Campus Supervised Embedded Log

Directions: This report should summarize all Campus Supervised Internship Activities that have been completed.  You will document your activities on this form and  submit the completed form  in your 12th course.   ·         The Internship requires a minimum of 150 campus supervised internship activities. These activities should match the candidates’ Internship Plan activities. ·         The intern must use the 38 leadership activities, located in their textbook (pages 22-65) as the starting point for these activities. There needs to be a minimum of 38 Campus- Supervised entries that encompasses the 38 leadership activities and nine competencies. *Educational Technology Leadership candidates must include the 33 ISTE Technology Performance Indicators associated with the eight Technology Facilitation Standards in addition to the 38 principal leadership activities.*   ·         All columns are required for completion of form. ·         Name: Joshua Kelly ·         Total Number of hours:  160 hours
State Competency Standard/ISTE Technology Facilitation Standard	Skills and Experience Area/ ISTE Performance Indicator	Date Completed	Time Spent on Activity	Description of Activity	Reflection (150 words or less detailing what you have learned from this activity)
Domain 1 Competency 1.1	Vision / Mission	May 2012	4 hours	Review and compare two different school/vision statements. Obtain statements from two distinct types of schools (rich/poor, etc) Note strengths and weaknesses of each and make recommendations for my campus.	I have had the opportunity to work at an elementary school before I started at the high school.  One of the main differences in the two schools is the student population. In one of the schools, it was about 80% African American students, while at the other school it was about 80% Hispanic. What was interesting was the fact that in the predominately Hispanic school, there had been many programs set up to help maximize student success.
Domain 1 Competency 1.2	Strategic Planning	April 2012	4 hours	Review the strategic plan for my school. Note the personnel involved in the plan’s development, implementation and evaluation. Investigate support and concerns from the various parties involved. Record in notebook.	This year our district offered its employees the opportunity to be a part of the district’s Strategic Planning Committee.  At the beginning of the year an email was sent out to everyone asking which strategy we would like to participate in. A different employee who worked for central administration represented each strategy. Upon talking to some of my co-workers, they had told me about their experiences of the previous year in which they were able to serve the community as well as polish the image of our school district.  It was then decided that my co-workers and I would sign up together for the “Community Partnerships” section of the strategic plan which would be lead by our district’s Superintendent. The goal of the Community Partnerships committee would be to: establish partnerships with real estate developers and builders within the community establish and strengthen partnerships with businesses and business owners in the community, establish partnerships with local churches in the community, and conduct annual reviews of existing partnerships.
Domain 1 Competency Area 1.3	Data Collection and Analysis	October 2012	4 hours	Review current requirements for your school under NCLB. Review the district’s collection procedures and data collected. Interview persons directly involved (curriculum director, principal, teachers and students.) Analyze the data collected and the perspectives from each of the people above and compile a list of actions needed to meet NCLB guidelines.	For this activity, I was able to join our school’s Representative Council Committee. We discussed the data (test scores) and compared them to previous years. I learned that we use the AYP and AEIS as a “report card” on how well our school does and even how well our school compares to others with similar demographics. Our administrator explained how the campus is broken down into sub-populations, and that each sub-population is required to meet a certain percentage when it comes to standardized testing. As a committee, we also discussed services and programs that were needed in order to improve these scores. These items were listed for budgetary purposes.
Domain 1 Competency 1.4	Negotiating / Consensus Building	May 2012	10 hours	Choose a current issue in the school. Use steps for issue resolution with a small group of concerned parties. Reach consensus for a plan to resolve the issue and or critique on areas where resolution failed. Include plan and critique in notebook.	Issue: Throughout the course of the year our administrators noticed that our third grade students had a difficult time rotating classes in the middle of the day. For instance, in the morning, a student would have Math and Science and in the afternoon, the student would rotate to a different teacher for English/Language Arts. When this happened student’s concentration would appear to be lacking, and the two teachers seemed to have a much more difficult time with classroom control. After observing this, the administrators as well as the third grade teachers thought it might be beneficial to get our second grade class ready for such transitions for the following year. Method: During the 4th nine weeks of school, a decision was made to combine four second grade classes into two separate classes. One teacher would be teaching Math and Science, while the other would teach English/Language Arts and Social Studies. The purpose in doing so was to get the student ready to have two different teachers by the time they had reached third grade. Concerned Parties: After initially talking about this issue with one of the second grade teachers, they were not happy about it. A class grew from roughly eighteen students to about thirty five students. (Two teachers would be in the classroom.) Having such a large classroom really put a teacher’s classroom management skills to the test. I did inquire about the involvement of parental concern to the teachers, but they said most parents were fine about this new idea and did not seem to complain. Resolution: As mentioned earlier, when this new system went into place, most teachers were not happy about it; however as the nine-weeks progressed, the teacher told me how more students were focused on their work and assignments due to the increased class sizes.
Domain 1 Competency 1.6	Collaborative Decision Making	April 2012	2 hour	With permission of the principal, observe a team meeting where leader plans to use collaborative decision making. Observe the leader’s behavior in outlining goals/problem definition, seeking information, providing information, clarifying/elaborating, challenging viewpoints, diagnosing progress, and summarizing. Include observations in notebook.	At the beginning of the school year, teachers voted for peers to be elected to our schools Representative Council group. I was voted to represent the Support Staff group. This was my first time working with a group of teachers and administrators concerning decision making for the school so I did not really know what to expect.  Unfortunately, due to many schedule conflicts, we were only able to meet once a year.  During the course of that meeting, we mainly discussed campus finance.  All of the representative members were given the overall budget broken down by departments.  It was first noted by our administrator that each department’s budget was greatly reduced due to the state’s financial crisis of that year.  For instance, normally there is an allotment for technology supplies (toner, identification badge equipment, etc.) However, this year there was no allotment for technology, so anything that the campus technology teacher wanted to purchase had to either come from a fundraiser or have funds from a different department cover it.  What surprised me the most was the fact that our administrator let us discuss what was best for the school. Everyone in the group had a say so. If someone did not agree on an idea of another, there were no hard feelings. Everyone put their own agenda to the side and wanted what was best for the school.
Domain 1 Competency 2.6	Effective Communication	March 2012	2 hour	Review and critique the processes used by the school to monitor the ongoing communication between the school faculty and parents. Include your critique in the notebook.	My goal for this particular standard was to interview as many teachers as possible to see how they dealt with the issue of parent communication.  As we all know, school administrators can get very bogged down with their day to day duties.  Most teachers realize that writing a student up for petty issues can just increase the workload of what an administrator does.  The next teacher that I observed had a very interesting way of communicating with the parent (when it came to student discipline.) This particular fifth grade teacher had roughly thirty five students in his classroom and stopping the class to fill out a discipline slip would disrupt instruction time.  Instead, if the issue was big enough to cause concern, he would have the student call their parents during class time. This method proved to be very powerful because the teacher was very consistent on how he did this. For example, if a student was caught disrupting class, he would have the student call the parent each time.  Eventually, the parents would get so concerned about what was going on, that they finally would discipline the student at home, which resulted in better behavior in the classroom. While the two examples that were talked about are completely different from each other, both were an effective way that the teacher used them towards their advantage. It is interesting to see how each teacher finds something that is comfortable (and effective) for them. It is also interesting to find that what works for one teacher may or may not work for a different teacher.
Domain 1 Competency 2.7	Community / Public Relations	June 2012	2 hour	Interview one or more persons involved in district / public relations. The interview should include strategies for effective communication to and from the community and the issue of community politics. Include a summary in the notebook.	The PR spokesperson had told me that they do a combination of things such as promoting things on our website as well as conducting once a year parent surveys which gives the district feedback about “how parents, community members, and business prefer their communication.” She also explained how many businesses usually approach the school district rather than the school district approaching the businesses.  For the most part, companies usually tell the district (or school) what they would like to do. For example, our district has a program called the “Education Foundation” in which once a year several thousand dollars are donated to individuals who want to invest it in their classrooms.  The funds normally come from companies that our district has partnered with. She said that this method works twofold: obviously, the teacher and school are happy because they have received the donation. However, she said, by donating funds to a school, it makes the company stand out amongst other companies by showing that they are a generous business.
Domain 1 Competency 2.8	Parent Involvement	September 2012	10 hours	Write a short proposal for increasing or improving parent involvement and attitude toward the school. The proposal will be included in the notebook.	Throughout the 2012-2013 school year I was able to be on the Parents Involved in Education (PIE) committee. While on this committee, other teachers and myself would come up with ways to get parents more involved in our school. Some of the major events that our school came up with were “Bingo Night” and “Math, Science and Literacy Night.” It was interesting because our campus had never had an event like Bingo Night, in the sense that parents would be participating in a game there on campus. None the less, we had our entire cafeteria packed out with parents and students. Not only did the families have a wonderful time interacting with other families, but our campus raised a tremendous amount of money from concessions and bingo card sales. The other event that PIE had come up with was the Math, Science and Literacy night. That particular event was designed to get the students and parents more interested in various subjects. My job was to section off our computer lab into 1st – 5th grade stations. Each station had grade specific games that the students could play. As a school, we have found that many parents enjoy coming to these events. Every event that we have planned this year has been a success.
Domain 1 Competency 2.9	Climate for Cultural Diversity	August 2012	2 hour	Examine and evaluate the school library with regard to resources that address the heritage and values of culturally diverse populations. A copy of the evaluation and recommendations will be included in the book.	I was able to interview our Librarian to see the selection of books that was available to our school in our library. I was a surprised to see how much of selection we had for Spanish books. It turns out, since we are an elementary campus, many of the bilingual may not be used to (or comfortable with) reading books in English. By having students read books in their native language, it is at least getting them interested in reading.
Domain 1 Competency  2.10	Community / Business Involvement and Partnerships	September 2013	6 hours	Compile a list of social agencies that are available to help and support the students, faculty and administration. The list of agencies and major services they provide will be included in the notebook.	In terms of providing food and clothing for families, there are several agencies and churches that serve our area where families can receive assistance. Some of those organizations include:  -First Baptist Church of Denison -Grayson County Food Pantry The next category our counselor explained were for those families needing shelters. The list of shelters included: -Hope Women and Family Shelters -Family Time Crisis and Counseling Center -Grayson County Area Women’s Shelter The next area of assistance our counselor told me about were for those students and possibly even families that have been abused.  She had told me that the number of referrals to these types of agencies from our campus was surprisingly high. They are: -Child Protective Services -Children’s Assessment Center The next area of services she had talked about was counseling. The agencies that she refers to are: -Abiding Christian Therapy -Family Time Crisis and Counseling Center The last category our campus counselor told me about had to do with student Psychiatric Evaluation. She explained how students that may have been traumatized can be referred here. The agencies are: -TMC Hospital -UNT Psychiatric Center -Greenville Hospital
Domain 1 Competency 3.11	Position Goals and Requirements	June 2012	4 hours	Obtain a copy of a job description and evaluation instrument use for the position of study. Analyze the correlation between the requirements listed in the job description and the performance standards of the evaluation. Copies of the job description and evaluation and the analysis will be included in the notebook.	The job description that I chose to analyze was for an Structure Unit Teacher. Basically a Structure Unit Teacher is someone who would be working with students with special needs. Depending on the number of students, the teacher normally is accompanied with one to two aides to assist with the students. According to the job description, the requirements/summary of the job includes: -Texas teacher certified with Special Education Endorsement -Appropriate certification for instructional level (K-12) -Three years of experience as a classroom teacher with special needs in a public school setting or state-approved facility. -Must be able to develop and deliver instruction to students identified on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or students with similar special needs through the use of visual support strategies. - Familiarity of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) which include, sensory integration strategies, discrete trail, music/rhythm interventions, structure learning schedules, applied behavior analysis (ABA), and other strategies deemed appropriate and successful for students on their individually identified needs. As far as teacher evaluation, our district uses a state adopted method known as the Professional Development and Appraisal System, also known as PDAS.  Since this evaluation is standard across the state, it may seem difficult to apply these standards to a teacher who is working with special needs. However, as mentioned earlier in the description, it does give the teacher to “…apply strategies deemed appropriate and successful for students on their individually identified needs.” It can also be noted that the first five of the eight domains were related strictly to the classroom. Standards six, seven and eight dealt more with issues outside of the classroom.
Philosophy / History of Education	Domain 1 Competency 3.12	January 2013	2 hour	Find a retired educator or elderly community member and conduct an interview. Focus on the oral history of the community and school system. Note significant events that affect the district / school today. Include highlights of the interview in the notebook.	For this task, I interviewed a retired teacher of 20+ years who had grown up, graduated from, and eventually worked for our district. She explained that she had been living in the community for about 35 years. When asking her about the history and expansion of our district she had stated that it really took off fast, however it seemed to have hit a slow down not too long after. A few years later the city had begin building a major highway through the district which attracted many industrial businesses which eventually lead to our district having to build a middle and high school. She also talked about the major impact that Hurricane Alison had on our district. She said after this major flood, the city moved the community into a “high risk flood zone” which caused flood insurance costs to almost triple in price. For instance, she was paying about $300 before the flood and roughly $860 after the flood. By this happening it slowed down the cost of purchasing homes in our area. As for the future of our district, she sees our district as a “premier district” due to the fact that the school district maintains a high standard for students and teachers alike.
Domain 1 Competency 3.13	Ethics	October 2012	2 hour	Meet with a group of school staff members (secretaries, clerks, etc.) to discuss their perspectives of ethical and un-ethical behaviors employed by the certified personnel in the district / school. Seek recommendations for policy changes, additional training, and / or consequences to ensure increased ethical practices by certified personnel. Include recommendations in notebook.	Meeting with staff members about ethics honestly had to be one of the most awkward interviews that I had done for the internship. From the start of the interview it felt like I was trying to pry about wrong things being done in the office. Nonetheless, I had interviewed our PIEMS clerk about ethics. She had told me that in PIEMS department, things to be considered unethical may include: grade entry, attendance reports, and the PEIMS “snapshot of the school” submission. She explained how our district has deadlines in place so that the clerks can go back and double check if there are any errors. If these deadlines were not in place, it would be easy to “fudge” on the data being requested. What surprised about ethics was when she explained how it was unethical for her to share student’s grades and data with other teachers. For instance, a fourth grade teacher would not be allowed to go to her and ask for information about a student’s grades in the third grade. As far as improvements, she suggested that there be a more consistent system of accountability in place. As of now, she says there is a small accountability group, between her, the receptionist, and the secretary, but could be improved.
Domain 1 Competency 3.14	Interpersonal Relationships	January 2013	10 hours	Choose from the following list of interpersonal skills that I wish to develop throughout the school year. (Mine are chosen below) -Converses with other in a positive manner. -Promptly gets back to others with concerns or needs. -Seeks to know and understand others. -Acknowledges accomplishments of others.	The first skill that I decided to work on was “Converses with others in a positive manner / seeks to know and understand others.” Due to the fact that I spend part of my day troubleshooting help tickets to teachers that may be frustrated, I always tried to make the best out of any situation. For instance, if a teacher’s document camera was not working, there would be a good chance that it was not plugged in. The “old me” would have been very critical with that teacher, but I have learned to usually joke about it (depending on the teacher) or use it as a learning experience. The second interpersonal skill that I have been working on this year was “Promptly getting back to others with needs or concerns.” As busy as teachers can get, I can truly understand the frustrations of them having to wait on something, especially if it is something that is related to technology.  At our campus, we have a system in place to where if a teacher has a computer issue, they put it on the help desk, which generates an email to me letting me know that they need assistance.  Knowing the importance of how critical technology can be in the classroom, I usually try to make it down to their classroom as soon as I get a break in my day.  It is very interesting because teachers would tell me, “Hey! You come really fast! At my old school, I’d be lucky if their tech came the same day.” Hearing comments like that really made me feel that I am doing my job right. The last area of interpersonal skills that I wanted to work on this year was “Acknowledging accomplishments of others.” This was actually a bit challenging for me because I do not have anything in common with my co-workers, as far as subject area is concerned. However, in February of this year I was able to attend a technology conference in which I learned of many ways to integrate technology into the classroom. When I returned from the conference, I was able to train teachers on what I had learned. It was not too long before I heard that many teachers were incorporating things that I had showed them in the training! They had experienced the same, “ah ha!” moment that I had experienced at the conference! Seeing that had really motivated me to continue to seek professional development and then come back and show teachers what I had learned.
Domain 1 Competency 3.15	School Board Policy and Procedures / State and Federal Law	May 2012	8 hours	Attend as many board meetings as possible. Include the agendas in the notebook, followed by a list of outcomes / decisions pertaining to each agenda item and any recommendations.	As a third year teacher, this year was my first year in attending a school board meeting.  I had the opportunity to attend two of them for my Lamar Internship in which the first meeting was much smaller in size than the second one. Each one of them lasted for about an hour or so. Upon entering, I was given an itinerary for the evening.  There were also questionnaire cards that were available just in case any members of the public wanted to ask the school board members any questions or comments.  What was surprising to me was the fact that majority of the time spent on reports, old business, and past agendas. When it came to New Business, an administrator, or department head would come up to the podium and let the Superintendent and the school board know what they were requesting. For example, there were two main proposals that stood out in the meeting. The first one item of business were proposals to the 2012-2013 calendar.  It had been drafted earlier in the year, however it needed to be approved by the school board.  The second item had to do with the Energy Management Policy. In this case, the head of Facilities and Maintenance had stepped up to the podium and proposed ways that the district could cut 5% from their energy budget. His main suggestion included installing a timing system for all of the lights at each campus to shut off at 8:00pm. They would then kick back on around 11:00pm so that the custodial staff could walk to their vehicles. They would then be shut off at 11:15.             The last item of business had to do with a “Closed Session” in which the public (including myself) was asked to leave while Superintendent along with the board members discussed classified material. To my surprise, the next day one of the teachers on my team told me that they had overturned a rule in which retired teachers who had come back to work full time for the district could actually be up for a contract renewal. Ironically, this had affected the teacher who had told me this news. She had explained that prior to this overturn, she would not have her contract renewed for the next year.  However, thanks to this vote, she was secured a job for next year.
Domain 2 Competency 4.16	Analyzing the Curriculum	August 2012	2 hour	Interview a person with experience in the textbook selection process. Include an overview of the process; evaluate criteria used and recommendations for improvement in the notebook.	For this task, I was able to interview my campus administrator. She admitted upfront that she was not the one who was responsible for ordering the textbooks, and that it was more of a district decision. She did however tell me that about two years ago, the district had to purchase new Reading textbooks. However, instead of just going to a publisher’s website to order, they had representatives from each publisher come out and give a presentation to the committee that was responsible for ordering the books. She explained that it was not just the textbook that was the selling point, but rather the added supplements that accompanied the textbooks. For example, there was a one set of reading texts that came with small readers and other “extras” at no additional charge. This was a major selling point because other publishers charged for these supplements. After a publisher was selected, it would have to be voted on by the district’s School Board for approval.
Domain 2 Competency 4.17	School / Program Scheduling	October 2012	2 hour	Participate in the process of student class scheduling. A brief overview of the process and any recommendations will be included in the notebook.	I was fortunate enough to interview our campus PIEMS clerk about how students are scheduled into classes for the upcoming year. She said that the teacher normally gathers with their teams and decides where students should be placed. Other things teachers look for are whether to see if students are in any special programs such as: LEP, Speech, Special Education, or 504. She went on to say that teachers also consider things such as behavior, gender, race, and ability. Needless to say, the procedure in grouping students is quite rigorous. She also explained how classes are not allowed to exceed 25 students.  If a class reaches that size, they must bring in an aide for the teacher, or request an exemption from the state.
Domain 2 Competency 4.18	Supervision of Instruction / Instructional Strategy	April 2012	2 hour	Observe one instructional assistant. Note duties, time, and expertise in academic issues to the students. Include a summary of the observation and recommendations for improvement in the notebook.	For this task I wanted to observe what our Instructional Coaches did and how their knowledge could help improve the classroom. To do this, I was fortunate to sit in on a Third Grade Professional Learning Committee also known as a PLC. A PLC usually made up of the teachers of a particular grade level, two Instructional Coaches, and an administrator.  In the particular PLC that I had sat in, there were four teachers and two Instructional Coaches.  The meeting started off by the Instructional Coaches asking about where the teachers needed more help. Some of the teacher’s responses included needing help with math games for “higher” kids, how to catch up a student who was new to the class, and how to better work with students that were considered “low.” The Instructional Coach that normally works with Math and Science offered the idea of working with “low” students a few times a week during classroom intervention time.  In a separate discussion with an Instructional Coach, I had asked about more of the specifics of what they do.  They had explained that they were in charge of helping analyze assisting teachers analyze CBA data, and basically answering any questions concerning curriculum and instruction.  In the future, I would definitely like to find out more about what an Instructional Coach does. The only improvement I can suggest is that possibly they spend more time in the classroom observing how instruction is conducted.  However, I realize that this is very tough to do when there are a variety of classrooms to visit.
Domain 2 Competency 4.19	Supervision of Co-curricular Education	May 2012	6 hours	Work collaboratively with one teacher in the planning and supervising of a co-curricular activity. A critique of the learning experience, using the indicators listed in the activity will be completed and included in the notebook.	I would be responsible for showing students the fundamentals of research, while the ELA teacher would be responsible for showing them how to set up the format of a research paper. The learning experience consisted of the student learning how to search via a search engine while also formatting a document consisting of well-constructed sentences.
Domain 2 Competency 4.20	Federal Programs Administration	May 2012	2 hour	Attend one Special Education meeting involving placement or annual review. A critique of the meeting will be included in the notebook.	I was fortunate to sit in on an ARD meeting this past year.  The purpose of the meeting was to review one of the student’s IEP and see what we could do to provide them the most restricted free environment. Normally the parent(s) attend the meetings, however the only people that were present in the meeting were the Special Education teacher, the ARD Facilitator, the Assistant Principal, and myself.
Domain 2 Competency 5.21	Learning / Motivation Theory	December 2012	10 hours	Review methods used to encourage student motivation in the classroom. Read two journal articles from refereed journals on motivation strategies and discuss readings with selected admins and faculty.	One of the biggest ways that I found motivation being used in our school was with one of our teachers. This teacher signed up for a free service called “ClassDojo” and “Learning Earnings.” With these services, the teacher was able to reinforce positive behavior as well as encouraging students to participate in class discussion by awarding them points. After students accumulated various amounts of points, they could cash them in for different prizes.
Domain 2 Competency 5.22	Learning Technology	December 2012	6 hours	Interview persons responsibility for assessing technology software. Describe the process used. Evaluate the process used and discuss concerns and any recommendations for improvement. Include the process description, concerns and recommendations in the notebook.	Every month, each Technology Teacher per campus meets together with our Coordinator of Instructional Technology. We normally discuss technology integration and best practices when it comes to technology in the classroom. We also discuss what the procedure is for getting new hardware and software. In terms of new computers, each campus is on 4-5 year rotation. For instance, after the four years go by at one school, then that campus would receive new computers. According to the Network Manager, this procedure has worked very well, except the fact that funding has been cut. With funds cut, it is very difficult to maintain this time table.   As far as software is concerned, there is some software that is required by the district (ie: Skyward and Eduphoria.) The district covers the cost of this software. However, any other software programs (Brainpop, Study Island, and Raz Kids) are left up to the campus budget. These licenses are usually purchased every year.
Domain 2 Competency 5.23	Evaluation of Student Achievement / Testing	May 2012	2 hour	Randomly select a group of students and elicit their recommendations for how to improve preparations for tests. Compile and critique the student recommendations and address the issue of student input to the process. The critique and recommendation for the student input will be included in the notebook.	For this task, I was able to interview a 5th and 6th grader. I asked them basic questions such as what their schedules were like, how many classes they had per day, and about how much homework they had every day.   Responses from 6th grade student interview: "How many classes do you have per day?" 4 classes per day. "How often are you given a major test?" It all depends on the subject. For Math, the major ones we have are End of Course,  mock assessments, real assessments, and STAAR Exams. In Social Studies, we normally just have vocabulary tests. In Reading, we have tests over the materials that we read. These tests are given two to three times a month.   "How do you think your teachers could improve when it comes to getting you ready for testing?" In Math and Science, I think if the teachers let us use note cards on our exams, that may help us remember how to work a problem. In Reading, having study note cards with importance concepts would help us remember the important information. I also think that working in small groups to help each other out would get us ready for the test.  In Social Studies, it would greatly help if the teacher could speak in more of a "kid friendly" language. He uses big words that are hard for us to understand.   5th Grade Student Responses "What does your teacher do to encourage student learning?" For Math, our teacher let us play a lot of learning games. When we were learning about charts, we always did an "understand" then a "plan and solve" which helped keep things in order. For Social Studies and Reading, we had learned a strategy called "Ugly Chickens Never Want Anything" (it is an acronym that helps us break down a question). For Science, our teacher lets us build things which helps with learning.
Domain 2 Competency 5.24	Student Discipline	June 2012	4 hours	Examine the school discipline policy and provide an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses. Include the analysis and recommendations in notebook.	A typical classroom’s discipline procedure may look like: -Verbal Warning -Conduct mark -Note sent home in agenda -In School Detention -Office referral   Some of the strengths of our policy is the fact that it gives your average students a few chances to “get their act together” before more serious consequences are enabled.  However, as of lately, there have been more students being sent to ISS because they are not following the rules. One of the downsides to ISS is the fact that a student is not in the normal classroom to receive instruction. This may reflect in student repots later on down the road. Another negative about our policy is the fact that it costs money to have an ISS teacher on campus. I never really thought about that until our principal brought it up. It costs anywhere about $70 - $120 per day to employ an ISS teacher. Overtime, this can add up and can put a massive dent in a school’s budget.  Our administrator went on to say that about 99% of the discipline issues can be handled in the classroom. She also told us that she “has our back” when it comes to discipline issues, however, we just have to make sure that we document everything so that we can have something to fall back on.
Domain 2 Competency 5.25	Current Issues Affecting Teaching and Learning	December 2011	10 hours	Complete a list of current issues that affect teaching and learning. Use research literature and perspectives from admins teachers, students and parents in compiling the list. Assess the degree of importance and urgency for each issue. Include your list and assessment with any recommendations in your notebook.	I decided to ask a few teachers what affected them the most about teaching, student learning and possible improvements that could be made to improve on all of the categories. One of the major issues facing teaching is the fact that many students (at least on our campus) are very disrespectful to their peers as well as teachers. In doing so, this might interrupt the learning processes. Another issue facing teaching is the fact that there is lack of interest in the content. To add to that, there is usually a large “to do” list concerning each lesson. To help with this issue, the teacher suggests that perhaps if the other duties that they are responsible for might be smaller, this might result in teachers being able to individualize lessons for students (differentiation). Another area that I had asked the teacher about were concerning the issues affecting student learning. The teacher that I interviewed told me that students do not care or understand the value of education. She also pointed out the fact that many students do not connect with the curriculum.   My final question had to do with ways to resolve these types of issues in our school. She explained how many teachers could benefit from more time for preparation and to teach certain lessons. She also wished there was more time to connect with other teachers to go over effective teaching strategies.
Domain 2 Competency 6.26	Staff Development / Adult Learning	February 2012	10 hours	Collaborate with an experienced staff developer in one staff development activity. This activity should include planning, implementing, instructing and evaluating. A copy of the agenda, relevant materials and the evaluation will be included in the notebook.	I was given the opportunity to share in an afterschool meeting about the things that I had learned at the TCEA conference. I was able to share different educational websites for students that teachers could use for centers. I was also able to share different teacher resources such as Dropbox as well. Honestly, it took a while for these things to “marinate” with the teachers, however slowly but surely, many teachers started telling me that they started using these resources and how it literally changed the way they went about their work day. Other duties that fell into this standard consisted of making a Wiki so that my school can use:
Domain 2 Competency 6.27	Personnel Procedures	March 2012	4 hours	With the permission of and administrator, participate in an interview for a professional position. Write a critique of the interviewing process and include it in the notebook.	I was able to sit in on three interviews for a teacher aide. I was honestly surprised to see how different each of the three different candidates carried themselves in the interview. For instance one of the candidates kept talking about herself and her family and offered very little in terms of what she could bring to the table. The second candidate was literally smacking on gum the entire interview which was very unprofessional. However, the third and final candidate was very confident, told about her experiences as a substitute and also explained about how her short term goal was to pass her PPR exam so that she could be certified.
Domain 2 Competency 7.28	Change Process	November 2012	2 hour	Review board policy regarding innovations and change in the district / school. Select two or three readings from journals and discuss content with faculty. Assess the degree to which change theory is used to facilitate innovation and changes in the district / school programs and operations. Write a reflective statement on the topic and include it in the notebook.	Most of the major changes that have to do with this school normally require board approval, meaning that our School Board has to vote on them. While majority of the time the proposals pass, there is usually good reason on why a group or committee requests a change. One of the biggest changes that I have heard of and seen was that in the Technology Department.  In these times of budget cuts, and making the most out of every dollar, the department was thinking of ways to cut costs while trying to keep up with the times. A few months ago our district decided to become a Bring Your Own Device district. Basically by this happening, students would be able to bring their own laptop, tablet, or smartphone to school to use for educational purposes. However, as with any major change, we did have our share of neigh-sayers and those who were afraid that no good could come out of having students using their smartphones at school. Fortunately our Board realized that bringing your own device to school would be more beneficial to student achievement rather than looking at all of the negatives.
Domain 2 Competency 7.29	Student Services	January 2013	2 hour	Interview a school nurse to discuss the major requirements, concerns, and goals for the school health program. Address issues such as AIDS, abuse, sex education, and any other current issue. A summary and recommendations will be included in the notebook.	After interviewing the our school nurse, I found out that students are required to provide proof of various vaccinations that the state requires in order to enroll in our school. She did not state what the specific vaccinations were required, but did state that the parents could not enroll students until proof was shown. Once a year, our nurse also has a group of college-aged student come from Grayson Community College and talk to our students about dental hygiene. In these sessions, students are normally given a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss in hopes of maintaining proper dental hygiene.
Domain 2 Competency 7.30	Issue and Conflict Resolution	December 2012	2 hour	Choose a current issue and my school. Find at least two people on either side of the issue. Meet with the chosen persons in a group or individually to ascertain the goals for each side. Ensure that each side understands the goals of the other side. Develop a list of concerns that each side has about the opposing side. Devise a resolution that helps both sides achieves their goals and addresses all concerns. Meet with people on both sides to reach consensus on the new proposal or plan. Include the goals, list of concerns and consensus on goals in the notebook. Include any recommendation for the school / district concerning the issue.	One of the issues that was forced upon our campus this year was a new program called “English Learning Development” or ELD. This was a program in which each classroom has to designate a block of time each day to go over the fundamentals of the English language. There were a few teachers who honestly though that this program was a waste of time due to the fact that it is very redundant and that the lessons were dry. For instance, our first grade teacher has to complete one to two hours of ELD every day. This biggest concern was having to hold the attention span of the students that young. However, I talked to a fifth grade teacher about the ELD program and she said that the hour and a half she spends teaching ELD everyday has made a tremendous impact in the way that the students write sentences. She went on to explain that although it was a major adjustment to get used to, students finally began to improve their scores on tests and writing samples.
Domain 3 Competency 8.31	General Office Administration / Technology	January 2013	2 hour	Inventory the current administration technology in use. This inventory will include phone systems, computer systems, copy machines, fax equipment, security systems and any other form of technology used in the administration of the school. The inventory will include the major uses and any concerns with these forms of technology. The inventory and recommendations for expanded use, upgrading or changes to current systems will be included in the notebook.	Our district believes heavily in technology integration, not only in the classroom, but also in the hands of teachers and administrators.  As the campus IT, I am privileged to help campus staff in using and troubleshooting the various technologies they may have. To begin, both of our administrators were given an iPad at the beginning of the school year. The iPad is synced up with all of the district’s contacts, educational apps, and even an app that allows them to conduct a PDAS evaluation for walk-throughs. From talking to administrators, they are much more satisfied with taking an iPad into the classroom than they are taking a laptop. We also have the essential tools such as a fax machine for the front office, printers and scanners so that all staff may use, and a networked phone system. One of the major resources that is relied on is the school’s security system. In what has been going on recently in the media and schools, one can never be too safe. As for warranties, all of our computers come with a three year “no questions asked” warranty. After expires, we start on a rotation of getting new equipment every 3-4 years.
Domain 3 Competency 8.32	School Operations / Policies	January 2013	2 hour	Meet with the school attendance officer. Discuss the rules, procedures and ramifications of attendance on law, finance, and general school  / district operations. Include the highlights and or summary of the meeting in the notebook.	I was able to interview our PIEMS clerk who had over 5+ years of dealing with attendance. She did a total run through of what they are responsible for. She explained that attendance must be taken everyday at 10am. This is because each student present represents a dollar amount. For instance, the State of Texas pays districts roughly $20 per day, per student to educate. However, if students require services, such as LEP, Special Education, GT and Bilingual needs, the cost of each student rises dramatically. If the student is not present, then it looks bad on the school (who would have to reimburse the State for the absence of that student.) She went on to explain how that if a child that is out of district is attending our school (with permission), then the other district will have to pay our district the cost of that particular student. Finally, she went on to explain how each campus is required to have a “snapshot” two times a year. This snapshot helps with the funding of the school, and also gives a sense of accountability come standardized test time.
Domain 3 Competency 8.33	Supervision of the Budget	November 2012	6 hours	Participate in the budget planning process for the school. An overview of the process and any recommendations will be included in the notebook.	For the past two years I have been a part of our campus’s Representative Council committee. This committee is responsible for assisting our campus leaders on which direction the school should go. One of the items that we discuss is that of school budget. Our principal was very frank with us in telling us “…we have X amount of dollars to spend” and encourages us to talk with our team about what we would like in our school. Once we come back with a list of items that we desire, our committee normally reviews and votes on them. (Majority of them get approved.) Overall I think that committee based budgeting is an excellent way to go about getting programs for our school. This way, everyone feels as if they contributed to their campus.
Domain 3 Competency 8.34	Professional Affiliations and Resources	January 2013	2 hour	Visit the NAESP or NASSP websites and compile a list of all services and information available to the principal. Consider joining the relevant association, and begin reading periodicals and keeping up with the advances and concerns of principals across the nation. Summarize your findings and their relevance to the current needs of your school in the notebook.	NAESP Resources include: -Blogs -Online bookstore -Various publications -Various ways to help improve campus -Advocacy resources   NASSP Resources include: -Webinars -Access to registration for upcoming conferences -Various resources that cater to various levels of principals (ie: the beginner principal, Assistant Principals, etc.)
Domain 3 Competency 8.35	Professional Library	January 2013	4 hours	Complete a list of books, publications, training manuals, and district or state publications used or recommended for the position of study. The list should include resources of the highest quality and relevance to the position and educational leadership. The list should be included in the notebook.	These are  "go to" when you want to expand  learning or even if you just want to see what is going on in the EduTech world.   Below are the websites that I use as resources:        http://tcea.org/ http://sisdits.wikispaces.com/ (This is our district ITS wiki which is only available to registered approved users.) http://classtechie.wikispaces.com/ (PLN wiki) https://twitter.com/classroom_tech (PLN Twitter follower) https://twitter.com/friedtechnology (PLN Twitter follower)
Facility and Maintenance Administration Safety and Security	Domain 3 Competency 9.36	August 2012	2 hour	Meet with head custodian to review job responsibilities and schedules of staff. Shadow / observe one custodian for a 1 hour time period. A brief report from the meeting and observation, including the needs, concerns, and overall assessment of work performed will be included in the notebook.	During my interview of the head custodian, I was able to find out many things that her and her team did on a day to day basis. To start, she had told me that she had been working in the custodial area for about 16 years in which she is required to work year round. Some of her duties include: creating a schedule where three other employees come in to relieve her from the morning shift. When she arrives at work, she is responsible for disabling the alarm system, and then having a team-member set it before they leave home for the day.  She is also the one that is responsible for ordering new supplies and keeping inventory of what is currently in stock.
Domain 3 Competency 9.37	Student Transportation	n/a	0 hours	Interview the director of transportation to discuss current issues and needs for transportation. Include costs, maintenance, personnel issues, training and safety, student problems. A brief summary of the needs and issues will be in the notebook.	Attempts were made to visit this person’s office and attempted to email him a questionnaire to find out about the Transportation Department, but no contact was ever successfully made.
Domain 3 Competency 9.38	Food Services	June 2012	2 hour	Interview the school food service manager to discuss the current requirements, concerns, and issues of the program. A summary of the findings from the interview will be included in the notebook.	I was able to interview both the local Cafeteria Manager as well as the Director of Child Nutrition. The Director of Child Nutrition provided me with many resources about how Child Nutrition is ran. She explained how the district is required to offer the students one item per food group. The student must select the item, but does not have to eat it. She then explained the qualifications of how students go about qualifying for free and reduced lunches.   Interviewing the school’s Cafeteria Manager was totally different than interviewing the Director of Child Nutrition. She explained what it was like working with a small team (cafeteria staff) and having to prepare meals everyday. She said that she was the only full time cafeteria worker and that the rest were part time. She went on to explain that her and her team prepare the next day’s meal, today. This is done to save time and to make sure everything is under code.