Last weekend, I went to the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals AP Workshop. This was the first time I have been to an administrators event and it felt like a good fit. While I am still in the classroom, I took back a number of ideas that I can apply as my preparation for the move up continues. In fact, it never hurts to gain as much practical experience as possible.
One of my professional development goals for this year is to become better at instructional leadership as well as what to do with teachers who are not positively serving kids. Several of the sessions helped me to work toward this goal. First of all, I forked over the cash and went to John Crain's Documentation Training. Crain's philosophy is that the instructional leader needs to help their teachers improve or, if they choose not to want this or are incapable of doing so, to help them "get gone." As a leader, I know that this will not be an easy task. Fortunately, the session not only presented solid advice in how to work with teachers, but also provided the forms to help document when poor performance is leading towards non-renewal.
Sean Cain's session "How to be an effective instructional leader in three easy steps" provided a simple (but not necessarily easy) plan for improvement. The three steps are simply, Teach (which all administrators should have already done), Observe lots of classes and instructional methods, and Coach. Cain also pointed out ways to schedule time for lots of classroom observations as well as side benefits of being out in the building, such as fewer office referrals. While I can't necessarily use Crain's training right away, I can quickly put this session into practice by using my conference time to visit classes and observe teachers. The good ones should be flattered and I believe that I will learn a lot more in the visits than any book could possibly teach.
More reflections to come in the next couple of days.
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