Collaboration not Isolation

I feel that this last year has been the best year when it comes to collaborating.  I recently had to write a paper about everything I have learned when it comes to instruction, curriculum and assessments.  Man, could I have kept writing!!  I feel that I have learned and progressed so much in 12 years of teaching.  I think back to my first year of teaching Kindergarten at Life School Oak Cliff.  I wasn't scared but I surely felt as though I didn't know what I was doing.  I thought, "They're only 5 year olds so I can't mess them up too bad!"  Although I don't think I did a bad job per se but I definitely could have done a lot more.  Our team would meet once a week and decide who would put in lesson plans for the next week.  It was more isolation than it was collaboration.  I would basically follow what they had done the year before and didn't think twice about it.  I felt like I didn't quite know what I was doing and I didn't want my team to know that I didn't know what I was doing so I did the best I could.  We had a great team that was supportive of each other but I definitely felt "alone" when it came to what I did in my classroom.  They did it their way and I did it my way.

How times have changed though!  On my 3rd grade team this year, we meet every spare moment to discuss best practices.  We are looking at how each individual standard is worded and what it looked like on the STAAR test to make sure we are in alignment in our instruction.  We work so hard to vary our teaching styles to make sure we are hitting different learning styles for our students.  We plan out every moment of each day before we put anything on our lesson plans.  We definitely work harder than we ever have but each of us are more invested in the instruction that is taking place within our classrooms.  I am so glad that I don't feel isolated anymore but truly feel it is the better way.  I certainly don't claim to know all there is when it comes to teaching 3rd grade reading so I want to work with other teaching professionals that can help me be better at what I do.  Our best ideas come from collaborating together!!  I am so thankful for a team that cares about each day's instruction.

The interviews......

I have been an administrative intern for the last year while I am working on my master's degree.   Part of this process allowed me to be part of a night where we interviewed for new substitutes at our district sub fair.  At first, I thought I was just going to sit next to the assistant principal and observe him as he interviewed the candidates.  Then, when we get there, a lot more people showed up than expected and they asked me to conduct interviews on my own.  It was something I had never done before and I was a little nervous but I knew I needed to be confident and act like I knew what I was doing.  So, one by one, I sat and went through the interview questions with the candidates.  At the end of each interview I had to rate each person so that our human resource department would know if they needed to check resources or not.  It was easier than I thought to know if those interviewing were genuine or not in their responses.  As they answered my questions, I kept thinking, "Would I want this person in my classroom if I were out?"  That really helped me know whether or not they were quality subs.  Overall, it ended up being a great learning experience and I enjoyed meeting new people.
Being a instructional leader is important and having quality subs is a big deal.  I love our commitment to quality staff at Life Schools!!

Just beginning

I am excited to start blogging again!  I hope to share my thoughts and experiences as I continue growing into the leader that I want to become.  This is an exciting time for me.  I am 6 months away from having my Masters in Educational Leadership.  I am so glad I started after I put it off for years.  I'm blessed to have family and friends that are so encouraging and supportive of me going back to school.  I hope you will follow my journey as I learn the ropes of leadership within an educational institution.