Artifacts

School Improvement Plan
Participated with the Parker Middle School Improvement Team to develop 2012-13 School Improvement Plan. The document was created based upon the previous year's data around academics, behavior, and school culture. It was intentionally aligned with the Nash-Rocky Mount School district vision, improvement goals, and annual initiatives. A main focus of our S.I.P. is increasing student engagement in the classroom and effectively utilizing technology as an instructional tool. media type="custom" key="22866110"

=Letter of Introduction to Staff= media type="custom" key="22866168"

=New Student Orientation Presentation= I developed the New Student Orientation presentation for the administrative team to present. The presentation for parents and students includes introduction to staff members, Parker vision/ mission/ core beliefs, and academic and behavioral goals for students based upon previous year's data. It also provides a variety of venues for parents to get involved in their students' education. Part of developing the presentation included creating an "involvement menu" for parents to sign up to participate in various areas of the school, including the Parent Teacher Association, Father's Circle, Booster Club, etc. media type="custom" key="22866682"

=Parker Administrative Duties= Among the four administrators at Parker, the leadership is clearly distributed. Prior to the start of the school year, we met and discussed programs, responsibilities, and objectives for the year and then developed a calendar and action plan to determine roles for each administrator. This planning ahead has helped throughout the year to provide a structure and level of transparency in all of our operations as school administrators. media type="custom" key="22866854"

=High Expectations for All = The below presentations were some of the many I developed throughout the year to present current behavioral and academic data as well as reset expectations as needed.

Staff Presentation media type="custom" key="22866894"

Student Presentation media type="custom" key="22866914"

Parent Presentation media type="custom" key="22866918"

=Morning Announcements= media type="custom" key="22867222"

=Student Handbook= Using staff feedback as well as other NRMS handbooks, I compiled the student handbook for the 2012-13 school year. The handbook includes information about PBIS, academics, attire, behavior expectations, scheduling, athletics etc. During September, administrators visited every classroom to present about the student handbook. In order to save on copying, I created a "handbook cheat sheet" that provides a synopsis of each section of the handbook. Each student was provided a copy of this document to bring home and have signed by his/ her parents. At the end of the lesson, students took a handbook quiz to demonstrate their understanding of the school expectations. Parents were also asked to sign the code of conduct.

Handbook media type="custom" key="22867264"

Cheat Sheet media type="custom" key="22867268"

Code of Conduct Quiz media type="custom" key="22867272"

=Celebrating Student Successes with PBIS=

Communication to staff members with regard to PBIS events for the month of February. I send out monthly reminders of upcoming PBIS events. These events are planned on the part of the PBIS committee and then communicated to staff.

Memo to all parents to notify them of PBIS dance and ask for volunteers to donate snacks or drinks or help to monitor students on the day of the event. We received over 200 donations of snacks, drinks, and prizes. Four parents volunteered on the day of the dance. media type="custom" key="22867370"

Video trailer created by myself and another PBIS committee members used to introduce the kickoff event to the students. media type="custom" key="22868012"

Email to staff regarding students who may not attend the celebration based on behavior eligibility. As a PBIS committee, we assessed needs for monitoring based on the number of students attending the dance. We placed a sign-up sheet in the front office for staff to choose in which location they would like to monitor on the day of the event. Following the PBIS kickoff event, students and staff were asked to provide feedback on the event. This feedback was disaggregated and used to guide the PBIS committee in planning and implementing future activities. media type="custom" key="22867382" media type="custom" key="22867386" As a PBIS committee, we offered the opportunity for staff members to participate in a work session to revisit the student expectations matrix so as to publish signs for every focus area in the school (classrooms, hallways, bathrooms, cafeteria, bus).



Similar to the PBIS kickoff event, we will also be hosting an end-of-year PBIS celebration. This as well as several smaller events are being offered to motivate positive behavior.

=Celebrating Staff= At the end of every staff and team meeting, we have staff members fill out a WOW (Within Our Walls) celebration form. This is an opportunity for colleagues to celebrate one another. Often times these celebrations are shout outs with regard to great instruction or break-through's with students and other times the WOW template is a way to acknowledge support and provide thanks for going above and beyond to help with a particular situation. In addition, I strive to write and deliver at least 3-5 personalized notes a week to staff members. The form of these notes vary as sometimes they are written in an email, other times a card, and many times even just a sticky note of appreciation or congratulations. The following artifact is a sample email written to the 7th grade team and all other support staff involved in a field trip that I planned and attended.

**Hiring** Over the course of the school year, I have participated in ten interviews for both core as well as elective teachers. As an administrative team, we present the interview in a panel form to ask questions to understand the candidate's skill sets around classroom management, instructional delivery, assessment, and technology integration. We also ask questions to judge the candidate's perspective with regard to high expectations for all students, rigor, engagement, and involvement in school-wide professional learning communities. Below is a sample of the interview template we use to ask questions-- these questions are often supplemented with additional questions from the myself, the principal, our professional development coordinator, guidance counselor, and any other who may be joining the interview committee. media type="custom" key="22867428"

=Observations= Over the course of the school year, I conducted several formal and informal observations. The formal observations included a pre-conference, observation, and post-conference. I observed both core as well as elective teachers. In addition, I conducted several walkthroughs using a walkthrough form my principal and I collaborated to develop.

Formal Observation media type="custom" key="22867474" media type="custom" key="22867492" media type="custom" key="22928646" Informal Walkthroughs media type="custom" key="22867510" media type="custom" key="22867520"

=Conflict Management= I have had a multitude of experiences that have aided in my understanding of how to best manage conflict between administrators, teachers, students, and parents. In every conflict, I keep a customer focus at the forefront. I strive to always operate in the best interest of students. Therefore, when speaking with a parent, teacher, or student I focus on the facts at hand and how the situation is affecting student performance. This allows me to shift the focus from emotional and personal to factual, driving toward a shared resolution.

The following artifact is an email communication sent to a teacher regarding a conversation I had during the school day. media type="custom" key="22867616"

=Community Involvement=

I was provided the opportunity to preside for the Communities in Schools: Celebrating Local Leaders program. media type="custom" key="22867670"

I also participated in the community holiday program held prior to winter break. media type="custom" key="22867682"

=Scheduling= ====Based on benchmark and other formative assessment data, the leadership team determined the need for establishing extra time to provide individualized language arts, math, and science remediation and enrichment. Based on the master schedule, the best time for this small group instruction is during the school's "exploratory time". Following the leadership team meeting, I as well as our principal and professional development coordinator collaborated to develop a schedule for this remediation period. We used the core teachers on each team as well as divided the, elective teachers, and any other available staff members between the grade levels. The following schedule is the outcome of our work session. Based on the available staff on each grade, the teams developed a schedule for remediation according to individual student needs. ==== media type="custom" key="22867770" I also created a shared master calendar for all of the administrators and support staff. I update the calendar with meetings, extracurricular events, games and duties, emergency drills, and other important dates. This calendar helps to minimize the risk of overlapping events and serves as a method to ensure all administrators are aware of upcoming events. Below is a sample month of our shared master calendar.



=Budget= As part of my NELA Budget class, I was involved in several activities dealing with school, district, and state budgets. As the culminating assignment for the course, I collaborated with fellow peers to develop a sample budget and mock presentation to the schoolboard.

Presentation media type="custom" key="22867818"

Budget Justification media type="custom" key="22867844"

=Professional Learning Communities= I have participated in a variety of collaborative learning and decision-making communities, including the School Improvement Team, Instructional Leadership Council, Grade Level Professional Learning Communities, and Department Professional Learning Communities.

During the Instructional Leadership Council meetings, I aid in leading the discussion around morning announcements, school newsletter, PBIS initiatives, fundraising, and school-wide discipline and academic data. The following artifact provides a sample of the minutes developed from an Instructional Leadership Council meeting in September. media type="custom" key="22867966"

Aside from school-wide meetings, as an administrative team, we also meet with grade level teams at least once a month. Topics for the monthly "chat 'n chews" include professional development on common formative assessments, testing data, technology integration, classroom management, school-wide procedures, etc. These meetings are aligned to the goals of the School Improvement Plan developed at the beginning of the year. The following is a sample of our meeting with teachers in regard to introducing new hallway transitioning procedures to students. media type="custom" key="22868002"

Worked with professional development coordinator to present on the purpose and best practices of professional learning communities. We led a discussion around experiences that teachers have already had with PLCs and then used that as a springboard to present expectations for Parker Middle School PLCs for the remainder of the school year. media type="custom" key="22871342"

=District-Wide Initiatives= I have participated in several district-wide initiatives, trainings, and mandates including:
 * Disciplining Students with IEPs Training
 * Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Module I Training
 * Emergency Operations Plan
 * TRA/ OIC/ Long Term Student Recommendations and Referrals



=School-Wide Communication= Throughout the year, I have connected with staff, students, and parents at a variety of levels including morning announcements, staff newsletter, Connect Ed, email, and paper copy.

Sample Connect Ed with notification and recommendations for 8th grade Smarter Balance mock testing.

Sample email to staff members about participating in the 7th grade field trip to the Dunn Center.