GSU Blogger - Dr. J. Kahrs

I apologize for the lateness of this blog......... This summer I had the privilege of meeting a childhood friend in Raleigh, North Carolina for her daughter's karate tournament.  Sitting poolside we were able to catch up on each others lives.  My "sister" is in the education profession as well.  Therefore we are able to discuss everything from latest trends in education to ills that continuously plague this profession.  Seeing that my "sister" is a principal mentor where she mentors about eight principals in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.  She shared information about an awesome training she attended called Compass Points: North, South, East, and West.  This training was part of SRI (School Reform Initiative A Community of Learners).  What intrigued me about this conversation is the importance of looking at character traits and how those traits may affect the dynamics of a learning community as well as our pe...

I just finished reading Thomas R. Hoerr's "What's an Instructional Leader?" and I am fascinated by some of the questions posed by the author. How important is it for the principal to be an instructional leader? Or is it important? And if it is important, is it realistic?  As an aspiring principal and current classroom teacher, I find it hard to believe that the principal is the most knowledgeable person in the building regarding student learning. However, I do believe it is part of a principal's responsibilities to be knowledgeable about current teaching and learning trends in the classroom for both student and adult learners. The principal should insure that great teaching is occurring in the building at all times. The belief that your principal is the most gifted or talented teacher in the building is just unrealistic. The principal should foster a belief in his/her faculty that assessment, curriculum, instruction, and pedagogy is important and each must be add...

 There is an old adage that my mom used to use "practice makes perfect."      I was listening to NPR a few weeks ago and I heard a documentary from American Radio Works called Teaching Teachers.   I have included a link below.   The recording is a little less than a hour but well worth listening to. It speaks to the future of teacher education in and out of the university, and the choices that those in the academy, and those in leadership, will have to make.   What are the 19 high leverage teaching practices that all teachers need to have?   Should teacher education be focused more in the field than in the classroom?   And what is the most effective method of continuing an educator's training once they are in the field? I felt a lot of differing emotions as I listened to this documentary.  To say that it was impactful is an understatement.  Here are a few salient quotes from the documentary; Teaching Teachers "In ...

My burning question for my blogging friends, is "How honest are administrators in the Teacher Evaluation Process?" This is my third year in the AP position, and my third year to do teacher evaluations. My school implemented TKES the year I became an AP, therefore, I do not have the experience of being evaluated as a teacher through the Teacher Effectiveness Standards, which is very different than being evaluated through the Leader Effectiveness Standards. My woe in this process is that, because of our paradigms and work place culture, teachers see a "Needs Development" rating as unacceptable, distressful, heart-breaking, and a complete and personal blow to them personally. While we have done a good job of explaining to teachers that Proficient is good a Needs Development is constructive, and Exemplary is rare, they still cry (literally) when they do not receive Exemplary ratings. I can show/share the rubrics, ask them what have they done to lead others in that area,...

This past Saturday sparked some very interesting topics. One that was touched upon briefly was the challenges of the “legacy”. I wanted to learn more about that topic from the veterans out there. When one gets hired as an assistant principal it is either at an entire new school or district or in the very school that they were currently at. I would love to hear more of your personal anecdotes on the positives and negatives of each. As a legacy we know you already are aware of the climate (plus), the inside scoop on teachers’ instructional abilities (plus or can that lead to bias?), and we also know it makes a sticky situation for now having a different role from the colleagues you called friends. Can you tell about the other nuances that one may not consider when thinking about taking a position in their current school. For the individuals who have gone to the new buildings you get a fresh start (plus) and the adventure of belonging to a new family/community (plus). You have to l...

I read an article this week regarding leader evaluation. I did not realize outside of my district that many states are seeking ways to create a set of standards embedded with powerful/intentional growth measures that will be utilized consistently across the states to evaluate leaders. The article discussed a  Framework designed as an evaluation tool that specifically targets 5 key standards that can be fairly evaluated with the intent to improve leaders in a more uniform aspect.  The Framework includes the Five Essential Practices of School Leadership: Building Shared Purpose, Focus on Learning, Manage Organizational Resources, Collaborate with Community, and Lead with Integrity. Each of the Five Essential practices is operationally defined to support the development of their practices and to place focus on these essential areas that hold great accountability.   Providing a more intentional set of standards to evaluate leaders, increases opportunities of gr...

Moving from a traditional schedule to a four by four block has been a challenge for the current school year. While we did visit and speak with other schools, some classes are overloaded than others. We have a number of teachers on extended day for both semesters. This is the first year in my 8 years, that I feel uneasy with the master schedule. At present, I have one class that I will definitively lose funding. At present, I am currently looking at class manipulation for the spring. I am finding that this year more than years past, I am constantly monitoring class sizes for both semesters as they are two live documents. Overall, the faculty is loving the block schedule because it lends itself to existing initiatives that the school implemented as well as new initiatives. My school has a growing STEAM Program, Personalized Learning, and is designated a Professional Development School. Change is an operative word this semester with anticipated results in the area studen...

I just read the part in "The Principal 50" where Kafele suggests spending as much time observing classroom instruction as possible.  His rule of thumb was to spend no less than1/3 of the day observing and offering feedback to teachers (p.39).  I can understand how important and helpful that would be, especially considering the principal's (or assistant principal's) role as instructional leader.  However, I am currently a teacher-leader with limited experience in this area.  As an aspiring administrator, I'd like to ask some of you assistant principals how feasible it is to devote that much time towards observations and feedback.  I have the utmost respect and admiration for both administrators that I've had the pleasure to work with for the past decade, but I know they struggle to get into the classrooms because they are constantly dealing with a million other priorities.  In fact, they look forward to classroom observations as a reprieve from the more cumb...

Hampton High School being in it's second year of existence added a senior class this year and it has been found that many students eligible to graduate this year are in need of more than 8 credits which could be earned in the fall and spring semesters.  I have been tasked by my principal to lead a task force that will identify these eligible students and put into place strategies that will allow them to earn the additional credits and graduate this year.  Working with our lead counselor, graduation coach, department chairs, and other members of the administrative team students have been identified.  At our second meeting the task force used a variety of data to identify factors that have led to students falling behind credit wise on their path to graduation.  These factors could be; academic, behavioral, attendance, or a variety of all three. As the year progresses the graduation/promotion task force will be identifying underclassmen that are in danger of not being ...

Have you heard of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)? It is the best initiative that is happening at my school this year! Just in case you are wondering, “What is PBIS?” It is a framework that is developed by a school for improving student behavior and to help schools create effective learning environments. It is used with all students and across all environments in school (classroom, hallway, cafeteria, restroom, playground, and bus.) Although PBIS is a school-wide approach to helping all children learn to self-manage behaviors, parent involvement is really important in all aspects of PBIS. When parents are involved, outcomes for children are better and are more successful. Our PBIS team consists of administrators, grade level teachers, and the school counselor. We had training during the summer and started the year off with a bang! We had T-shirts made for the entire staff and redelivered what we learned over the summer. In addition, the PBIS team is led...

I had this great idea, well... I thought it was a great idea. I decided to incorporate the use of exit tickets (1 question which takes less than 3 minutes) in math and have teachers record data using an excel spreadsheet. They would be able to use the data to monitor student's progress and differentiate instruction based on the data. They could see what percentage of a class got an answer correct. They could also see a student's progress over the course of a unit and provide interventions to prevent academic failure. They could use the data to remediate and enrich students and they would also be able to group students using the data. The exit tickets are common formative assessments that are lower DOK questions, checks knowledge of skills from a new lesson, and are meant to catch struggling learners. The teachers also have a fast 5 or 4 question quiz to administer once a week which are more rigorous questions (less than 15 minutes)....

My worst enemy is time. As I am continuously learning, I am wanting to take too much onto my plate. I have to remind myself to focus on the major project first and foremost. Since I started with our staff during preplanning, we have been in full swing. My project involves vocabulary development using explicit instruction school-wide. Two other principals at schools have asked and were given my plan to incorporate the components into their own buildings. My next challenge with staff in regards to the project is to re-energize and recognize some of their great work with incorporation. I wanted to take on another "bull by the horns" project related to climate just because it would be amazing for our school. What I have done instead, is thrown bits and pieces of the idea to key people to see if and where they would run with it. They bit. They are now working to develop a celebrating culture piece for our students. Their combined ideas have taken new life that can be something rea...