Becoming an Effective School Leader Over the course of my life, I have always had principals that have been positive role models and that have inspired me to continue to do my best and to be my best. It started with my elementary school principal greeting all of the students at the door every morning when we got there, and it has now continued to my current principal who makes it a point to stop in and see every teacher in the building every day, if at all possible. These people are two of the main reasons that I have focused on a career in education, and they are also one of the main reasons why I would like to continue my education. All great school leaders facilitate and promote change within their schools, and they also help to promote
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As I have already learned throughout my first year of teaching, education is constantly changing. New research is always coming out, and old ways of doing things have been found to be ineffective or inefficient. As a school leader, I must stay at the forefront of the research being completed in order to get this information into the hands of the educators within my school. This is where the professional development piece comes into play as an educator. Over the course of this year alone, I have had the opportunity to participate in numerous sessions of professional development. My school has introduced new formative assessments in math to quickly determine where students may have holes in their learning, and then we have worked on incorporating number talks into our daily routine to develop and reinforce these skills. Also, I have had a conversation with my principal about round robin reading, which I was using in my small reading groups. He introduced a book to me that discussed why round robin reading is ineffective; students should be reading the majority of the time instead of listening to others read. Numerous ideas and effective strategies were introduced and incorporated to develop better reading skills. This wouldn’t have happened if the leader at my school was not a lifelong learner, and this is exactly what I will be striving to …show more content…
One of the main ways to see guide student learning and achievement is to use data. The data used at my school comes from formative assessments, Fountas and Pinnell reading assessments, MAP testing, and standard checks in math. Based on the data gathered from these assessments, it is my job to determine what each individual student will need to get to the next step in their learning. After seeing the results of an assessment, some students may be ready to move on, but others may need some additional review and practice with the skill that we have been working on. At this point, it is important to stress and remember that ALL students possess the ability to learn. One example that I have of this is with a few of the fifth graders in my room. They are reading at a second to third grade level, and they receive a lot of support in their learning. I had the opportunity to participate in a Leveled Literacy Intervention training (LLI,) which is an intensive reading program designed to get students up to grade level in reading. I have been doing this daily with my students, and while they are not up to grade level, they are making a lot of progress in
As I have already learned throughout my first year of teaching, education is constantly changing. New research is always coming out, and old ways of doing things have been found to be ineffective or inefficient. As a school leader, I must stay at the forefront of the research being completed in order to get this information into the hands of the educators within my school. This is where the professional development piece comes into play as an educator. Over the course of this year alone, I have had the opportunity to participate in numerous sessions of professional development. My school has introduced new formative assessments in math to quickly determine where students may have holes in their learning, and then we have worked on incorporating number talks into our daily routine to develop and reinforce these skills. Also, I have had a conversation with my principal about round robin reading, which I was using in my small reading groups. He introduced a book to me that discussed why round robin reading is ineffective; students should be reading the majority of the time instead of listening to others read. Numerous ideas and effective strategies were introduced and incorporated to develop better reading skills. This wouldn’t have happened if the leader at my school was not a lifelong learner, and this is exactly what I will be striving to …show more content…
One of the main ways to see guide student learning and achievement is to use data. The data used at my school comes from formative assessments, Fountas and Pinnell reading assessments, MAP testing, and standard checks in math. Based on the data gathered from these assessments, it is my job to determine what each individual student will need to get to the next step in their learning. After seeing the results of an assessment, some students may be ready to move on, but others may need some additional review and practice with the skill that we have been working on. At this point, it is important to stress and remember that ALL students possess the ability to learn. One example that I have of this is with a few of the fifth graders in my room. They are reading at a second to third grade level, and they receive a lot of support in their learning. I had the opportunity to participate in a Leveled Literacy Intervention training (LLI,) which is an intensive reading program designed to get students up to grade level in reading. I have been doing this daily with my students, and while they are not up to grade level, they are making a lot of progress in