ILD Reflections

First and foremost, I must say that my focus during this course, and its objectives changed radically during the timeframe of the course.  I was hired on as the new assistant principal at Klein Collins High School during this class, and it changed my outlook on the assignments.  Whereas before, when I was a teacher, I viewed the assignments through a teacher lens, and had a hard time imagining how I may implement some of the ideas presented in the course; now, as a principal – I see direct correlations with the goals I am given, and the assignments listed.  I see tremendous value in some of the examples.  The further they are away from “mainstream” teaching, the more value and interest I find in them. 

 To be honest, I was really interested in Research based instruction – but the icing on the cake for me was the Flipped learning.  I am fortunate enough to teach in a one-to-one district, and it would be SO easy for my teachers to convert a couple of lessons into a “Flipped” classroom.  A couple of problems present themselves pretty quickly with this:  1.  I am in a HUGE district, and this must go through the curriculum specialist/planner for the district.  2.  The hesitation of the teachers (which I have not met yet).  3.  The logistics and software knowledge required to pull off a flipped classroom.

 All of the hesitations aside, I see great value in the lesson provided.  The discussion board of the class also provided some valuable insights as to the benefit of a flipped classroom.  While most of the responses to the original responses were generic, I found that most/if not all of the admin-in training students found this to be the key-stone of the course.  Flipped learning needs to be brought mainstream, and QUICKLY!!

 I am also asked to discuss my internship and the progression of the internship. It has accelerated into hyper drive after landing this assistant principal job. I can honestly tell you that some of the stuff in the plan is worthless right now, and some of it is very valuable.  I am glad that I was forced out of my comfort zone as a teacher, and directed to spend time in committees and to be involved in the leadership structure of the school.  Had I not done this, I would have been even more lost than I am now!!!

 Overall – this course was a great help, and especially when piggybacked with the ILD certification course from Region 2. (By the way Lamar – please do a better job of posting the timelines for taking this course in relation to the LCE and the Admin CERT test.)

Summary of Video Conference - 9/23/12

My summary of the video conference. The video I participated in with Dr. Jenkins was very positive. It was very refreshing to hear some of the other ideas for community partnerships. Thank you Dr. Jenkins for recconizing FFA and the impact it has on our Nations youth! I did not recieve any criticism on my community partnership, which I guess is good. But I would liked to have had a little more conversation regarding this idea.

Week 5 Reflection - Community Relations

My progress towards the implementation of my action research project is on schedule. I have contacted Dr. Hall and have submitted the request for the school district data on the number of cell phone violations. I have also started some one-to-one interviews with my assistant principals over discipline to get their overall view of the cell phone as a classroom disruption. Those interviews are being recorded as well. My next step is to formally document the time spent on cell phone violations compared with other administrative time. I will use these interviews to correlate with the district data I am receiving from Dr. Hall’s office. After that, I will be interviewing the Para-professionals whose job it is to collect cell phones, take payments for cell phone pick up and determine the amount of time they spend on this issue on a weekly basis. If I look at my action research project, it is daunting. I have to remind myself that the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. At the present time, I don’t foresee any problems finishing the project. I recently was elected to serve on the campus CIDC committee which looks at the campus plan and ways that the campus can implement this plan. The committee also looks at student discipline and different ways that students, staff, and parents can help manage the various discipline problems that arise. I felt this was a great way to not only document hours for my action research project and my field experience, but also gain insight on some of the ways the problems of cell phones in the classroom have become a problem at our school. The first meeting lasted 2 ½ hours and dealt mainly with the campus plan/vision. I did bring up my topic and was met with mixed reviews. The biggest hurdle to accomplishing the end goal (allowing smart phones in the classroom) is that our campus is a 1-to-1 campus with each student being issued a laptop. This policy somewhat defeats the BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) initiative since students have access to the internet and the other digital learning arenas. Overall, I am pleased with my progress, although slow. According to my original plan, I am right on schedule.

Week 5 Wrap Up! 5301 DONE!!!

We were told to post our thoughts on week 5 and the review portion of this class. Today is the last day to submit assignments, and while I have done this - I find myself still checking to make sure it was all done completely. Here was my discussion post, which sums up my thoughts on this week and the course. "The item I most enjoyed was also the most brutal! I really enjoyed the SIP Planning. Looking at my research idea, I had no idea how to implement it. After reviewing the plan (which I got wrong the first time!), I was able to spell out my thoughts into a timeline. I would say that I enjoyed the satisfaction of creating the plan. Don't get me wrong, the idea of the work is still scary, however, learning how to plan it out has been the most benificial thing I have learned. The part that I am still at a loss about is blogging. While I understand the need and the premise of blogging, I am not that good at constantly updating my thoughts. I know that after this course, I will still have to update the blog and write where I am or my thoughts on an action with my research. I am a little nervous about this because I am the type of person to "just get it done." Blogging makes me put my work out there to the world and have it critiqued. I am all for this, but still nervous and need improvement on the operation of this assignment. I plan on really attacking the blog. I may even go overboard on it a bit, and I apologize to anybody following my blog posts. I really do believe in my research project, and I also hope that it will have value, not only for my district, but other districts down the road. I hope to gain more followers on my blog and be able to post substanitive topics to the board." Keep checking my blog, I will watch for updates on yours as well! Thanks, and see you in the next class! Jake Prince

Cool leadership video on how to start a movement

One frustration that I have heard in a discussion post, and with some other blogs as well is that we all think we have GREAT ideas!  However, we are uncertain about how to get our fellow teachers to "buy-in" to the research and help out.  Or if the plan is enacted, we don't want to be ridiculed for the change.

I am posting a video - or a link to a video that is from the TED BLOG.  It is a leadership blog that talks about how to get people to follow your idea.  

The video is humorous to watch, but the narration behind it is sticking.  I watched it a couple of years back and still remember this part of the workshop.  How to start a movement!

TED BLOG = http://blog.ted.com/2010/04/01/how_to_start_a/

It is interesting at least.  I am not saying I think his "wrap-up" everything I believe, but the premise of the video is.  Enjoy

WEEK 4 - the big review

After meeting with my site supervisor, we agreed that my action plan submission and outlines were very planned out from week 3.  He did encourage me, as did Jamie Alverez-Calderon to maybe use some other districts with more lenient policies as baselines for a new change.  This will simply be an extension of my first step in data gathering and will not change my overall plan.  My action plan is still the same, posted on June 29th. 
I do encourage you to spread the word about my cell phone plan and to please start giving me some pros and cons regarding cell phone use in class.  I will use some of your comments and data in my final evaluation. 
I am actually “wierded out” to say that I am enjoying the process of action research.  I never in my life thought I would like the research part of this course.  I hope that my research will at least serve as a basis for a new policy in any district.  That is my ultimate goal. 

Updated plan in template form - Week 3

I did not include this plan last week, but I have simply inserted the information from my last post to fit the table template.  Hope this helps out to better understand my plan.  Enjoy!

Tool 7.1  Action Planning Template
Goal:  Smart use of Smart Phones: Is the zero tolerance policy of cell phone use applicable in today’s student learning?  What are the impacts of this policy and can it ever be changed?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Acquiring data from district regarding previous discipline write-ups regarding cell phone usage in classrooms	Jake Prince/Dr. Hall – Klein ISD Assist. Sup.	8/1 11/1	District Discipline information from Student Information services.	Data analysis/ charting and numbering amount of cell phone violations.
Use district data to interview principals to determine amount of timer spent per week on cell phone violations	Jake Prince/ Assistant Principals – Klein Oak	11/1-12/1/2012	Conference period, principal scheduling	Have principals complete a small evaluation form to have a copy of each question.  This will allow for charting of answers.  Determine amount of administrative time spent on cell phone policy violations.
Interviewing Para-Professionals to determine time spent on clerical issues regarding phones in classes	Jake Prince Dolly Gonzales- AP Secretary over Cell phone collection	11/1-12/1/2012	Conference period, secretary scheduling for time	Have secretaries fill out form/survey to chart results.  Enter results in table.  Hopefully come up with an idea of amount of time dealing with cell phones.
Survey Students	Jake Prince James Dristas – Site Supervisor	January 2013	Surveys, Student handouts, access to student information	Have students fill out surveys with amount of time spent on cell phones.  Evaluate data on answers.
Survey Affected Parents	Jake Prince James Dristas Dolly Gonzales	January 2013	Surveys to parents, Access to student/family records	Assess current parent/community view of the cell phone policy and any suggestions that may arise from the survey.
Teacher Surveys to determine amount of class management time spent on cell phones	Jake Prince Dept Chairs for 3 Departments	January 2013	Access to staff meetings to give brief surveys, take opinions and record any suggestions	Data collection of amount of time spent on class management.   Also to record any suggestions/directions
Peer Review- Campus based committees	Jake Prince James Dristas Heather Cook Campus Based teacher committee	Feb 2013	All data in a compiled and evaluated format.  This will allow the committee to make better judgments and determinations	Peer review – Meeting with teachers for and against a new policy.  Also compare data with current literary reviews.
Self reflection of data to determine next course of action	Jake Prince	March/April 2013	Compilation of all data collected.  Survey snapshots for/against policy	Assess and evaluate the current policy to see if a recommendation is in order. If so, what are some of the ways the new policy would affect all aspects surveyed.  (Classes, Admin, Paraprofessionals, Students, Parents)
*New Policy writing? Trial Basis if accepted by district	Jake Prince James Dristas Ron Webster (building principal) And Central Office	May 2013-May2014	Small scale implementation of new policy in “Test Classes” to see if a new policy is better than old policy.	This evaluation will be done by assessing all aspects of current research but on a smaller scale to compare data.
Sharing of data with teachers	Jake Prince Staff of Klein Oak	May 2013	Professional Development	Give short presentation on findings, publish results.  Share on blogs and staff website.