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Leading the Way
Leading the Way
Educational Consultant
Educational Consultant
The role of an educational consultant is varied and responsive to any and all challenges and unique situations a education partner brings to the conversation. The key of this role is to be an exceptional listener, responsive partner, and solution oriented supporter. In the midst of this role there are opportunities to continue to share with those in the education field. Partnering with other inspired professional educators, opportunities present themselves.
The greatest benefit of this role is the opportunity to see success become realized for students, educators, and communities through opportunities for providing training, coaching, and strategic analysis of instructional supports and curriculum via the lens of instructional/educational technology.
AASCD Whole Child 2024- AI Presentation.mp4Arkansas- ASCD Whole Child Conference June 10-11, 2024
Virtual Presentation of Same Presentation to Arkansas Tech University Graduate Educational Leadership Class- Instructor Dr. Mark Gotcher July 2024
Copy of CAST UDL Presentation.pdfVirtual Presentation Krystle Merry on Micro-credentials at 2023 CAST Symposium
Technology Initiatives eLearning Coordinator
Technology Initiatives eLearning Coordinator
As the Technology Initiative eLearning Coordinator I was charged with maximizing the resources and skillsets connected to instructional technology. This included working with Department of Education key influencers, regional Education Service Cooperative directors and specialists, district and campus administrators, and teachers. Additionally, it was essential to the role to determine the needs of the quickly evolving digital learning landscape including hybrid schools and virtual academies that are both "home grown" in approach as well as curriculum, and those that utilize already established programs.
Working with entities from every level from the classroom to the state level was continuous and flexible. It included anticipating both the safety concerns of students and teachers from a cyber-security standpoint as well as getting quality digital learning tools and resources in the hands of educators and students. Furthermore, it meant ensuring practical application and fiscal responsibility of multiple considerations within the scope of digital learning was ongoing.
To support and address the needs of educators at all levels a variety of approaches have been used. It included multiple presentations, providing customized professional learning, designing outreach approaches through multiple communication strategies, building effective online professional learning experiences, leveraging a variety of communication methods, and researching, developing, and delivering the "Living in Beta Mode" podcast.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
As the Director of Curriculum and Instruction my essential role was to oversee the design of curriculum, support teacher instruction as the curriculum was implemented, and ensure that student academic success through curriculum was secure. This role was vast and often loosely defined. Three specific areas that I believe I had the greatest impact are with:
1. Instruction through the utilization of my previous experience, training through Quaility Matters, ongoing training with Solution Tree, meeting with key curriculum leaders across the state of Aransas, and through ongoing collaboration with the Virtual Arkansas team and our partnership with other virtual programs from other states through the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance.
2. Restructuring Virtual Arkansas' Response to Intervention process.
3. Providing professional development pertinent to state, district, and Virtual Arkansas specific instructional and student needs.
Instruction
As the Director of Curriculum and Instruction I utilized previous training before coming to Virtual Arkansas, along with current trainings including, but not limited to Solution Tree and High Reliability Schools, to implement concepts and rubrics to evaluate student learning in regards to rigor, relevance and engagement to design professional learning, programs, and processes, such as teacher-peer walkthroughs, to elevate the level of conversations in PLCs about student learning and push the depth at which instruction was designed and implemented collaboratively. In addition to this I created an instructional model to assist with teacher clarity and teacher efficacy in regards to creating "just-in-time" instructional response to our students to ensure student success.
Response to Intervention
At the same time we were utilizing this approach with instruction and student learning, a greater emphasis and understanding was placed on Response to Intervention (RtI). As the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, I helped Virtual Arkansas' teacher-led intervention committee further define the way RtI students were identified, streamlined and pulled together all aspects of contributing data regarding RtI qualifiying factors for students, creating a schedule of when collaborative teams would talk about performance/concerns regarding individual students and targeted plans for intervention, as well as designed an approach with the support of campus facilitators to pro-actively address students in the RtI process.
Professional Development
During my time as Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Virtual Arkansas I have found creative ways to provide professional learning opportunities at the individual, team, department and campus level. This involved both face to face as well as digitial learning opportunites. One such situation was creating #VAEdCamp that utilizes the expertise of teachers to present innovative instructional strategies to support our student learners. I have learned that in every aspect of professional development it is essential to find ways to bring teachers to the forefront in presenting the ways that they effectively deliver content, assimilate strategies that are beneficial to most students, and highlight their teacher leadership. As a result it has further encouraged and assured teachers' acquisition of effective instructional strategies creating a stronger culutre of excellence in teaching and learning.
Assistant Principal
Assistant Principal
The role of Assistant Pricnipal is varied and often demands what is needed in the moment. Beyond the consistent and ongoing support provided to teachers, students, staff, and parents, there are ways I have utilized this position to:
1. uniquely lead and move student success via Response to Intervention processes
2. foster a strong campus culture and teacher professional growth through a variety of platforms
3. implement and support positive behavior strategies
4. promote and actively monitor campus safety
5. encourage, model and provide multiple ways to foster two-way communication with parents, teachers, students and the community
Response to Intervention
In the time I have been an Assistant Principal at Sendera Ranch Elementary we have streamlined our Response to Intervention (RtI) process utilizing district screeners (Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and Baseline Math Assesssments), student performance on Curriculum Based Assessments (CBAs), and summative measures such as state tests and marking period grade averages to first identify, then focus with percision on areas of need to address performance gaps with students. With identificaiton the RtI team supports classroom teachers as the grade level standard where the gap is determined and present baseline performance is established, from there pre-requisite skills are established tied to the grade level standard and goals for growth are set. Furthermore, a date for checkin within six to eight weeks is established where data collected on the goals that had been set are shared, and further goals are made based on anticipated growth or establish additional interventions if goals are not being met.
Campus Culture and Teacher Professional Growth
Capturing the learning and reflection that happens as a staff is one thing I wanted to find a way to do. I found that our staff's learning, opportunities to reflect, and growth when curated through the utilization of a campus blog provided an innovative way to do this. The platform of the blog allowed for ideas, learning, reflections and challenges to be addressed. The SRE Longhorn Learning Blog allowed us to move forward in our journey while remembering where we were. This campus blog served as a living document that promoted critical conversations for honest growth, learning and reflection.
Positive Behavior Strategies
One of the ongoing and essential goals of the assistant principal is to actively partner with teachers, parents and students utilizing positive behavior interventions and supports. This partnership requires addressing each situation and student individually with the goal for each student to grow in their understanding of how their choices and actions can foster opportunties or consequences. Furthermore, the use of resources such as counseling, goal setting, mentorships, community supports and parent involvement have been a few of the ways I believe a child's life can be transformed for the better.
Campus Safety
While many would say one of the greatest areas of concern in education is the physical aspect of school safety, it isn't in the response to a compromise of safety that is where an assistant principal is focused. Rather it is in the proactive measures, day in and day out, that I focus my energies. From a comprehensive daily assessment of the physcial buidling, to monthly drills, continual hightened awareness of visitors, as well as, ongoing safety procedures are what are proactively implemented to protect our students and staff. This is best addressed through the input of staff, parents, and local law enforcement and first responders, as well as, safety traninings.
Communication
Finally, communication is key to ensure that all stakeholders are invested in success of our students. Communication must be varied, creative, and frequent. Use of social media to inform, celebrate and showcase learning is essential. Additionally, grade level newsletters, classroom emails, and campus newsletters as well as an appealing, informative, easy to use website is something I believe is effective in creating open lines of communication. Digital communication methods are most often the gateway that connects our parents and communities to our learning community further inviting their physical presence on campus. With the skill set that I bring to my present role, I support every aspect of communication on our campus. I am adept at creating communications that are effective and visually appealing via socical media, email, Constant Contact and through our campus website.
Campus Instructional Coach
Campus Instructional Coach
As a Campus Instructional Coach on a middle school campus my essential role was to support teacher instruction and student academic success. This role was vast and often loosely defined. Three specific areas that I believe I had the greatest impact are with:
1. Instruction through the utilization of the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE) 'Quadrant D' concept and rubrics.
2. Restructuring the campus' Response to Intervention process.
3. Providing professional development pertinent to the campus specific instructional and student needs.
Instruction
As the Campus Instructional Coach I utilized the training I experienced through ICLE, the 'Quadrant D' concepts and rubrics to evaluate student learning in regards to rigor, relevance and engagement to design teacher-peer walkthroughs. These walkthroughs helped raise the level of conversations in PLCs about student learning and pushed the depth at which instruction was designed collaboratively. In addition to frameworks, the ICLE framework and rubrics were utilized to support conversations with teachers as I worked alongside teachers to redesign student learning and products to ensure a greater amount of work was occuring at a 'Quadrant D' level.
Response to Intervention
At the same time we were utilizing this approach with instruction and student learning, a greater emphasis and understanding was placed on Response to Intervention (RtI). As an instructional coach, I helped my campus further define the way RtI students were identified, streamlined and pulled together all aspects of contributing data regarding RtI qualifiying factors for students, created a schedule of when grade level teams would talk about performance/concerns regarding individual students and targeted plans for intervention, as well as designed an approach with the support of the counseling department to engage parents more pro-actively in the RtI process.
Professional Development
During the time as Campus Instructional Coach for this Title 1 Middle School, I found creative ways to provide professional learning opportunities at the individual, team, department and campus level. This involved both face to face as well as digitial learning opportunites. One such situation was with our ELL population that continued to increase throughout the school year. We were finding that the newly incoming ELL, unlike our returning ELL, were still in the early stages of understanding English. The strategies for helping ELLs became essential in all content areas. In my research to prepare for this training, it came to light that the same strategies that are most effective for ELL would also be beneficial to our highest need population, our economically disadvantaged. When I was able to approach the staff with an instructional strategy that would benefit not just our ELL but over 40% of our student body, the buy-in increased ten fold. I have learned that in every aspect of professional development it is essential to find ways to assimilate strategies that are beneficial to most students, as a result it further encourages and assures teachers' acquisition of these instructional strategies.
Instructional Technology Specialist
Instructional Technology Specialist
During my time ans an Instructional Technlogoy Specialist I was an instrumental part of four elementary and one middle school campus' successful integration of technology. During this time I supported teachers through the implementation of iPads as instructional tools to promote mobility around the classroom and gain in the moment formative data to guide instruction, facilitated the change from older technology to state of the art touchscreen laptops and fostered the move from Microsoft Software Platforms to the more collaborative online tools of Google Suite. I also wrote, facilitated and co-cooridnated professional development on campus and district wide.
With students I facilitated support both in the classroom and outside the classroom. I promoted cross district, multi-grade learning experiences involving one of my elementary campus' 3rd grade PBLs with the help from our high school STEM academy, facilitated a cross-district middle school Poetry Slam, and provided one of my elementary 5th grade Language Art classes a platform for live feedback with their poetry from an 8th grade Middle School class. Additionally, for the two years I was in this role I sponsored the "Hour of Code" event. The first year of this event spawned a Coding Club that then led to the following year the Coding Club taking charge of the "Hour of Code" event for their campus. I was also instrumental in training and facilitating many of my own campuses as well as other campuses in the district launching a "Geius Hour" for their students.
Highly Qualified ESL Educator
Highly Qualified ESL Educator
Through the National Institute of School Leadership I had the opportunity to receive eighteen hours of instensive ELL/ESL training and received through Northwest ISD the designation as Highly Qualified ESL Educator in addition to the State of Texas ESL Early Childhood-12th grade Certification. I have partnered with both our Title 1 ESL Coordinator and ESL Instructional Coach on campus and district level programs to best support our ESL students and their families, including the Latino Family Literacy Project.
New Teacher Campus Mentor Coordinator
New Teacher Campus Mentor Coordinator
As part of one of the fastest growing districts in Texas, the New Teacher Mentor program was an integral part of ensuring both educator and student success in Northwest ISD. I was a part of the flagship training and restructuring of the NISD Mentor Program in 2010, served as a mentor teacher, campus mentor liason and have remained both a campus and district leader in the area of New Teacher Mentoring. This was an essential part of our district culture as well as a beneficial process personally for me to gain an understanding of how to coach mentors and mentees to grow our new teachers efficacy and retain our skilled educators.
Curriculum Leader
Curriculum Leader
During my time as a classroom teacher I collaborated with other educators and curriculum specialists in Northwest ISD to continually enhance and improve district curriculum and facilitate/train other district educators in Math content and pedagogy. When I moved into the position of instructional technology specialist I continued to have a impact on district written curriculum. I partnered with all content areas of curriculum at both the elementary and secondary level as we moved to 1:1 third through twelfth grade, ensuring through the curriculum, teachers and students utilization and output with technology moved beyond substitution for pencil paper into relevant, rigorous work that enhanced and redifined learning. This was done both through district, campus, team/department and individual provessional development.
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