Curriculum and Instruction I believe that access to an effective curriculum and instruction program is the right for every student. I believe this because the teachers that made learning accessible for me is how I learned the best. I also believe this to be true, because my teaching experience has taught me that students don’t want to learn solely from turning the pages of a book. They want to be part of their learning and want to know how the new learning is relevant to their lives. There are many aspects of curriculum and instruction, such as: accessibility, delivery, level of engagement, relevancy, and appropriateness. The level of engagement is one of the aspects that is critical. Curriculum is the “what” of teaching and the instruction is the “how” a teacher delivers the curriculum. If the instruction doesn’t engage students, the rigor and appropriateness of any curriculum will not make a difference. A teacher needs deliver the instruction in an engaging manner that causes student to productively struggle. I came to this realization in my first couple of years of teaching. If students didn’t take an active role in the learning process, by having a choice, experience struggle, talk about and share their learning and given the opportunity to discover on their own, the amount of learning diminishes. The Common Core State Standards have changed the teacher and student roles in the learning process. Students should now be stewards of their own learning and teachers are now more of a facilitator of learning. This is a major shift for many and one that is essential to prepare our students to be college and career ready in the 21st Century. Parent and Community Involvement I believe that parent and community involvement are of the essence to all school systems. I agree with the ancient African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” My students are the reason that I feel strongly about this. I started my teaching career in an alternative school, and parent and community involvement was almost nonexistent. When I would ask other teachers about the challenges of reaching parents through the phone or mail, they told me that that is the way it was and that there wasn’t much that could be done. This made me very sad. As I got to know my students better, I began to learn about their home life. Some students missed school, because they had to care for younger siblings, or were involved in gangs that their belonged to, or had a parent that was incarcerated. It was until that I realized that many of my students didn’t have anyone to instill in them the importance and value of an education. A school without parent and community involvement can be the cause of many issues such as: lack of parental involvement, the lack of student achievement, attendance issues, discipline issues, and student drop-outs. After a few years at this school, parental involvement began changing. This change began with bringing staff together to brainstorm ideas for increasing parental involvement. As a staff we agreed that we would begin to create opportunities to recognize students and changing student interventions to include parents. We started having monthly parent meetings to recognize student how have improved academically and displayed positive citizenship. The office and teachers made phone calls, mailings were sent home and students were personally invited by the teacher and principal. By the third month, we were filling up a classroom with students’ family and friends. The best part of this was the smile on the students’ faces. Discipline and School Culture I believe that the foundation of a discipline and school culture of any school should lie in the habit of Do No Harm. I believe this, because now more than ever our students are faced with many struggles and challenges and do not have anyone to teach them how to overcome them. Without the knowledge or belief that they can overcome these struggles and challenges puts them in survival mode, where their focus is on surviving as best as they know how and not necessarily in the best or most appropriate means. There are many aspects when considering how to cultivate a positive discipline and school culture and one that does no harm such as: rules that are fairly and consistently reinforced, administration, teachers, staff, students and parents are well aware of the expectations, and interventions rather than consequences are in place. I would like to elaborate more on interventions. When a school doesn’t have an appropriate intervention system in place for academic and discipline support and guidance, it will be evident in the culture of a school. One of my classroom rules was come prepared to learn, which meant have all the necessary materials needed for class. So I didn’t know what to do when day after day, several students didn’t have a pen or pencil. So, I would first give them a warning, but it didn’t make much of a difference and they still didn’t have a pencil. After a couple of warnings, I knew this didn’t warrant a referral; however, I knew I had to be consistent with reinforcing the rules. So I was in a predicament and realized that my rules had to be modified. This also led me to the conclusion that my rules or what I now refer to as behavioral expectations should establish the culture that I wanted in my classroom. Schools should cultivate a supportive and understanding culture that addresses students’ academic and social-emotional needs. Technology I believe that technology should play an integral role in transforming instruction. I believe this because the learning possibilities available at our fingertips is nearly limitless; therefore why would we not bring in such a rich resource into our classrooms. This resource, like any other, needs to be implemented strategically, so that it transforms learning and increases student achievement. Dr. Ruben Puentedura’s SAMR (substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition) model for infusing technology, is an excellent model to guide the integration of technology in the classroom and school. Although there are several issues that need to be considered, such as: creating the infrastructure, identifying what devices are the most appropriate, professional development and on-going support for staff, and acceptable use policies. Professional development is one of the issues, I feel is essential for a school to be successful with technology. In my current position as an Academic Coach, I’m involved in most of the technology professional development in my district. The district started making considerable shifts last year by developing the infrastructure in 90% of the district, and at the end of the year, we purchased five chromebook carts with 35 devices for teachers to use at each site. As a result, the three-day back-to-school professional development was primarily centered on technology, not only content-wise, but also as a resource. It was almost 90% paper-free, making all hand-outs, presentations and other supplementary materials easily accessible online. As a result, there has been a strong, positive response, by increasing the number of teachers using technology and incorporating it into the classroom. As a leader there are three non-negotiables that I will clearly communicate and reinforce. They are respect, student achievement and transparency. These non-negotiables will be true for everyone on the school site: administration, certificated and classified staff and most importantly, students. In the classroom, in the office or anywhere around the campus there will be a sense of belonging for everyone. Regardless of one’s role, I want everyone to know that they belong, by knowing that they are needed and have a purpose. The only way this will be done is to respect one another personally and professionally. I believe everyone has something to contribute; however, we need to respect these contributions and provide the structures that will encourage and support collaboration. Respect doesn’t happen automatically and all efforts must be intentional. Transparency will be another non-negotiable. My mission and vision as a leader will be clearly communicated to all. As mentioned above, there will be structures in place to facilitate the transparency. The main purpose of transparency is for everyone to be knowledgeable, aware and encourage participation and collaboration from all interested. By creating and cultivating a culture of respect and transparency, I believe that I will be able to communicate the third non-negotiable, student achievement. It is the most important non-negotiable of the three and will be at the core of all the decisions and work. This will be the driving force of all my decisions and actions. I believe most educators came into the profession with the desire to educate people to become successful, self-sufficient individuals that will contribute to society. With our shared desire, student achievement will soar. I’ve been very fortunate in my professional career to have had supervisors with differing leadership styles, all of which I have taught me how vital the role of a leader is to the culture of an organization. In my current leadership role, I find myself imitating the styles of the leaders that have respectfully supported and guided me to improving and growing in my career and preventing behaviors from the authoritative and laissez-faire leaders. Therefore, I would describe my leadership style as a democratic servant leader. Providing multiple, collaborative opportunities for my colleagues to share their expertise, opinions and feedback before decisions are made and working to meet their needs. I have experienced the negative impact authoritative leaders’ behavior have on the culture of an organization, and unfortunately the negative implications to student achievement. I have learned that it is vital for a leader to recognize the wealth of knowledge in the organization and have the ability to bring everyone together to work towards the school’s mission and vision. The laissez-faire leader can cause as much harm. A leader must make the effort to develop relationships with their staff and the ability to create structures that complement their goals and meet staff’s needs. Relationships, communication and collaboration are going to be the key factors that I will focus on as a leader. As a teacher, I have learned that investing time and effort into building relationships with my students has been the greatest factor in building a culture of learning and respect. I was amazed on how many of my students’ attitudes towards their future and their potential transformed from the beginning of the year to the end. It was not an easy task and one that I needed to monitor and tend to on a daily basis. I have come to realize that we adults require the same type of attention and respect. It is a human need. And as a leader, recognizing human needs will guide me in the right direction. For the past 18 years, I have worked in the education field in a variety of capacities. My professional experience began in my hometown, when I was hired as an Instructional Aide of the Independent Studies Program. It was a part-time position, but perfect since my daughter had just turned one year old. In the year that I worked in this position, I started becoming aware of the many realities and challenges that young people face in their educational journeys. The following year, I began working a high school as a full-time Instructional Aide for the English Learner Program. In this position, I worked closely with both teachers and students. There were two teachers that gave me the opportunity to actually lead small groups and provide them with academic support. I also had to coordinate the after-school tutoring program, which included scheduling and training tutors. This experience ignited an interest in this age group, and it was the one that led me to change my major from multiple subject to single subject teaching. Two years later, I began working as a Case Manager. Every program year, I managed a caseload averaging 35-40 youth, 14-21 years of age. Managing these youth included, assessing their needs, making referrals, job placement and providing them basic math and English tutorials and leadership classes. I gained skills on building close working relationships with youth and parents. The funding ended for the program, at which point I was hired at the County Office of Education as a Prevention Specialist. I coordinated prevention programs and implemented leadership curricula at various high schools in my county. After 8 months, I was promoted to Program Coordinator. I no longer was providing classes at the high schools, I was providing training to Prevention Specialists and other staff in our department, attending the management leadership monthly meetings and facilitating staff meetings. In Spring 2007, I earned my Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in English - Single Subject Teaching. That Fall, I was hired at an English Teacher in an alternative high school. In this position, I was able to integrate the skills I learned as a Case Manager on leadership and building relationships with young people. Also, the knowledge and skills I attained as a Prevention Specialist and Program Coordinator on social-emotional intelligence and brain development, became the foundation of my instruction. At the beginning of my fourth year, I was offered the assignment of part-time English Teacher and part-time Site Instructional Coach. I accepted. I now not only taught English to at-risk students, but also guided and supported all the teachers through district initiatives, trainings, and any other needs. In my 7 years at that school, I was also the Associated Student Body Director for 6 years, WASC Coordinator for 2 years and part of the District Leadership Team. As the WASC Coordinator, my school earned a 6 year accreditation. In 2013, I was awarded the Association of California School Administrators, Teacher of the Year, for my region. This year, I started my second year as District Instructional Coach. My journey has slowly placed me in various leadership roles. Looking back to when I started my first Instructional Aide position, there seems to be a strategic connection that has brought me to where I am today. I believe the all children should be guaranteed educational equity. I believe this because all children have the desire to learn and grow and no one has the right to judge and/or deny anyone of the right to an education and destroy that desire. Growing up, my little sister was my favorite student. She would play school with me almost everyday. Of course, I was the teacher and she was my student. My parents even bought me a little easel that on one side was a chalkboard and a magnetic board on the other. I had the basic necessities and my parents were supportive, until the day they told me that they couldn’t help me financially, if I wanted to leave home to attend college. As a result, I stayed at home and attended a community college for two years, then I transferred to SDSU. The move was a complete culture shock, coming from a small town, but the experience helped me solidify my decision to continue to pursue a career in education. From kindergarden to my senior year in high school, I loved school and most of my teachers. I was blessed to have teachers that fed my curiosity and desire to learn. At that time, I always assumed that the education system was the same everywhere and everyone, no matter where you lived, what race you identified with, what religion you practiced, received the same quality of education. Unfortunately, I soon learned that the education system was not the panacea that I once thought. There are large disparities from east coast to west coast, from north California to south California, from one neighboring town to another. In his second inaugural speech, President Obama stated, "We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else." This must hold true for this little girl and all other little boys and girls. I want to help lead in creating a culture that make school a place where all students feel they belong and nurture their desire to learn. I believe that every human should be treated fairly and have the same opportunities to receive an education that will enable them to be successful in the future they desire. My belief stems from my disbelief from the ongoing inequities that continue to exist in today’s society and education system. Equity and respect are non-negotiables in education. Every human is different, so they deserve to be met at their level. Collaborating with people that share a growth mindset and grit, we will start affecting one person at a time. Through the same values that lead my personal life, clear communication, patience, honesty, respect and perseverance, I plan to share my mission with others.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2015
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