Entry #18: No "winding down" as the
end of the school year approaches!
With three weeks left in the school year, I'm looking at my calendar into
June, and I sure don't see anything that even closely resembles "winding
down!" As a matter of fact, it looks very much like it does at the
end of September when Open House, interscholastics, afterschool meetings,
fall concerts, etc. are kicking in.
And, of course, now is the time, more than ever, to maintain visibility
in the building so that the message continues to be loud and clear: "It's
business as usual." It doesn't help when you're in the heart of the
Midwest in May in a building with no air conditioning, but we always seem
to do a pretty good job of maintaining a good climate right up until the
end.
Last week we started interviewing for open teaching positions for next year,
which is always a challenge to schedule with school in session. We bring
in a core of teachers as part of the interviewing process and need to do
our best to not pull them out of classes. That pretty much leaves the time
period after school for interviewing. So, I tell my teachers to grab some
caffeine, throw some cold water on their faces, and away we go! It also
means ensuring that our custodians tidy up the hallways where necessary
at the end of the day so that we put our best foot forward for our candidates.
This time of the year is no different. After all, they're interviewing us
as well, too!
The approaching end of the year also signals other areas that need closure:
ensuring that we've utilized and accounted for grant monies made available
to the school this year; beginning to pull data together, such as with our
reading initiative, to assess student growth and placement for next year;
convening our school improvement team to begin discussion and reflection
on the target goals, objectives, strategies, and assessments we put in place
for this year and preparing our draft of next year's plan to present to
the staff in the fall for consensus.
I've also already set up a training with the University of Missouri Middle
Level Leadership Institute for next fall to assist us with data collection
on engaged learning practices in the classroom. We've also gotten the ball
rolling with the Galef Institute
to discuss looking at the school reform model, "Different Ways of Knowing,"
for possible implementation next year.
Teaching assignments and possible staff reassignments to other teams and/or
grade levels are also being discussed. I believe in being "upfront"
to staff about possible switches when necessitated and don't want to blindside
anyone. I took the opportunity at a faculty meeting the other day to share
with the staff a bit on the powerful effects of "synergy," as
I laid the foundation for talking about possible teaching reassignments
for next year.
As the saying goes, "the sum of the individual parts
has a greater total effect than the strength of the individual parts working
alone," or something along that line. The point to be made was simply
that we are stronger as a school team when we balance our expertise and
strengths across all grade levels, rather that have an individual grade
level or a team be in short of some much needed support. That's one of the
great things about the Jefferson staff: I never have to twist arms. They
see the big picture. It's not unusual to hear someone say, "wherever
you may need me."
So, as I reflect upon these last few weeks, I guess it might be more appropriate
to not use the word "closure" in discussing what remains to be
done for this year, because my efforts are as much, if not more, directed
at laying the groundwork through reflective planning for a successful school
year in 2000-2001.
It's funny how this "vision" thing really works. The "big
picture" isn't really that difficult to keep at the forefront of all
we do, when we help teachers see the connections between everything we do
or discuss doing. I've used visuals, such as a Powerpoint presentation,
to keep our many school initiatives connected to our target goals in the
minds of our staff , so that all of our efforts do not seem disjointed.
Now, doesn't that sound slightly reminiscent of what we try to do in the
classroom with our students to help them see a sense of purpose in what
they're learning? And, I can tell you that at Jefferson, it does
work!
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