Principal's Message 12/1/08

SEASON OF OBSERVATIONS

The time has come for administration to begin its tour of observations. The purpose of this Principal’s Message is to redefine everyone’s outlook on the purpose of the observation. Many people have interpreted the process as a method for administration to attack, ridicule, dismiss, or even abuse staff members. As much as this perspective of observing classrooms is far from the truth, many people still struggle with how they handle the steps.

UNFAIR OBSERVATIONS

A teacher from another school who I met during my daily commute shared with me her experience with an observation her principal conducted in her room. She sat down for the pre-observation, collected expectations and performed the lesson. When she sat the same day for the post observation, she grew frustrated. Why the shift? Her principal pointed out areas of failure that were never clearly communicated to her. She was asked to break away from her professional development shared by their regular consultant. When she finished, the principal told her that she was going to give her an unsatisfactory.

She was so upset with the process. She reached out to me to provide feedback on what took place. Several things were evident that I felt were completely unfair. First, the expectations of what was supposed to take place during the lesson were not clear. It was a surprise to the teacher of what she was actually supposed to do in the classroom. Second, areas she was remarked in the past as being strong were identified as weak. The interpretation of the principal quickly shifted and accountability was held. When a teacher is strong in an area, if for some reason on a separate day he or she is not, then another opportunity should be offered to see if a true shift has taken place unless the source of the problem can be identified and remedied. For the principal to use it as a point to give an unsatisfactory, then I question the purpose of the post observation. Finally, the advice of the principal contradicted the whole school reform. This cannot take place. Everything must be aligned in order for staff members to reach success. The path on how to improve must be clear and consistent.

ERASING THE MYTH

As principal, it is my duty to make the expectations of what should be taking place in your room as clear as day. The administrative team conducted research on best practices within the classroom, collected your feedback, and set up a rubric that articulates what your teaching should look like. We reviewed the rubric as a school. It is in your staff handbook and is posted in several locations around the school. You were initially assessed using the rubric on your informal observation and advice was provided on how to progress in areas identified as weak. A focus has already been established for your next observation. In addition, an open door policy exists so the expectations can be explored or even adjusted for certain initiatives if a need was not being met.

Your success is important to us as administrators of the building. If you are not improving within your classroom, then we are not providing the support that you need. It is evident that we have a hard working staff who are here to do what they can to help students achieve. Now it’s just a matter of working smarter rather than harder. If you are dedicating hours after school to find pictures for a powerpoint or converting worksheets on the smartboard for your classes and it results in you lecturing for an entire period, then research tells us that only a small portion of your class are being affected. According to statistics, only a fourth of your class is receptive to lecture style class. Maybe the numbers are increasing because of the animation provided but the number is still below 50 percent.

CONCLUSION

Many of the observations I have scheduled will be in the afternoon. This is not so I can see your students get out of hand. It’s because most of my meetings are scheduled for the morning so it only leaves my afternoons free. Regardless, the administrative team understands what it is like to teach a class in the afternoon after lunch. We take that into consideration when we observe. It’s a matter of what you are doing about it. If you are allowing students to disrupt your class because you have not supported your rules and procedures, it is going to be evident by the behavior of the majority of the students in your classroom. At this point, 98% of you have classroom management down pat. The routines and procedures have most of your students sorted out. We understand there are going to be exceptions. As long as you are consistent and follow the discipline code, everything else should be fine.

If you find yourself bribing your students to behave or having to adjust your teaching for an observation, then you are not aligned with administration. If that is the case, then I encourage you to set up a meeting with your subject area coordinator or with me so we can make sure what is taking place in your classroom is what we both want to happen. If the observation takes the form of a stage and acting, then the support we will give you will not be as effective. Your observation is not going to be perfect. It is not possible, in the world of education, because there is always something else that can be done. Our goal should be to identify strengths and weaknesses and explore ways to reduce the weaknesses and double the strengths. Your success is a measurement of our success. The more you progress, the better job we are doing.

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE

The discipline committee meets every week from 3:15 to 4:15 to address issues surrounding the structure, implementation, and effectiveness of the school-wide discipline code. We meet in Room 310.

- JOIN THE COMMITTEE: Members of the discipline committee are eager and excited to work with new staff members and veteran staff members interested in improving our school’s culture and community. Please join us at this week’s meeting on Thursday in Mr. Mezan’s room.

- DRESS CODE: School hoodies (grey with Falcon insignia on back) are allowed in classrooms. Any solid-colored sweaters are allowed (no stripes, letters, or anything else allowed).

- ANECDOTALS: Please be sure to complete anecdotals for students repeatedly getting into trouble. These are very helpful for parent-teacher conferences and interventions.

- SAVE ROOM: Please continue to place classwork into the SAVE Room box for students serving in-school suspensions. This is very helpful to staff members monitoring the room.

LAST WEEK’S ATTENDANCE

Monday: 92%
Tuesday: 88%
Wednesday: 82%
Thursday: No School
Friday: No School

STAFF BIRTHDAYS

Josh Allen December 7th
Deborah DeStaffan December 28th

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Young people have almost a biological destiny to be hopeful.”—Marshall Ganz