District/School/State Discipline Plans

I am really struggling to understand how we can curb discipline problems if there are no consequences. I am not talking about classroom disturbances. I, and most teachers, are capable of handling students within a classroom. I have rules in place to keep my kids on the right track and stay focused on their work. I want to know what administration is going to do about kids who hit, steal, belittle, and bully other kids. I know I am in a good school that has minimal behavior problems but they still exists. My school has two specific kids who have been abusive to other kids, staff and themselves. They have torn apart classrooms and the principals when taken out of the main classroom. Luckily these kids are not in my class but their teachers are scared of these individuals.
What is going to happen when someone gets seriously hurt? Is that what it is going to take  for something to happen.

We see it on the news too often of kids who have committed unthinkable crimes around our country. They always seem to look back on their past and find how troubled they were as students.If nothing is done until these types of things happen is horrible. I am not saying that these kids I speak of are on this track but who knows.

As a leader, something has to happen with our discipline system. Each year we have meetings that speak directly about bullying. We have all these protocols for when these instances are reported. Forms are filled out and put somewhere never to be seen again. I think back to our first semester with McDermon and she talked about kids always being in trouble and sent out of the room. If they are not in the room, they are not learning. A lot of kids are only disrupting and causing problems. This is keeping from other kids learning.

We can argue this point forever. I teach in an elementary school. Our problems are minuscule to what we are seeing in middle and high school. When will we start to be concerned about the kids who are missing out of learning because of all the disruptions from certain students? Hopefully, if we start to hold students accountable to face their consequence, then maybe we might see some change. As long as administration teams just keep sending these problems back to the classroom, nothing will change!!

HAVE A GREAT SPRING BREAK!!!!!!

School Athletics vs. Club/ Travel Athletics

I often have conflicted thoughts on the subject of whether to coach for my school or to coach for a travel team. School athletics pay a fraction of the amount that can be made while coaching a travel team. Yet there are so many positive reasons why the teachers at the school should also be coaches for that school.
School athletics bring so much life to the school culture. Why do we not pay the coaches more money? I know; however, that not all schools nickel and dime their coaches. Some pour a considerable amount into the salary of their head football coach. Across the board, though, there does not seem to be enough emphasis placed in this domain in schools.

Spring Break in Waiting Countdown…

The long school year grind can take a toll on educators both mentally and emotionally. As a substitute teacher before I became a certified teacher, I used to hear teachers doing a countdown. I was like “why are they counting”? I came to realize quickly as a certified teacher that teachers need much needed mental breaks. I really appreciate my breaks now. Whether it’s a small break one day holiday break, a week holiday break like Thanksgiving, a two-week break like Christmas, or even a 2-month break like summer break, I take full advantage of them. As a substitute, I didn’t have to do much in terms of planning lessons and working with the same students the whole school year. I had options on the schools and students I wanted to work with. Additionally, I did not have to attend several meetings and plan lessons on a weekly basis. Now as a certified teacher, there are numerous items on my plate. With Georgia Milestone Testing approaching, that’s a discussion in itself. I am currently finishing up some final standards and clarifying some last-minute misconceptions before the test arrives within two more weeks.

I am looking forward to Spring Break. I will use this opportunity to spend time with family and friends. I will also get lots of rest and get ready for the stretch run of testing and finishing up the school year with a bang. I can clear my mind and reflect on the school year thus far. I have learned and really appreciate times like these. Others see this opportunity as just days off, but educators appreciate these days off to avoid getting mentally and emotionally drained. Teacher burnout is real and can take a toll if a break is not given daily.

Diversity and Effectiveness

A fellow educator and I recently had a conversation about diversity and effectiveness.  Needless to say, we agreed to disagree due to the demographics of our perspective schools.  Although my views on diversity and effectiveness have changed through my teaching career, I have always maintained to do what I think is best for the students for them to succeed.  I previously worked for a rural school system with a demographic make-up of 70% white, 25% black and 5% Hispanic.  While there, I believed diversity was more important than effectiveness due to the lack of minority representation with the staff.  Being one of only four black educators at the school, I felt the lack of minorities had an adverse effect on some of the minority students. As a minority growing up in a school with the same demographics, I did not have my first Black teacher until the 9th grade.  Therefore, I believed my education was marginalized through being taught from the perspective of someone who does not represent my culture.   However, now teaching at a school that is Title I and with a demographic of 95%, I now feel that effective teachers are more important to reach inner-city school students.  In comparison with the rural district I taught, I realized that inner-city, minority school students gravitate to structure and quality teaching regardless of the teacher’s race.  

AP Class Troubles

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with making AP classes more accessible to more students.  This year we have opened up our AP courses to more students than usual, in the hopes that the students would rise to the occasion and work harder to excel with the curriculum.  Instead, I am finding that many of my students are failing these courses and I am not sure what to do about this.  I have frequently observed the classes, and the content is very high level to prepare the students to pass the AP exam.  However, the teaching is exemplary and the students appear engaged, they just seem to be struggling to "get" the material being taught.  Many of them seem overwhelmed, and while they are doing well in their other courses, they continue to have problems with the AP ones.  I am hoping that someone has strategies that they have seen used to help AP students succeed with such difficult content.  Help!

Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology is simply the study of happiness, which is essentially the opposite of depression, the study of sadness. Positive psychology is the study of happiness. Psychology has traditionally focused on dysfunction—people with mental illness or other issues—and how to treat it. Positive psychology, in contrast, is a field that examines how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled.("Psychology Today," para. 1) Many companies including the one I work for, KIPP Metro Atlanta has made it a priority to educate employees on the benefits of positive psychology. For example, two years ago, in an effort to improve the network’s morale and decrease teacher turnover the company brought in positive psychologist and famous author Tom Ruth to our company’s annual gathering. I believe the gathering was a success because I vividly remember coworkers leaving excited and utilizing the suggested strategies Tom offered throughout the year. I would suggest positive psychology is worth the investment because too often I see employees that come to work frustrated. I understand life happens, but I do not believe it is fair to our scholars to show up more days than most upset or frustrated and take it out on them. I feel for my colleagues when I see them down and out but, to take it out on the scholars is highly concerning to me. I do understand life happens and there will be ups and downs. However, what would you leaders and future leaders suggest I do when working with someone who’s upset or frustrated most days?

References

Positive Psychology. (). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/positive-psychology

EQ:Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence

More recently business and school leaders and employers alike have begun to understand and measure Emotional Intelligence (EQ) with potential hires. Emotional Intelligence is a person’s capacity to reason about emotions and emotional information, and of emotions to enhance thought. (Mayer, 2009) EQ includes three primary skills. First, someone with high Emotional Intelligence has emotional awareness, which means the ability to identify your emotions and those of others. Secondly, the capacity to harness emotions and apply them to tasks likes thinking and problem-solving. Thirdly, the ability to manage your emotions and the emotions of others, and capacity to make someone happy or calm down another person. Simply put Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be smart about your feelings and the feeling of others.

Emotional Intelligence has inserted itself into interviews because individuals with high EQ make for great leaders. Ultimately, people with EQ make for great leaders, which is why it’s important to have people with EQ in your leadership pipeline. (Gimbel, 2017, para. 2) I believe it is imperative we have leaders with high EQ leading our schools considering the many different emotions a school day can bring about. School leaders are expected to handle the high emotions of scholars, parents, which can be interesting, and staff.  An upset or emotionally unstable leader can be detrimental to the success of a school. For example, a leader with a negative attitude, who’s emotionally unstable, will be involved in more quarrels and provide a bad example for those looking to them as a role model.

    Identifying leaders with high EQ can be difficult, but these three signs give employers an idea of the candidates' EQ level. First Emotionally intelligent people accept their failures and are honest and willing to express how they might have dropped the ball. Most importantly, they do not let pride get in the way of helping the company learn and grow. Secondly, people with EQ are natural leaders. They do not wait until they’re asked to help a co-worker; they just do it. Plus, because they understand how to work well with different personalities, they’re likable, and people naturally gravitate toward them (Gimbel, 2017, para. 5) Lastly, EQ people are great at resolving personnel issues and thrive on it. They don’t walk into the situation with an opinion but understand each side’s arguments and can help everyone come to a resolution as a completely unbiased third-party. (Gimbel, 2017, para. 7)

References

Gimbel, T. (2017). How to Tell if a Potential Hire Has Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2017/03/12/how-to-tell-if-a-potential-hire-has-emotional-intelligence/

Mayer, J. D. (2009). What Emotional Intelligence Is and Is Not. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-personality-analyst/200909/what-emotional-intelligence-is-and-is-not

Covering Up A Bad Hire...

Recently, I wrote about being in conversation with my soon to be principal, now the assistant principal. We were talking about what my role might be for the 2017-2018 school year. I expressed my interest in the Dean of Students position, and he communicated how he wanted me to move to the athletic department. The current AD was hired ten days before the school year and is highly under qualified for the role. I have been asked to move from SPED to Athletic/PE DEPT to help. However, instead of demoting the current AD for underperforming, I have been asked to move in and mentor him through his troubles while working underneath him. I played sports in Atlanta my entire life, worked alongside an AD after graduating in 2010, and played baseball in college. The current AD grew up in the north, does not have a degree in business or education, and did not play sports past his Junior year in HS. Personally, I find it insulting that I am being asked to work underneath and mentor a person who is in a position that I could easily do.

I hate the position that this puts me in because I love sports and I do not want the Athletic Dept. to suffer any more than it already has but I do not want to be taken advantaged of either. If I made this move, I would be taking on more responsibility and not receive a pay increase. While money is clearly not everything to me (I am a teacher), I do appreciate being valued. I also have a problem with being asked to do someone else's job and them still being my "supervisor." It doesn't make any sense to me. I love sports, but despite my love for sports, I am leaning toward staying in SPED until I can obtain a leadership position.

State Testing and Charters

Hey everyone,

Testing season is here, yay!  The district and the state give charters the autonomy to teach their own curriculum. Therefore, charters do not have to teach to any of the state standards. Because this is true, how can we expect to have results that monitor our student growth across the board accurately? Generally speaking, charter schools do not score well on the milestones tests but why should we expect them to if we do not hold them to the same standard? The data from my charter shows that we score roughly the same as other APS schools on GA milestones. However, when we compare our results on the ITBS we score much higher than the surrounding APS schools. I hope we can devise a system where can compare apples to apples someday. Right now, we are testing unequal systems with different motivations and foci.

Davy

Personalized Learning

This past Tuesday I visited Locust Grove Middle School. The principal went over his ability to attain small class sizes through his personalized learning model.

How principals use their points (allotments) to staff a school is such an important step in leadership.
Mr. Townsend, the principal, talked about how he uses his allotments in a way to create smaller class sizes. His approach is to have small class sizes in ELA and Math (18-20 students) using a personalized learning model. Then the large groups (45-60 students) will be in Labs with a teacher and a para. The labs, at first, seemed as if they were going to be overwhelming but after seeing the kids working independently on their personal pathway (Objective/Competency standard, driving question, & DOK activities/assignments) was eye-opening.

My small group walked into a science lab and a social studies lab. Both were well managed and the kids were all working on different assignments or activities. There was no talking or misbehaving going on. During this time, students are able to get assistance if needed or continue on to new assigned units.

The teachers talked about how the planning is more intense but front-loaded. They discussed how the administration utilizes common planning times to allow content teachers to plan units collaboratively. These units are centered around "Driving Questions".

I loved this model and Locust Grove Middle School has the data to prove it to be successful. Since implementing it a couple of years ago, their scores have consistently improved.

As a future leader, what are your models or approaches to student achievement? How will your school deliver the standards?

Motivating Students to do Homework

Being an 8^th grade math teacher, I understand the importance of practicing math to become better learning math concepts. I tell and stress to my students daily that homework is practice to get better and it’s not just about the grade on the homework assignment. However, I have noticed a trend of several students not even doing their homework. I know times have changed with just giving a lot of homework for repetition purposes. But, what happens when students get 5 problems and they still don’t complete their homework? This is very concerning to me. Students are not doing their homework, but still wondering why they are not grasping the math concepts. I teach 50 - minute classes and of course students don’t receive exactly 50 minutes of instruction by the time class begins. Students will not learn everything about math during their class. It is what students do outside of class that will really determine how they will fair in math class. Some of the responses I have received from students for not doing their homework include: “I forgot to do it”, “I lost it”, “It was too hard”, “I left my book in my locker”, etc. Besides keeping many homework assignments short and to the point, I also utilize technology. All of my students have school math accounts in which they can do homework assignments online. Students can do their homework at home or on their cell phones. Some students still don’t do their homework. Additionally, there are math videos for tutorials, puzzles, and other games students can play while learning at the same time. Furthermore, I provide incentives at times and make homework related to real-world examples. No matter how much I go out my way to help students, many students still don’t do their homework. I also stress to my students that turning in homework is based on effort. Students have full control of turning in their assignments.