Feed back to the student

Elizabeth Hogan wrote on 01/03/2014

Knowing how to deal with younger age students at a secondary event can be a real challenge. For example, football games. Do you ever observe parents dropping off their children and then leaving for three hours to avail themselves of free babysitting? Having sufficient supervision and backup plans is critical. Exp. Record #: 13860 Date submitted: 12/31/2013 Elizabeth Hogan approved on 01/03/2014 Cohort: UEN 2012

Student Name: Schroeder, Jakob John (390375)

Field-Based Internship Reflection Form For Internship Experience Standard 1: Visionary Leadership; Standard 2: Instructional Leadership; Standard 3: Organizational Leadership; Standard 4: Collaborative Leadership; Standard 5: Ethical Leadership; Standard 6: Political Leadership Title: Admin for swim meets & extracurricular activities Level Secondary Elementary Secondary Elementary Time Spent 4 hour(s) 4 hour(s) 4 hour(s) 4 hour(s) Note

Standard and Criteria 2.i Accessible and approachable to all stakeholders 2.i Accessible and approachable to all stakeholders 3.d Effectively/efficiently manages fiscal and physical resources 3.d Effectively/efficiently manages fiscal and physical resources

Briefly describe this field-based internship experience, including your specific role (1/2 page). I served as the acting administrator for each home swim meet during the girl?s swim season this past year. I have also assisted the administrators in other activities such as basketball games and other school sponsored functions (extracurricular activities) over the past two years. In this reflection I will talk specifically about my role as the administrator at the swim meets since I ran these by myself. My role as meet administrator involves arriving two hours before a swim meet begins to setup for the meet, make copies, oversee and help my worker (ticket taker / seller), ensure I have 12 student timers available, meet with officials, the general responsibility of being in charge of the patrons at the meet, and any other request a coach, official, or spectator might have such as finding a first aid kit, pop machine, or even an extension cord. Luckily swim meets to do become as ?heated? as some of the other events we host, so I do not have to deal with any unruly spectators. I did find that I do field complaints that sometimes needed to be reported back to the athletic director, but often people might just be looking for someone they can vent to. Throughout the meet I keep watch over the spectators and the event. At the end I must print results for coaches and I also send results to the newspaper for each town of the team at the meet. I normally stay about a half an hour after the meet to ensure everyone has left, the facility is cleaned up, and the doors are locked. Reflect on what you have learned from this experience, from mentor discussions, and how you will use this learning in future administrative leadership roles (no more than 1/2 page). Being in charge of extracurricular activities is often a thankless job that many people forget about as the principal?s responsibility. These activities are very important for the students, but it is also important that an administrator is available to ensure the event runs smoothly and everyone is taken care of. For my first swim meet my ticket take / seller did not show up so I ended up trying to do the work of two people. This is a reminder to me that as a principal we might be called into action at any time of the day. And this is not just for a high school principal; this is true of a principal at any level. No matter what grade we are in charge of, every principal will have extracurricular activities to be in charge of. This can mean a lot of extra hours for a principal. I was a manager for four swim meets; I had to arrive two hours before the event, and would likely stay at least a half hour after everyone had left to make sure everything was cleaned up. Doing two activities a week can easily add 10-15 more hours onto the week. I was thanked by all of the principals for taking on these extra duties because that meant they had an extra 4-5 hours that they could spend with family (or work) that week.

03/08/2014 03:37:21 PM

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Even though this is a high school event, I am still dealing with the general public as a principal would be expected to do at any level. High school does have more events than elementary, but there are still many after school programs where the principal must be dealing with all stakeholders and is responsible for the school and likely taking care of money as I did for these events. As always, effective communication is very important for an administrator during extracurricular events. Sometimes people need things, other times people just want someone to complain to, or sometimes it is important to talk with and get to know the parents. Another important skill is being able to multitask and take care of several people at once. There are times when a half hour goes by and all I am doing is watching the event, and next thing I know I might be trying to take care of two or three people at once ? I literally might be running from one place to the next! We also need to be flexible. We must be willing and able to do about anything that is needed, one minute I might be needed to make copies, and the next I could be cleaning up puke! I enjoyed being in charge of these events and it is always a good feeling when things go as planned. However, I can certainly understand how all of these extra hours and responsibilities can take their toll on the principal. We are fortunate to have several administrators in our building so these tasks become divided up. I know some of the smaller schools do not have this luxury and are often expected to attend many events throughout the year. Mentor(s) Mike Landers The date approved by his/her lead mentor: 12/20/2013

03/08/2014 03:37:21 PM

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