Collaboration
The candidate demonstrates the ability to collaborate and mobilize resources to meet the needs of a diverse learning community.
Wisconsin Administrator Standard 5
The administrator models collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.
Revised 5-2016
The following rationale and artifacts demonstrate my development as an emerging leader and provide evidence that the standard has been met.
Self-Reflection:
In order for any organization to be effectively run , there needs to be communication and collaboration with staff, students, and community. Collaboration is not only a way to share ideas, but a way to problem solve, predict possible outcomes, make future projections, and maintain current educational strategies. According to Fiore and Whitaker, "A leader must be a good listener, tactful, diplomatic, have an open door policy, recognize needs, and keep everyone informed." They continue that collaboration and communication, "saves time in the end, limits surprises and creates a good, honest, and positive culture." Today’s students and staff come from a variety of backgrounds, and we must meet their needs and learn from each other. People must feel comfortable with each other, and people should be encouraged to talk to each other to improve themselves. Staff needs to be able to communicate with each other, students, and community members to illustrate that they do care for their children. I firmly believe that as principal, I must model collaboration and open up the doors for effective communication. I have illustrated this in my "Gresham Open House" that I created. I took the initiative, literally opened up the doors, and had the community, parents, and students come to the school and prepare for the upcoming year. This was a tremendous success and help to all those who attended. Being upfront, having productive discussions, and giving your staff time to collaborate are key components of a successful school.
In EDL 765. Educational Leadership, I organized and created the "Gresham Open House." I constructed this project during the summer of 2015, and the actual event occurred August 26th, 2015. Even though I received an "A" for the preparation of the event, the success of the event was much more meaningful. In order to prepare for this event, I first interviewed all staff to understand exactly what we wanted to do. This I did individually. The most important people I collaborated with were the secretaries and the administration. Collectively, we agreed that the plan must allow students to meet their teachers, fill out all the required "school forms," pay any fees, drop off supplies, and include a orientation for sixth grade and freshman. After the goals and vision were clear, I constructed a flyer, fees worksheet, and agenda for the event. During the summer, I had to continually collaborate with many staff: janitors for setup and cleanup, teaching staff for classroom and supply lists, business administrator for the fees worksheet, guidance for scheduling, and office staff for availability and copy creation. Once I felt that I had covered all areas of need, I constructed a plan, drew maps, and "shared" all my documents with all those who were to be there. By "sharing," I mean, give staff access to my documents digitally. Staff were instructed to look over the plan, make suggestions, and give a final stamp of approval. Two additional items that were added were the fact that staff who attended the event would get additional pay, and students who attended the event would get their electronic devices before school began. After some final changes, administration and I sat down again to make final arrangements. Before the event, I helped secretaries mail information home; I also broadcasted it on Facebook and the school web page. The event was held on August 26th, 2015, and it was a huge success. Teachers were so grateful that the extra hour they had to add to their summers turned into many hours of saved time during the first week of school. Secretaries were grateful because most of the forms needed were turned in before school even started. Over 80 percent of all students/parents attended the event, far more than expected. Everyone was very cheerful and wished we would have had this event many years ago. After reflecting on the "Open House," I believe that there can be some improvements for future events. First and foremost, make many of the documents digital; this would alleviate the immense numbers of papers. Second, have separate orientations: some for just parents, and some for students and parents. This would allow teaching staff to address different concerns during the orientation. This event further testified that positive and frequent communication is best for any school or organization. It keeps people informed, keeps gossip and unknowing to a minimum, and most importantly, it gives everyone the chance to meet, express their opinions. But most of all, communication is the key in preventing problems and keeping a positive atmosphere within your school.
My second artifact which I have chosen is an incident report and meeting that I had with students and parents. As technology director, one of my duties is to fix and monitor student use and damages of chromebooks. Even though the school has insurance, the Technology Policy states that if a student habitually breaks his or her Chromebook, fines will be issued to cover the repair costs. Because the district has never issued a technology fine in the past, I asked administration if I could handle this situation, even though it was an assistant principal's duty. Upon looking for an incident report to fill out, I noticed that our district does not have an incident report other than a detention slip or accident report. Therefore, I asked administration if I could also create a temple for incident reports. While constructing the "Incident Report Master Copy," I focused on consistency and collaboration. I wanted to design a report that forced all parties involved to communicate and come up with a solution/resolution. I also wanted it to be straightforward and easily understood so that everyone could easily understand past infractions, current infractions, current consequence, and future consequences. The layout clearly demonstrates how staff, students, and teachers work together in filling out this form. During my actual meeting with the parents and student, we walked through the "Incident Report Completed," and discussed any areas of concern. The parent and student fully understood that this was a working document, until it was agreed upon by everyone and signed. The conversation was great, and it was not one way, but rather collective reasoning. In concluding the meeting, I feel that all parties fully understood what was discussed and the goals/solutions. The next day, I received an email from the parents explaining how well I conducted the meeting, and how professional and collaborative I was. This email is attached as "Gresham Community School District Mail." Throughout this experience I learned that parents do want to be a part of the solution. Because of this, we need to work with them and not become their enemies. I have seen too many times where parents are not explained the rationale for school decisions. Parents then do not fully understand the school’s decisions and sometimes feel they are unequal, unfair, or are singling out their child. Secondly, I realized that administrators and staff need to be consistent in what they do. School rules need to be clear, and "non negotiables" are non negotiable. When addressing staff, students, parents, community members, effective communication and collaboration forms the community, and allows each person to improve and reach their goals.
Effective communication is one of my top three values that I have held dear to me since undergrad schooling. At. St. Norbert, I was part of an communication class that taught us the roles of active listening and nonverbal cues. Ever since taking that class, I understood how people must communicate verbally and nonverbally correctly in order for others to perceive them as a true leader. This has been reinforced through Marian and in my teaching. I always check for understanding this way (verbal and nonverbal cues). However, I have grown to realize when is the appropriate time to use certain communication types (phone calls, emails, face-to-face, text, social media, etc.). Because I am in charge of all social media for our district, I am very aware of how word choice will affect the emotions of others. I have also learned that when problem solving, face-to-face and verbal conversation is best. As principal, I will use email, text, and social media for information only. I fully understand that the best and most effective communication is to pick up the phone, or physically meet with the individual/group. When analyzing the "true" leaders of the world, they not only were "good talkers," but they constructed their speeches to have meaning and vision to their followers. They composed and expressed themselves in a way that allowed people to gravitate to them. But most important, these leaders allowed their followers to take ownership by giving them a voice and making them feel like they had an integral part to the solutions of problems. As principal, I want to be the person who "puts all the cards out on the table" and discusses things thoroughly to make rational and data-driven decisions. I will be a principal who works with all individuals to collectively come up with solutions and visions. I feel that is is the best and healthiest way to lead a school.
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