Interviews

The interview process we went through for class was very beneficial. It was a revelant project that gave each one of us real experience in interviewing potential job applicants. We were able to brainstorm fifteen inteview questions that could potentially be used later as a principal. We were also able to get a feel for how a interviewing process should go.

During my internship I was able to interview multiple teaching positions, this class would have better prepared me for those interviews. I had to create my own questions for the interview process. I feel now that I have a better question bank to use in future interviews.

11/14/10

The mock interviews were interesting. Our group was not 100% in agreement on how the questions should be asked. We were not sure if we should or could ask additional questions that may have come up based on personal response. This means that each candidate could have possibly given more information than another candidate. It makes me think how divided an interview panel may be when I sit for my next one. Again, the group input and networking is crucial.

I also thought the the ladies that came in to do presentations was extremely helpful. To get the information straight from them was very valuable. I have never worked in a building with a counselor and was under the impression that they still did exactly what they used to do when I was in school. I now understand some of the frustrations voiced from our resident classmate counselors.

11/13/10

Sitting through the different scenarios reinforced how important it is to take the time to cover all the bases. It is too easy to jump into the middle of a situation and actually make it worse. Policy is generally policy for a reason. Situations like those presented in class may not ever happen but chances are if they do it will be in my building. Brainstorming with the small groups also continues to drive home the importance of networking. All of us in the group seemed to come up with something that the others did not account for or consider that may have caused a problem in how the situation was resolved.

I also thought that building and reviewing some of the job descriptions for today was quite an eye-opener. It made realize how little I know at times what others around me actually do and get accomplished in their concentration. A very well written job description can help to hold teachers to a high standard of education while a poorly written one may allow for that "slacking" after tenure.

Sunday Nov 14

I found this day to a very informative and productive day. First, the interview process was beneficial for the student teacher as well as for us. As a high school teacher I feel that I was in unfamiliar territory as we interviewed an elementary teacher. It was nice to have a few elementary teachers with us to see their view points on the interview. I still feel that you take a big gamble with an interview. I have had the opportunities to interview our 2 new science teachers. Each time I always seem to have an instinctive feeling about a person and usually that feeling turns out to be correct. How do we get away from using our own feelings about a person and see just good of a teacher they will be?

I really enjoyed having the counselors come in. Our building is still dealing with the old school model of a counselor. I was quite surprised at what their roles in our schools can really be. They can provide an important part to a school but seem to be overlooked far too frequently. How do we make that transition with a counselor who is still using the old model and a principal that does not truly understand how to utilize a counselor?

Remediation

I took many notes from Sandra Malahy. First off: "support and help all your teachers before it gets to the remediation process." As instructional leader, I will make time to get into the classrooms whether it be a walkthrough or informal classroom visit to help build the trust and relationships needed to help teachers improve in their instruction. The message kept coming up over and over again- "build relationships... be highly visible... develop trust for those professional conversations." Document, Document, and Document. The remediation plan has to follow the time lines we learned about in EDL 538. It was interesting to hear about the up-coming changes in the evaluation and how performance will be a part of the process. I'm getting ready to do my evaluations for the internship and have been looking through the Danielson book on teacher evaluations. I was glad to hear the message from Ms. Malahy that also hold true: make all decisions on what is best for all students.

Sunday, Nov. 14th

I am extremely interestd in remediation and the principal coming in to discuss it made some excellent points and gave very valuable information. The planning and organization needed to remediate a teacher seems almost overwhelming when mixed in with the total schedule that the principal needs to keep. Communication seems to be the key to both remediation and termination. It would really take a proactive team to deal with a marginal/ bad teacher. I think if either the principal or the superintendent is weak that the process would never be completed. As I begin to work with a marginal teacher in our school, I will use this information to assist the administrative team in formulating a plan of action.

Saturday Nov. 13

One of the things that was really clear was that absolutely nothing is black and white! After looking through and discussing the policies, there is still so much room for decisions. What may work in one situation, may not in another, but then we could be told that we are unfair or playing favorites! The case studies were again a reminder that nothing is set in stone. I think we need to be careful not to judge how an administrator handles a situation since we rarely have all of the information that they had to make a decision with. We need to strive to always to the best we can with all of the information we have and not just take the easiest, shortest way out. It was also really interesting to hear how other schools policies are worded.

School Counselor Visit

After the school counselor visit yesterday I realize the importance of having a school counselor in ALL school buildings. I also have a better understanding of how that person could be utilized in the school building and what their job role consists of. I believe that a school counselor could be a great asset to data team reviews and much more. As an administrator it is vital to be knowledgeable about what the duties of your school counselor is or should be. I was not aware of the amount of training and knowledge gained by these individuals, and feel that if you have a school counselor in your building then you should be utilizing them in the best way possible. School counselors should be a key factor in the school's climate. This staff member will increase student achievement if allowed to do the functions of a school counselor.

11/14

I feel like today's class was one of the more practical and informative classes that we have had.  Actually, really enjoyed the interviewing experience.  I was able to separate myself from being a teacher and grad student, and into the role of a principal trying to get a feel for an interviewee.  I understand how much preparation is done by the interviewer before he/she holds interviews.

Also, it was beneficial to be able to not only listen to current school counselors, but also to be able to have small group interaction with one from my building level.  I can say that I am one that has failed to understand the relevance for school counselors, but after hearing their job descriptions and listening to their daily activities, I now understand more the need for effective counselors, and the positive interactions between them and building administrators.

Grant Iles

I have experienced first hand the difference between a counselor that has recentlty graduated from college and one that graduated 20 years ago. Two years ago the counselor that had been at my high school for over 16 year was removed from the counselor position and replaced with someone that had just graduated from college. There was some turmoil in the district about this move, but it was definitely the right move. Our new counselor has brought a lot more to the table. She has focused more on counselor aspect of the job. She also has done a great job scheduling classes for students. The old practice was 2 or 3 weeks into the new school year students would finally have there classes set for the year. Now students have their classes set for the next year before they leave for the summer. I teach in a small district so scheduling classes for students falls on her shoulders. I wonder if counselor have a course on scheduling?

The interview process was fun. I can see where having a group of people in the actual interview can lead to great discussions. I belive that our group did a great job discussing the interview. We were able to give Emily ways to improve for her next interview. Besides focusing on Emily we talked about what we might do different the next time we interviewed someone. It was great practice.

Weekend 2 Day 2

This Sunday's class was one of the most relevant sessions I have had in the program. The interview process was a great learning opportunity, from the development of questions, to the pace of the interview itself, the caucus afterwards, and the discussion with the interviewee, I learned something new from each experience. The process also helped me realize the kind of interview I would conduct as an administrator would involve the use of follow up questions because after just asking our 15 questions, I had more questions than answers.

I was also impressed with the presentation about the role of counselors in schools. I especially enjoyed the time to breakout and discuss with the counselors and other middle school teachers. The school I work at hired a full time counselor last year and as I was listening to the presentation many of the initiatives he has started or is trying to start suddenly made more sense when I realized the counselors job is not the same as it was when I was in school.

-Jake Crase

Nov 14

The presentation in the morning about remediation was very similar to the EDL 538. It was interesting to listen to a case that was taken from start to finish. The problem continues to be the amount of time that can be devoted to this part of the job. When I asked my administrator how many people he has put on intervention plans in his 10 years was only 3. Out of those 3, all were let go or resigned. It seems these plans are mainly used to get rid of teachers rather than improve their teaching.

It was interesting to see how the counselor programs in the state of Illinois are changing their role in education. I am interested to find if Iowa is also improving their programs as well. From what was discussed it is almost as if the counselor role is being redesigned to fit as a new educator with curriculum, participation in the class, continued assessment of data etc.

KP

Interview Dilemma

The interview experience was a good one.  Coming up with a process with which to choose our questions was key!  Once we had a way of gathering questions, we could easily focus on the importance of the questions and whether they served our purpose. 
The discussion after the interview was the most enlightening to me.  I discovered how one sided my view is.  It was eye opening as to how narrow minded I was being.  My initial reaction to the candidate was that she didn't "wow" me.  I wouldn't hire her.  As our team went through the questions one by one, I saw that she really did have some good answers and would probably be a good hire. 
I think having been burned before as a member of an interview committee has made me feel a great amount of pressure in hiring just the right person.  Three times, a committee I was part of hired what turned out to be very negative, self-serving imposters.  As a result of these experiences, I am extremely cautious of a candidate who looks great on paper.  All three of these "bad hires" in my past had almost impeccable records on paper.  They had perfect graphs, schedules, and data.  They made promises that never came true.  They proclaimed their advocacy to students, commitment to being a team player, and ability to communicate effectively with parents.  Those traits never came to be in any of those people. 
The interview experience yesterday and today may have helped me be more lenient on my judgments.  A work in progress for sure!

11 14 10

In regards to the remediation process, my concern would be similar to Laurie's in that which teacher do you choose to take on that daunting responsibility?  I would think that it would be extremely difficult for a consulting teacher to be a friend, and then have to be the person to make sure that they are following the remediation plan and meeting deadlines.  I would think that it would be easier to find a teacher from a different building that is not closely involved with the teacher.

In terms of the process involved in interviewing, I could see that in our group there were so many individual perspectives that it took much discussion, and one major one:)), until we finally reached a consensus.  I can see why it might be easier to have a smaller panel for an interview session.

I find it interesting that the school code has changed for the role of counselor; however, there are many districts that are still following the older job description.  I think that having one more faculty member to contribute to the vision and academic goals for the school is very beneficial.  It is a detriment to the students that schools are not following the new job description and making it work for the best interest of the students.

Remediation-Consulting Teacher

   I keep wondering what kind of person it takes to be a consulting teacher to a teacher in need of remediation.  That seems like such a daunting task.  Having seen a variation of this remediation in my building, I can say it was difficult for consulting teacher to "reach" the struggling teacher. 
   Another teacher and I took it upon ourselves to help a struggling teacher last year.  Without giving more detail, I can say it was very difficult for us.  We were not sure if we were using the right strategies or having the right conversations.  The struggling teacher was very appreciative of the other teacher and the conversations they had and methods shared.  However, those conversations were tough and I think it might have been more than the "consulting teacher" could handle.  I was simply the facilitator of these conversations and it was tough at times.  With no administrative support, we were floundering.
   As I reflect on that situation, I am glad that we gave the extra time, effort, and thought because things could not remain as they had been.  How does a principal choose that consulting teacher and how much support is given?  
    

Interviews

The mock interviews were a great learning tool for our class. It gave us a chance to learn some things about us as people as well and what each of us look for in a “good” candidate. I found that we should have prepared a little more regarding who was going to lead the interview process, ask specific questions, and what it was we were truly looking for. During the interview, we found some areas that we didn’t have any questions for, but the members of my group adapted and improvised. These are two extremely important qualities for administration. I also reflected on some of our questions needed to have follow-up questions after the response of the candidate. Overall, I think it was a very rewarding experience for our group and for the student teacher.

this weekend

i hope dr. closen will forgive me for not posting about yesterday's class. i will make up for it by combining yesterday's with today's.

from yesterday's class, i learned a lot from the discussion about climate and culture. those two words are used frequently, and not always used correctly. being a future leader, i think it is important to know what they are and how to use each one.

i thought of a couple of things while we were talking about the 11 top 10. my principal is one of those that, as soon as the speaker has started, leaves. and each time i see her do it, i make a note that i need to stay because i hear how the staff react to her leaving early. i guess i appreciated the reinforcement from the book that i am thinking the right way. my other thought was about the personal wellness plan. i have a friend who took a principalship of a large middle school in the illinois-quad cities. i actually job-shadowed him in september. his day starts when he gets to school at 7am. on most nights, he doesn't get home until between 10pm and midnight. as his friend, i told him that i was concerned for his health because he is a few years older than me and i know from experience that a person can keep up a routine that for only so long before the body starts breaking down.

the last thing i will comment on is the witch scenario. i think we are all prepared for scenarios like this no matter who the people are. i found it interesting that there are some people that write many letters of reprimand, and other people that don't see the need to write very many.

i enjoyed today because there were many different activities for us. sandy malahy reinforced what dr. mccaw told me in another class: the teacher remediation process will end up taking about a year. and, like almost everything else today, you have to document, document, document. the one comment i will use that sandy said was "we already know what you know; we want to see what your potential is."

as dr. closen has told us (other than nothing is black and white), hiring staff will be one of our most important jobs. due to an unexpected leave of absence this summer, i led two interview teams to hire a guidance, oops, i mean school counselor, and a language arts teacher. preparation for those interviews, because i was the leader, was important. i was not as prepared for today's interview and, while reflecting, realized that i missed a couple of opportunities with follow-up questions that would have been helpful in getting information for my interview team.

as i mentioned in my last paragraph, this past summer i led the interview team that hired a school counselor. our candidate was a graduate of wiu's program and has done a great job. after seeing the future graduates today, it is obvious that they are successful because of dr. nikel. i am going to put her name into my rolodex, and when i'm an administrator and need a counselor (school, not personal) she will be the first person i call.

Interviews, Remediation, and Counseling

Today was a busy day but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt like I learned a lot today and was able to see how pieces of this administrative puzzle fit together.

I enjoyed going through the process of generating interview questions, asking them, debriefing, and reflecting on the whole process. It was a great experience and I have a better idea of things to look for when I'm hiring someone for a position within my building.

Today was a perfect day to have Sandy come in and talk about remediation. It tied in nicely with the mock interviews. I really like how she stressed the importance of conducting informal observations on a regular basis. I think that's going to be essential in avoiding potential personnel problems. I really like some of the things that she's doing as an administrator. It's not often that an administrator gets involved with the day to day educational process. It clearly shows her dedication to the educational profession and has made me think about the kind of impact I can have within a building as an educational leader.

I also enjoyed having the counselors come in and share with us how a school can benefit from their expertise and the kinds of things they are licensed to do. Having worked in a building where I felt more like a counselor than a teacher I understand the importance of having a counselor on staff. As an administrator this is something I know I will fight for. Having them here makes me want to learn more about counseling in schools. I think it would be great if there was actually a course in our educational program that focused on counseling from an administrative perspective.

Interviewing-Getting the right people on the bus!

I found the interviewing process to be helpful in many respects.  The importance of getting the right fit for your building to continue your mission/vision was brought to the forefront.  I can see how important the scanning of resumes are, how candidates present themselves with their attire, body language and linguistic skills, and what educational experiences candidates possess.  After going through this process, I understand how important getting the right person is in order to help fulfill your building's mission.  I also think about how candidates can sometimes come across as a good fit, and then when they are in your building, they don't become a successful part of your mission, it is imperative to be in the classroom and evaluate them!
     The other part of the today's presentation I found to be helpful was the information on remediation.  The process is a little different in Iowa than Illinois and the process of evaluation is different as well.  I thought this information helped me to understand the process and what happens when a teacher is in need of improvement or unsatisfactory.

Nov. 14th Class

The class time today was well spent. Practicing the interviewing process was time well spent. Using our own questions was eye opening in the fact that after we finished the interview we discussed questions we should have asked. Developing the questions is one of the most important parts of the hiring process.
Remediating teachers is an area inwhich administrators need to be well versed. It made me think when it was said that it is cheaper to spend time remediating a teacher than releasing a teacher and hiring a new one to only start all over again. Again we get into the IL code and the law in dealing with underperforming teachers. An administrator needs to know so much and keep up on current events to be able to be successful in the field.
Having the counselors spend the time with us was very interesting for me in the fact I did not know that counselors were now in the primary schools. This is the level they should be at. I agree that problems could be diminished if we had support for our students at the elementary level. I also like the new model for counselors. I don't think up to this point that we utilize our counselors to their fullest. I agree that if we did utilitize them as outlined that student adverse behaviors would decrease and student acheivement would increase. Many of our students need all the support they can get to succeed in school and beyond.

November 14, 2010

The interview process is such an important role in hiring someone. I am glad to have completed the mock interview. After the interview took place and my group was able to discuss how we felt it went we realized a few areas/questions that we should have addressed. I have never been a part of an interview team; therefore I was able to learn and get feedback from my team members.

Today’s time with counselors really made me think about understanding the roles of ALL staff. I think we are so worried right now about either getting a job or being a change agent, that we forget there are key people who can assist us in this process if we understand their purpose and utilize them! I also thought the interviews were an awesome experience, both for the candidates and for us. I thought the whole process of writing the questions based upon the IIRC data was time very well spent and the interview was great as well. Being on the “other side” of the interview was extremely interesting. I felt a bit like now that we’ve all been education for awhile our expectations are extremely high and we may have been a bit hard on our interviewee. I like that you pointed out that we aren’t expecting a new teacher to know a ton about specific content, we want her to prove that she can learn it. (I think our team forgot this a bit ) Overall the interview showed me a lot more about what to expect and how to handle interviewing. This was a very enjoyable day that I think taught me some vital things to remember when I am hired as a principal.

Counseling

I enjoyed listening to the counseling students and Dr. Nichols talking about counseling. At my school, there is not a real counselor. There is one person who helps the kids with college prep. The kids just find who ever they feel comfortable with when they need help. One time, I got a kid came and talked to me, I didn't really know what to do, so I had to talk to another person for help. It would be useful to have counselor, so kids can all go and talk to. They have experience and education to help these kids more effective.

I agreed with Sandy, it is important to help beginning teachers to succeed. It costs too much money and time to go through the hiring process. A lot of time, as human beings, we tend to focus on people's weaknesses instead of strengths. By focusing on their strengths, we can help them expand them. With weaknesses, we can help them to improve, but using no judgments in the process.

Sunday, Nov 14th

I thought the guest speakers were beneficial. As I've stated before, real-life experiences that are shared with the class are so much more interesting than ones that are read in the textbook. I did not realize how much the counseling program had changed across the country. I also really liked the interviews we did. That's the first time I've been on the other side of that process. Creating questions and evaluating answers was one of the more helpful things I've done in this program.

Nov. 13th Class

Creating the interview questions brought to mind the importance of having good questions for the interviewee. Good questions will weed out the teacher candidates that will not fit with the school or district. The scenarios reaffirmed the statement "nothing is black and white". The scenarios also brought to mind the fact that you need to step back and evaluate situations instead of jumping into action as far as reacting to non threatening situations.
Evaluating the district policies brings to light the fact that not every situation is dealt with in the policies. Also, the policies are not written in black and white, but provide gray areas for flexibility in decision making. I was also impressed with the fact that the unions do play a huge role in policy making and in deciding how situations between administration and teachers are viewed and handled.

November 14 post

I really learned alot about the interview process. I thought that making the questions for the interview was very beneficial so I can use questions, like the ones we developed, in interviews in the future. Also the counsel portion was very well done. I didn't realize how the job description for school counselors has changed since I have been in school. I have noticed the school counselor at my school is trying to be more involved and be more as assistence in showing the students their potential future opportunities.

11/14/10

The interview process was interesting, particularly the persons resume did not really show their area of applying for the job. We did nicely explain ways for her to format their resume differently to represent her academic strengths.
The teacher remediation guest speaker was very helpful when we have that employee that we will need a remediation plan. Sandy's real life discussion with employees, so it does not become a remediation issue was helpful.
The School Counselor speakers were "OH GREAT!". Very well spent time!

11/14

If you are going to take risks you better do your research. Your risks better be calculated and have little potential for failure. Too many risks will get you fired! Hence, opening a resturant and closing it down after a year! Did we do the proper research before we decided to get out of education. It is one thing to fail with your own money it is another to fail with the school districts. Risk/Reward....you better do your research!!



The interview process was beneficial because I think I need to work at developing follow up questions to my original questions. The follow up questions can and should draw more out of the candidates which will allow you to make a better decision.



The counseling position has evolved along with the principal position. I believe their roles have change because our society has changed since we were in school. The different hats that each position now wear are related to the make up of your school and community. As future principals we should work with the counseling department closely as you would work with your asst. principal and other staff members. The value they can bring to your organization can make your job easier if used properly.

Interviews

Interesting opportunity in these interviews. I have interviewed teachers before (administration too). I have never had the opportunity to debrief the interviewee after the fact. It was fun for me and I hope good for our person. We were able to tell her that she interviewed well, but her resume was not good. So we were able to give her some ideas as she gets into the interviewing game. However, I'm not sure that she understood how stiff the competition is. Derek shared that his school had 100 applications for 3 positions. The benefit for us is when we become administrators, we will have a larger pool that, perhaps, in the past, but for our person it means she's actually have to be better than the rest.
In looking forward to applying for principal jobs, we need to be better than the rest. Better get started.

Weekend 2, Day 2

Today was a good day. The time spent interviewing teachers was invaluable. It not only gave the student teacher a chance to go through the interview process, but it also provided our team of future administrators an opportunity to talk about valid questions, and discuss what qualities we might look for in the staff we hire. Our group had some powerful conversation about expectations during the interview process, and I took away some key points.

I was glad the counseling department came in today. There is so much more to counseling than just guidance in schools today. It was nice to receive an explanation of the current model, and the responsibilities that a school counselor has. I know how essential our school counselors are in the day-to-day operation in my building. Every day students come in with issues that carry over from their home environment and impact their achievement in the classroom.

I would say that this has been one of the best weekends I've had in the program in over 2 years. I've taken some good things away from the past two days, and look forward to our next discussion in a few weeks.

Saturday

I believe that the most beneficial part of this program is the ability to brainstorm in small groups or as a whole class different scenarios that can arise on the job. I want to hear different points of view on how they would handle tough situations. In the case studies we completed yesterday, we were able to come up with different strategies to attack and solve the problems. Even though each situation is different, the discussions could give us possible solutions to use in the future. The key to solving problems as a principal will be thinking before making decisions. This is exactly how we solve the case studies in class. We brainstorm different ideas and communicate with other reliable sources then make the decision. It is a decision you will have to live with so make sure you have multiple and reliable sources to help you solve your different issues.

school culture

11/13

After completing the school culture survey I was not suprised by my responses. I have felt/sensed and observed a culture that is adequate but not necessarily inviting and overally positive when you enter our building. From a physical stand point we need to get a face lift! We need to make the front of our building/yard look like a groomed golf course. We have a generic sign board out front that constantly is losing letters when the wind blows! Our school is located on the main road coming into town. It would be a great recruiting tool for families and business that are thinking about moving there to see a well kept building with a modern electronic board to advertise the good things that are happening in our district and building. The climate on the inside is adequate at best. Our buiding leadership is under restructuring due to the lack of leadership last year. The only way to create a better culture is to find another building leader that has proven experience and leadership ability. There was a sense of excitement last year but if fizzled quickly because the leadership was fake and self centered. A great leader will deflect all praise to their teachers and students and not talk about their accomplishments as though they did them on their own.

11 13 10 Personnel Policy Discussion

I always find it very interesting to hear discussion with what districts are doing.  I am always confused as to why districts have policy, either district or student handbooks, where administrators choose to not follow or interpret by their philosophies - and it always seems to end badly.  I also think that it is interesting that my district policy manual was adopted in 2006, and made reference to the collective bargaining unit's contract, which has been revised since 2006.

interviewing

The interviewing process was interesting, particularly in the debriefing afterwards. I feel like maybe I was a little too blunt about the resume weaknesses, but hopefully she'll be better prepared for her interviewing season. I did find that after we asked our prepared questions, some of us had other questions that popped up, and I particularly found that some of the wording of questions didn't work so well and that practicing and revising questions prior to an interview might be a good idea. Also, I think it's important to target some of the school's SIP goals specifically, so that the interviewee has an idea about the expectations of the building goals.

She's a witch!

The whole case study thing with the witches threw me for a loop. How many things are there that we, as principals, will come up against and have no answer for? Unfortunately, you can't just shove your hands in your pocket and say, "well, look at that." I think that we need to be ready for this unknown instance. We may not be ready for it, but we need to start thinking about how we are going to handle our own personality when we are met with this situation. It is okay to admit you don't have the answer, but when your teachers see you being honest and actively working on the problem, they will trust you as a leader.

The policy discussion was very interesting to me. I knew our district had policies but I had never taken the time to look at them. I had no idea how many policies there actually were. I'm glad that they were all on a cd. Being on a cd made it easier to navigate through the policies. It was interesting to me to see how different policies from different districts could be view differently. Also I found that my current district was lacking a few policies.

Saturday Nov 13

While meeting with our group to prepare for the interviews, the major question on centered around whether it was possible to ask follow-up questions or whether you should stick to a script. Being an inquisitive person and always wanting to know more I had never considered just sticking to a script. It makes sense of why you would want to ask the same questions and limit the interview to just those questions in the sense of fairness. With anything though fairness doesn't always mean the same. By sticking to a script I don't know if you will be able to get to the "meat" of that person's educational background and philosophy. The questions should be used as a catalyst and the answers the interviewee gives should be the driving force of the interview.

KP

Weekend 2 Day 1

Interview Questions - Jacob Crase

This morning I learned a lot about the interview process and was amazed at how differently people viewed the interview process. Personally I wanted to have a conversation with the candidate and let them do most of the talking while asking lots of follow-up questions to learn about there teaching style, personality, interests, etc… Other people in my group view the process much differently and believed each person needed to be asked the exact same questions. I was surprised to learn that is how WIU operates due to the threat of legal issues. I can understand some of the logic behind a strict set of questions, but personally I would not be able to operate in that context because I want to know people as individuals, and don’t believe the same set of questions would apply to every single candidate.

Policies

I had a very difficult time trying to find policies in our board policy book. It seems our policy book is not very user friendly. It seems that our contracts have more of the policy as does the state statutes. I also realized that we do not update the book very frequently or at least the copy in our library. Most of the policies that I used had not been reviewed/revised since 80's.

What I found to be the most interesting yet most frustrating is how much gray area there is in the administrative part of education. You really do need to set your standards for issues and try to keep everything in mind when they are making a decision. I found the issues that we discussed and how we would handle them very beneficial. Having real life situations helps to see all the different ways to look at things.

November 13

I found it interesting when we reviewed policies for the different schools and the varying amounts each school has for policies. My didn't have many defined policies, most of the policies had a referral to an agreement in the collective bargaining agreement. I thought was interesting coming up with interview questions. I agree with some in the class that the majority of the times, in the interviews that I have had, the questions weren't thought thru and too generic. Also the 11 top 10 strategies make sense to me because they promote social awareness and interpersonal skills to know what the community, students, and parents feel about what is important and what needs work.

11-13

I really enjoyed the policy discussion.  I had never had an opportunity to really look over the policies and see what they actually say.  It was also very interesting to hear what the policies in other districts say.  I find it fascinating to hear not only the similarities but the differences in the policies from district to district.  I also found it interesting to see how people from the same district could find different policies for the same scenario and interpret them differently. 

Combes Public Schools Scenario

I enjoy the case studies in the textbook. It's good for me to listen to others and process all the different ideas. The Combes Public School case study looked at many different areas of my EDL training. I felt the ISLLC standards of having vision , working with the community, and student learning would be need for a principal at this school. Our group thought the best strategy from the 11 Top Ten Most Wanted Strategies for Shaping School Culture needed in this scenario was utilize the leader's data collection and analysis skills. We had many of the same ideas of: researching the current ELL programs, working with the University, restarting the PTA, setting up the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, evaluation of the strengths exhibited by the current faculty. After listening to other groups, I thought of some other options such as: climate/culture surveys of all the stakeholders, setting SMART goals for student achievement/behavior, getting community and parent buy-in, bringing in health/social services, and doing a building/grounds audit. A good activity with many good ideas presented.

November 13

Discussing the leadership traits today was very interesting. It really makes you think how you would/should act in given circumstances. Looking at the case studies and discussing them in small groups and then as a whole was very beneficial. It allows you to see how so many "gray" areas there are and how policies appear to be vague when getting down to to bits and pieces. I enjoy discussion and hearing everyone's insight and interpretation of given situations and seeing how they fluctuate across the board.

11/13/10

I found it interesting looking at my districts policy site and the union handbook, where I found most of the answers to our situations. The case studies were quite interesting too. Listening to Dr. Closen's views and options of how to deal with the situations were in lighting.

November 13th

I found that doing the scenarios were not only interesting, but helpful.  By looking at different situations, even though they may not happen, it helps you to think through the processes of what you would do, what kinds of things you need to think about, all the factors that go into figuring out a situation and how different people can view the same scenario.  Even when you have your own building, it would be a good idea to bounce thoughts and ideas off of other principals and especially your superintendent.  I know that when I am in charge of my own building, there will be many situations that come up that, due to my inexperience, I won't know how to handle.  I think the best thing is to remain calm, listen to all parties involved, evaluate, and enlist help when needed!!!!  Although it makes me nervous to think about all the situations I may run into, I fell that I am more confident in dealing with the process.

11/13/10

I thought the different teaching situations we discussed were very helpful. No matter how wild the situation is that we discussed, it seems someone can relate to a similar story from somewhere. These scenarios help us future administrators prepare for situations that we would never dream possible. I also find it helpful when Dr. Closen tells us how he would handle the situation and why.

weekend #2 saturday

The portion of the day's class that I found to be the most interesting was the discussion of the 12 Leadership Traits.  I was able to reflect a lot upon my personal strengths and weaknesses as relates to the list of traits that quality and effective administrators possess.

Also, the case studies that we reviewed were interesting to dissect and analyze the issues.  The study of the 'witches' was hilarious.

Class November 13th

I really enjoyed the policy review discussion today. It is very interesting to hear about and consider all of the differing policies that are out there and the opinions we have in regards to some of them. There are many different policies that don’t necessarily affect us much as teachers, but as administrators I think we will have to be much more aware of the policies and careful to follow them. It would be interesting to hear about the penalties that violating some of these policies entail. There are many of them that I’m not sure about. I also thoroughly enjoyed talking about how different people rate their schools on the school culture survey. I would really like to have the experience of working in a district that has a culture that is the opposite of the toxic one I’m in now before I become an administrator. I think it would be a good experience for me to see what its like to be employed in a building where things “work.”

Weekend 2, Day 1

Witches, Spells and Incantations, oh my! You just never know what you're going to talk about in class, do you? :)

I enjoyed the case studies today. They are a great opportunity for us to discuss potential situations and the responsibility of an administrator in each. I also appreciated the opportunity to discuss interview questions together in a team. It was nice to talk about what aspects of interviewing candidates are important. I'm looking forward to the interviews tomorrow!

Saturday, Nov. 13

I found the policy review activity to be surprisingly helpful. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I am remarkably ignorant of many of the policies under which I am employed. I guess having to evaluate them for class finally forced me to pay attention to some things in my district's policies that I should have known for the past 14 years! I'm surprised, too, that this is the first time in the entire program that I have needed to use the policy handbook for an assignment. It was interesting to me, too, to hear how similar/different some other schools' policies are from my own.

policy review - Dao

I thought it was very interesting to hear what other people who teach in the public schools talked about their policies. At our school, the policy handbook goes together with the staff handbook. It is only about 100 pages. It is online this year, but we had to sign a paper at the beginning stating that we read them. I wonder how many actually read the handbook.

I think that it is important to follow what the policies say. However, it seems like everyone can have different interpretations on the same policy. Policies need to be very concrete and precise, if they are to be followed.

It is important to follow the rules, but then human are the ones who make rules, so there are always something that will not be black or white.

Interview questions and sitting in on an interview

I enjoyed working with a group to create interview questions for aspiring teachers.  We were able to personalize the questions to the specific opening.  I am curious if all interview committees use a generic set of questions or if they pertain to the actual job opening.   Furthermore, this will be my first time sitting in on an interview tomorrow.  I look forward to being able to choose a quality candidate during the mock interview. 

November 13

I enjoyed coming up with questions for the interviews tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to this experience. I have yet to be an interviewer, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Our candidates resume left a little bit to the imagination, so I'm looking forward to giving her tips on how to make her resume 'pop' more.

I'm going home to get rest....I'll see everyone tomorrow.