Artifacts

  __**Digital Story: Warren County Voices**__ I partnered with other NELA colleagues to produce this digital story. I goal was to use the voices of Warren County natives to tell the story of our collective home. We wished to create a digital story that would acknowledge the realities of hardship and hope that exist in our community. I have shared this digital story with several community members inside and outside of education and it has sparked necessary conversations about what wish wish for ourselves, our children, and our students. media type="custom" key="14261424"

 __**Walking the Talk of Excellence**__ To open the year and invite parents and students come celebrate with us at our school's open house, we lived this year's theme. All of our staff members boarded an activity bus and walked the talk by greeting our students and their families in their neighborhoods. It was a great experience, and catapulted a high level of parent involvement and attendance at school functions.

 __**"Preparing Education Leaders to Harness the Power of Advanced Technologies: An Introduction"**__ In December, 2011 I coauthored an article for the //Journal of Research on Leadership Education.//

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 __**Clinical Supervision / Teacher Evaluations**__ In 2011, before I began my internship, I observed and evaluated two teachers. I carried our the entire pre-conference, observation, post-conference cycle. The document below is my account of what took place, as well as a reflection on what I learned as a result from the experience.

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 __**Special Education Law Memo**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">This was an assignment completed for a school law class in Spring 2011.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Year-Round Schools Information**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">In order to communicate information on year-round schools to parents and teachers, I used multiple methods. I created a brochure and distributed a brochure with basic facts. Once this information was distributed my conversations with parents and staff focused on the logistics of a year-round calendar, rather than hearsay and negative feelings based upon misinformation.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">I created a leaflet and sent it home with students. This resulted in a larger more diverse group of parents than we have had for any other evening meeting this year.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Revising Office Referral and Discipline Procedures**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Soon after I arrived at Northside Elementary school it quickly became apparent that my mentor principal and I had not inherited a explicit, systematic office referral and discipline procedures. In addition, the PBIS committee was disengaged having not felt as though they had been supported by administration, and most students were completely unaware of the PBIS Matrix, their progress towards earning incentives, and the consequences for negative behavior. It was not the most democratic approach, but my mentor principal and I worked with the PBIS committe to establish a list of leveled behaviors. However, our current referral form has not been updated to reflect the changes. I have been working with the committee to update this form. Furthermore, I have been assigned the task of developing a behavior incentive program for the last few weeks of school in order to make use of a room full of PBIS incentive nic naks that have been collecting dust for the past year.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**School Law and Finance**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">In Spring, 2011 I completed a class in school law and finance. The impact of this class on my understanding of these incredibly broad and complex subjects cannot be underestimated. Succeeding in the class itself is certainly worthy of being included as an artifact that demonstrates my proficiency in a number of related standards and sub standards. I have included some of the essential notes I took during one particularly valuable class session on school finance.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Picture Day Schedule**__

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Each of our students have their photographs three times a year, once as a class and individually in the Fall and Spring. I was responsible for scheduling and managing our two Spring picture days. My goal was to schedule all twenty-two of are classes in a way that would be the least disruptive to our overall school day and at the same time limit the amount of instructional time lost, two considerations that had traditionally been neglected on picture day. media type="custom" key="15433208"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Technology Assessment**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Beginning three years ago, thousands of dollars in instructional technology and professional development have been invested in Northside Elementary School. It was both a personal goal and an assigned duty to asses the use of instructional technology in our classrooms. Through observing classrooms, speaking with teacher, and completing required grant evaluation documents I have reached the conclusion that if not addressed soon these initiatives will have been squandered. Few if any of the classrooms utilize the technology to enhance instruction with any regularity. However, there are particular barriers that have contributed to the equipments stale state. Two primary concerns of mine are related to coaching and permanent installation of equipment. An assigned coach to assist with classroom implementation, and add accountability following professional development has been absent from this process, and the initiative has suffered. I have already begun to speak with my mentor principal about how our media center specialist's schedule should be reviewed to allow her to serve in this capacity. Secondly, every single one of our classrooms is outfitted with an LCD projector. However, less then ten percent of these are mounted on the wall or ceiling. This creates a logistical nightmare for teachers who have been asked to use their interactive whiteboards and even instruct students to use the technology. With the media center specialist's help I now have a compiled inventory of all technology assigned to teachers and have begun the process of finding out how to fund the mounting of our projectors in each room.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Bus Monitor Schedule**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">When I arrived at Northside, anywhere from 3-5 bus referrals were delivered to the office. The transportation department allows us to have one bus monitor for all the buses, but at the time this individual was riding the same bus every day. A few of the drivers had become resentful of the fact that they did not have any support while one driver had a monitor. In an effort to cut down on the number of referrals and to address the declining culture, I created a schedule for our lone bus monitor to ride a different bus every morning and afternoon. Although, their was some serious push back from the bus monitor, once implemented, the schedule resulted in decreased bus referrals and improved culture amongst the drivers.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Budgeting and Grant Writing**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">I have learned a great deal from the process working collaboratively on two grant proposals the past two years. This process highlights the need to be customer focused. You must always keep your audience in mind. Secondly, I learned to budget carefully and creatively. budgeting should not focus merely on financial assets. The integration of Human capital, as well as physical resources such as buildings, computers, and vehicles should all be considered when determining where and when to position financial assets. This became abundantly clear during my internship when I worked alongside my mentor principal to determine how best to use an added position. In February, the central office informed us that we would be given another teacher because our second grade student population had grown. Following discussions with our teachers, we determined to use this person as a reading coach rather than assign her a class and divvy up the students.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Mariam Boyd Facilities Video**__

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 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**NELA Aspiring Leader Self-Assessment**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Every semester, as part of the NELA program, I completed a self assessment. This assessment used the North Carolina Principal Standards as a guide to determining my growth in each standard and competency. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="15174894"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Staff Meetings / Professional Development**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">This is an example of one or our staff meetings that we converted into professional development sessions. Our goal this year was to disseminate information to teacher's through email and other forms of communication while leaving time after school for professional development focused on identified areas of need rather than long drawn out staff meetings. The result was a positive culture of respect and collegiality amongst staff members, and improved instruction in our classrooms. I used my facilitative leadership training to develop and carry out each of the professional development sessions I participated in.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Common Core Digital Story**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Following a professional development session on the Common Core a group of NELA colleagues and I produced this digital story. Our goal was to create a condensed definition of what the Common Core is, explain how it differs from current state standards, and offer suggestions for principals and faculty members as they begin to implement the Common Core State Standards. The resulting video has been shown to teachers as a quick introduction before or after professional development sessions on the Common Core. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14261620"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Modeling and Encouraging the Use of Instructional Technology**__

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Presentation for Parents of Young Children**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">A few NELA colleagues and I created this presentation while investigating the resources available to parents of young children in Warren County. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">The result was that we broadened our understanding of what is available to students and families, and built relationships with those who provide these services. Additionally, we were forced to evaluate the most significant needs for our youngest students. This insight has become very useful working in a school with three per-kindergarten classrooms. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14259792"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**90-90-90 Article Reflection**__

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**PDCA Cyle for Third Grade**__

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Observation Schedule**__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">It was extremely difficult accomplishing my requirements to observe teachers regularly, while conducting all of my other duties, while also being in NELA classes once a week and sometimes more. I had to come up with a schedule, the result was that I planned far in advance where and when I would be observing. I didn't not focus too much on one teacher or grade level and I was much more able to keep track of who I had evaluated.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Teachscape Classroom Walkthrough Tool**__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">I attended Teachscape meetings with principals, district administrators, and teacher mentors. At these meetings we were trained to use this data collection tool, and collaborated to create a form to be used in all schools throughout the county. I along with the others then used the tool during classroom walkthrough observations. I still think the form needs to be updated some, bu the data collected was incredibly valuable. For instance, a month have having conducted professional development on various research based instructional practices, my mentor principal and I presented the results of what was actually happening in our classroom__.__ This resulted in some very productive conversations during grade level PLC meetings. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14261824" align="left"

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Revisiting and evaluation our school's Vision and Mission**__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">While interning at Mariam Boyd, I completed this DLP reflection activity and consulted on the results with my mentor principal. We both agreed that it was necessary for the school's leadership team to revisit these document; however, we also agreed that the timing was problematic. There were several other topics already being addressed by the leadership team. It hindsight, it would have been better to begin the year with this task. It would have been even better to conduct this activity over the Summer and approach the entire staff with the results/recommendations at the start of the school year. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14226692" align="left"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Warren Record - NELA Article**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">I was interviewed by our local paper about our program and asked how I felt it would prepare me to be a leader and benefit my community. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14227206"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Accelerated Reader (AR)**__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">My internship school has used the accelerated reader program for seven years, but it has never been used as it is designed to be used. Furthermore, our reading scores do not reflect the amount of reading student need to be doing each day. I worked with our media center specialist to train teachers in the appropriate use of AR. I also assisted our staff in ensuring that all students complete Star Reader, our universal sreener in reading. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14262166"

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Awards, Celebrations and Recognitions**__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Keynotes Weekly Newsletter: This is the place where we make announcements for the upcoming week, but also celebrate the accomplishments made during the previous week. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="15159392"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Accelerated Reader Celebrations and PBIS Celebrations: We celebrate our students who have earned their reading goals for the marking period and throw them a party. We also celebrate those students who have show outstanding behavior. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__**"In Your Own Words" The Vision of WECHS**__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">This poster and the embedded video were created to motivate staff by celebrating those things we do really well. Additionally, this video was used to facilitate a conversation focused on our school's vision and mission statement. The result was a group of staff members with a much more clear sense of collective purpose. media type="custom" key="14182566" align="left"

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Developmental Assignments__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Each semester of the NELA program required Fellows to complete an in depth analysis of a different developmental stage. Furthermore the projects forced Fellows to asses the extent to which local schools and districts are meeting the needs of their students. These projects provided me with an unbelievably practical knowledge of each grade level from Early Childhood to High School. The digital stories below display much of what I learned and will take with me into my future positions as a school leader.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">//IV. Data Collection// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="15030606" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">//V. Putting it Together// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="15030514" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">//VI. Implications for Practice// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="15029454" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">//Teach Here!// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="15030882"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Lesson Plan Committee__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">The lesson plans used and submitted by teachers are very different from one classroom to the next. This has detracted from many of the strategies my mentor principal and I have emphasized. So, we recruited teachers to form a committee that would design a standard lesson plan format to be used by all teachers.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Weekly Internship Logs__
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">During the first few months of my internship I quickly learned the importance of Steven Covey's third habit, "Put First things first." As a teacher my day was planned out completely. From 7:30 until 4:00, the school's schedule and my lesson plans directed my class with machine like precision. The principal-ship, like any administrative job, is quite different. The first few days of my internship I left school feeling as though there was never going to be a day in which I completed everything. Through regular conversations with my coach, mentor principal, and NELA colleagues I was reminded of Covey's principal. I stopped trying to do everything and instead developed a personalized weekly schedule that allowed me to set out the "Big Rocks" at the beginning of the week. These were the heavy, immovable activities that I absolutely had to complete. I the NC Principal Standards served as guide for determining where, and how I should be spending the bulk of my time. Then, as the week progressed I could fill in the rest of my week with important, but less essential tasks. For example, standard 2a and 2b both require that I be in the classrooms to collect data and ensure that appropriate, high level instruction is taking place. Standard 4b and standard 3a also require that I continuously monitor staff members to maintain high expectations, and offer support for those who may need it. Furthermore, to even begin considering myself competent in Standard 7 I have to be visible, throughout the school.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">The logs went with me everywhere and became the best way for me to record and evaluate how I spent my time each day. Some days I did a better job than others recording my activities, but at the end of the week I had a great deal of data, and this gave me the opportunity to accurately reflect on my activities. I practiced and modified a few different weekly logs before I finally settled on the one I currently use.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Northside School Transformation Team__
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">In December, 2011 in the midst of my principal internship my superintendent asked if I would be willing to transfer my internship to Northside Elementary School. This was a school with a brand new principal and had been in school improvement for the past three <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">years. The superintendent indicated that he would appreciate having me assist with school operations at Northside as well as those of the newly formed School Transformation Team (STT), a committee formed to investigate several different transformation strategies used in other districts to improve student achievement and provide great choice for students and their families. Excited about the opportunity to be involved in this process, I accepted the invitation to transfer.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Our superindent was adamant that the STT be comprised of parents, teachers, and administrators. At the outset only a few parents and teachers responded to the call to join the STT, and twice this Spring I have had to practice Standard 1D by recruiting more teachers and parents to both join the STT and travel with us on school visits.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">The STT Meetings were collaboratively planned and facilitated by the superintendent, my mentor principal, and myself. Through this process I have observed and practice leadership skills directly associated with Standard 7 n January, my new mentor principal and I met with our superintendent several times and held our first STT informational meeting on year-round schools. Over the holiday break and first few weeks of January I read extensively on the topic and spoke with Superintendents who had first hand experience with planning for and implementing a year-round calendar.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Speech Law Professional Development Session__
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">While teaching at Warren Early College High School two NELA students and I researched, planned, and facilitated a professional development session for faculty members at my school. First, we interviewed the principal at WECHS to find out what her greatest concerns are with regards to the law. We also asked which topics she believed teachers need to know more about. Using this information, our coursework, and readings, we concluded that it would be in the best interest of WECHS for our PD to target Speech Law as it relates to electronic communication, digital media, and social networking. WECHS had recently begun a 1:1 laptop initiative and several incidents of inappropriate use had erupted in the first few months of the initiative.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Our Facilitative Leadership training and experience as teachers allowed us to present a very engaging session. The presentation of information was purposefully kept to a minimum; instead, faculty members spent a much great amount of time collaborating to identify solutions to several created scenarios based upon actual legal cases.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">As was indicated on the exit tickets we collected, teachers left our session with a much fuller understanding of the ambiguities currently associated with this contentious topic. However, teachers also walked away have discussed with one another the need for implementing a consistent approach to student and adult use of digital media and social networking.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Revisiting a School's Mission, Vision, Values, and Beliefs__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Immediately upon arriving at Mariam Boyd Elementary School, and after having met with my mentor principal, I was tempted to personally <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="13284668" align="right" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">revise the school’s mission statement. Instead, I was appropriately counseled to begin the process of revisiting our organizational vision by clearly communicating my personal vision. So, at our first staff meeting of the year. I introduced myself and presented everyone with a letter of introduction. This letter was carefully crafted to briefly articulate my excitement to be joining the Marim Boyd team, the journey that led me to the field of education, and my personal vision statement.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">The importance of a school’s vision, mission, values, and beliefs was emphasized by the work of my mentor principals and they provided several opportunities for me to communicate this to our faculty and staff. At Mariam Boyd, our principal often opened staff meetings by asking faculty to recite the mission statement and rewarded those who could.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;">//“It is the priority of Mariam Boyd Elementary to empower each student to realize his or her full potential and achieve his or her personal best. This foundation will enable each student to become a lifelong learner who is prepared for the challenges of the 21st century.”// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">While attending a Distinguished Leadership in Practice (DLP) session it became apparent that while our school’s mission statement included elements of both a mission and vision, our school’s cohesiveness suffered from the absences of a clear, separate, collective vision statement. We made plans to bring this to our school’s leadership team. Unfortunately, I was transferred to another school before I could participate in this process.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">One of the first tasks I was given by my new principal at Northside Elementary School was to identify which classrooms had posted recently distributed posters of the school’s vision and mission statements in their classrooms. When I reported my findings, the two of us discussed our personal reflections on both statements and their alignment to our personal visions.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Revisiting the School Improvement Plan__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">One of the my most significant endeavors at Norhtside was to lead our School Improvement Team (SIT) through a reflection on our School Improvement Plan (SIP). Northside is and has been in school improvement for the past three years. The collective needs assessment (CNA) completed last year by the North Carolina Department of Public has become the bedrock of our SIP. So, it was my intention to begin by asking our SIT to reflect individually on our progress towards addressing each component of the CNA.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Using likert scales and classroom response devices I was immediately able to present our collective pulse. This proved to be incredibly valuable as it provided a clear visual of where we believed ourselves to be currently, and where we would like to be by the end of the year. Furthermore, this process also allowed my mentor principal and I to candidly articulate for our SIT why various decisions had been made with regard to instruction, lesson plans, and staff development.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Paw Prints__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Paw PRINTS (Professional Resource for Interactive New Teaching Strategies) was created to address the following needs:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Instead of traditional staff meetings, my principal and I decided to facilitate professional development sessions focused on improving instruction.
 * //This website served as a place to archive all of the information provided during these sessions.//
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Every classroom in our school has been outfitted with interactive whiteboards and classroom response devices. Nearly all our teachers have received training on these devices, but few use this technology in their classrooms.
 * //This website serves as a bank of resources I can direct teachers to when I coach them through integrating technology into their lessons.//
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">A culture of real collaboration does not exist at our school. Teachers have common planning, but few, if any, lessons are planned and shared amongst teachers.
 * //This website will serve as a medium through which teachers can communicate with each other and record what worked in their classroom.//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Importance of Context: Warren County__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">I created this presentation while working with a few NELA colleagues. Our goal was to gain a greater understanding of the context in which we work and live. Then, we endeavored to produce an engaging presentation for new teachers and leaders. The result was presentation that I have passed on to several new teachers and my mentor principal who had recently moved to the are from Winston Salem, a much much different context. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14260060"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> ===<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__County-wide Professional Development Day: Digital Storytelling Workshop__ === <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">I have been involved in several aspects of our district's plan to educate on and assit teachers with the implementation of the Common Core and Essential State Standards.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">To kick off the year our district held a professional development day for all teachers and staff. I submitted a proposal and was asked to several sessions on using digital storytelling to engage students and teach higher order thinking skills.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__K-8 District Common Core Training__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Add Narrative Here about participating in district training, and facilitating training with Kindergarten and pre-k teachers and teacher assistants.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__5th Grade Math Story__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="13215782" align="right" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">After having observed a lesson, I am quick to provide resources aligned to my suggestions and recommendations for the lesson. On one occasion I observed a very sound fifth grade math lesson. The lesson was aligned to the standard course of study, contained ten minutes of direct instruction, ten minutes of guided whole group practice, and fifteen minutes of independent practice. Appropriately the teacher assessed which students were struggling the most during the guided practice and made it a point to work with each of these students during the independent practice time. My major concern with this particular lesson was it's low level of student engagement. After speaking with the teacher I learned that the same four boys completely disengaged during the class I observed, were also the lowest performing student on the most recent assessment. I knew the two of boys played organized baseball and that the teacher was an avid Yankee fan, so I asked her if she had ever considered designing math practices or projects around sports statistics. She had not but was invigorated by the thought. Immediately that evening I emailed her a document containing several activities and lessons that incorporate mathematical concepts and baseball statistics. Less than a week later this same teacher enthusiastically sought me out during her planning to show me a book of similar lessons she had purchased over the weekend.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Northside Observations / Evaluations__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14258922" align="right"When I arrived at Northside Elementary school I was disappointed to see very few teachers using technology in their classrooms. Two years earlier thousands of dollars had been invested in the school specifically for the the purchase of instructional technology. After speaking with my mentor principal I began to design my classroom observations and evaluations around this gap in practice. The result was a added support for teachers and increased use of technology in our classrooms; however, we still have a long way to go. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="14259414"

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">**__Problem of Practice: Phases I-III__**
<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">At my first internship site I worked with my principal to identify a problem of practice. Last year's End of Grade Test data, and this year's first district benchmark test indicated that third grade math was a definite area of needed improvement. Noting that our teachers already had 45 minutes of common planning time a week we decided to approach the third grade team with the idea of forming a true data-driven professional learning community. I met with the team and explained that this would require each member to decide upon which common assessments would be used and when they would be given. Additionally, the team would be required to analyze the data together and mutually decide upon a course of action to address various levels of student learning. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">media type="custom" key="14227126"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">The team agreed to take on the challenge of forming a PLC in order to collectively respond to gaps in student learning. At first, we met to discuss current math strategies and assessments used in each of their rooms. We discussed the value of data currently collected and what additional data or processes we may need to implement. By December, we had established a logic model and plan of action. The team decided that this would guide their PLC once school began again in January. Unfortunately, I was transferred at this point and unable to assist with the implementation stage of the first common assessment. I was however fortunate enough to pass along this opportunity to a very competent colleague of mine, and fellow principal intern.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">The second district benchmark produced some striking, encouraging results. The students of third grade team with whom I had been leading scored ten percentage points higher on then on the first benchmark. This represented a significant increase as it was not indicative of the scores produced at other schools throughout the county.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">__Mariam Boyd Observations and Evaluations__
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<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">Almost immediately after arriving at Mariam Boyd Elementary School, I began observing classrooms. My mentor principal directed me to the resources available through our district website. For the first few weeks I conducted several informal classroom observations using hard copies of the two Warren County Schools Informal Classroom Visit Forms found at www.warrenk12nc.org. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">As I met informally with teachers to discuss what I had learned from visiting their classrooms, it quickly became apparent that inorder to complete productive formal evaluations I needed a system that would allow me to collect data while observing teachers, and deliver it back to them before meeting in our post-conferences. Additionally, my NELA courses and required readings emphasized the usefulness of classroom observation data when making decisions. I wanted something more than just a file full of paper observation forms, so I began experimenting with free online form making tools. This led me to a California based website that had created an elaborate Google Form around the California teaching standards. Using what very little knowledge I had about spreadsheets and forms, I was able to troubleshoot my way through adapting the form for use with the North Carolina teaching standards. With very few bugs, I was now able to easily collect, organize, save, disaggregate, and disseminate my classroom observation data.

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