Meeting with Site Supervisor

I met with my superintendent, Dr. Pauline Hargrove, on Thursday, November 4, 2010, in my office to discuss my internship plan. Overall, she liked my plan and shared some experiences she had in doing her own internship. We had a great meeting, and she assured me of her desire to help me through my internship and to see me grow and develop as a leader. I am appreciative of her time and assistance with my plan.

On several of the items in my plan, she gave me ideas on where to get the information, and on a few of them, we were able to talk about the actual concept. She liked that I included activities involving the elementary level, especially in the area of Response to Intervention. For activity number 15, meet with a district leader involved in implementing district change, we talked about her role in implementing our new limited open enrollment policy. Also, this policy came up again on activity number 35, choose a current issue in the district and interview persons on each side of the issue. She suggested this as a possible issue for this activity. Another suggestion she gave was for activity number 33, attend as many school board meetings as possible and write reflections on outcomes. She told me about her experiences with this activity in her own internship, and she suggested that I visit board meetings at districts other than my own for a broader perspective.

One suggestion she gave me for change was changing the name of the resource person for the superintendent evaluation document. I had listed the school board president. While Dr. Hargrove felt that Ms. Mott would be happy to talk to me about the process of the evaluation, the actual document does not originate with the board. Dr. Hargrove has added to the basic document to include board goals and district progress toward those goals. Dr. Hargrove will take care of getting this document to me to review as part of my activity.

Another suggestion was not for a change, but for a possible addition. Dr. Hargrove suggested that I could include my work with the district administrators on implementing and providing exemplars to TASA’s New Vision for Public Education. I had included my work at the state level on the field guide for this document, but I had not included my work with campus level administrators in my own district.

I enjoyed my meeting with Dr. Hargrove, and I am looking forward to completing my internship with her.

Superintendent Interview

Superintendent Interview from Week Two Assignment

I was able to interview my superintendent, Dr. Pauline Hargrove, during the second week of our allotted two-week time frame. I greatly admire and appreciate Dr. Hargrove, and any opportunity to sit and talk with her is a welcomed opportunity. At the beginning of this course, when we were assigned to look at each of the superintendent competencies and mark our strengths and weaknesses, I thought of Dr. Hargrove as exemplifying each competency.

Dr. Hargrove says that she defines leadership as influence, either good or bad, and that a good leader inspires, encourages, and empowers people to do something they wouldn’t have otherwise done. She also emphasized the importance of integrity in the role of superintendent. She says that you must always be honest and above reproach, and she stressed the importance of building relationships and being a servant-leader.

Two answers that really stood out to me were her answers to questions about setting a vision and relationships with board members. Dr. Hargrove does not believe that a leader should come in with her own vision and tell everyone else what that vision is. While a leader should have vision, one should get to know the people and the board. Ask questions, take the board to workshops, help cast a vision, but in the end, you are paid to make the board’s vision a reality. Also, the superintendent should always live the vision. Post it where people can see it, put it on all correspondence, use it when you communicate with others through writing or speaking. The superintendent should work to create a culture. Dr. Hargrove is a master at this, always using a yearly theme to communicate the vision and keeping that them ever before us.

The second answer that stood out to me was about building a relationship with the board. Dr. Hargrove believes in knowing each board member, including how they like to be communicated with, how they like to receive agendas, even their favorite foods. She also says that you need to know the level of detail they want in communication and share with them accordingly. Also, if one board member asks a question about something, you should let everyone know the answer. All board members should be kept equally informed.

I enjoyed my time with Dr. Hargrove, and I look forward to learning from her throughout my internship.

Professional Vita

This is my professional vita. I created this one in my principal internship class and edited it for this class. I definitely realize the need to keep it current as our professors have suggested. I couldn't remember all the presentations I have made! Comments are greatly appreciated!

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1slh196BydnmJcZ_pYKLQ7VzlVopwwBHDsve5EUlbIjo&hl=en&authkey=COjs8q8B

Transfer Theory

Transfer theory is the principle that a skill that is learned in one area will be transferred to another. Learning how to think critically in a math class should allow students to think critically in science class as well. It is vitally important that educators today teach students skills that the can transfer to their future lives. We know that we are preparing students to have jobs that do not even exist now. There is no way we can give them the training to perform the specific tasks they will use in those jobs, but we can teach them critical thinking, synthesis, evaluation, and collaboration. Students will be able to transfer those skills to their future careers. This same principle applies to leaders. Knowledge and skills learned in campus leadership should be transferred to the superintendent’s office. For example, knowing how to build strong community support and effectively communicate with stakeholders are skills that are utilized in both leadership areas. Just as we are preparing students for jobs that do not currently exist, the leadership preparation program prepares us to transfer the knowledge we have to whatever situation may arise. Education is an ever-evolving field, as new technologies, policies, and laws are constantly changing. Being able to transfer knowledge from previous leadership experiences is essential for successful leaders.

Action Research

Action Research in education is a process for examining data and practices to improve schools. Teachers and administrators work together to examine data and reflect on instructional practices. Through their research, educators inform their decisions and tailor change to best benefit their own districts, campuses, or classrooms. I have participated in action research on my campus through examining AEIS report and PBMAS data. By looking at trends in this data, we have targeted specific areas for professional growth and instructional changes. Also, through examining campus walk-through and appraisal data with other campus administrators, we made decisions for instructional strategies we wanted teachers to implement and changes we would make in our walk-through procedures.

Action research is a valuable tool since it is specific to the organization. By looking at our own data and reflecting on our own practices, we can better determine what changes will best benefit our students. The reflective practices that come through working together to conduct action research can also help teachers and administrators grow as professionals. When we look at ourselves and the results of our work, we see areas for improvement and continued growth.

I plan to include action research as part of my superintendent internship plan. I will ask my superintendent if there is a specific project she would like me to complete for the district. If there is nothing specific she requests, I would like to include a research project on the state of technology integration in our district.

Blogging for Administrators

This is a new blog I am beginning to chronicle my journey through the Superintendent certification program at Lamar University. Here, I will post my thoughts and reflections as well as answer the questions given each week. I have created another blog in my Master's program, but I have never gotten off the ground with it. I can definitely see how a blog would be a useful tool for disseminating information quickly and for sharing thoughts on educational practices and professional readings. A superintendent could use a blog to reach a wide audience quickly, thus getting needed information to a wide variety of stakeholders. It is my goal to become proficient at blogging and begin using it regularly.