Supervisory Platform

In order to be a true leader, one must know in how they want to lead. Therefore, in order to better understand the views of someone, a platform is created. Platforms are very popular in the political world for citizens to get an understanding of the thoughts of the candidates. With that said, the reader of my platform of supervision should expect to truly understand my standing and vision of how schools should be lead, based on my experience and knowledge thus far.

The purpose of the supervisor is to be the chief, coach, or captain that would put forth these ideas and plans. I believe supervision is to enhance the professionalism of teachers, which will have a trickle-down effect to students, and the overall performance and running of the school. Supervisors should provide feedback on delivery methods, questioning methods, testing procedures, etc. all of which directly affect the students learning process. All classrooms should be 100% student based and the teacher should be there as a facilitator pushing the students forward. To promote better learning, questioning methods should contain both lower and higher level questioning derived from Bloom’s Taxonomy. Also, by examining testing procedures, this will ensure the specific topic aimed to be measured is correctly and fairly being measured. To better achieve testing procedures and assessments in general, I would have my teachers work together in creating all major assessments. Having these assessments created by multiple people provides a much less objective and better rounded outcome. A supervisor is only as good as their teachers. A supervisor can provide suggestions to teachers on improving their instruction, but it then it is up to the teacher to utilize the advice and implement the suggestions. Technology I believe was a futuristic object that we now have at our fingertips, but do not take enough advantage of. I feel most teachers do not take it upon themselves to keep up on the latest technology which would certainly enhance the learning of the current generation of students. The current generation of students has been introduced to technology their entire life, whereas some teachers still lack basic computer skills. There is a very large disconnect here. Professional development in these areas is a must, but it’s not enough. Teachers need to start to take it upon themselves in enhancing the way they run classrooms, mastering delivery of information, and in creating fair and accurate assessments; the ideal way to do this is to enhance their learning.

Educational planning should be a collaborative process between teachers. There is no need for teachers teaching the same subject area to have multiple versions of tests, quizzes, notes...etc. all on the same topic. Now each teacher will certainly deliver the lesson with their teaching style, but the line of questioning, material, and assessment should correlate throughout. To take it a step further, teachers should communicate consistently throughout the course of the year. Personally, I feel a weekly meeting during prep, in a specific room designated for these meetings would be the most productive. This will allow for all sorts of effective work to be completed. In addition, it is not always possible to schedule teachers with coordinating prep-periods, so another way to enable a collaborative effort in planning is to use technology; possibly creating a ‘share drive’. This is a network folder all teachers would have access to and can store files for others to see and use. It should be understood above that my platform of supervision is both student and teacher focused. Face it, if the students and teacher do not show up all there would be is an empty building. By shaping the teachers to see eye-to-eye that the students come first and foremost, the next order of business is to figure out together the best way in which to educate them. This comes from each and every teacher’s own individual and personal style of teaching. However, the specifics of what they are teaching would all be mapped out for them by teams of ‘master’ teachers whom are knowledgeable in that content area.