A. Professional Development/ Learning Communities: The school executive ensures that the school is a professional learning community.
Professional Learning Communities:
As part of my role as an instructional leader in the building, I held weekly data meetings with individual teachers to discuss their recent data, identify gaps in student learning, and create a targeted plan to reteach the content to students. Additionally, each week I worked with a group of teachers on ways to push their instruction in the classroom to the next level. After quarter one, we transitioned these meetings from being held individually with teachers to being held as a group. One of the benefits to this change was that it allowed teachers, who were all working on the same goal, to collaborate, share experiences, and provide each other feedback. The group meeting dynamic pushed teachers to higher levels of mastery of their action steps. Our areas of focus each week ranged from behavior management strategies to rigor aligned goals, such as how to effectively collect and respond to data in the moment during class or how to best facilitate a whole class discussion. I also led meetings with the seventh grade level team and worked with the team to practice and grow in areas the team as a whole had room to grow. These meetings were facilitated to allow all voices to equally contribute in identifying areas we needed to focus and brainstorming solutions to our biggest challenges. I also participated and/or lead whole staff weekly professional development sessions or science department meetings. The artifacts linked below (also included on my Principal Residency page) include examples of the various forms of professional development and learning communities I participated in or facilitated during my residency experience.
As part of my role as an instructional leader in the building, I held weekly data meetings with individual teachers to discuss their recent data, identify gaps in student learning, and create a targeted plan to reteach the content to students. Additionally, each week I worked with a group of teachers on ways to push their instruction in the classroom to the next level. After quarter one, we transitioned these meetings from being held individually with teachers to being held as a group. One of the benefits to this change was that it allowed teachers, who were all working on the same goal, to collaborate, share experiences, and provide each other feedback. The group meeting dynamic pushed teachers to higher levels of mastery of their action steps. Our areas of focus each week ranged from behavior management strategies to rigor aligned goals, such as how to effectively collect and respond to data in the moment during class or how to best facilitate a whole class discussion. I also led meetings with the seventh grade level team and worked with the team to practice and grow in areas the team as a whole had room to grow. These meetings were facilitated to allow all voices to equally contribute in identifying areas we needed to focus and brainstorming solutions to our biggest challenges. I also participated and/or lead whole staff weekly professional development sessions or science department meetings. The artifacts linked below (also included on my Principal Residency page) include examples of the various forms of professional development and learning communities I participated in or facilitated during my residency experience.
B. Recruiting, hiring, placing and mentoring of Staff: The school executive establishes processes and systems in order to ensure a high-quality, high performing staff.
Hiring and Mentoring:
During my residency, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to learn about and actively participate in the recruitment and hiring process. I was able to sit in on and co-facilitate several interviews, as well as learn the scope and sequence of Henderson Collegiate's recruitment, hiring, and placing of staff. Additionally, I was able to experience the mentorship process Henderson Collegiate provides for all of it's employees. This mentorship process ranges from a week long orientation in the summer to weekly meetings focused on action steps to help beginning teachers grow in their instructional skills throughout the year.
During my residency, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to learn about and actively participate in the recruitment and hiring process. I was able to sit in on and co-facilitate several interviews, as well as learn the scope and sequence of Henderson Collegiate's recruitment, hiring, and placing of staff. Additionally, I was able to experience the mentorship process Henderson Collegiate provides for all of it's employees. This mentorship process ranges from a week long orientation in the summer to weekly meetings focused on action steps to help beginning teachers grow in their instructional skills throughout the year.
C. Teacher and Staff Evaluation: The school executive evaluates teachers and other staff in a fair and equitable manner with the focus on improving performance and, thus student achievement.
Teacher Evaluations:
During my Principal Residency, I was responsible for completing full teacher evaluations for the teachers I coached, as well as professionalism evaluations for the teachers on the grade level I led. Each evaluation was done after observing each teacher multiple times a week, every week of the school year. Teachers were asked to come prepared for each evaluation meeting by completing a self evaluation prior to the meeting. The self evaluation rubric was identical to the rubric school leaders used to evaluate teachers. Each meeting was facilitated by sharing the biggest strengths of the teacher for each category of the evaluation and their biggest areas for growth. The teacher then compared their self rating with the evaluation I completed and we discussed any areas of discrepancy.
During my Principal Residency, I was responsible for completing full teacher evaluations for the teachers I coached, as well as professionalism evaluations for the teachers on the grade level I led. Each evaluation was done after observing each teacher multiple times a week, every week of the school year. Teachers were asked to come prepared for each evaluation meeting by completing a self evaluation prior to the meeting. The self evaluation rubric was identical to the rubric school leaders used to evaluate teachers. Each meeting was facilitated by sharing the biggest strengths of the teacher for each category of the evaluation and their biggest areas for growth. The teacher then compared their self rating with the evaluation I completed and we discussed any areas of discrepancy.