COOK, M.

COMPETENCY REFLECTION- NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Competency Reflection
Competency 001
Competency 001 focuses on a principals ability to create a campus culture that is shared
and supported by the school community. During the second half of my administrative internship,
I got to experience the entire process of changing the campus culture by becoming a member of
the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) for our campus. This team includes two principals,
three assistant principals, three interventionists, one instructional coach, and three counselors.
Starting in August prior to staff development, the ILT met to look at test scores and the staff
assignments. Based on the needs of our students and staff members, the ILT decided to create a
culture of high expectations for students and faculty members. To articulate this on campus, a
meeting was called for all new department chairs and grade level chairs. After reflecting on the
same data that was used to decide on pushing for a campus culture based on high expectations,
the teacher leadership team separated into multiple teams to create a theme for the campus. Then
they regrouped and voted on all themes. The theme that was selected was Lions Inspire Others
to Never Settle. All campus and instructional initiatives have been tied to this theme in order to
maintain the culture of high expectations. Initiatives such as rigor, no opting out strategies, and
structured conversations have become part of the implementation. Feedback has been collected
from both students and teachers about the new initiatives that support Lions Inspiring Others to
Never Settle and discussed at ILT meetings. It is something that will continue to be monitored.
Competency 002

Competency 002 focuses on collaboration with all members of the school community to
ensure that all of students needs are being met. From August until October 28th, I worked within
this competency to plan and implement a family night where parents and students would be able
to engage in stations together for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
To make this night successful, I had to collaborate with the administrative team, teacher
leadership team, teachers, United Way, and Exxon Mobil. Once the date was set with the
administrative team, I contacted department chairs from the science, math, and technology
departments for an initial STEM meeting to brainstorm stations. After the brainstorm meeting, a
follow-up meeting was scheduled after department meetings where department chairs had a
chance to talk to their teams and get feedback. While the department chairs were reaching out to
their teams, I was reaching out to United Way to see if they would be willing to fund the food for
this event because it was promoting parent involvement. When the STEM committee met for the
second time, stations were selected, a schedule was made, and staff sign-up sheets with
descriptions were made. The technology team decided to do engineering plans, so we contacted
Exxon Mobil to see if they would be willing to send representatives to discuss the STEM
applications in oil and gas careers. Parent callouts were made, letters were mailed home, and
flyers were given out to students twice. On the night of the event, 225 students and parents
showed up to participate, along with 24 faculty members, 4 volunteers from Exxon Mobil, and
one employee from BP. This was a night that was only successful by collaboration.
Competency 003
The focus of Competency 003 is on ethical behavior. Because of my position this year, I
am part of the administrative team, but I also directly work with students and teachers. This role
has created a challenge in building trust with the administrative team, the teachers, and the

students. At all times, I must act in an ethical manner. Things that are discussed at the ILT
meetings stay in that room until we are told otherwise. Things that relate to instruction that do
not directly impact student learning or well-being are dealt with in the classroom through a glow
and grow feedback system. When I am supporting students, I maintain professional relationships
that are focused on growing the students academic abilities and character.
Competency 004
Competency 004 focuses on curriculum and instruction. This fall, the math department
has implemented two new initiatives. The first is a new assessment system where each topic
would be assessed a first time at a knowledge or comprehension level, then a second time at a
more rigorous level, with mastery tracking being very informative. Part of adopting this
assessment system came from researching the effectiveness of it at the high school that my
school feeds in to. The mastery tracking system between the first and second attempt allow for
the student and the teacher to provide more targeted interventions. The high school has shown
growth for the students who used this assessment system. The math department unanimously
voted to adopt the assessment system. To help implement the assessment system, I have planned
with all grade level teams and helped write the first two assessments. I will continue to support
the teams in this initiative. In addition to the new assessment system, the department has
implemented a warm-up system to increase structured conversations related to problem-solving.
This warm-up was selected after receiving teacher feedback that students were struggling to have
academic conversations about rigorous, STAAR-like questions. To help teachers facilitate these
conversations, I have modeled for all teachers in the math department, as well as provided
written feedback to teachers. Both of these initiatives have increased the ability of students to
direct their own learning.

Competency 005
Competency 005 focuses on student learning and staff development. In order to help
increase student learning for our English Language Learner (ELL) population, I led a staff
development providing the data of our students. After looking at a snapshot of our ELLs and the
lack of progress they are making in second language acquisition, I discussed three different
strategies that can be used every day in classrooms. The strategies included a choral reading of
objectives, sentence stems to push for use of academic vocabulary, and increased written
language production. To help hold teachers accountable, we set up peer observations with a
partner of their choice.
Competency 006
Competency 006 focuses on staff evaluation and development. Every Tuesday, the
assistant principal who oversees the department and I do a science department walk-through of
all teachers for campus initiatives, rigor, ELL strategies, and student engagement. On
Wednesdays, I do the same with the math department. Instead of the classroom walk throughs
being sent to individual teachers, an overall email is sent to the whole department with the
trends. It allows teachers to see where the department is strong and where they are weak as a
whole. It allows teachers to push one another to maintain high expectations. In addition to the
classroom walk throughs, I have supported two teachers who are on growth plans through
coaching, modeling, observing, and giving feedback.
Competency 007
The work in Competency 007 is focus on decision-making and problem solving. The
majority of my experience in this competency comes from weekly ILT meetings. Each week, we

discuss the trends in common unit assessments, instructional practices, and student discipline
issues. During these meetings, we try to allocate our experience and strengths to help support
staff members and students in order to ensure an effective learning environment.
Competency 008
The experience with personnel, budgeting, and resource utilization was best developed
when planning STEM Night. I had to learn that for something to be successful, it has to be well
thought out, planned far in advance, and backups have to be in place. The event took more than
just the people who were staffing it. It took the support and advertising of other teachers, the
support of the administrators to approve the event and be willing to connect with parents and
community members, and it took the students being willing to spend time with their parents in
building resources to study. For resource utilization and budgeting, I learned the importance of
knowing the approved vendors and how to create a purchase order. This took a lot of networking
with the correct office staff.
Competency 009
My work with Competency 009 has been extensive. Last year, I noticed a rise in student
discipline issues before and after school. After performing a needs-based analysis, I approached
the administrative team with the idea of restructuring the existing duty schedule in order to
increase student safety. What was previously a 4 week rotation of teachers spread out in the
morning is now a 5 week rotation morning duty with staff members allocated to areas of high
need and all entry points to the campus. Afternoon duty is once every 9 weeks to ensure that
students quickly clear the campus and make it onto the busses in a safe manner. Staff members
were strategically placed based on their relationships with students and their ability to be leaders

when called upon. The grade level chairs are part of the duty schedule committee now. Teachers
report to them when there is an issue or when the need coverage. Additionally, the grade level
team leaders serve as the observers for effectiveness and the liaison for feedback about the duty
schedule. At the end of this semester, we will be conducted duty observations as well as survey
the teachers to obtain more feedback to see when needs to be adjusted for the spring semester.