Educational Leadership Internship ED 691 Final Paper Deidre Jenson April 22, 2013 A large portion of this semesters

internship is the piece that I feel has been missing from this program; logistics. Reviewing the student handbook, continued development and follow up of the school improvement plan, discussions with our business manager for the budget review, standing in for our current principal for a week, developing a lead teacher handbook for the mentor project, have all been extremely valuable projects for understanding these logistics. Rules, budgets, procedures, and policies have been solidified, or at least are beginning to meld for me, whereas before they were just a jumbled mess of habits that I hoped to pick up on. Of all these years of teaching, I dont think I had ever read through an entire student handbook or teacher handbookever. They have always been more of a reference for me; something to turn to look into when a problem arises, not something to know ahead of the game. There is no possible way to know all the rules, procedures and policies, but I have now seen the value of reading these. Hindsight, I would have been a better first, fifth, or seasoned teacher moving into a new district, if I had understood the procedures from the beginning. Im almost embarrassed to say it, looking back, however, I really wonder how many teachers are in the same boat as I am. I think I will ask this of teachers, out of curiosity. In reviewing and updating a handbook, I will keep in mind the vision of the school and attempt to make it match, as well as in a format that is

easy to read and maybe even provide some incentive, so that more people will take the time to read it. Developing the lead teacher handbook has been the most beneficial project in this area. This project was intended to make these procedures and lists of things to do for lead teachers manageable and efficient. Lead teachers are not administrators, however, they have to do many of the tasks that administrators do. They hire the classified staff, create students schedules to match grad plans, evaluate classified staff, enroll students, supervise and direct the custodian and cook, handle incoming complaints from parents, and run parent/teacher meetings, all the while trying to maintain classroom control and encourage learning. This handbook has been developed to streamline all that, which meant that I needed to write many different procedures for different tasks and create checklists to help them get and stay organized. In writing procedures and checklists, I spent hours combing through board policies to ensure that they would get the information correct. I spent more time collaborating with teachers who have done the job before, or secretaries who have to keep records for the district. I had to know the procedures well, in order to write out directions for others to follow. This is what really has helped me straighten out those logistics for me. My next question is this; how much of that information will transfer when moving into a new district? Time will tell, once I start combing through another schools policy. I know I will read the policies thoroughly in the future, and maybe even before taking a new job in a district.

The development and review of the school improvement plan, the peer coaching plan, the group projects that we accomplished in the cohort, as well as personal experiences that occurred within the internship, increased my awareness of the critical component of collaboration and communication in leadership. Of course I understood its importance prior to this semester, however, I have learned more of the how tos of good communication. Clarification is key, as well as checking in later to follow up. I have learned that one should not presume the message was clear the first time and maybe even the second time. In the future, I will try to remember not to be presumptuous. In writing directions, I have learned that we often miss important details because we know it so well, that we take for granted that someone else does too. Ive even started to recognize how we as teachers do the same to our students and then we wonder why they didnt understand the directions the first time. In completing the group projects, I have also learned how critical it is to have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish in order to get the task job efficiently and effectively. If everyone agrees or buys in to the task at hand, work can be accomplished at a great speed. I have heard more than once this semester from other teachers, We dont know where our superintenden t is trying to take usWe dont know what hes trying to do. I have seen people lose sight of their purpose and thus work less because of this. I have even observed my mentor lose her passion for education. She is going back to the classroom, but only half time, because she is so frustrated and feels like she is spinning her wheels doing what shes doing now.

Although I have grown academically this semester, I have grown even more personally. I have gained confidence in my understanding of the systems, as well as my ability to handle difficult situations. I acted as principal for a week and a half while the principal was gone to a conference and then left for Hawaii. There were challenging and unusual situations that arose while he was gone. We had hired two new aides the day before he left, so I was left to schedule their day, acquaint them with the building and trouble shoot for their first week. There was a conflict with the food service manager and the aide, which already worked as a food service worker, that was hired. The food service manager was frustrated with the change in schedule, even though a question was asked regarding how it would work, and reacted vehemently toward the worker. The worker walked away and told me, I think Im going to turn in my resignation for the food service hours. I had to mediate between the two and tried to make the working situation better for both, while hopefully maintaining both staff. Thankfully, that ended up amiable. Another situation arose regarding the other new hire. She had recently moved into town after leaving her husband two weeks earlier. On her third day of work, she came to me and told me that she had put a restraining order on her husband because he told her he was coming to town and she had concerns for her and her childrens safety. I met with the aide, discussed with her how the staff needs to know about the situation, yet I wanted her to know that I understood it was a sensitive issue for her and her kids. I held a staff meeting and again, I think it was successful. The teachers

received the needed information, the aide felt comfortable and confidentiality was upheld, with limited or no chatter among staff. I have also learned that to not seek the approval of all. I knew this in my head and of course to certain degree in my heart, however, I have been stretched in this area. As an administrator, decisions will have to be made that will not be viewed highly be all people. I have learned that I dont need that as much and I really cant be expecting this and need to get even more comfortable with that. The internship has provided many practical applicable experiences that Im sure will be used if I become an administrator. Its the hands-on activities that we should be striving for in our schools, for our students getting ready for the real world.