KELLY DUNHAM

AUGUST 2014
400 HOUR INTERNSHIP
CUMULATIVE HOURS 160.5
ELCC STANDARD

MAJOR ACTIVITIES

STANDARD 1

Collaborated with district administrators and applied

training materials to district

STANDARD 2

Participated in networking activities among district

administration and local participating districts within
training
Met with district administrators and BOCES Supervisor to for
planning stage of implementing Instructional Rounds within
district
Greeted and dismissed students
Updated exam schedule in response to changes
Read Instructional Rounds book
Took notes on training
Hosted faculty meeting for all summer school teachers
Assisted with over-site of secure administration and set-up /
supervision of staff and testing
Attended full day scoring site at BOCES
Took attendance, tracked and called parents
Reviewed testing day process with site supervisor
Assisted students that were unsure of the tests they were to
take
Assisted student that was sick in the bathroom

STANDARD 3

STANDARD 4

STANDARD 5
STANDARD 6

Met with local administrators for service sharing meeting

Attended 2 day conference in Albany NY with district
administrators
Principals met with BOCES Supervisor to debrief, discuss
any changes needed for upcoming year, finalize operations

STANDARD 7

Worked on electronic portfolio

Wrote monthly reflection and logs

REFLECTION / COMMENTS:
August 5-8:

This week brought together big picture topics in collaborating with other districts
about the common core. I had the opportunity to travel to Albany with our
Administrative team as well as many neighboring schools administration for a
conference titled The Common Core Shift; Collaborative Accountability at Work for
Students. The focus of the conference centered on instructional rounds, coalition
teams that travel to participating districts in order to analyze instructional practices
and provide feedback as a means of improving instruction. This is a unique concept
that the instructor related back to teams of doctors who collaborate in order to
improve outcomes. This unique model raised many questions and constructive
conversation amongst districts. Districts would have to free up at least one
administrator, for possibly a full day throughout the school year, to join a team and
circulate to other districts. Each district would need to identify what they feel are
problem areas so that the teams can come in and focus on evaluating teacher
lessons with specific areas of concerns as a guiding principal. The presenter is
teaching how to take specific and descriptive data so that the observations are not
judgmental or general. This information would be given to administrators as an
outside perspective so that they can work with the teachers on improving their
instruction. Concerns that I see for this model include administrators being out of
the building more, teachers misunderstanding the reason for the teams, classroom
disruption, time given to the task without being able to target many classrooms
within a day, increased responsibilities on an already full plates for building leaders
and not being able to have a good understanding of the lesson within a twenty
minute time frame. Local districts were able to network at the end of the sessions
in order to discuss concerns and questions. We had our local BOCES Representative
present, he was able to collaborate with districts and assist in working out details
and areas of concern. There seems to be many positive aspects of this approach as
well. A collaborative approach can be extremely helpful, especially when everybody
has been trained in using the same model. The feedback from the observations can
be a very useful tool for administrators in working with their teachers. They will be
able to use unbiased, outside perspectives in order to assist teachers in improving
their instruction and can gear professional development in areas of concern.
Overall the goal is for increased student learning, all roads to this approach are
aimed at this goal. Many positive outcomes can stem from such an approach. This
model will be exciting to see unfold in our area. Working with neighboring districts
has been very enjoyable and exciting, everybody is working for the same purpose
and have been wonderful to work with. This networking and collaboration should
not occur just at conferences, but should be ongoing in a leaders role. Many great
ideas, perspectives and supports are able to be created and shared. This has been
a meaningful adventure!

8/12-8/16
Summer school has given me a better picture of how diverse an Administrators role
is. Every issue imaginable comes across an Administrators path. Many times there
are several issues needing addressed at once. It has been a nice team approach
with the Principal in working through each scenario, from sick students, smoking in

the bathrooms to grades, attendance and testing. Major components to successful

leadership has proven to be prioritizing, communication between Administrators,
attention to detail, follow-through and planning ahead. Excellent communication
with teachers, building staff, parents, BOCES staff and students has led to the ability
to effectively manage and lead the summer program. Open and consistent
communication allows a Building Leader to understand all components of a building,
both positive and negative. Having the opportunity to follow a seasoned Principal
through the entire summer school process has been extremely helpful to see how a
successful program is run. This has been a very beneficial placement in expanding
my experience and knowledge in the leadership field.