Sunday, January 27, 2013

     I was really impressed to see the first video of the principal.  He seemed really hands on and involved in his school.  I liked how the teacher felt she could reach out to him and ask for his help.  I remember when I started teaching 14 years ago, I don't remember seeing the principal as much. It seemed like if we had meetings or staff development, they were planned by someone else.  I remember a lot of  teachers leaders appointed and/or volunteered to facilitate these meetings.  When I moved to another district two years later, the principal there was more hands on and even did training for teachers on staff development days.   I'm glad to say I've seen more hands on principals than not in my teaching career.  I have seen it really step up like the past 5 years.
     My principal is very hands on and approachable.  I'm so glad to be working with someone that truly cares abut what happens on our campus.  One example deals with my research topic.   She asked two teachers if they would pilot a departmentalized model on our campus.  In another neighboring school, all the teachers had to do this model and were told the April before school started.  My principal did not want to do that to everyone so she is just trying out with a few teachers this year. This is the model, two teachers one third and one second grade would be partners.  One teacher would teach Language Arts and Social Studies for both second and third grades.  The other one would teach math and science for both grade levels.  So far, the two teachers piloting this program on my campus, love it.  Some negative comments on the other campus is some teachers didn't even get a grade level they had been doing.  For example, I know a second grade teacher that was assigned third and fourth grade science and math.  My research question is, do these students perform better?  There are a few campuses in my district that have always done this. Another sub question could be, how well to the teachers work together since they are sharing students.  I am anxious to find out information and I pretty excited because more than likely we will implement this across the board on my campus next year!
 

4 comments:

  1. Definitely like your topic and the fact that you have already thought of other possible questions that might result from doing your research. Let me know how it goes! And I do agree with you, I would definitely prefer a more hands on principal rather than someone you just hear about and rarely see.

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  2. You are fortunate that your administrator is so cooperative. Mine is too but not all teachers have approachable, cooperative principals. I like that you will likely implement your plan on your campus next year.

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  3. I've had all types of principals as well and agree that they do seem to be stepping it up in recent years. I sometimes wonder how grade levels get assigned to teachers at the elementary level. It seems ridiculous to give a teacher a brand new grade especially if it's not something they requested. I think you've chosen a great research topic!

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  4. I find the departmentalized program that your principal is setting up is so unique. I can see the benefits of the kids having the same teacher two years in a row, but I think it would be scary for some teachers to be in a grade level that they have never had experience with. With that being said, once they teach that class, they find that they enjoy it better than what they had before. Although, it will be a lot of work!

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