a. Focus on Collaborative Work Environment: The principal understands and acts on the understanding of the positive role that a collaborative work environment can play in the school’s culture.
Promoting Collaboration Through Modelling: In order to both model collaboration strategies and promote a collaborative work environment, I often insert team or group activities within staff meetings and PLCs. The slideshow of photos below contains examples of collaborative activities I have facilitated either in PLCs, Professional Development, or in Staff Meetings. By inserting such activities into learning opportunities for teachers, I am able to both create a collaborative work environment and model teaching strategies that teachers may use in their classrooms to incorporate collaborative strategies with students.
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Instructional Learning Rounds: In order to increase instructional collaboration, I led a PLC which included an activity where teachers visited a colleague's classroom to learn and observe. The first form below shows the instrument the observing teacher used to collect data and notes. After 20 minutes, teachers returned to the PLC room to debrief the experience and share their findings. A few days after the PLC, I created the second form to collect perception data from teachers regarding their experience. Teachers reported that the experience was helpful to see colleagues' teacher strategies and get new ideas. Some teachers asked for another Learning Round where they might observe the students rather than the teachers. In the second form, I also collected data to see if teachers increased small group instruction (one of our goals as a school) as a result of witnessing teachers utilizing small groups in the Learning Rounds. The results were that many teachers moved from using small groups seldom or never to several times per week.
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b. School Culture and Identity: The principal develops and uses shared vision, values and goals to define the identity and culture of the school.
Meeting Norms: During all staff meetings and PLCs, we adhere to the norms at left. The administrative team did not create the norms, which is something I would change if I could, rather, they are taken from Datawise--a protocol we use during Data Meetings. The norms have spilled over into all meetings within the school building. I am responsible for redirecting staff members if they stray from the norms. For example, a in a meeting I asked a teacher to put away her papers she was grading so she could adhere to the norm "Be here now." I also have to make sure I stick to the norms when I present, specifically the norms "Start and end on time!"
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School Culture Surveys, Data, & Action: Part of EMS' Mission Statement aims to "providing a nurturing environment" in order to foster success. To collect information about parent perceptions of the learning environment, I created the survey below that contained questions related to a number of environmental aspects of the school that contribute to the school's culture. I also included the results of the survey above. I presented the results to the Leadership Team where we decided that, since the results of the survey indicated that parents were satisfied with the learning environment, we needed to collect more data from students to gain more insight. In February, 2018, the school counselor administered another survey to students called "EMS Connections." Although we have not received the results from the second survey yet, this is an example of how I created an instrument, collected data, analyzed the results, and acted upon the results regarding an aspect of the school's culture.
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c. Acknowledges Failures; Celebrates Accomplishments and Rewards: The principal acknowledges failures and celebrates accomplishments of the school in order to define the identity, culture and performance of the school.
Celebrating Staff Effort in PLCs: The image to the left is an email I sent to a group of teachers after a particularly successful PLC. I included a genuine and meaningful compliment regarding the work we had done that day along with a funny "GIF" that went along with an activity the teachers completed during their work that day called "Think & Ink."
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d. Efficacy and Empowerment: The principal develops a sense of efficacy and empowerment among staff which influences the school’s identity, culture and performance.
Staff Exemplar Showcase: I created and shared the video at right to showcase a teacher who was exemplifying the school's vision for the instructional structure of WIN--the school's intervention time. Not only did I empower the teacher featured in the video, I also influenced the school's culture and efficacy by providing a powerful teaching tool for staff: an example of the small group, blended learning we had previously trained staff on. The video was later showcased at a district Principal's Meeting.
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Efficacy & Empowerment Through Staff-Delivered Professional Development: The photos to the left are the product of a Professional Development session that was led by a group of teachers on the AVID Site Team. I worked with the team to create their presentation, and I oversee their work in meetings. This work demonstrates efficacy and empowerment of staff because the activity was led solely by teachers. It would be easier for me to lead the Professional Development myself, but it was more impactful for teachers to present to their colleagues. The outcome after this PD was that several teachers adapted the activity for their content areas and recreated it with their students. This outcome further spread efficacy and empowerment throughout the building and contributed to our culture of collaboration of both students and staff.
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