Sunday's class was interesting the IIRC stuff is cool and coming up with a job placement was interesting and useful.

Top-Notch Teachers

This being my eighth year in education I feel I have a pretty good idea of what teachers around me are highly qualified and which ones aren't. To me, the ones that are highly qualified have more than content knowledge in the area they are teaching and tons of college credits. Highly qulified to me means they are also willing to change with the times. In my building, we have a poor mentoring system because we have so-called highly qualified teachers doing the mentoring, but just because they have a master's degree or they've been doing it for twenty years should not make them highly-qualified. I feel our new teachers have really been done a disservice because they come in with so much energy and enthusiasm for teaching and I have already noticed with a few of them they've lost that because they are so overwhelmed and don't have the support there that they needed in order to start them off on the right foot. As a future administrator, I feel this is a very important program and see what an important role it can play in a building so I plan to spend a lot of time with the program so that it's effective.

Sunday

I really appreciate the examples that Dr. Closen gave in class that will help all of us avoid some legal issues in the future. I know we discussed some of these issues in law, but not nearly as in-depth as we have in this class. I know personally, one of my biggest worries is about all of the legal issues we will be facing as administrators. It's good to know what questions I can/cannot answer and how to answer them when giving a reference. Even if there is proof that someone committed a crime, I now know that it's not my responsibility to tell ther person calling all about that individual, that some of that the potential hiring district needs to find some of that on their own or I could be in a lot of trouble. I think this is to bad, but like Dr. Closen said...it won't matter what they've done to some districts they'll still hire them anyway.

2nd Sunday

Today's work with the case studies was beneficial. I always find it valuable to put myself in these situations and think about what decision I would make. The thoughts and ideas of others always force me to think more deeply about the issues involved and perhaps arrive at a different decision than initially derived.

I continued to find the information about the hiring process interesting and highly relevant. It was a good weekend!

Sunday

Sunday class always feels so long, but I took quite a bit away. The group activities are beneficial because it gives me a place to begin to put the puzzle together. Collaboration is invaluable but when you are given a specific action to complete and allowed enough time to do so, it means much more. I enjoyed the case studies in class today and the discussions that my group had.

One area that I picked a tip up on was the observations and how to schedule them. I liked the idea of creating a calendar and having the staff take charge of scheduling their own observations. This also falls into one of the essential functions of a principal, accurate record keeping.

Saturday

It only makes sense that Top Notch teachers would affect their peers which in turn affects student achievement. The possibilities are endless when it comes to merit pay in regards to these teachers and more importantly the impact these teachers would have on students and other teachers alike. A plan like this may impact the burnt out veteran and create an atmosphere far more conducive to the learning process for both students and younger teachers.

The class discussions from Saturday were interesting to me because I suppose I was naive to a degree when it came to the work involved in hiring. The three deep reference check is a policy I think a district may be silly not to implement. As I reflect on the conversation I can think of two teachers who were let go that this policy could have saved everyone involved a lot of time.

I thought the discussion of what is to be said when being called for a reference was very good. I thought the case study was interesting in that the person who quit had people calling to see what kind of reference was being given by the principal. I remember Dr. DeSpain recommending if you have nothing good to say, make the following statement “I have no reference to or for this individual”. And I thought the books response for the question “Would you hire this person back” and the response is “We take all of our candidates seriously”. It’s a very good response that gets you off the hook. I also enjoyed the group work, with the IIRC. There is lots of information there to try and digest. And next weekend should be interesting to see who will be the 6 big winners to go on the island. Remember to vote for Bill!

The article on the Top Notch Teacher makes some good points. The authors make the statement that scores rise when a high-quality teacher comes on board. What does high-quality mean? We know teachers who are experts in the content area, but can not relate the material to the students. I think you have to have someone who is “excited” about whatever they are teaching. That comes across to the students, and then you have a chance for them to pay attention and hope they learn something.
If a beginning teacher comes in and wants to learn the “craft” from other teachers, they will be able to pick up ideas. But they have to want to learn. Mentoring can only go so far.