Running head: PRACTICUM REFLECTION

PRACTICUM REFLECTION Brad Burleson Texas Christian University

PRACTICUM REFLECTION I have always perceived great leaders as having the maximum amount of impact on society. What a single person can achieve through the effective use of leadership is truly amazing. I have seen the effects in the realms of business, military and education. I always admire and desire to emulate effective leaders that I have the fortune to work with. I desire to also have this opportunity to affect change when I see the positive transformation that can be had: increased productivity, improved morale, and augmented motivation. I have experienced a paradigm shift as the reality of graduation and the prospect of entering into the administration side of education near. This semesters principal practicum course has placed me in positions to gain experience as an administrator as well as encouraged me to begin to think as a leader, considering the many variables that lie behind decisions. I have begun to view the campus as a whole, considering the culture of the building as opposed to only my classroom. The course has broadened my understanding of many of the legal processes and identified the need for additional knowledge. I have a greater appreciation for the team aspect of school leadership and for the need to

be constantly vigilant in meeting the essential responsibilities of a leader. I have reaffirmed my belief in transparency and the importance of staff buy-in when revamping or implementing various processes. I have added a new level of consideration to my everyday routines and conversations, moving ever closer to transitioning roles from a classroom teacher to a campus administrator. Professional Development One of the major role changes I experienced was from a professional development presenter to that of a professional development facilitator. This was an especially nerve racking experience for the first presentation I facilitated in October. I trust in the work ethic and competence of the teachers on the AVID Site Team the team is assembled from campus leaders to begin with. Despite this trust, I had a very hard time not being in complete control of the planning and presentation.

PRACTICUM REFLECTION I found that I needed to put additional work in order to ensure that members fully understood the vision of the training with regards to their individual parts. With four different pairs of presenters, some working completely independent of the others and some closely intertwined, there was a bit of confusion as to the exact scope of division of the presentation. To improve this situation, I should have had a follow up meeting to refine the directives and ensure that everyone was tracking his/her tasks as intended. Instead, I went about meeting with the pairs and individuals separately which never allowed for them to articulate their perceived piece of the mission as a group and pick up on overlap or holes. Follow up questions are important, but I should have, at a minimum (if the group could not meet again), had the presenter(s) communicate the plan in their own words so that I might pick up on any deviations from my intentions. Asking specific questions versus the general line of Is everything ok? or Is there anything I can do for you? would have most likely put my mind at ease as well as helped the presenters voice any concerns and identify points of confusion. Fortunately for me, the Site Team is a very capable group of professional educators who delivered an exceptional presentation on small group instruction. The second installment of professional development which I was given the opportunity to facilitate went a bit smoother on my end. I felt more at ease with handing over some elements of control than I did the first go-round. I will admit that there were less individual elements in the November presentation; our work on differentiation was augmented by a guest speaker. We did, however, have two different group activities going on concurrently. It was nice to be able to float between the two grade level groups and compare and contrast the conversations being had within Socratic Seminars with identical guiding questions. Not being tied to a particular group let me monitor both and provide guidance as I floated between the two locations.

PRACTICUM REFLECTION Looking back I wish I had more of a conversation with the administrative staff prior to and following both of the professional development presentations. This would have allowed me to give

them a primer for the days and to garner a deeper level of feedback. The response to the two days was positive from the teachers I spoke with as well as the administrative team. We were able to utilize time in the afternoons to apply the development lessons to upcoming classroom content and then to share our grade level department plans with the rest of the faculty a good way to check on learning, garner participation, as well as deliver a variety of ideas across the content areas. School Walkthroughs The second set of experiences that stands out to me from this semesters principal practicum is the school walkthroughs that I was able to do as a part of the Keller ISD Leadership Development Academy. Though there are many schools packed tightly in our growing district, I seldom have a reason to visit many of them outside of those that we have direct vertical alignment with; even then I am generally making my way to a specific classroom or office instead of taking the time to closely examine the culture portrayed within the building. In having the assignments to view different schools in terms of desired transformation and culture, my eyes were opened to the differences which exist due to not only the grade level of the students, but also the culture and climate which school leadership work to create. Having the chance to walk through the halls and visit the classrooms of two of our elementary schools reminded me of the atmosphere all educators should strive to create. I understand that the younger age is more conducive to artistic displays of student work and that only having 20 students per teacher aides in forming relationships with a child who is in the honeymoon period of education, but it reminds me of the type of climate that can be had in a school. It was nice to see the PBIS at work: the orderly hallways and the posting of rules to be closely followed by students. This stood in stark contrast

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to the seemingly unorganized transitions our student have from class to class. The team and grade level aspect of elementary schools is unparalleled, again possible due to the class schedule of elementary students. It was wonderful to experience the sense of community as I traveled down a hallway marked with the consistency of a single theme and student work examples. I was impressed by the ownership that each teacher took for his/her classroom entry and adjacent hallway spaces. Lonestar Elementary teachers had a posting outside each of their doors which impressed me and inspired me to desire a similar artifact in my future school. Each teacher had a personalized mission and vision statement displayed next to their door. To me this exemplifies the dissemination of the district MMVV to the lowest levels, with each teacher formulating their individual share in the greater scheme. At a higher level, such as middle school or high school, this posting of an individual mission and vision would serve as another layer of accountability. The students, parents, and other stakeholders who pass through the doorway could read and fully understand the posting and set an expectation for that teacher. Even if there were no direct comment or accountability mechanism, an educator who has a statement displayed as to their vision and mission will be indirectly held accountable through more concrete expectations. I would benefit from spending more time at the lower levels of education seeing these young students and their interaction with new information reenergizes me as an educator and reminds me of the essence I am hoping to capture in my classroom and future campus. At our AVID parent meeting I give a talk on the love of learning that children have and how that dissipates as they progress through school. I admit that school itself takes a part in stifling this desire to learn and assure the parents that I am there to assist student in becoming better at school so that they are set up to reengage their love of learning. As a campus administrator at the higher levels of education, I will strive to invigorate my

PRACTICUM REFLECTION students and help them realize that the enjoyment they once had in learning can be had again to rekindle some of the aspects of primary school and inject them into a secondary campus climate.

In visiting two of our districts high schools, I was reminded how physically large the building and the population of a 5A high school is. It is amazing to see how different this is from my experience in a small 2A district. While there are many more opportunities to join organizations, take various classes, and be a part of the large campus community, it is also much easier to fall through the cracks and become lost in the sea of students. This serves as a reminder that those of us serving students at the lower levels need to work hard to ensure that students find some aspect of school that they enjoy enough to become active in outside of the mandatory classroom time. We must provide opportunities to become involved: sponsor clubs and create chances for student engagement and interest. There are many statistics which support the need for extracurricular involvement; setting up a culture of participation at the lower levels is vital to success as a student progresses. Seeing this need firsthand as I watch the droves of students move about the high school buildings reinforces the need to establish this culture as a campus leader and motivate the staff as well as the students. I look forward to the opportunity to visit additional campuses as the year goes on. I realize that without being involved in the Leadership Development Academy I most likely would not have made these visits. This is something I must resolve to remedy as a school leader. There is a form of indirect collaboration that can occur just by doing a brief walk through. If nothing else, there is the reinvigoration that occurs in walking through an elementary campus and seeing younger learners engaged in their schoolwork. I do not fool myself into thinking that the elementary schools are without their struggles or that all students are perfect scholars at all times; I may put a rosy tint to my visits, but they do serve as a reminder of a time when natural curiosity fueled inquiry and learning was more intrinsic.

PRACTICUM REFLECTION Administrator Observations The last of the key experiences I had during this semesters principal practicum was the

opportunity to observe or shadow other administrators. I chose to do this at my own campus as well as at the intermediate campus in our feeder pattern. My hope for this experience was to get a fuller view of a day in the life of an administrator. I wanted to catch a glimpse of how time is spent and, more importantly, the decision making process that occurs to make the determination. My reality varied from my initial expectation, but I was able to derive value from this as well. Overall, the shadowing was a great experience. I was able to view two different campuses with a varied climate and connect some of these elements to leadership style and elements of the campus culture. The half day I planned to spend at shadowing one of our assistant principal turned into a full day of helping out the lone administrator on campus. With two assistant principals out sick and the building principal away at meetings, I was left to fill in. It was a good view of the unpredictability that can exist in the front office. There are no substitute administrators that come in to cover short term absences and an administrator can quickly find themselves covering multiple additional responsibilities. Always having a level of flexibility and the skills necessary to quickly alter a schedule and re-prioritize is essential. With the absences, I volunteered to extend my half day into a full day and was able to facilitate a review 504 meeting, provide a presence during our passing periods and lunches, as well as process a few discipline referrals. I sat in on two student conferences which resulted from discipline referrals, as well as a discussion with a teacher connected to a referral. Seeing the flexibility an administrator has in deciding appropriate punishment was enlightening, a positive attribute to interject common sense and appropriateness into the process. I was not asked for and did not provide input into the situation with the students. I was tempted with one particular instance, but refrained due to my position as observer.

PRACTICUM REFLECTION The second day was much more structured and seemed to be what I would consider to be a standard day. On this day I shadowed an assistant principal from Chisholm Trail Intermediate. I was given a thorough walkthrough of the school as we made the morning rounds, providing a great deal of visibility by talking to students and staff. We then took time to discuss elements of the school which were in place and I had several of my questions answered. I was then privy to a primer on the consequences and conferences resulting from discipline referrals at the intermediate level. This discussion was followed by a student conference and follow up phone call with a parent. I was impressed with the documentation method used for the conference and phone call, a streamlined spreadsheet method that could easily be searched and referenced in the future if needed. It was evident that the use of similar systems and a high level of communication between the various

levels of the staff were in place. There was a sense of calm about the school that is somewhat absent on our campus. Some of this is most likely due to the fewer number of students, the layout of the building, and the age of the students. However, I believe a good deal is due to the elements put in place by campus leadership and the climate that is being fostered. This climate is something that I plan to discuss more with the assistant principal I was able to observe, trying to tease out elements that I can replicate as I transition into the leadership position. Conclusion This semester has been rife with transitions in my personal and professional life: from deployed military back to civilian, teaching a new subject, and preparing to make the move from the classroom to the front office. There have been many learning moments and events to reflect on, however, the pace at which they occur has limited my ability to deeply reflect and maximize my lessons learned. As the semester moves to a close and we come to a break, I hope to continue the reflection process and

PRACTICUM REFLECTION develop solid resolutions to carry forward into the rest of this school year as well as my future endeavors. I expect to gain increased insight and to experience further shift in my thought process and perceptions of happenings at school. From major transformations to every day conversations, the ever

nearing transitions will have increasing impact. I look forward to the lessons I have yet to encounter and hope that each new experience will prepare me to be the best school leader I can be. I have ambitious goals with regard to the impact I will have in our community and look forward to increasing the level at which these opportunities will be presented.