September 2014
Goal: Secure facilities to teach modules for helping parents help students bridge into high school. Additionally, I will get teachers to help develop modules that they would like to teach.
Action Steps:
Reflection (including Five Practices): This month’s goals focused on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the areas of Enable Others to Act and Inspire a Shared Vision. In order for the project to become the success I envision, I had t paint a compelling picture of how my Bridge to High School project would benefit the students in our school. I had to show them how my vision would help students thrive in our classrooms by seeking input from the teachers on what they wanted to do. Instead of imposing a curriculum, I felt that I could get others to participate if they could teach the modules that would benefit them.
My plan seemed to work as I had several teachers express interest in participating by teaching a module. Also, Buzz Garwood agreed to help create the videos for The Bridge to High School.
October 2014
Goal: Change the capstone project from Bridging to High School to The Open Planbook. By really focusing on the needs at my campus, I realized that by creating a shared planbook, the resource specialist could be more effective in helping the students in my class.
Action Steps:
Reflection (including Five Practices): This month’s goals focused on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the area of Inspire a Shared Vision and Challenge the Process. To ask the resource specialist to give up her time to work on my lessons required me to paint the big picture of how powerful the project was going to be in terms of maximizing our time together with the students. We would also have to Challenge the Process. Typically, the resource specialist would merely show up in teacher's classrooms, figure out (on the spot) what the teacher was teaching, and then jump in and help the students. Often times, if the resource specialist knew the nature of the lesson, he or she could bring modified resources, and additional strategies prepared in advance to most benefit the resource students. Also, I have usually kept my planbook sealed. To open it up required great trust and a belief in true collaboration.
My goal this month was partially met. I purchased a planbook from planbookedu.com as it allowed a reasonable method of sharing and most closely resembled the type of planbook I have traditionally used.
November 2014
Goal: My goal for November is to put The Open Planbook into use for a trial run.
Action Steps:
Reflection (including Five Practices): November was an exciting month for The Open Planbook. After meeting with the resource specialist and sharing my ideas about how we could work together we settled on a design that would have her comments and suggestions typed in a different colored font. We thought this would allow us to easily see who was making which contributions. We left the meeting and I eagerly began writing plans. Then the resource specialist added her contributions. However, after the first week of lesson plans, our design became unwieldy. The boxes for the planbook became way to long and required too much scrolling to be useful. Furthermore, if the resource specialist added a comment in the middle of the plans, the plan would become too difficult to follow. We immediately knew that the planbook needed some changes and agreed that we would try to think of new ways for making the planbook more teacher friendly.
This month really helped me grow in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership especially in regards to Challenge the Process. I was certain that my original design was going to be a huge success. However, I was immediately required to ask what we could do when something doesn't go as planned. Then, as a team we worked to make the right changes.
December 2014
Goal: My goal for December is to reformat the layout of the planbook to increase readability and usefulness. Although reading the plans has increased effectiveness of the resource specialist, I would like to encourage more input into modification.
Action Steps:
Reflection (including Five Practices) During December the resource specialist and I met to brainstorm some ideas about how to make the planbook more useful. After a thorough discussion, we agreed that it would be best create a planbook with a separate column for her contributions and communication. This proved to be a much more effective way to use the planbook. A couple of issues did come up. First, when the resource specialist made comments or suggestions, they did not line up next to what she was commenting on. It would have been much easier to communicate if she could write suggestions that physically lined up adjacent to the part of the lesson she was commenting on. Finally, I had no easy way to tell if my plans had been looked at. Sometimes the resource specialist had nothing to say about the plans. I am thinking about creating a checkbox, or some other way for me to know when the plans have been viewed.
This month has encouraged me to grow in Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the area of Enable Others to Act. Over the course of this capstone project, I have developed a strong relationship in which collaboration has become our new norm. When something is not working in The Open Planbook, I know that the resource specialist will be willing to meet and collaborate to find the best solution. Her willingness to collaborate with me shows that I have Inspired a Shared Vision and that the project is also important to her. I am certain she would not give me her time if there wasn't any benefit for the students.
January 2015
Goal: Create protocol for resource teacher adding to the plans, creating modified documents, and commenting on plans with suggestions.
Action Steps:
Reflection (including Five Practices): This month’s goals focused on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the area Model the Way. I am asking for feedback to make the plan book useful for the resource teacher and me. So far the plan book has become a mess of addendums and modifications. Sometimes we are not able to discern the plans from the comments. It has become burdensome to use. This is the opposite intention of the original plan.
I have discovered that finding meeting time for two busy professionals is very difficult. However, we did find a little time to meet and are in the process of making some adaptations. We decided to create a separate box for accommodations. Suggestions will be in a blue font and will be addressed. Once they are cleared up or implemented, they will be erased.
February 2015
Goal: Increase depth of collaboration by spending a portion of our department meetings discussing the planbook in person. Formally present The Open Planbook to the principal and assistant principal.
Action Steps:
Reflection (including Five Practices): November was a mix of both successes and failures. After using The Open Planbook in January, I felt that I wanted to have more input on my plans than I was getting. The program has been very successful for the students just based off the fact that the resource specialist and her aide were more prepared to help. However, I wanted to see an increase in suggestions. I also wanted to see modifications to documents I was using to differentiate instruction. After meeting with the resource specialist it was agreed that we would attempt some input for at least three periods. So, February was a success in this regard. I was also able to create a brief PowerPoint to give a summary version of my project to accommodate the busy people with whom I wanted to share my capstone project.
Unfortunately, I was unable to schedule a meeting with the principal to share my project and will be pushing the meeting back a month. Additionally, we were not able to get the three contributions per week as consistently as I would have hoped for.
By not getting as much input into the plans as I would have liked, I was presented with an opportunity for growth in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in Model the Way. Although participation in my project is completely voluntary I had have a conversation about adhering to the goal contributions for three classes per week. I also had to address this standard by communicating more about the work we are doing on a consistent basis.
March 2015
Goal: My goal for March is to focus on modifying at least three attached documents per week to better differentiate the work for resource students.
Action Steps:
Reflection (including Five Practices): In meeting with the resource specialist it was agreed upon that it is difficult to remember to consistently check the plan book. My classes are not the only lessons that she is responsible for. She also assists in a social studies and a science class. She teaches two intervention classes of her own. She is also responsible for all the IEPs for the middle school. We agreed that with a busy schedule, periodic emails and increased communication on my end would be helpful.
This month was an excellent opportunity for growth in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the area of Enabling Others to Act. By actively listening to others ideas I was able to find new ways to get the participants to make more contributions to the planbook. Our resource specialist has found the process to an ideal way to work and has enjoyed discussing out project with other special education teachers in her meetings. We both feel that this is a way of collaborating that could be valuable to other teachers. In reflecting on the last several months, I have not been Encouraging the Heart in a way that truly shows how much I appreciate the help I am getting from my colleagues. This is something I will add to next month's action steps.
April 2015
Goal: My goal for April is to have the resource specialist design lessons to add to the planbook. I would also like to invite the instructional assistant to participate in the planbook. Finally, I will complete the capstone website and PowerPoint for my final presentation.
Action Steps:
Reflection (including Five Practices): I wish I would have had the resource specialist teach a lesson earlier in the year. I think by inviting her to teach I fostered a sense of trust that teachers sometimes do not experience. Had I done this earlier, I may have increased the level of buy in, and I would have more early success.
Taking everyone out to lunch was a nice way to celebrate a job well done outside of our usual working space. Our celebration was a great example of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in regards to Encouraging the Heart. I appreciate the help and support of my colleagues, but it is difficult for me to publicly express my appreciation. It felt really good to celebrate and it made working with them a little nicer. I am looking forward to improve in this area. Even though I felt the project was an awesome professional experience, showing my colleagues how much I appreciate them was an enormous reward for me.
Although I experienced many setbacks, including completely changing my project, it was an incredible experience. I was looking forward to refining the project next year, but found out that our situation at school is changing and I may not have the opportunity to continue in the same way. Our resource specialist will not be pushing into my class. She will be teaching Read 180, and I will not have the Resource students in my class next year. However, I enjoyed the collaboration so much that I am considering sharing my planbook with all of the middle school teachers next year. If I Model the Way, I believe that I can inspire other teachers to create some outstanding inter-disciplinary units together.
Goal: Secure facilities to teach modules for helping parents help students bridge into high school. Additionally, I will get teachers to help develop modules that they would like to teach.
Action Steps:
- Secure dates on calendar through the Parent University at Home Gardens Academy.
- Get Buzz Garwood to help write and film a funny video segment to advertise the Bridge to High School program.
- Begin designing the modules we want to teach.
Reflection (including Five Practices): This month’s goals focused on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the areas of Enable Others to Act and Inspire a Shared Vision. In order for the project to become the success I envision, I had t paint a compelling picture of how my Bridge to High School project would benefit the students in our school. I had to show them how my vision would help students thrive in our classrooms by seeking input from the teachers on what they wanted to do. Instead of imposing a curriculum, I felt that I could get others to participate if they could teach the modules that would benefit them.
My plan seemed to work as I had several teachers express interest in participating by teaching a module. Also, Buzz Garwood agreed to help create the videos for The Bridge to High School.
October 2014
Goal: Change the capstone project from Bridging to High School to The Open Planbook. By really focusing on the needs at my campus, I realized that by creating a shared planbook, the resource specialist could be more effective in helping the students in my class.
Action Steps:
- Ask the resource specialist if she is willing to take on the project.
- Research available planbooks, or other methods of sharing documents (i.e. Google Docs).
- Convince principal that the project is truly a good idea.
- Purchase, or design a planbook.
- Have meeting to establish how the planbookedu.com works and how we will use it.
- Begin co-planning lessons.
Reflection (including Five Practices): This month’s goals focused on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the area of Inspire a Shared Vision and Challenge the Process. To ask the resource specialist to give up her time to work on my lessons required me to paint the big picture of how powerful the project was going to be in terms of maximizing our time together with the students. We would also have to Challenge the Process. Typically, the resource specialist would merely show up in teacher's classrooms, figure out (on the spot) what the teacher was teaching, and then jump in and help the students. Often times, if the resource specialist knew the nature of the lesson, he or she could bring modified resources, and additional strategies prepared in advance to most benefit the resource students. Also, I have usually kept my planbook sealed. To open it up required great trust and a belief in true collaboration.
My goal this month was partially met. I purchased a planbook from planbookedu.com as it allowed a reasonable method of sharing and most closely resembled the type of planbook I have traditionally used.
November 2014
Goal: My goal for November is to put The Open Planbook into use for a trial run.
Action Steps:
- Design preliminary layout
- Have meeting to train resource specialist and discuss ideas to foster collaboration
- Begin co-planning lessons
Reflection (including Five Practices): November was an exciting month for The Open Planbook. After meeting with the resource specialist and sharing my ideas about how we could work together we settled on a design that would have her comments and suggestions typed in a different colored font. We thought this would allow us to easily see who was making which contributions. We left the meeting and I eagerly began writing plans. Then the resource specialist added her contributions. However, after the first week of lesson plans, our design became unwieldy. The boxes for the planbook became way to long and required too much scrolling to be useful. Furthermore, if the resource specialist added a comment in the middle of the plans, the plan would become too difficult to follow. We immediately knew that the planbook needed some changes and agreed that we would try to think of new ways for making the planbook more teacher friendly.
This month really helped me grow in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership especially in regards to Challenge the Process. I was certain that my original design was going to be a huge success. However, I was immediately required to ask what we could do when something doesn't go as planned. Then, as a team we worked to make the right changes.
December 2014
Goal: My goal for December is to reformat the layout of the planbook to increase readability and usefulness. Although reading the plans has increased effectiveness of the resource specialist, I would like to encourage more input into modification.
Action Steps:
- Brainstorm possible layout changes
- Seek feedback from resource specialist
- Redesign layout
- Encourage resource specialist to include at least one comment, question, or suggestion in the planbook.
Reflection (including Five Practices) During December the resource specialist and I met to brainstorm some ideas about how to make the planbook more useful. After a thorough discussion, we agreed that it would be best create a planbook with a separate column for her contributions and communication. This proved to be a much more effective way to use the planbook. A couple of issues did come up. First, when the resource specialist made comments or suggestions, they did not line up next to what she was commenting on. It would have been much easier to communicate if she could write suggestions that physically lined up adjacent to the part of the lesson she was commenting on. Finally, I had no easy way to tell if my plans had been looked at. Sometimes the resource specialist had nothing to say about the plans. I am thinking about creating a checkbox, or some other way for me to know when the plans have been viewed.
This month has encouraged me to grow in Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the area of Enable Others to Act. Over the course of this capstone project, I have developed a strong relationship in which collaboration has become our new norm. When something is not working in The Open Planbook, I know that the resource specialist will be willing to meet and collaborate to find the best solution. Her willingness to collaborate with me shows that I have Inspired a Shared Vision and that the project is also important to her. I am certain she would not give me her time if there wasn't any benefit for the students.
January 2015
Goal: Create protocol for resource teacher adding to the plans, creating modified documents, and commenting on plans with suggestions.
Action Steps:
- Meet with Resource teacher to share thoughts about using the plan book.
- Agree upon how we will create entries so that the plan book is easier to follow.
- Set up notification system to let each other know when significant updates have been made
Reflection (including Five Practices): This month’s goals focused on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the area Model the Way. I am asking for feedback to make the plan book useful for the resource teacher and me. So far the plan book has become a mess of addendums and modifications. Sometimes we are not able to discern the plans from the comments. It has become burdensome to use. This is the opposite intention of the original plan.
I have discovered that finding meeting time for two busy professionals is very difficult. However, we did find a little time to meet and are in the process of making some adaptations. We decided to create a separate box for accommodations. Suggestions will be in a blue font and will be addressed. Once they are cleared up or implemented, they will be erased.
February 2015
Goal: Increase depth of collaboration by spending a portion of our department meetings discussing the planbook in person. Formally present The Open Planbook to the principal and assistant principal.
Action Steps:
- Invite resource specialist to department meeting.
- Discuss ways in which we could increase collaborative contributions.
- Create PowerPoint presentation to share project progress with the principal and assistant principal.
- Schedule meeting with the principal and assistant principal.
Reflection (including Five Practices): November was a mix of both successes and failures. After using The Open Planbook in January, I felt that I wanted to have more input on my plans than I was getting. The program has been very successful for the students just based off the fact that the resource specialist and her aide were more prepared to help. However, I wanted to see an increase in suggestions. I also wanted to see modifications to documents I was using to differentiate instruction. After meeting with the resource specialist it was agreed that we would attempt some input for at least three periods. So, February was a success in this regard. I was also able to create a brief PowerPoint to give a summary version of my project to accommodate the busy people with whom I wanted to share my capstone project.
Unfortunately, I was unable to schedule a meeting with the principal to share my project and will be pushing the meeting back a month. Additionally, we were not able to get the three contributions per week as consistently as I would have hoped for.
By not getting as much input into the plans as I would have liked, I was presented with an opportunity for growth in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in Model the Way. Although participation in my project is completely voluntary I had have a conversation about adhering to the goal contributions for three classes per week. I also had to address this standard by communicating more about the work we are doing on a consistent basis.
March 2015
Goal: My goal for March is to focus on modifying at least three attached documents per week to better differentiate the work for resource students.
Action Steps:
- Create a document that could easily be modified.
- Meet with resource specialist to modify a document together.
- Periodically email participants in order to remind them that the planbook has been modified.
Reflection (including Five Practices): In meeting with the resource specialist it was agreed upon that it is difficult to remember to consistently check the plan book. My classes are not the only lessons that she is responsible for. She also assists in a social studies and a science class. She teaches two intervention classes of her own. She is also responsible for all the IEPs for the middle school. We agreed that with a busy schedule, periodic emails and increased communication on my end would be helpful.
This month was an excellent opportunity for growth in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in the area of Enabling Others to Act. By actively listening to others ideas I was able to find new ways to get the participants to make more contributions to the planbook. Our resource specialist has found the process to an ideal way to work and has enjoyed discussing out project with other special education teachers in her meetings. We both feel that this is a way of collaborating that could be valuable to other teachers. In reflecting on the last several months, I have not been Encouraging the Heart in a way that truly shows how much I appreciate the help I am getting from my colleagues. This is something I will add to next month's action steps.
April 2015
Goal: My goal for April is to have the resource specialist design lessons to add to the planbook. I would also like to invite the instructional assistant to participate in the planbook. Finally, I will complete the capstone website and PowerPoint for my final presentation.
Action Steps:
- Invite resource specialist to view planbook and find an area she can create her own lesson to support my objectives.
- Invite instructional assistant to be a participant in my planbook.
- Have resource specialist teach her lesson.
- Celebrate our successes and publically acknowledge participants for the contributions in a staff meeting.
- Take everyone to lunch.
Reflection (including Five Practices): I wish I would have had the resource specialist teach a lesson earlier in the year. I think by inviting her to teach I fostered a sense of trust that teachers sometimes do not experience. Had I done this earlier, I may have increased the level of buy in, and I would have more early success.
Taking everyone out to lunch was a nice way to celebrate a job well done outside of our usual working space. Our celebration was a great example of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in regards to Encouraging the Heart. I appreciate the help and support of my colleagues, but it is difficult for me to publicly express my appreciation. It felt really good to celebrate and it made working with them a little nicer. I am looking forward to improve in this area. Even though I felt the project was an awesome professional experience, showing my colleagues how much I appreciate them was an enormous reward for me.
Although I experienced many setbacks, including completely changing my project, it was an incredible experience. I was looking forward to refining the project next year, but found out that our situation at school is changing and I may not have the opportunity to continue in the same way. Our resource specialist will not be pushing into my class. She will be teaching Read 180, and I will not have the Resource students in my class next year. However, I enjoyed the collaboration so much that I am considering sharing my planbook with all of the middle school teachers next year. If I Model the Way, I believe that I can inspire other teachers to create some outstanding inter-disciplinary units together.