal risks to achieve something they thought was not possible.  If the school climate is truly transformational, this happens naturally.

References

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row

Leithwood, K.A. (2007). Transformation school leadership in a transactional policy world. In John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Ed.), The Jossey Bass Reader on: Educational Leadership (pp. 183-196). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

The Transformational Leadership Report. (2007). Retrieved from: http://olms.cte.jhu.edu/olms2/data/ck/file/TransformationalLeadershipReport.pdf

Reflect and Look Ahead!

What are your expectations for this program? What do you hope to accomplish?

June 18, 2012 marks the end of the Online Learning Orientation course, a prerequisite to beginning the Administration and Supervision Certification online program in August.  During the past two weeks, I refreshed my skills in online learning and was reminded of APA writing guidelines.

I expect to learn volumes during this program.  I am looking forward to a rigorous, challenging and enlightening year, getting to know my cohort colleagues, and learning together.  I am expecting this program to stretch my understanding of leadership and help me to grow into an effective leader.  I hope to accomplish my goal of becoming a knowledgeable, caring and nurturing administrator.  This program is one step in the direction of that goal.

Now that you have a good sense of the types of online activities and the rhythms of an active participant, what steps will you take to be successful in this program?

When actively participating in a rigorous online program, the key to my success is to stay organized and not fall behind.  Keeping a checklist of to-do items and their due dates helps to keep track of every task that needs to be completed.  Setting aside time every day to log in and complete the course activities and assignments will help me stay on top of deadlines.  Keeping course materials, links and other written assignments in an online folder (such as Dropbox) will help to stay organized, as all documents will be accessible anytime, anywhere.

Where do you still need additional support to be successful?

I will need to improve on APA format skills.  It has been four years since I was in a graduate program, and my every-day writing style has been casual since then.  It is taking me some time to reacquaint myself with the rules and procedures of APA format.