COMPETENCIES
Several of the principal evaluation tool competencies expected to be observed in building leaders are listed below. Each competency is accompanied by an artifact or description that showcases how I've exemplified that particular competency in my leadership experience this year as Principal Resident.
COMMUNICATION:
This image represents a twitter program I initiated to help communicate to the public what students were saying about their experiences at Douglas Elementary!
This image represents a twitter program I initiated to help communicate to the public what students were saying about their experiences at Douglas Elementary!
Change Management:
Staff member's involved in cafeteria supervision were unhappy with the amount of instructional time that was being lost due to ineffective systems in the cafeteria with student dismissal. With the help of instructional assistants intimately familiar with the workings of cafeteria dismissal over many years, we created and implemented a structured system for student-led cleaning of the cafeteria and organized dismissal procedures for each grade-level. |
Conflict Management:
A parent brought concerns to the administrative teams attention regarding a teachers actions towards her child in the classroom. We listened to the parent, acknowledged their feelings and ensured that we cared about their child and wanted them to be happy in the classroom. We met with the teacher, laid out what the parent had made us aware of and gave the teacher an opportunity to share their experience. We assured the teacher we knew they were a valuable member of our staff and we respected them as a teacher. We asked for 2 small changes in routine in dealing with the student in this particular class; the teacher agreed that it would help reduce the conflict in the class. |
Creative Thinking:
I created this Braggin' Dragon program at Douglas Elementary this year to give students voice about their experiences!
I created this Braggin' Dragon program at Douglas Elementary this year to give students voice about their experiences!
Delegation:
The link to the right shows the agenda and minutes from an administrative team meeting with our digital learning team committee. This committee wanted to come together to find ways to empower other staff members in the building to become experts at digital portfolios and champion this initiative with their particular department. During the meeting we outlined where they hoped to see administrative voice and where the felt confident their message could stand alone. |
Dialogue/Inquiry:
After an observation of a teacher who is currently on an action plan this year I used guided questions to craft a conversation and dialogue around what the expectations in the classroom where and if they were being met by the students. It was important to craft those intentional questions before meeting with the teacher to ensure the conversation stayed on track towards the specific goal of increasing student engagement during the literacy block. |
Emotional Intelligence:
During stressful times of the year it is important to show gratitude and appreciation for those around you. This year, I created a "holly jolly trolley" to roll out the week before winter break to acknowledge the hard work and dedication our teachers were showing during what is traditionally a tough week to get through in the classroom. |
Environmental Awareness:
This year at Douglas Elementary School I attended Parent Teacher Association general meetings, PTA board meetings and Douglas Foundation Meetings. These meetings were ways to connect with stakeholders in the school and enforced my understanding of how important community involvement and support are in a school community. |
Judgement:
This year, judgement was a necessity when dealing with student discipline referrals. It was important to utilize judgement that took the entire situation into account, not just the incident at hand but mitigating factors from both the students and teachers perspective. I attempted to make fair decisions on if consequences were in order while also being receptive to feedback from teachers on if they agreed with the judgement that was made. |
Organizational Ability and Time Management:
Organizational ability has aways been a strength of mine. I have developed systems throughout my career that allow me to maintain maximum productivity while not sacrificing relationship-building time with staff members and students. I oftentimes set deadlines for myself for tasks to be completed and incorporate reminders into the calendar of what parts of the task should be completed by specific dates. |
Personal Values and Ethics:
A value I hold that showcases itself in the role of a leader is relationships and the belief that everyone should maintain their dignity. I have been tested in this value throughout the year when dealing with discipline issues with students; I have maintained an outlook that students are intrinsically good and attempt to separate their actions they took from the person that they are. It allows me to maintain relationships with students who show risky behaviors and build a foundation of trust that the school believes in them. |
Personal Responsibility for Performance:
This year, for my graduate work alongside my residency, I was asked to write a reflection weekly that included at least one lesson I had learned throughout the week. While I believe there will always be lessons to learn throughout your career that lead to personal and professional growth, I think being my first year in a leadership position I was uniquely situated to learn many lessons! One important lesson I learned, and spoke about in my reflections was taking responsibility for mistakes both swiftly and with humility; highlighting o those you work with or are supervisory to that you are also capable of admitting your wrong-doings and quickly finding a better and more appropriate solution. |
Responsiveness:
During the COVID-19 tele-working time, a teacher reached out distressed about lack of access to the correct platform to create her online classes. Knowing how important that would be to her individually at the time, I reached out to the help-desk for her, got the problem resolved and received the e-mail to the left from her thanking me for my quick response. |
Sensitivity:
To the left is a section of an e-mail I received from a teacher after a crucial conversation regarding her previous observation. After our coaching session where were named the areas of improvement and worked out a plan for reaching the goals we set, the teacher sent this e-mail which highlights how I was able to be direct, yet sensitive to the needs of the teacher. Due to the private nature of the conversation, I have left identifying information out. |
Systems Thinking:
This year after the first six weeks of school, it was obvious that due to the tight lunch schedule we were enacting, the traditional dismissal and arrival procedures for the cafeteria were not working for this year. I helped design and implement a new system in the cafeteria for dismissal. It required a large amount of coordination from different adults in the building to re-teach a procedure to 720 students and 85 staff members. |
Technology:
I created a google form for teachers to use when signing up for an observation time slot this year. The form would automatically repopulate times that I put in and eliminate times from the form that teachers had already signed up for. The form also sent the teachers a copy of their response for their records and an e-mail the day before as a reminder. Technology helped streamline the process for both myself, my mentor principal and the teachers involved. |