The School Leader's Heart

Differentiation Time

2011-05-14T07:54:00.000-05:00

Our fifth grade team scheduled a block of time (45 minutes) in their day this year that they called Differentiation Time. During this block of time, students went to most of their pull-out programs: Learning Lab (this is working with an intervention teacher, either math or reading, in a very small group on specific skills), GT, or Special Education. Other students went to the computer lab to work on Successmaker, or to take AR tests. We are departmentalized, so others went to their teacher in the class in which they needed some differentiated help or remediation. Some were able to spend this time "reading to self" as a part of our Daily 5 program.

It was hard to give up this time from individual classes, but the teachers felt that the benefits were worth it. For the most part, students who were in pull-out programs didn't miss any of their classroom instruction. It was also pretty difficult to schedule all of the students, but they managed to do that in their collaborative time.

This has been very successful for us. Next year, we are going to bring this down to 3rd and 4th grade. I like the idea that students, who sometimes won't come to tutoring before or after school, are able to get that extra help that so many of them need.

Daily 5 Reflections

2011-04-10T12:38:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of this school year, seven of our classroom teachers (1st-5th) and one intervention teacher volunteered to participate in the Daily 5 program. They were first trained in the summer, and then met as a professional learning community throughout the year to support each other and work out the kinks. This past week, I read their reflections. I was very happy to find out that, although they had to work through some problems, they felt the program was a success. Their reflections were the encouragment the district needed to support another training for teachers this summer. Here are some of their thoughts:

The program increased stamina for reading (this was reported at almost every grade level)
It increased students' ability to choose good-fit books
It increased confidence in reading
It cut down on misbehaviors when teachers were meeting with small groups
It supported our campus buddy-reading program
It made made vocabulary work more fun for students
It gave students more responsibility for their own learning
Teachers were able to balance our new adoption with the program
It brought teachers together

There were also a few problems:
Not enough time in upper grades
Not enough books or supplies

We have a few more teachers that will be trained this summer. They will have an excellent support system through the team that met this year.

Writing Camp

2010-02-28T10:04:00.000-06:00

This week in Texas, we will begin our TAKS testing for elementary students. Our fourth graders will be taking a writing test that consists of an editing portion and a composition. Fourth grade teachers in Texas are exhausted. I tutored a couple of students for this test, and I am exhausted. One of my schools did a writing camp this week, and it was quite a production.

Parents helped to decorate the three fourth grade rooms like cabins and camps. There was blue paper on the floor to resemble a river with tubes on the river. There were teepees and tents in every room. One room even had a large canoe in it! There were fake trees, tree stumps, campfires, and names signs given to the "cabin" rooms. There was mail call, in which students received encouraging letters from former teachers and parents. It was a two-day camping trip--but let me tell you...those students (and teachers) worked! They actually completed two separate released tests.

Our data shows that hard work pays off. I'm expecting great results!

Having Fun at School????

2009-11-22T10:59:00.003-06:00

One of the things I love about my work is that sometimes, it's just fun to be there. The day before a holiday is usually lots of fun for everyone. Don't get me wrong, people are still working...we have students to teach and care for; responsibilities that don't go away because of a holiday. But, we're light-hearted, anticipating a few days off, families coming, or just a change in our routines.

We like to do fun activities for teachers on those days. Since Thanksgiving is coming this week, we will be playing Thanksgiving Bingo throughout the day. The way that we do this is to give teachers a bingo card with Thanksgiving themed pictures on it in their boxes in the morning, and call the bingo pictures throughout the day on the PA system. We give very simple and inexpensive prizes...candy bars, sodas, jean passes, etc. But, it's lots of fun for the teachers, and our students really buy into the game and try to help their teacher win!

If you'd like to try this morale-builder, check out Tools for Educators on the web.

Have fun and Happy Thanksgiving!

TAKS Helps

2009-11-15T13:39:00.002-06:00

For all of you Texas administrators, if you haven't seen it I'd like to share a very good tool to help your students understand the TAKS tests.

We have a very talented langauge arts coordinator in our school district. She brought this information to our schools, click here, and it has been very beneficial for teaching students skills that will help them master the test.

After we give a benchmark test (a released TAKS test) and we've run a report that shows scores and most missed items, we have teachers highlight all students below 70. From there we can see where they are weak in understanding certain items. The learning objective on the test corresponds to the table of contents in the Dallas County Schools information. We ask teachers to post the distractors and the question stems and teach those to the students along the way. There are also great teaching helps in the information for those objectives as well.

As students begin to "prove" their answers, they have a new perspective on why an answer isn't right! This is an excellent tool for Texas educators. Thank you, John Crain, and all of the talented people at Dallas County Schools!

Yet Another Opportunity!

2009-09-13T20:24:00.006-05:00

I've been moved 1/2 time. I have been the AP at school "A" for two years, (and three weeks!). The magic number in our district is 450 for an AP position to make. School "A" didn't make it. However, school "B" did. So, school "B" gets an AP...me...1/2 time. As I told my personnel director, it's easy to talk about being a team player when everything is chugging along as expected. Now it's time to really be one.

Both of my schools are really good schools. The teachers are positive and happy and the principals are hard-working and reasonable. I would say that principal "A" is the best leader I've ever worked under. Who knows if principal "B" won't be as good when I get the hang of that campus?

This is hard. I do want to be a help and actually make a difference. But, I feel really scattered at the moment. I have two offices. I'm a nester, so two offices is hard. But, I'll get it together. I'm concerned that I'm going to forget to do something at one campus, or miss a deadline. I'm trying to keep careful notes and focus...but again, it's hard. I've only done this for two days so I guess I should give myself some time. I don't know how all of this will play out, but I know that I'm going to give it my best and keep a positive attitude. I'm blessed that I have two great schools to go to. Wish me luck.

Inservice...over!

2009-08-21T21:01:00.004-05:00

We just finished our week of inservice before the children come back. It was exhausting!

Our theme this year is, Team County Line, In the Game for Kids. Last Sunday before the first meetings this week, my principal and I decorated our tables with black and white tablecloths, pom poms and blow-up sports balls. We had signs on the stage and pennants hanging from whatever! We bought our staff shirts and divided them into teams that will be together for the remainder of the year. We continually do games and activities for points that will buy the winning team a week of jean days or something similar.

We both have embroidery machines, and so we embroidered each staff members' name on a tote bag which we hung on their chair as a "place card". We had "ball park" food...Cracker Jack, cotton candy, popcorn and peanuts. We played some silly inservice games...like who could put on the frozen T-shirt first, stuffing a shirt with the most blow-up balloons and group hugging to pop them, etc. We laughed a lot and got a lot of information out in a few quick days.

One of our teachers sent the most wonderful email thanking us for our fun inservice. I can tell you that it alone made up for all of the exhausting work. Today was our last day and we talked about legacy, and what we wanted to leave this year as our legacy. Our teachers took this very seriously, the room was silent as they worked. I've never known a more compassionate group of educators.

We are planning on a year of continual professional development and distributed staff development journals to everyone. Our teachers have achieved excellent results in our state testing, but we all know that we have lots of room to grow so we will continue to push on. It's going to be a great year!

Back to School Bash for Teachers

2009-08-14T18:35:00.003-05:00

Last night we held our first ever Back to School Bash for our teachers. The idea behind this is to get everyone together for a little fun before the race begins and everyone is too busy to enjoy each other. We arrived at school at 7:00 and served pizza and drinks. My principal and I were thrilled with our great attendance... 26 teachers and paras (we have about 34 teachers and paras on staff).

Many of them had already been to school to work on their rooms, but some had not, and it was great to see them. After about 45 minutes, we played a team game for the prize that they seem to want most...jean passes (teachers can't wear jeans to school, even on Friday without a pass..administrators never wear them).

After that, we made painted posters in the gym...welcome-back-to-school type posters, then gathered in the cafeteria on blankets to watch a movie together...while eating freshly popped corn. Once that was over, teachers worked in their rooms, and we roamed around to see how we could help ( put up bulletin boards, etc.). By 11:30, we gathered back to play another game and have a drawing for the teachers.

It was a lot of fun. We have a pretty close-knit group of teachers who always participate in this sort of thing, but even some of our newly hired teachers/paras were there. I would love to hear how you start your school year....

On Vacation...

2009-07-28T23:13:00.001-05:00

Until August 3rd. Hope everyone out there gets some time off.

How Do You Use Your Administrator Web Page?

2009-07-02T08:56:00.001-05:00

This summer I went to a workshop to set up the web page that my principal and I decided we needed. I am very excited about the possibilities for using this web page, however, I don't really know anyone who is using theirs interactively.

Of course, we have an area where we can give out information, and a "contact-us" area. We will also have a blog. Our plan is to have teachers give us information about certain lessons that we can post. As a part of the students' assignment, they will log on to our blog and comment for completion of the assignment. We will also have the capability to do surveys of the faculty and students.

Although the page is set up, all of this is in the planning stages right now. I would love any feedback that anyone can give me about how to use this page most effectively.

Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Conference

2009-06-06T18:21:00.024-05:00

For three days this week I travelled to Austin, along with 2200 other Texas administrators, to attend our organization's (Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association, TEPSA) annual state summer conference.

It's always a very good conference, worth our time and effort. The keynote speakers were inspiring and funny. We had Judson Laipply, the creator and performer of The Evolution Dance , because sometimes you just need to laugh, and we met Patrick Henry Hughes , because sometimes you just need to laugh and cry and be reminded that we're all capable of achieving a lot more than we do.

The most informative session that I attended was about changing campus culture using staff development journals. It was chock full of of information on how a Texas principal went to a new campus that had not been particularly successful, knowing that changes would need to be made. Through staff meetings and weekly grade level meetings, they journaled, worked and managed to change their acceptable campus into an exemplary campus (by Texas ratings based on state testing scores).

She started in the summer when she was newly hired for the position by talking with all staff, not just teaching staff, to find out their strengths and weaknesses. From there, she gathered the findings and when staff returned in August, worked with them to look at effective school correlates and how those were reflected in practice at their school.

They set goals together for the year and had ongoing professional development. One afternoon was reserved for faculty meetings, and one day a week was reserved for grade level meetings during planning time. She gave groups of teachers 1/2 day extended planning time during parts of the year by hiring subs, and had a focus for each month of the school year for professional development.

All along the way, teachers posted the information they gathered in their journals, artifacts and data charts were also included. In January at the faculty meeting, she was able to report amazing growth to the staff. She reviewed the power point from the beginning of the year when they had set their goals to show them how far they had traveled on their journey. By May, they had their testing results indicating that they were an exemplary campus.

She showed the journal that she had kept throughout the year. It is something tangible that teachers used, they didn't just write in it and and put it away. It was full of information that helped them to stay on track and become more effective as the year progressed. Of course, they were so happy with their successes, that they will be using this process again next year.

If School Improvement is Your Goal....Reflect!

2009-06-01T18:24:00.010-05:00

Most people are on summer vacation right now, but most administrators are working harder than ever this time of year. There are people to hire, lunch and class and duty schedules to make, a campus plan to review, handbooks to update, class lists to get together, back-to-school in-service days to prepare, textbooks to inventory, files to clean out and on and on and on.

One of my principal's principles is that we won't ask anyone to do anything we don't do ourselves. Since we ask teachers to reflect and make changes for improvement, we are doing the same. We scheduled a meeting today, our first day without students, to do just that.

Here's how we approached it. First we talked about the things that didn't go well, or that we knew needed improvement. We came up with things like dismissal, lunchtime noise and behavior, and teachers picking up their students on-time from specials. We need to have a campus focus on good manners and memorizing math facts across grade levels.

Before school was out, our teachers filled out a survey about the year. Teachers can be very honest, and we knew that we wouldn't think of everything that they would. We also had a parent survey which was eye-opening in some areas. We took all of their suggestions to heart. Well...maybe not the one that requested we use their weekly team meeting at the local restaurant and bar as professional development!

When you use tools like these (surveys) for improvement, you have to be ready to take the good comments with the bad. One negative comment, for example, has triggered a change in our office that will make a big difference.

Then we changed our focus to what we could do on the positive side to make next year more successful. That push will be to find ways to get our families to school. We have very good parent involvement, but there are some things we've done that haven't had good attendance for whatever reason. Next year, along with our two family nights for math and literacy, we will continue our family movie nights and we're going to add a family picnic day. We're adding meals to our family math and literacy nights because we think it's that important to get families to school. We're also adding a Back to School Bash for teachers. On this night we will open the school from 7-midnight..help each other in rooms, eat dinner and watch a movie together. It will be a night for comfy clothes and friendship before the rush begins.

One of the greatest things about being an educator is that your year actually comes to an end..it's over, for better or worse, and you get to start fresh every fall. Although we are dog-tired right now, we want to reflect while things are fresh on our minds. We'll have all of July to regroup and relax. In August, we'll all be ready and excited for that first bell.

I am interested to hear how you reflect on your year.

Get Watch D.O.G.S. At Your Campus....

2009-05-25T16:09:00.000-05:00

Our PTA started a Watch D.O.G. (dads of great students) program at our campus last school year. Basically, the program is a Dad-volunteer program. Dads, uncles, grandfathers, etc. give up one work day a year and spend it on campus with us. They check for safety issues, they play with the students at recess, they read with students, they help with a lot of school-day activities, but mostly, they add a welcomed father-figure to our campus each day.

The PTA started our program with pizza night in the fall. Students and their dads (no moms, brothers or sisters unless they were students) were invited to eat pizza and watch a video about the program. The video is very moving. We had calendars ready for the dads to sign up that night. We did criminal background checks, and once those were in, dads were okayed to come for the day. We also have a very active dad to lead up the group. He's started a website for updates and a calendar so dads don't miss their day.

You can learn more about the program here: http://www.fathers.com/content/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=60 I never want to be on a campus without it. You won't want to either once you experience the benefits. Our students love having the dads there, and our dads feel like heroes after the day is done.

CLE Family Movie Night

2009-05-23T16:12:00.002-05:00

We had our family movie night last night...yes, I was at school again from 6:00-9:15 p.m. on a Friday night! Although I'd mostly rather be home on a Friday night, sometimes it's not all about me!

Our hard-working PTA set this up for the second time this year. They also bought us a popcorn machine to use for parties. So, they sold popcorn, drinks, candy bars and pickles, just like the real movies..only no one had to take out a loan to come! And...lots of our families did come, all of their children in tow. The entire cafeteria floor was covered with quilts and blankets and pillows, giggling, wiggly children, and moms and dads. Many of our little ones showed up in their Batman PJs.

It warms my heart to look out on that crowd of people and think that I am a part of their lives, they are a part of mine and we are sharing some pretty important years of their childrens' lives together.

I've never been one to agree that it takes a village to raise a child. In my world view, it takes a dedicated mom and dad. But, I am so happy to say that my work that allows me to at least help little people become better big people. It's not something any school leader should take lightly. Some of these children will grow up to do great things in our world. But until then, it's part of my job to help see that they are learning, happy and safe. I couldn't have chosen a better career.

TAKS Scores Are In!!

2009-05-22T16:13:00.002-05:00

We got our TAKS scores today, and if you aren't in the field of education, you can't imagine how those words make your shoulders tighten and your stomach do flip-flops! In Texas, schools are judged by their rating. The whole system is difficult to understand and in many cases, unfair. But, it's what it is and until (and if) it ever changes, we have to deal with the reality of it...and so do the students!

Students who are in the 3rd, 5th and 8th grades, can't move on until they have passed the test in reading first, then math and reading. The pressure makes things pretty dicey this time of year. To top it off, the tests are not easy. Every time I take one of the released tests at any elementary level, there is always a question or two that I have to really think about, even look up!

I am thrilled to be able to say that all grade levels and all subject areas were passed on our campus by 90% or better. On the face of that, it makes us an Exemplary campus, which is the highest rating in Texas. But, we still have to have 90% or better passing scores for each group...White, Hispanic, African American, Economically Disadvantaged. We had one of those groups in one subject, at one grade level score 87%. There's something called an "exception" and if you have this situation...one group below the level of your rating, then "they" will be able to "bump you up" to that next level. We won't really know until mid to late summer if we are Recognized, or Exemplary.

We just moved from a being PK-1st campus this year to a PK-5 campus, and we are a Title campus. So, my principal and I are thrilled with this news! This was really our first year to administer the TAKS test. I'm trying to think about what we've done to get here so we can replicate this every year!

We really do have some seriously talented teachers, great interventionists and great programs for intervention. We also meet often to look at data and move students in and out of interventions quickly when needed. We have parent volunteers, and Watch D.O.G.S. who meet with our students, and teaching assistants who are bulldogs about getting students to their interventions.

We have a great instructional leader in our principal and no one seems to mind hard work. We have fairly stable families and a supportive community. We also have some district level curriculum specialists who are at campus at the drop of a hat if we ask. I feel blessed to be on this campus! I'm going to spend some time this summer reflecting on this year...but right now, I'm exhausted...it's good exhaustion though...the kind that makes you feel satisfied with your work.

It's Not Really Funny, But.....

2009-05-04T16:17:00.001-05:00

This morning when my principal came into our leadership meeting, she had on a mask that said, "Swine Break, 2009". My daughter sent me a note saying she heard someone call this situation we're in, the "Aporkalypse". We're all trying to find ways to get through all of this, and humor helps.

There are so many things to think about with school out...children out who eat lunch and breakfast at school and may not be eating now, the state curriculum that still hasn't been taught, state tests that were supposed to have been given last week, hourly school employees that aren't being paid unless we find ways to get them to work. How are we going to meet all of these needs?

I can tell you that I am very impressed with the way our upper administration is handling all of this. They are working diligently to cover every base. Every teacher on our campus turned in a list of what TEKS still need to be taught before the end of the year. Tomorrow they will be in to set up a website with information for parents on what to do to keep their child caught up, sample lessons that can be turned in for grades, and websites to go to for help.

The community food banks are providing more support for our families that need food, hourly employees are doing whatever work that needs to be done...helping to disinfect our schools a desk at a time for one thing. We're meeting in ARDs, 504 meetings, etc. while the nurse takes everyone's temperature, and screens them before they come into the building. We're rearranging and cancelling anything that isn't necessary for the rest of the year.

I heard some news person say today, that it looks like things are getting better. I surely hope he's right. Vacations aren't much fun when people are hurting and in need.