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.
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