Curriculum Course Reflection #3

How has your definition of curriculum been shaped by the course readings and discussions? How and why has your definition of curriculum changed?


I don't feel like I can say that my definition of curriculum has changed, but I have a broader idea of what curriculum can be because of this course. Having been trained as a Social Studies teacher, I was mostly familiar with the content needed for teaching the social sciences. I completed my undergraduate work in California where at the time Social Studies was not a tested subject and completed my graduate and licensure in Nevada where Social Studies is also not a tested subject. In both states, there were content standards, but when I thought of curriculum in the past, I can't say that the standards felt like curriculum to me. When I started teaching in Virginia, a few of the Social Studies courses are tested and do require a more specific curriculum. This was all very new to me, but I relied on my content knowledge and my instructional tools I had stashed away and using the Enhanced Scope and Sequence for the subjects I was teaching, I forged ahead. I would have to say that my definition of curriculum started to grow because of the standards of learning and their supporting documents, because they were more specific and actually included ideas for teaching the topics. 
In 2006 my colleague and I had to submit our "curriculum" to the college board for our AP course and the document we turned in was a very detailed syllabus, but that syllabus became the basis of our curriculum for the year, that same year I began teaching AP Government online and used the same syllabus, my curriculum was unchanged, however the methods were very different. Which is where my definition of curriculum again changed. I began to see the content as the jumping off point, but the instructional tools and methods used were also a part of the curriculum. 
Last year (2009-2010), I participated in a year long project to re-write the curriculum in my school division. We were led by an expert on Understanding by Design and began creating units and curriculum maps. At the same time I was completing my master's degree and was able to take two independent study courses that let me focus on curriculum. I enhanced the curriculum for my own courses during this time and used my experiences to help the teachers I work with as a Technology Integration Specialist. Because I am no longer in the face to face classroom (I still teach one class online) and work with teachers in a professional development setting, I began to translate my knowledge of curriculum into modeling best practices for the professional development session I lead. 
Fast forward to January 2011, when I started the Curriculum course, I felt pretty sure of my self in the area of curriculum but am also always interested in learning more, mainly because I think curriculum is my secret passion in education, I would like to do more with it in the future. 
This course has opened my thoughts to the types of curriculum out there, I have been able to see how curriculum can be altered for different circumstances all while continuing to provide students with the knowledge they need to have. This course has helped me to see curriculum through various lenses, through the lens of technology integration, through the 21st century learner, through the special education student and even through the eyes of a mathematics teacher (a place I have always been a bit nervous to be). 
I can now clearly see that while curriculum may come in many different shapes and sizes, the most important piece of it all is the relationship between the written, taught and tested curriculum.

Reflection #2

• As a school administrator and instructional leader, what instructional technology would you expect to see in the written, taught, and tested curriculum of a school or school district striving to meet the needs of 21st century learners?

In today's classroom, I would absolutely expect that teachers and students would be using technology to enhance the instruction that is happening in the room. I would expect this weather or not technology was part of the written or tested curriculum. I have a hard time describing "what technology" I would expect to see because every classroom is different, but in a science classroom, if a lesson was to look at seismic activity around the world, I would expect the teacher would be using a source such a Google earth to help student visualize the events. In a World History course, I would expect the written curriculum would ask the students to take a virtual field trip to the Egyptian Pyramids. I would hope that the tested curriculum in our schools begins to catch up with the technology and perhaps asks students to create a Webquest as proof they understand what they have learned. It is important that we show students technology is not a separate piece instead a part of our every day lives that makes life just a little more efficient, fun and dynamic. We are doing a disservice to our future generations if we continue to teach them in separate classrooms, separate subjects and walk them down to a computer lab. We need technology to not be a specific "extra" thing we do, but instead use it whenever it will enhance the curriculum and make the lesson that much better. 

• What instructional technology would you promote to differentiate instruction for all learners?

There are a lot of technologies that can differentiate instruction, WebQuests, the use of a learning management system, wikis, interactive tablets/white boards and so many more. Technology actually makes differentiation so much easier to manage for a teacher. A teacher can find various articles on the same topic and use those to differentiate for the students reading levels. Students can participate in online discussions using an LMS or wiki and participate using their strong skills and not have to be nervous about being called on in class if they are uncomfortable, instead they can prepare their presentation and have the back up of the technology to help them feel confident in their project. 

As an administrator, I hope to be directly involved with instructional technology and intend to help teacher see how valuable it can be in the classroom when used efficiently. I hope to model best practices through meetings, co-teaching, and interactions with the school community.

Curriculum Course Reflection #1

What are your philosophical beliefs about the purpose of school, about what subjects should be taught, and about how students learn?  How does your work demonstrate your belief?

The purpose of school is to prepare students for their eventual roles in the adult world, ensuring that all we do prepares them to be successful and productive adults. Everything in education should revolve around this idea, professional development, curriculum, class size, graduation requirements and so many other pieces of daily school life. Having all staff, especially administrators on board with this concept will help this entire process to be smooth for students and teachers. Preparing students for the adult world is more than just reading, writing and arithmetic, teaching them how to socialize, how to participate in government, and even vocations if that is what the student wants to know. Students should participate in a variety of courses and if possible connections between those courses should be made. For example, the auto shop teacher and the math teach might teach a lesson in conjunction to help students understand how they will one day use math in real life. 

I have spent the last several years focusing my work on online education as I feel this is a way to increase opportunities to a variety of courses for students and diverse professional development for teachers. I find online learning is the next step in moving our education system to the next level giving students individualized education but still providing effective technology integration, core content. 

Post Conference Video Reflection

The teacher I worked with for the Full Clinical Cycle was Ms. H. Ms. H is in her second full year of teaching and teaches US/VA Government as well as AP Psychology this year. In choosing this teacher I specifically thought of a few items to help me through this process. I knew I would feel more comfortable asking her questions and observing her classroom because we had co-taught together in her first half year teaching. I felt very comfortable with her teaching style as well as the subject area as it was what we had taught together. In fact she currently teaches in my old classroom. I had not however been in to see her teaching as the lead teacher instead of the co-teacher since I left the classroom and she had had a full school year to grow as a teacher. I knew that she would be a good candidate for this assignment for those reasons. Initially I was very nervous to put myself in the supervisory role and decided to look at this assignment as a chance to be a peer coach instead. In my current position at the school I have the ability to be a peer coach and haven't done it as much as I would like in this setting with observing teachers and discussing how the lesson went. Once I thought of it like that it was much easier to take in the idea that I was "evaluating" a peer.

What strengths and/or improvement areas did you notice about the environment and tone of the post-observation?

The post observation conference took place in Ms. H's classroom, we sat at two student desks 

facing each other. This was the first time I had ever sat in the supervisory role for a post conference, looking from this perspective, I the supervisor should have taken a better stance with my body language and eye contact. I spent much of the time looking at my list and did not feel confident in my approach. I have always had a problem with using poor transitions such as "Umm" . These are my biggest areas of improvement in taking on a supervisory position. 

My areas of strength would be my personal preparation for the post observation, which gave me confidence in my recommendations for her. 


What strengths and/or improvement areas did you notice in the conference about strategies to improve instruction?


I spent quite a bit of time preparing for the conference and finding answers to the questions the teacher asked during the pre-conference. I was able to provide her with feedback she asked for as well as some additional ideas to incorporate into her lessons. I also gave her some ideas how to help students who struggle with keeping focused, which she appreciated. We spent some time discussing her classroom management techniques as the class was a bit rowdy that day, they had a substitute in for her co-teacher as well as a trip to the mock election, then I walked in so the day was a little chaotic but she handled it very well. I made sure to compliment her handling of the chaos of the day as well as give her some ideas for handling students who did not come prepared. 
After the class period, Ms. H, told me that she changed around her lesson plan to something that worked a little better for her students, she mentioned that rather than having the students do the candidate research on their own using the candidates websites, she gave them a more structured assignment, I explained to her that I was going to suggest to her that she do something a bit more structured since the election comes much earlier than the government pacing guide takes students to the election unit.
I would like to improve my ability to give constructive criticism, while Ms. H did a great job with the class, I did feel the lesson could have been more dynamic and had a hard time explaining that and giving advice on how to do so. 


In the conference, which behavior did you seem to predominantly use?  Do you think this was an appropriate approach given the developmental level of the teacher? Briefly explain.  


Since Ms. H has been teaching for two years, almost three years, she did not need a lot of redirection. She is a good teacher who is well respected by her students and teaching peers. Since I have personally taught with her, my approach was shaped by that previous experience. We had always worked as a collaborative team and I felt that it was important to continue with the relationship we had already established.
I spent time in the post conference listening to her and reflecting with her on the class period and lesson. I also encouraged her to continue her classroom management techniques.


Overall I feel that my first full clinical cycle, especially the post conference was successful. I would like to improve my ability to be more confident in my approach towards the teacher, especially with my body language and my eye contact. I would also like to improve my ability to give constructive criticism and not feel bad about giving it. I feel strongly that my ideas and observations are helpful, but I have to come across as having confidence in that feeling. I also feel that my ability to read a teacher and the previous relationship we have can help to shape the approach I take for the conference is good and will only improve with more observations. 

Reflection Blog #1: Class Arrangements

Classroom arrangement was a huge part of getting ready for the school year every year for me. I wanted my classroom to immediately tell a story to the students. The desks in rows told them that I planned on talking at them a lot, the desks in groups gave them the impression they were leading the class (not always the exact vibe you wanted to give on the first day of school). I often changed arrangements throughout the school year and always let the students decide where they wanted to sit. The classroom arrangement isn't just about the desks however. If you have a room that feels welcoming and comfortable students are given a certain feeling about your room and your teaching style. Making sure my room was decorated in a way that wasn't overbearing but gave students the impression we were focused on learning, specifically learning AP Government was vital for me. In the last few years in the classroom it became harder for me to hang up student work on bulletin boards because I managed my classroom entirely from a Learning Management System, so instead bulletin boards became a place to introduce the topic we were currently studying and the classroom arrangement became less and less about the front of the room and more about how the students could interact with everyone in the room including myself. I found two arrangements that suited me best. The first was discussion rows, the students were in rows but facing each other. Often times there was a U Shape with students on the left and right (facing each other) and a smaller group of students facing the front of the room leaving room for presentations in the middle of the room. The second set up that I found very useful for my style of teaching was groups of four and for the most part always had my classroom in these groupings. Grouped desks were so useful, you didn't have to have students rearrange the room to collaborate, they could easily ask each other for help and the classroom really gave off the vibe I wanted it to. I wanted my classroom to be a student centered classroom where learning is placed at the responsibility of the student. I wanted my students to understand that I would facilitate their learning but if they did not jump on board they would not be handed anything for free.

As I walk around the school I work in (and used to teach in) I find that more and more teachers have moved towards collaborative set ups in their classrooms. Many classrooms are set up in pairs or groups. Many of the science classrooms only have tables for students to collaborate at. There are however many classrooms still set up in lecture rows. To be honest I am disappointed in how many classrooms are set up in traditional rows. I know how productive my classroom was without having to use rows and I find that so many times when walking by a classroom the teacher is still the "sage on the stage" and students are just being talked to rather than a more modern approach where the learning is happening with student involvement. What is very interesting to me is how many different room arrangements there are and how they really vary by subject area. You will see more groupings in Language Arts, Social Studies and elective courses where as in Mathematics and Science courses you tend to see rows. I will give our science teachers credit however, I rarely see the students in the rows except for the first few minutes of a class to give directions, they are usually up in groups around the lab stations, so they seem to have a hybrid of student/teacher centered classroom arrangements.
One Language Arts teacher actually requested tables be put in his room rather than desks. He felt that facilitated better conversations between students on the work being done in the room and likes the feeling of groupings better than individual desks. Quite a few teachers have moved towards collaborative groupings rather than traditional rows by putting the desks in pairs, the students are still in rows but have a partner to turn to during the class period for various activities. This is a huge step towards student centered learning and does give the teacher(s) more room to navigate the room while circulating during individual or partner learning time.
A lot of the evolution of classroom arrangements has been made out of our laptop program, our school has a 1 to 1 laptop program where every student is given their own laptop. Technology has played a large role in how teachers teach in our school. The teachers have more capabilities and more resources simply by giving their students the power to manipulate the material on their own laptop. I think the increase in group work and decrease in traditional rows is directly related to our students having the technology they do. Teachers also have laptops, ceiling mounted projectors, document cameras and pads that control their computers to help make them mobile throughout the classroom.
As the years have gone on with our laptop program, it has become more and more an expectation that teachers will be using the laptops in lesson planning and will be up and roaming the room while students are working. If an administrator was to walk by your classroom I believe this is what they would expect. I hope that in a few years we will see even less of the sage on the stage professorial model and move towards teachers becoming facilitators to student learning while students lead their learning.

Week 6: Culture

• Culture: What impact does the creation of a positive school culture have on school reform?

In order to really consider this question I had to think about a school that was devoid of culture, but my mental images came up with a school with a negative culture. So in answer to the question, the impact of culture in a school environment can be huge. If the school has a negative culture in which teachers, staff, administration and students do not respect each other, do not see the vision of the school clearly and lack motivation to succeed the reform movement will not be effective.
However if a school culture is one of collaboration, communication and there is a clear sense of the vision of the school the reform movement will have a better chance to be effective.
In my experience through various schools and administrators, I do think that much of the positive and negative feelings can be pushed back to how the administration handles and operates the school. Of course staff and students have a part in that but if I use the example of the current school I work in, we are moving onto our 3rd principal since I have been there (this is my 5th year). The first year I was there a new principal had taken over after a 20 year principal had been there. The culture of the school was bound to change. He was a man with a vision. He had goals for the school and we all knew what they were. We knew what was expected of us as teachers and so did the students. He had a eye for technology integration and knew what was necessary to help move us into our new building the following year. He also had a major focus on literacy and implemented a new program to increase our literacy rates. All teachers and students were to focus on that in every classroom. When principal #1 announced he was leaving very late in the 2nd year it was incredibly hard to find a new principal, so when principal #2 arrived on the scene he was supposed to be an interim principal. He spent his first month there (July) counting dump trucks working on the parking garage for our new building and not much else. By October he was annouced as the new principal and given a three year contract. My personal opinion is that he had already made a bad impression on the staff by telling us he spent a month counting trucks rather than helping with the needs of the school. For me as a teacher he had started off on the wrong foot. He definately did not have a clearly articulated vision for the school and it was clear he was biding time. The culture of the school again changed, rather than teachers moving towards improvement our scores dropped. Technology integration decreased dramatically and student behavior was out of control. After almost two years under principal #2 our school was sent a letter by the State and Federal Governments stating that we were not making progress and that our scores were not good enough, and that we would need to make some major decisions about our schools future. With in months we had hired a new principal to start in July. Once she was hired (the first female principal in the schools history) she not only spent at least two days a week getting to know the staff and helping to create the plan for the state and federal government, she also began to roll out her vision for the school by meeting with staff. She moved into the city and became a member of the community. It is now almost time for school to open and even though she has not opened the school year, she has already changed the culture of the school. I believe the best example is the turn out at an all day workshop taking place outside of contract days. On August 24th, the school and the technology services department are hosting a one day workshop on Blackboard (our learning management system) and almost 1/2 of the staff is registered to attend. This is before the teachers are required to attend. She made it clear that teachers were to use Blackboard and other technologies to create 21st century classrooms that students would be engaged in and be active participants. Two years ago we would have not been able to hold a session like this but now we are running out of space for teachers to attend. For principal #3 by creating a positive environment where teachers know what is expected of them but also that someone is there to do serious work and will get down in the nitty gritty with them, they are more likely to do the same.

Week 3 reflection

How has what you have learned so far in this course shaped your concept of an effective leader?


Phew, this first three weeks has been a lot of information. I was just telling my group this week that I feel the readings are starting to blend together in my mind, perhaps I should think about it as they are correlating to each other not blending! I have really enjoyed the readings and have done a lot of thinking about the current situation of my school and how perhaps had we not had such an ineffective leader(s) for the past two years we would not be in as dire of a situation, but then I remember the famous words of our superintendent, “Never waste a good crisis”. Change was needed in Alexandria, it was time for us to move into the 21st century and really give our students what they need, we have all the tools, great teachers, technology and amazing location and building, now we just needed effective leaders and a plan. So we have that now…perhaps we will once again get back to the top of Jay Matthews list (haha!). But in reality my concept of a leader has not changed, but I have been able to clarify the roles of the leader and how they can truly shape an organization for better or for worse.

Based on what you have learned so far, what are the top 3-5 characteristics you believe a successful principal must possess?

I would honestly say that communication would be on the top of my list, I feel that poor communication can break down all other goals you set. Collaboration would also top my list, collaborating with the staff, community, students, central office and other administrators to help with all the tasks of a large organization is essential. If you are able to collaborate and communicate I think you have won more than half the battle.

I think finally a vision or goals, if you don’t have something to aspire to then you are accepting the status quo and no organization is perfect, even Google and Microsoft have to work at things and improve, can you imagine if we had stopped at Windows 98 or if Google was still only a search engine? Any leader who wants to be effective must have vision for where the organization should move next.

Communication, Collaboration and Vision, three qualities you cannot live without in a leader.