Part C: Competencies
Introduction
For each section of this page, I have attached artifacts that show evidence of my competency in each area. Some of the artifacts are directly linked to this page, others are on separate pages. Some of my artifacts are final projects from classes that did not require benchmark projects,. Most are not. I have attempted to find artifacts that are different from those submitted under my culminating projects.
1. Vision and School Community
ISSLC Standard I reads, “a school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. I believe that every child is capable of learning. Each learner may gain knowledge in different ways and at different times. Every learner has the right to learn in his/her own way.
My artifacts demonstrate my belief. My first artifact is my model of leadership that was put together for EDUC 645. This model compares a covered wagon to the educational process. This fits in with my belief that education is a process.
I have also included a link to my MARS page. MARS is an acronym that stands for Math And Reading Saturday. MARS is a remediation program offered by Central Elementary School to students at risk of not meeting the benchmarks for the state Standards of Learning test. In my introduction, I explain that the vision of the school is to help every child succeed. I was invited to administrate CES’ MARS program this year after serving the program for the past three years as its computer lab teacher.
One of my strongest visions is to help teachers reach the digital learners that are coming into the classrooms these days. Even very young children often have stronger computer and technology skills than those of their teachers. While the students may have instant access to knowledge, what they need from their teachers is the wisdom of how to interpret the knowledge. I help carry out my vision by providing hands on workshops such as the visual literacy staff development below. The link will take you to my presentation, the resources I used during the presentation, and the teacher products created from the presentation.
This is my model of Leadership from Educ 645.
This is the link to my Mars Page.
This is the Visual Literacy Workshop I presented to each of our elementary schools.
2. Positive School Culture and School Practice
ISLLC Standard 2 reads, “school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.” This is perhaps my strongest area. It has also been stated in many of my courses that in order to be a great school administrator, one has to be a master teacher; and if one is to be a great teacher, one must be a great learner. If this is true, I will be a wonderful administrator!
No where is my growth in the skill this standard puts forth seen more than in my change of attitude toward students with special needs. When I was earning my undergraduate degree from Liberty Baptist College, I was sent to the Central Virginia Training School for a practicum.  I must admit I was not fully prepared for what I was to encounter at the Training School. I was terrified! I made myself a promise to never work with special education. I felt I just did not have the calling for this field.
When I began working on my master’s degree, I had to take a class in special education. During this class, I was to put in field experience hours. I am very proud of the experience this class provided me and of my own performance. I was able to work with some phenomenal educators! My own maturity and life experiences encountered since that long ago practicum also led me to look at the students in a different light than I did during my undergraduate degree. God has given every person, including students with disabilities, unique talents and gifts.
After this experience, I have made a point to continue to work with Special Education teachers. My favorite class is the class of students with autism. Students in this classroom range from grades K-2. They love to see me come in with my Smart Board! I have submitted my sample IEP, which was completed for EDUC 521. I wanted to make sure I was accurate in putting together my IEP. I took it to two different teachers within my division and asked them to check it. I was adamant that I did not want their input into any part of my plan except for the acknowledgment that the plan would be fair and respectful should the student be real. In the future, I want to know how to support my SPED teachers and the students they serve. The picture at the top of this paragraph is a young boy with autism. He can be seen working on the Smart Board.
This is my sample IEP from Foundations of Exceptionality
In my division, in addition to being an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher, I am one of a handful of mentors that serves as a differentiation coach. As a differentiation coach, I was asked to take a class at Sweet Briar College, in Amherst VA. During the course I had to create a differentiated unit using a model of instruction called Understanding By Design. UbD was the brain child of Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins. After the unit was created, I was to model the unit for two other teachers.
Our division believes strongly in differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is a teaching philosophy based on the premise that teachers should adapt instruction to student differences. I think that our prime example of a DI teacher was Christ. Every student can learn. Instruction can be differentiated based on content, process, or product. It can be differentiated by readiness, interest, or learning style. Where many teachers falter is in thinking that just because they have different tasks, they are differentiating. This is not differentiation. Like any other instructional method or philosophy, instruction must be driven by student needs. That is where the model of UbD helps. It guides teachers in finding out the strengths and weaknesses of their students and pushes the instruction beyond the simple standard needed for the state test. Teachers are encouraged to think about the hidden curriculum which will create lessons remembered by students well into adulthood.
This is my differentiated unit from EDUC 625
As an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher, in my division, I want the teachers and administration to consider the new learning skills that “digital natives” are bringing with them to the classroom. Research is showing that students do not learn in the same manner that their teachers did. Part of my job is to help teachers become digitally literate and help teachers keep abreast of technologies. Sometimes I am privileged to receive an email thanking me for doing just that. Below, in the attachments section is an email from Mrs. Kimberly Anderson, assistant principal of Madison Heights. She wrote an email to my boss, my division superintendent, and my assistant superintendent. Ms. Anderson was grateful that she was aware of a technology presented to her at a conference. She had heard of the tool from me.
3. Organization, Operations, and Resource Management
ISLLC Standard 3 explains that a school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment. I encountered the realization of what this entails with the administration of summer school last year. Please reference my Summer School Project in the Culminating Projects Section.
Also, below is my MARS page. I am administrating the program for the year. I report each morning before the teachers and open the building. It is also my responsibily to stay until all the buses report back in to say that students have arrived safely home. As we are providing snack each day, I am to pick up snacks from Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
This is the link to my MARS Page.
Sometimes, in order to ensure that operations run smoothly insde the school, an adminsitrator must go outside the school. Amherst County has many student teachers coming from Sweet Briar. These beginning professionals come into our buildings and are expected to quickly ease into the management of the classroom. Since Sweet Briar is a business partner of ours, they requested that we provide Smart Board training for their new teachers and their educational professors. By providing this training, I ensured that the new teachers coming into the school will be better able to do the job they are preparing for. In the attachments below, is my handout from the Sweet Briar training.
Administrators also need to be aware of how different resources can be utilized by various departments. I attended a workshop called Marrying AT (Assistive Technologies) with IT (Instructional Technologies) This is the link to the wiki page where I put my notes so that I could share them in real time with administrators in my division. Real time meant that my administration could see my notes as I posted them.
4. Family and Community Collaboration
A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse community interests and
needs, and mobilizing community resources. Two years ago the state of Virginia mandated that schools teach internet safety to all students in grades Kindergarten through Twelfth. Not only do we teach the students, we are mandated to go out into the community and give workshops to PTAs, churches, clubs, and other organizations that parents may be involved in. Below in the attachment section is an internet safety powerpoint I presented at a PTA meeting at Madison Heights Elementary School.
Also submitted is my MARS page. On this page, is a copy of a letter that I sent to Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. We collaborated with BRAFB to provide snacks and hot meals for our students during remediation sessions. A second business partnership with McDonalds provides gift cards that are used for daily incentives. By reaching out to the community, my students are provided more resources.
This is the link to my MARS Page.
These are resources and photos from the Accelerated Math and Reading training I was fortunate enough to co-faciltate with Mrs. Beth Gamble, one of our school board members. Accelerated math are Reading are part of the Renaissance Place Suit of software which our division purchases for its students. This software gives online practice in reading and math skills.
Mrs. Gamble was formally a teacher in our division and retired several years ago. She now serves as vice president of the division’s school board.
A school administrator needs to reach out to their entire community. Mrs. Gamble was the person who introduced Accelerated Math into Amherst County and has continued to keep aware of its upgrades and services. She is an excellent resource to the teachers as she knows what it is like to be in their shoes. Mrs. Gamble also lives among the students of Amherst and understands their needs. There was no one better to co-facilitate this training with!
This is the link to my Accelerated Math and Reading page.
Finally, I think administrators must think outside the box when reaching out to the community. With technology today, our students are globally communicating with people from all over the world. I belong to many different social networks. I do this for two reasons. One, I want to know what is happening in the world of my students. Secondly, I share resources with teachers from around the world, thereby offering my students a more enriching curriculum. In the attachments below is a document with screen shots of various networks in which I take part. I truly believe that administrators need to be on the cutting edge of what’s happening. These networks provide me that opportunity.
5. Integrity, Fairness, and Ethics
A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner. Reflecting on my practice is a professional skill that I take great pride in. With reflection comes a self assessment of one’s practice, ethisc, and character. As a mentor teacher I set aside meetings weekly with beginning professionals to help them reflect on their practice. These reflections with new professionals must be kept confidential.  Helping others reflect is also a part of my responsibilities of being a differentiation coach. Again, reflections must be kept confidential. In fact, working with veteren teachers requres more confidentiality, ethics, and professionalism than new teachers. Veteren teachers know that new trends come and go and are savvy enough to know when someone is pulling their leg or just wanting to put on a dog and pony show.  Please refer to my Culminating Projects page for descriptions of my mentoring and coaching. I also asked my coworkers for letters of references. These letters are attached below. Often, the best way to find out if you are doing a good job is to ask the people that work with you everyday. Finally, I am including the link to my NETs *T Portfolo. This is a very intensive certification process. It is comparable to the National Boards.
6. School in Context
A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context. At one point I would have shied away from combining politics and education. My view of this has changed greatly since becoming an ITRT. After several meetings with our state VDOE, where we were told that the Instructional Technology Resource Teacher was a change agent, our state was put into a budge crunch. The ITRT positions were in jeopardy only months after they had been created. A memo went out asking all ITRTs to band together and make our state government award of our value. Not believing that I could make a difference, yet at the same time, hoping that I could, I added my name to the list of teachers who wrote letters to the state government. We were able to save the positions. I began to realize that the political world was not something to be shied away from but one that as an administrator that wants to make a difference in the lives of my children, I need to advocate for their rights and needs. I joined my local NEA. While I believe that the NEA does not hold to the same values that I believe, I am not going to make changes unless I get involve. I am a member of the Conservative Caucus on the NEA level. At the VEA level, I have served as a delegate. This year, we have a more conservative VEA president. At my local level, I serve as the AEA secretary. I am also a building rep. In my attachments, I have included the first email of this year to my building as their new rep.
An administrator also needs to think about the cultural needs of her students. At one of the schools I serve, there is a very large population of students at risk due to income. We run a remediation program on Saturday. Getting up on Saturday is not fun and one would think that students would not want to do this. However, our remediation program can take only a limited number of students yet always has a waiting list. Providing remediation on Saturday allows parents to take advantage of a resource for their child that may otherwise not be feasible because the parent works a second or third shift. Teh link to my MARS page is below.
This is my Mars Page.
Also submitted is a page showing the work I did for our division’s School Administration Office. I created a brochure explaining the mentor program as well as one that gives a general idea of what the county offers new professionals. These brochures give a possible recruit an idea of what our rural division is like. Here is the link to my brochures. Also included on this page is a slide show of the first day of New Teacher Orientation. Each year, I assist Dr. MayAnn Mayhew in the activities of the first day. This gives me an opportunity to meet the new teachers and “introduce” them to the rural population they will work with.
