GASSP (Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals)
I had the pleasure and opportunity to attend the GASSP conference in Savannah on Monday, November 2, 2015. It was truly very enlightening.
As I walked in the room I was a little nervous...fear of the unknown seeing that I am not in an administrator role. There were lap tops, computers, and i-pads EVERYWHERE. I sat and I listened to what was being presented. There were presenters about every 20 minutes plugging there school and strategies on why their school is currently being successful and what strategies brought the change. Being a little confused on the rushed presentations I finally womaned up and asked my neighbor what was going on. He informed me the venue was being set up like TED Talks. TED Talks! Ohhhhhh and Duuhhhh! No wonder presenters were straight to the point.
Here are a few comments from different presentations (in no particular order) I want to share:
1) If we take care of relationships, data will follow.
2) Lesson plans are outward evidence that activities are taking place in a classroom
3) Start faculty meetings with a celebration i.e. birth of a child, new marriage, empty nest, divorce, etc.
4) Know who and where you are as a teacher.
5) You got to know your students not just the test scores.
6) Connect with parents
7) Create positive relationships. Going out of the way when you're not getting paid for it.
8) Jean's Day is the best fundraiser ever!
9) We don't notice it until something goes foul.
10) Give tokens for academic success
11) Staff needs to look like the diversity of students
12) Senior Parade - High school seniors go back for a visit to their elementary or middle school.
13) Have the ability to identify the experts in the building .
14) Know your students by name and need.
15) Grow students socially and academically.
16) Let students know it's not that we don't like you, we don't like the behavior.
17) Culture > Vision (culture trumps vision)
18) Experience with assessment is the very best teacher.
19) Growth is never by mere chance it is the result of forces working together.
20) Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
As a classroom teacher I TOTALLY enjoyed networking and learning something new! I feel blessed for the opportunity to attend.
Burning question I still have:
Are administrators lousy students or do they multi-task extremely well? It appeared focus was on work/school left behind with all the computers everywhere....I'm just sayin'
As I walked in the room I was a little nervous...fear of the unknown seeing that I am not in an administrator role. There were lap tops, computers, and i-pads EVERYWHERE. I sat and I listened to what was being presented. There were presenters about every 20 minutes plugging there school and strategies on why their school is currently being successful and what strategies brought the change. Being a little confused on the rushed presentations I finally womaned up and asked my neighbor what was going on. He informed me the venue was being set up like TED Talks. TED Talks! Ohhhhhh and Duuhhhh! No wonder presenters were straight to the point.
Here are a few comments from different presentations (in no particular order) I want to share:
1) If we take care of relationships, data will follow.
2) Lesson plans are outward evidence that activities are taking place in a classroom
3) Start faculty meetings with a celebration i.e. birth of a child, new marriage, empty nest, divorce, etc.
4) Know who and where you are as a teacher.
5) You got to know your students not just the test scores.
6) Connect with parents
7) Create positive relationships. Going out of the way when you're not getting paid for it.
8) Jean's Day is the best fundraiser ever!
9) We don't notice it until something goes foul.
10) Give tokens for academic success
11) Staff needs to look like the diversity of students
12) Senior Parade - High school seniors go back for a visit to their elementary or middle school.
13) Have the ability to identify the experts in the building .
14) Know your students by name and need.
15) Grow students socially and academically.
16) Let students know it's not that we don't like you, we don't like the behavior.
17) Culture > Vision (culture trumps vision)
18) Experience with assessment is the very best teacher.
19) Growth is never by mere chance it is the result of forces working together.
20) Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
As a classroom teacher I TOTALLY enjoyed networking and learning something new! I feel blessed for the opportunity to attend.
Burning question I still have:
Are administrators lousy students or do they multi-task extremely well? It appeared focus was on work/school left behind with all the computers everywhere....I'm just sayin'
I am attending GaETC this week, had Ruby Payne at my school Tuesday, and Growth Mindset training last week. With all of these, building relationships is a theme all of them share. Not just with students, but with teachers and staff as well. I strongly believe that building relationships is the key to being a successful teacher, co-worker, administrator, etc. Another common theme is starting out anything with a celebration or a positive. This year, my principal, assistant principal, instructional coaches, and myself send out celebration emails. We make sure we are highlighting the positives we see in our school weekly. We also make sure we have found something positive in everyone in our building. As to your burning question, I believe we ALL have to multi-task in order to just keep our heads above water. Do we do it extremely well?? Probably not, but practice makes perfect :)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea..positive emails to staff on what you see in the building.
DeleteI wonder how the leaders are using the latest research to improve practice. Relationships are important but are only the tip of the iceberg. If we want to improve we must follow the research. A lot of the things from the list we were doing in 2008. I have seen teachers who have the best relationships with students and the lowest scores. How do we combine the two so that we have more effective teaching practices and increased student achievement and growth?
ReplyDeleteGreat question! In my opinion relationships are important but teaching students on their level is key. Unfortunately we are required to teach grade level versus skill level. We need to figure out how to acknowledge students' individual growth. As a classroom teacher I use to be hard on my self when students did not meet standards. Then one admin said to me look how far you brought this child. Ever since that day I am deliberate in assisting that child to grow to the next point wherever that may be.
DeleteSounded like a great experience and multiple key points learned. If only students can understand that the behavior is what is disliked and not take it personally then we can focus on student learning.
ReplyDelete