1. Is failure a real and regular option and experience for kids at your school?
Is failure an option? Ideally no, in reality it does happen and in our school district we do strive to provide students that are not meeting expectations the support needed to achieve success. I cannot speak for everyone at my site, by I do know that I try to support all of my students according to their needs and have them meet their specific goals. 2. If so, what impact do you believe that is creating? If not, what structures have been put into place to accomplish alternatives? One of those methods of support is the student success teams. The team consists of multiple teachers that meet with the parents of the student in need of additional support to see what other strategies and supports can be provided to that student. Different schools also provide after school tutoring programs (or before school) as well. Students are expected to succeed and to accomplish their goals in schools with the support of not only the school but parents as well. 3. What conditions exist that make it too late to learn and reach competency in your school? Can you give an example? Students that reach it to the higher grades and are two or more grade levels below their current grade in math, language arts, and other subjects are usually students that did not receive enough support at school and at home. Students that do not have the proper home support, on average, have a tougher time reaching competency. 4. What would you do, if anything, to introduce/enhance “never too late to learn” structures in you school if you were the school leader? The area where I think I would have the greatest impact with regards to implementing a structure to promote 'never too late to learn,' would be teacher trainings. Teachers are the ones with the most direct and immediate impact on students. I cannot reasonably go to every family, nor have every family come to the school, for trainings on how to better support students at home. I can still hold those parent trainings, but teachers are the ones with all the data on how to better support the students in their classrooms. Staff trainings could focus on how to provide support to students that are not meeting all the competencies that are expected of them. If they are not meeting those, then teachers should have a way to help those students recover and meet those expectations in timely fashion. Whether it be some form of contract with the student or different teaching techniques. 5. What can you do in your present position to create “never too late to learn” structures into your current practice and those of your peers? Are those things in your sphere of influence? I can begin by designing contracts with students and parents, where if particular student is not meeting his/her expectations, then we can have a roadmap to how to help the student meet those expectations. That way I as the teacher have my defined role, the parents know what is expected of them at home, and the student will know what is expected of him/her. Once I prove that the contracts are successful, I can share it with my grade level, and then rely on them to help other teachers as well. 6. Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school increase learning opportunities: 1. Create a student/parent/teacher contract appropriate for my grade level 2. Share the contract with those in my grade level 3. During trainings, share ways in which I scaffold different activities 4. Move away from scoring students to seeing if they are competent 5. Try and encourage students to want to learn through interesting topics that they are interested in 1. What role does school play in building students’ agency and identity?
School plays a major role in how students build independence and explore their interests to build their unique identity. As teachers we are responsible for encouraging students to seek out what interests them and to explore those interests on a regular basis through the lens of school. If we can take a student's interests and turn it into a meaningful classroom project, we can drastically increase student participation and interest in school. This in turn leads into building and strengthening the identities of students. 2. How aware are you and your colleagues of the impact our choice of words have on developing students’ agency and identity? Can you give examples? As teachers that work with very impressionable students, we are always aware that what way say will always have an impact on students. We have found that by giving students the ability to choose individual topics for their projects helps to increase their participation and investment in their own education. We try to be as positive as we can when students choose topics/ideas to discuss and use as many as possible. If students go too far off topic, we encourage students to think of other ideas, guiding them towards a topic that is still relevant and interests them rather than rejecting their ideas. 3. What would you do, if anything, to make using choice words a more conscious and accountable school wide practice if you were the school leader? If my school were using the seven habits, choice words could easily be tied to the 'think win-win' habit. Training for the habits would include a supplement on how using choice words in productive and positive manners would result in much better relationships with all students. This would not encourage teachers to be more positive, but it would also help students stay interested and invested in school. 4. What could you do, if anything, to make the use of choice words a more conscious and accountable personal practice as well as one embraced by others on your site? Are those things within your sphere of influence? I think that just thinking twice about what I will say to a student and rephrasing it in a much more constructive manner before I say it will be beneficial to all my students. Especially when they are acting up, in the end they are kids. By trying out different ways of using choice words, I will build more positive examples I can use with my coworkers to help them use those positively framed phrases. 5. Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school choose words wisely? 1. Think twice before speaking on all occasions 2. Build positive experiences with students to encourage their independence using choice words 3. Relate those positive experiences to coworkers and help them use positive choice words 4. Share stories where choice words had a positive impact with parents 5. Encourage students to continue seeking out what interests them 1. When it comes to the concept of Do No Harm, I believe
I think that the Do No Harm concept is ideal for any learning environment. Students have the right to be in a learning environment that is supportive and safe. No student should fear going to school, they should instead want to learn because of how safe and supportive the environment is there. Well behaved students are that way because it is innate, they feel they should behave that way. Students that do not, most likely do not realize that their behavior affects others negatively and steps should be taken to ensure that they how others are affected. This is something that can be accomplished through restorative discipline practices whenever possible. 2. Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in discipline policies and practices? I do not believe in punishing a student constantly for the same type of behavioral problems. I do feel as though having 1 on 1 talks with them, as well as those that they affect is a more effective way of getting students to see how their actions affect others. While there are students who may not be able to empathize well with others, the more that we try to get them to see the world through the eyes of others, then the more we can build up that ability. 3. Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in program practices and initiatives? Ideally, students would not be suspended and instead have to face those that they affected and make amends. That way, students would not miss instruction and continue to attend school. Parents would also have to be involved: providing consistent discipline at home and encouraging positive behaviors. 4. Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in our professional development as a community of learners? Professional development should be devoted to developing the needs of a school. If a school has behavior issues as a whole, then PD should be provided for everyone on how to better address the behavioral needs of students. Many times PD is used on housekeeping type things such as announcements that can be sent in a concise email. PD should instead focus on improving instruction and helping teachers learn how to better address discipline issues. 5. Is the concept of teaching students to “first do no harm” integrated into the culture of your school (or workplace)? Yes. Students are encouraged, since kindergarten, to be positive role models, outstanding citizens, and respect others. Students that have done an exceptional job of demonstrating one of the different positive characteristics of our school are recognized in a school wide assembly. Students enjoy seeing their peers succeed and students enjoy being positive role models for each other. 6. How does your answer to the previous prompt sit with you? While I am sure there may be ways to improve upon it, there are no real major behavioral issues at school. Students are happy and teachers enjoy few classroom disruptions. 7. Current sphere of influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more positive restorative place: 1. Talk to my students more frequently in non-academic settings 2. Have students recognize how their actions affect others 3. Continue to encourage students to exhibit positive behavior not only at school, but everywhere in their lives 4. Recognize as many small accomplishments as possible from all students 5. Talk to other teachers and share how restorative practices can help benefit not only them, but our school 1. How is the challenge of making stakeholders feel welcome to your school (or place of work) connected to your school mission?
While the language of my school's mission statement successfully conveys what the school hopes to accomplish with students through words such as "highest potential," "opportunities," and "discovery," it does not convey cultural inclusion. Even we as a school practice it, it not explicitly stated. It does, however, have "collaborative team" that includes all of the major stakeholders at the school (parents, teachers, parents, and the community). It can be challenging to write a succinct and inclusive mission statement, but even though ours lack any mention of culture, it does acknowledge those that are involved in the educational of our students. 2. What did you do to assess which stakeholder group (or subgroup) could be more effectively welcomed? And what did you find? In order to find which group would be a prime target for outreach and welcoming, I looked at the population make up of our school through the SARC. From there, I noticed that Hispanics (16%) and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged (35%) were the largest groups after the White (78%) population. From this, I looked at what programs my school was already running to reach out to the community and different groups. I found very little outreach towards those two groups. This is why I believe those groups can benefit from feeling more included and integrated into the school. 3. Future Sphere of Influence: What would you do to improve welcoming this group if you were the school leader? By creating a couple of different outreach opportunities for those families, we can make them feel included. From: informative meetings and workshops on how to fill out paperwork or where to find additional resources to help their families. I remember reading about low cost internet service for example for families that qualify for free/reduced lunch. Many families go without internet because of the cost. Holding those workshops/meetings at the beginning of the year can help families not only feel included but also supported. If there are translators (such as Spanish ones) for those that need it, this would aid in welcoming those diverse gorups. 4. Current Sphere of Influence: What can you do in your present position to enhance welcoming these stakeholders? As a teacher of Spanish, I will make sure that my students are culturally aware and sensitive about other cultures. Even if it not in our mission statement, it is something that I know students need and I know they are always willing to learn about others. Current Sphere of Influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more welcoming place:
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