The Busy Start of the Year

When teachers return in August we usually have a few days in our rooms and then a few days of meetings (to review curriculum revisions, be trained on new materials, be reminded not to touch human blood - always a tough one with little kids crying, bleeding, hurt on the playground and we all should be wearing plastic gloves).  Coming back to the room is a combination of exhilaration and panic; we want the room up and going and ready for the kids, but can be overwhelmed with so many small things that need to be done.  To help with time management and efficiency, I created a "TO DO" list.  As the years passed I continually added to the list, sometimes having a great idea months into the year.  Copied in below is the version from last year, which I will be dutifully checking off item by item in a few weeks!

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BEGINNING OF THE YEAR

General to Do:

            Print business cards

            Sharpen pencils for 1^st day of school

            Print copies of staff phone list from school website for 1) under phone, 2) my bag, 3) sub folder

Get school calendar

            In teacher planner:

                        Fill in months/days, student birthdays, testing, back to school, open house, etc

            Make Daily Schedule for plans

            Make schedule for back of nametag

            Make enlarged daily schedule for student reference in the room

            Recess equipment aired up and name put on it

            Put up monthly calendar

            Post copy of monthly lunch menu

            Review/print copy of grade level objectives/common core (especially if revised during the summer)

            Review/print copy of any revised long term plans from district

Create recess kit w/ bandaids, wipes, and emergency kit for teacher to take to recess (inside bucket)

            Update Sub folder

                        Daily schedule

                        Copy of everything in emergency contact folder.

                        IEP at a glance (legally required)

            Get copy of class list

            Print labels with kid’s names

            Update Web Backpack

            Create Emergency Contact Folder

Get from office:

                        Copies of emergency release forms for every student

                        Copy of student password for computer

Printouts from office that show students’ names, addresses, student number, parent e-mails, allergies or other special medical conditions, guardian/spouse names, zip code, mailing address, city name, etc.

Originals to be copied by school aid:

            DWU

                        Monday/Tuesday

                        Wednesday/Thursday

                        Weekly Quiz

            Student Dictionary

Morning work

                        Super 6/Daily Language Review packets

            Spelling

                        2nd and 3rd grade

                                    Weekly list words

                                    4 weekly worksheets – duplexed

            MAPS+

                        Power Drill

                        Quick Check

            Multiplication tests

            Welcome to 2^nd grade packet

                        (teacher profile, parent survey, AR explanation sheet, expectations, rights and responsibilities, home work guidelines, daily schedule, etc)

            Red Notes

                        DWU redo, PRG warning, extra work notes, no homework pass

            AR coupons (Blue and Red)

Create / put student name on:

Desk Nametag

Hallway bulletin board (Look What Wonder Work We Have Done – Coming Soon)

Lunch stick

Fairness stick

Class list in hall

Weekly Job

Art Supply bucket

Mailbox (and highlight names that are youngest only)

Hallway cubby

Behavior Modification check-off sheet

Report Card envelope

Textbook check out

Attendance / lunch check-off for office

Student file for teacher records

Sub Folder list

Class / subject groupings (posted or in sub folder)

Student planner

Folders

            Homework, all subjects, Work in Progress folder, correction folder

            AR

                        Classroom chart

                        Make personalized reading range

            Chart for multiplication tests

            Card for each kid with username (student number) and password

Nametag – “I am ________.  I am in Mr. Coleman’s Class” to be picked up on Back to School Night so teacher can quickly learn student names and know which kids in room belong and when they travel the building other teachers know as well.

Computer Programs

Microtype

Behavior Modification

Student check-off

Weekly projector table

AR (Student list report w/ passwords)

Grade book

Other

Emergency list from office

Lunch Card

Employment Application Material, part 2

(FYI - this first paragraph is a repeat of Employment Application Material, part 1 from July 3rd as it sets the tone and reason for posting, though the actual questions and answers copied in below the paragraph are new)

After finishing my administrative masters degree and obtaining my administrative license, I began applying to principal positions in Shawnee Mission as well as several nearby school districts.  Last year, while experiencing a swell of parent support at Prairie Elementary, I halted the search for principal positions and expanded my plans to concentrate supporting students at Prairie.  This included Coleman's Camp, One-On-One tutoring, these websites, and an overall professional and personal connection with parents that is pervasively enriching.  The last two years have been a time of tremendous growth and reinvestment in being an exceptional teacher.  The parents of Prairie and the students of Prairie have caused me to reevaluate my plans and choose to remain at the school.  I hope to serve the community and continue my own learning adventure.  For the next few posts to Smells Like Burning Army Men I thought to share some of the material I wrote for my administrative applications in various districts.  I spent months writing, revising, and distilling my experience and perspective into short statements that were to be used to evaluate my qualities and qualifications.  Though I can readily find areas in the responses that could use additional refinement were I to apply to new principal vacancies, my plans of staying at Prairie mean this material may be relevant now primarily as information to the Prairie community.

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How do you set academic expectations?

The principal’s monitoring and evaluation of the school curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices are essential tools by which to set academic expectations.  From this vantage point, awareness of students’ achievement and managing an ongoing appraisal of curriculum mastery helps the principal determine to what degree a school is satisfying the goals of the school board and community.  In this context, I set student achievement as the forever-retreating endgame, revising all related conditions that may conceivably trickle down and influence the student.  In practice, the entire school structure must be responsive to students, constantly adapting to accommodate the needs of hundreds of students every day.  To maintain academic expectations, I foster collaborative teams and continual progress monitoring procedures to evaluate assessments and set goals at the individual, class, and grade level.

What will be the mission of your leadership?

In pursuing an Elementary or Middle School Principal position in the Shawnee Mission School District, I draw upon my own thirty-year relationship with teachers and administrators who initiated, provided, or supported my diverse educational training, broad professional opportunities, and unique leadership background.  As an elementary teacher, paraprofessional, and lifelong student, I have undergone an ever-widening appreciation, concern, and desire to enrich students beyond the walls of a single classroom.  As a leader, I instill a pervasive culture of positive behavior support, professional learning, individualized and meaningful instruction, student empowerment, and continual incorporation of educational research.  In assessing my qualifications, I find my experiences and skills provide an ideal foundation for an exceptional principal.

How do you view your role?

As a principal, I strive for the cohesive interweaving of school culture, motivation, evaluation, communication, ideals and beliefs to provide the expectations that will infuse a given learning environment with purpose, adaptability, success, and continued renewal.  I see that we seed the prospects of each new generation in classrooms filled with injection-molded chairs, along hallways decorated with construction paper projects, using teacher-made materials we laminate late into the evenings with pride - utilizing the energy and dedication of regular people to instill our skills, beliefs, and values to children.

Reflection on School - How Did You Feel?

A sad/funny comedy routine by Brian Regan - I struggled with spelling and grammar rules as a student and always sympathize with similar students as they come to my class.

Employment Application Material, part 1

After finishing my administrative masters degree and obtaining my administrative license, I began applying to principal positions in Shawnee Mission as well as several nearby school districts.  Last year, while experiencing a swell of parent support at Prairie Elementary, I halted the search for principal positions and expanded my plans to concentrate supporting students at Prairie.  This included Coleman's Camp, One-On-One tutoring, these websites, and an overall professional and personal connection with parents that is pervasively enriching.  The last two years have been a time of tremendous growth and reinvestment in being an exceptional teacher.  The parents of Prairie and the students of Prairie have caused me to reevaluate my plans and choose to remain at the school.  I hope to serve the community and continue my own learning adventure.  For the next few posts to Smells Like Burning Army Men I thought to share some of the material I wrote for my administrative applications in various districts.  I spent months writing, revising, and distilling my experience and perspective into short statements that were to be used to evaluate my qualities and qualifications.  Though I can readily find areas in the responses that could use additional refinement were I to apply to new principal vacancies, my plans of staying at Prairie mean this material may be relevant now primarily as information to the Prairie community.

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What are three strengths that make you a good candidate for this position?

The first of my three strengths is a diverse educational training that aids me in relating to and supporting those who have had difficult and troubled childhoods, especially in terms of conforming to, or being successful in, a traditionally structured educational environment.  As a child, my parents were psychologists at Rainbow Mental Health Facility on the children’s ward and my formative years were awash in child cognitive development theories and treatment discussions.  My parents shared with me stories from the ward where they counseled children abused, suicidal, or suffering from the most severe mental health issues.  This family profession became an informing backdrop for me when interacting with friends facing troubled home lives, understanding parental behaviors and decisions, and evaluating the world around me in analytical and sympathetic terms that set me up as an agent of change and leadership.

The second of my three strengths is broad professional opportunities, enabled by my passion and concern for the disenfranchised.  As a full-time, long-term substitute teacher at Della Lamb Elementary Charter School, I relieved and supported teachers in an urban core, inner city school servicing immigrant, low-income, at risk, and disadvantaged children in kindergarten through 5th grade.  I taught multi-grade, multi-ability classes in the year-round school with ethnically and racially diverse student body composed overwhelmingly of African Americans, Somalis, Vietnamese, Sudanese, and Latinos.  In the Shawnee Mission School District I am a ten year classroom veteran of teaching 1st through 4th grade and have served as a middle school paraprofessional.  I have assisted students assigned to the behavior disorder program, including students diagnosed with A.D.D./A.D.H.D., Tourette’s Syndrome, Asperger’s Syndrome, and children physically abused.

The third of my three strengths is unique leadership background, most notably in my position as an AmeriCorps* V.I.S.T.A. member (akin to a domestic Peace CORPS) in service with Public Achievement, a grassroots youth empowerment program started in Minnesota and funded here in Kansas City by the Kaufmann Foundation.  I became familiar with the structure, successes, and struggles of educational institutions by working on the development and sustainability of partners throughout Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, and Northern Ireland.  I advised and organized the application of youth empowerment and democratic processes between Coach and Site Coordinators, volunteers, parents, as well as administrators, instructors, and students at the elementary school, middle school, and university level.