Reflections

Year One

Goal Become more familiar with strategies and programs for students that have a harder time learning	TExES Competency and Domain Domain II, Competency 4, 5 and 6	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Have a better knowledge base of the different programs and how they work	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Workshops, trial and error, communication with Special Education Directors	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Tracy Cartas, Linda Parker	Date of Completion June 2013	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Will be able to suggest and teach different methods for different kids to the teachers on campus
Goal Become part of a networking community online	TExES Competency and Domain Domain 3 Competency 8	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Have a network of individuals to discuss current issues and topics with	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Twitter, Texas Association of School Leaders conferences	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Alan November, Barry Fox	Date of Completion June 2013	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Will have at least 1 social media network with members from around the world

Year Two

Goal: Provide intellectually challenging opportunities to encourage professional growth	TExES Competency and Domain Domain 2 Competency 6	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Increase my knowledge of using technology in schools	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Utilize technology in meetings and discussions with teachers as much as possible	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Technology department, Linda Parker, other admin on campus	Date of Completion June 2013	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Observations and use of technology throughout the year.
Goal Work with Principal to better understand the staffing of the master schedule	TExES Competency and Domain Domain 2 Competency 7	Objective (What do you want to improve?) My knowledge of how to work a master schedule	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Sitting with the current people that complete the schedule and working with them	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Kathleen Eckert and Sandy Nault	Date of Completion August 2012	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Master schedule will be complete and locked in.

Year Three

Goal Gain a better understanding of school budgeting	TExES Competency and Domain Domain 3 Competency 8	Objective (What do you want to improve?) General knowledge of how the budget works and what goes into it.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) School finance workshop and visiting/working with people on the budget	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Linda Parker	Date of Completion December 2012	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) I will be able to answer budgeting questions and have a working knowledge of the budget on campus
Goal Gain a better understanding of school facilities	TExES Competency and Domain Domain 3 Competency 9	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Have a working knowledge of the way facilities are run and maintained	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Become the Administrator over facilities here on campus	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Linda Parker and Barry Fox	Date of Completion June 2014	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Order, maintain and run the facilities on campus including furniture and supplies

Blog Follow-Up: Be sure to post a reflection on the lessons learned from developing your Professional Development Plan to your blog, and read and comment on at least two other students’ PDP reflections.

Week Five Assignment, Part 2 Update Vita

Please reviews his or her vita, revises it where appropriate and submits it, and describes the revisions and changes in the Vita since EDLD 5396 in the space below:

     With the exception of adding a few things to my resume, there was not much to change thus far.  I did add testing coordinator to the list of duties (that was added to me this year).  I will also add certified superintendent once I pass the test.  I do understand that the Vita is a working document that should be made readily available.  It needs to be ready to send out for potential jobs as well as change things as they come up.  I have my Vita saved on my flash, as well as school and home computers and it is ready to go out today.

Week Five Assignment, Part 3 Review and Submission of all Reports

Please review all documents/forms required and show evidence that all have been submitted, including:

District Supervised Summary Report – documenting total number of hours of intern experiences identified by Domain and Competencies;

I have posted this in my TK20 work.  The Domain, Competency and total number of hours have all been updated.

Superintendent/Supervisor Internship Summative Evaluation (see Blog activity regarding the completed SISE); I have this scanned and sent this evaluation to Dr. Artebury

Revised Intern Plan;

My intern plan is revised and has been posted to the blogs and the TK20.

Completion of Comprehensive Final Report – Parts A – E.

These have been completed and posted in the blogs throughout this course.

Week Five Assignment, Part 4 Blog Comments following SISE Conference

Reminder - Scheduling a Conference with the District Site Supervisor to review the SISE

Please schedule a conference with your District Site Supervisor before the end of Week 5 to review the Supervisor’s SISE (Superintendent/Supervisor Internship Summative Evaluation). Following the conference, please do the following:

Post your reflection on lessons learned from the SISE Conference and comment on at least two other students’ reflections on their SISE.

     Upon visiting with Mrs. Parker, I was thrilled that the completion of the program had come so fast.  We discussed my immediate future plans as well as the long term plans for superintendency.  Mrs. Parker is the principal at my high school and is also a certified superintendent.  I can certainly see her following through and becoming a superintendent someday.  I am very content in my job right now and realize that there is so much to learn and much growth needs to happen before my next steps

Reflections

     Reflections are not just an important part of leadership; it is THE most important part.  You must take time to look back on the successes and failures that you make and grow from them.  The ability to write down things that you think about along the way will help when reflecting on them at a later date.  Discussing why things happened and what can be done to improve is vital to becoming a better leader.  No matter how small the correction of mistake was, you can continue to grow from them for a lifetime.  

     

     I was able to reflect on the course assignments by reading and looking back through the feedback I was given by the instructor.  They would provide feedback on certain assignments and I was able to improve on my later assignments due to reflecting on his comments and advice.

     

     We were asked to comment on the blogs of our classmates along the way.  The comments that were left for me were very beneficial in making corrections to my vita and my other assignments that were posted.  I looked forward to hearing from the other students in class about my thoughts and work.  It aided in making necessary correction.

     

     These logs allowed for reflective practices by allowing discussion with Dr. Creel as well as my campus supervisor Linda Parker.  They forced me to discuss what I learned and thought about many of the logs and hours that I had complete. 

     

     The tests allowed me to reflect on what I had learned so far and to decide if the way I had been working was sufficient.  I knew that I had to read more after the first test and actually look at the optional reading.  Taking these tests and asking yourself why you missed certain items prepares you for the superintendent certification test.

     

     The conferences with other students as well as Dr. Creel were very beneficial.  I enjoyed the conversations which always led to more reflection throughout the course.  I feel like I reflect on everything.  Conversations I have, emails I read, and assignments always force me to think about the way I am doing things and I can become more efficient.

           

          Sometimes in leadership we have to make decisions without all of the complete information.  Using reflective practices allows you to use you intuition.  Having good intuition means to be able to reflect on passed experiences and make the best decisions based on that.  This is why it is crucial to reflect regularly.