EDLD 5397

Week 1 Discussion

Part A This summer I had the opportunity to be the A.P. for summer school. The summer program consisted of 12 days; grades 1-5. My overall job duty and responsibility was to make sure students were behaving in a way that academic learning can occur. In other words discipline management. There were a few minor discipline problems that I handle very fair and with integrity. I learned a lot about my school procedures and protocol on how to handle disruptive students. Also parents were very reciprocal about how I handle the situation. The summer school program was a big accomplishment for me as a leader. Another intern activity that I experience was being a part of the CIP committee. I learned about school budgeting and how to allocate funds.

Part B The biggest surprise that I have experienced thus far is how much amount of money the principal gets to run the school. I was very surprise to see there is really no money in the school system. Thanks to Title 1 funds; this can only be used for certain criteria. Also I was surprise to notice & see that the principal has very limited decision when it comes down to overall decision making. For instance, we had 30 students total that were supposed to be retained. The principal approve it, but then the head supervisor superseded the principal decision. We had to pass all students after we notified parents about retention. I found that there are a lot of rule changes that occur without mutual agreement and sometimes the principal can look like the bad guy, but in reality their not.

 

Week 2 Discussion

 

Part A: So far I feel like I have mastery or become more knowledgeable about Domain I: School Community Leadership and Domain II: Instructional Leadership. I feel that I have hit and understand all the competencies that both Domains have to offer through the activities and field experiences. However I feel like I need more practice and skills in Domain III: Administrative Leadership. My biggest areas of needs are in competency area 9 (school safety), and competency 8 (budgeting, resource allocation, and management). As for School Safety, I need to examine reports from current local health and fire inspections, as well as any other state or federal reposting data on maintenance of the facilities in order to be more familiar and comfortable with this competency. And for competency 8, Budgeting, I need to examine the school budget and the various accounts under the discretion and responsibility of the administrator of study.

Part B: My biggest surprise so far, is the budget that a principal has to run the school. I was very shock when my principal revealed to me that she only gets 30,000 for one school year. Also another surprise is how depth the school safety protocols and procedures are. I am very pleased and happy that we run a safe campus, but some of the rules are a little bit over the top. For example, we no longer can have hand sanitizer in the classroom because it contains alcohol. My district states that alcohol is a chemical that can be harmful to students if they inhale it. Who thinks like this??? 

Week 3 Discussion

 

Part A

APA stands for American Psychological Associations; it’s used to properly cite sources when writing a research paper. I used APA format in the past to write a paper and essay in college. APA style has helped me to clearly explain how to organize my paper using the proper manuscript structure and format. One of the hardest aspects of APA for me is using unbiased language. I’m an English teacher and have always used MLA style and formatting in the past. Also, I have a hard time not using gendered pronouns and feel that I often have to repeat the same phrase over and over again to circumvent biased language.

My district does not have an IRB policy. The Lamar University IRB is in place to protect the safety of human subjects in research projects of the school. It outlines the history of the need, what is acceptable practice, how to apply for approval to use human subjects for research from the IRB, and who makes up the review board.

Part B

I have many successes with my action research project. After researching the data, we were able to see that the students who still struggle with reading ability after being pulled for intervention still struggles because of lack of support and self-efficacy which they do not receive from home. Most of their parents are incapable of reading themselves so they can’t give their child the support they need. Once we found this out, we were able to put together a packet call reader’s on wheels, where the parents can have the support to educate themselves and child.

After visiting with my A.P., we both agreed that I am on the right track with my research paper.

 

SCHOOL or PROFESSIONAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT Plan

LaDwina Flegeance

ED5301

SCHOOL VISION: The primary goal of the Beneke Community is for students to excel academically and act responsibly displaying good citizenship in a positive environment.

GOAL:  To provide academic success in all subject area and to provide small group instruction for at risk readers.

OUTCOMES	ACTIVITIES	RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED	RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES	TIME LINE	Benchmarks/ ASSESSMENT	Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments
Improve students’ achievement and academic success by strengthening reading skills where all students are self-motivated to learn.	Teachers in 2nd grade will use phonics and reading fundamentals provided by the district’s curriculum	Phonics fundamental tool guide book, word wall, guided reading books, & vowel charts	2nd grade level teachers: Mrs. Flegeance Ms. Flowers Ms. Parision Mr. Lundquist	September 2011-May 2012	Review Development Readers Assessment (beginning, middle, & end of the year) and other district summative test scores	After monitoring students’ reading skills. Most students need to focus only on high frequency words verse reading passages. This will allowed repetition for sight words.
Improve students’ achievement and academic success by strengthening reading skills where all students are self-motivated to learn.	Cooperative group reading/ Choral reading. Increase students reading level from below grade level to on grade level	Reading station/center; collection of different books to promote interest	2nd grade level teachers: Mrs. Flegeance Ms. Flowers Ms. Parision Mr. Lundquist	September 2011-May 2012	Running record, reading rubrics, reading summary logs	After assessing students through running records/ reading rubrics; students will pick book of interest to be tested on.
Improve students’ achievement and academic success by strengthening reading skills where all students are self-motivated to learn.	Tutor at risk students who continues to struggle in reading	Afterschool tutorials; Saturday school	2nd grade level teachers: Mrs. Flegeance Ms. Flowers Ms. Parision Mr. Lundquist	October 2011- April 2012	Review benchmark scores and check reading level to adjust tutoring group and instruction	Students making process will be allowed to move up a level

ED5301 Week 2 Insights

This week lesson was to pick a topic to start an action research on. My topic is on student’s learning/motivation: How to motivate students to read more independently? and What happens to struggling readers in our school after they leave intervention programs?

This topic is important because so many students are not motivated to read at all. This week I have learned that if the teacher is not motivated to learn then the students won't be motivated to learn also. It is teachers, not the curriculum, which determines the quality of the student.

How Educational Leaders might use blogs?

Weblogs can serve as a daily journal. Educational Leaders can capture their thoughts and use their reflections as an important data to share with others. Especially now with technology being the high rise for the upcoming generation, students are more prone to use the internet to search for information than a textbook. As a leader blogging can be an example to share and gain some inquiring thoughts on how someone else feels about a particular situation.

   

Action Research

After reading, Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy Fichtman Dana 2009, I learned that action research intends to bring about change of some kind, usually with a social justice focus.  As an educator I can use action research in my classroom practice with my students. Knowing who they are and observing their learning styles will help me implement the right decisions for their academic success. Teacher researchers gain a better understanding of why they behave as they do and consequently make better choices in their classroom practice (Oberg, 1990). As a teacher who is seeking out to become an administrator, action research holds a powerful tool for professional development. It allows you to be more open minded with circumstances which inquire a collection of data, asking questions, and requesting more information which could make you look at things in a different way. Action research involves a lot of engagement with others and involvement in the community. It will most certainly help with building confidence as a leader. People want to follow those who are willing to do the work themselves.  I am ready to start my journey with action research as I seek out changes by reflecting on my own practice and becoming a better leader in my professional growth.