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Instruction/Curriculum
I believe instruction/curriculum is very important for a school. You have to know where you are going before you can have a plan. If a school lacks a certain skill those needs to be addressed. I am used to this in my field since I am a Special Education Teacher. I have to know all of my student’s specific needs in order to reach a certain goal. By law each student in my program needs an Individual Education Plan. This is a plan that says what you are going to accomplish in the next school year. I believe this way of learning is being used more in the general education setting. At our school we are using more interventions to general education students who need extra help in certain areas. At our site we have a lot of ELA students so we have a corrective reading program for general education students who need that small group work. This is definitely a Special Education tool used in a general education setting. I believe not every school should have the same curriculum. I don’t believe every school is the same and each site should have their curriculum based on the students need, not a standardized test curriculum. Our curriculum now is based on the SBAC test. Students are given work based on questions that could be in this SBAC test. I don’t believe this is a realistic test for students as I believe it’s biased for students who have technology. At our site we don’t have 1 to 1 devices so when they take the SBAC test they are at disadvantage compared to students who have these resources daily. Parent/Community Involvement Parent involvement is so important for student’s success. Growing up my parents were very involved in my studies. They belonged to the Parent teachers association and were involved with the teachers on a personal level. I don’t see a lot of this in our school systems. With modern technology there is not a lot of one to one contact between students and parents. Teachers can call parents, e-mail, text they can converse without being in the same room. I believe this is bad with parent involvement there isn’t a real relationship with parents and students it is kind of robotic. Teachers and parents need to have a time where they can talk about the focus of the school as well as expectations for parents and students. At my current site we have a program called “Cup of Coffee” this a time where parents, teachers and administrators can get together to discuss the needs of the school as well as plan upcoming events. This is a great way for everyone to be on the same page. I have noticed if parents are not involved in their child’s studies the students tend to not care as much about their studies. Kids are kids they can observe their parents and they know right away if their parents care about something. This is why parent involvement is so crucial in the educational system. Discipline/School Culture Discipline is a very important part of any school. If there is no discipline then there is chaos. This is why rules and guidelines need to be explained right away. The rules also need to be re-introduced every one to two weeks because sometimes teachers only explain the rules on the first day of school. Students have to be reminded every single day. Being in a Special Education setting students are constantly testing to see what they can get away with either from their parents or teachers. This is why you have to be consistent with rules. People always associate rules and discipline you can be strict with rules without being mean as long as your expectation are clear and precise. This goes with having a school culture based on safety and discipline. Our school is in a very poor area and we have students that come from very violent backgrounds so our culture is about being a peacebuilder. Being a peacebuilder we even have a motto that we say every single day to make sure it is engrained in our student’s minds. “I am a peacebuilder, I pledge to praise people, to give up put downs to seek wise people to notice and to speak up about hurts I have caused, to write wrongs, to help others I will build peace at home, my school and my community each day.” If it’s stated every day and practiced by all students and faculty and can be a great environment for students to learn. Technology A big part of student’s lives in the 21st century is technology. I was fortunate to be around technology my whole education career. When I was in 5th grade was the first year that we had computers on campus. I learned how to type, do research projects and use a computer in my daily live. Twenty years later and we are barely having students with one to one laptops. I believe this is a little late in terms of technology. I am glad that students are being able to use technology in school this will only help them grow. I am in a situation where all of the surrounding districts have one to one technology where my district’s students use computers two days a week. This in my opinion is not fair. It’s definitely an advantage for students who have these resources daily. I believe each student should have a laptop or technology device in order to succeed in this ever growing technology age. My district students are falling behind daily and each day they don’t have them others are gaining more knowledge they can use in the future for their own personal success. My leadership style comes from my mentor my Principal at my current place of employment. He is a great guy. His style is very laid back. He lets teachers be teachers. He doesn’t make them feel like they are in trouble or always being watched. When you are in an environment when you are not on edge really makes an easier work environment. My first and foremost style of leadership is to treat everyone with respect. Many times when people are in a place of power they treat others like they are second class. My style is also to be strict when I need to be. I think when you come off as a “nice guy” many people like to walk all over these type of people. I believe when it comes to my authority and matters that are important I am very strict in these matters. There are a lot of areas where you don’t have to be so critical. For example, teachers were complaining about their times for lunch. These are matters that are not very important in terms of safety of students. These are issues that I can be strict on or be flexible it just depends on what is best for the entire team. If you treat people well they will respond in a positive manner for the most part. I believe that a school needs to have a culture with high expectations for learning. It's not where you are at, but where your going. I believe a school environment needs to be a place where students not only feel safe, but an escape from their personal situations. School needs to be a place where students feel like their dreams can come true if they try their best. As educators we need to not just teach for not, but for the future. Students need to start off kindergarten with very high expectations to graduate college. College should always be the goal for students because this is where the path needs to lead in order for success. We know as educators not all of our students will go to college, but if we make this goal with the end in mind the odds and percentages will be a lot higher. If we feel sorry for students who come from bad backgrounds and don’t have high expectations for their learning they will always have low performing academics.
College
When I first started college I was a 17 year old kid that didn’t know anything about life. I had no clue about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I started taking classes and I found out that I really enjoyed Psychology and I was also really good at it. I decided to get my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. After College/First Job After college my first job was a Para-Professional working in a Special Education class room. I really enjoyed the whole class room. It was the first time in my life where I really felt like I was making a difference in my life. From this day forward I decided to become a Special Education teacher. First teaching Job I learned so much being a Para-Professional. I had on the job training for two years and I feel like this experience gave me the confidence to lead my own class room. It gave me a foundation. My first teaching job I felt very confident because of my path becoming a teacher. I just didn’t start day one not having a clue it took years and years of practice until I sharpened my tools to become a teacher. Finding my Style After learning about teaching I realized that every day is different and that every student is different. As a special education I am ready for anything. You have to roll with the punches. I have 14 students and each student has their own specific IEP so in a way I am running 14 different curriculums at one time. It can be chaotic at times, but in the end I love what I do and it’s very rewarding seeing my students succeed. Future Goals I have always wanted to be an administrator since I was young. Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell is one of my hero’s growing up. All of the students looked up to him as a role model and they respected him. I always wanted to be that kind of educator. I feel as an administrator I can help the students more by creating more programs they will enjoy as well as being a voice for the students not the school board. I am very excited for this journey ahead. My personal story is probably pretty common. I group up in a very traditional family. Probably like most on television. I could compare my child hood to Leave it to Beaver. We never had a struggle. I never had to worry about anything growing up I was just a kid. School was always very easy for me I never really had to try and I would get good grades. My path was always set for me and I accepted it. Not going to college was not an option. It sounds great, but as I got older I realized that I was not an individual I was the mold of what my parents wanted me to be. I never took risks. I never traveled. I never appreciated life until I was an adult. This is very sad looking back on my child hood. I feel like many parents just like mine put a lot of pressure to "keep up with the Jones's" it surrounds us in all aspects of life. We have this ego or jealousy of others and we strive to be them instead of ourselves. It's kind of a sick vicious circle that consumes many. I am trying to help students not fall into this mold and to have passion in the things that are important to them. Life is too short to not find your passion and enjoy life.
My Personal Belief is that students need to find their passion. I believe we need to teach students about careers and fields they would like to do from a young age. I believe we teach kids to be too broad with their goals. Everyone’s goal is to go to college, but what about when you get there. Many freshmen are undecided in their degree declarations and then they pick a subject they don’t really like because their parents are making them choose a major because they are losing money. Students need to explore their interests from a young age and have a dream in developing these skills. There needs to be more electives in the elementary level to see the areas of interest a student has. These dreams of careers need to happen at an early age so there is passion about a career when they have it. |
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