Internship Project Reflection and Module Journal

Jennifer Swansburg – Tarbet

University of Mount Union

Internship Project Reflection

I started working on my idea for my project last school year. We were given a data

project by Dr. Askren-Edgehouse and I chose to analyze attendance data for my school. My

principal gave me the initial idea and helped me develop my next steps for my internship project.

The initial project was so much fun and interesting to me, so I was really excited to dig in further

this year and do more with the data.

My project is in response to House Bill 410. This is a new attendance law, enforced this

school year, changing the rules and laws for attendance. Attendance is a reporting category on

our district report card, so it is vital we improve attendance in our district. Historically,

attendance has been a requirement of school-aged children. Schools have had some guidelines

and laws have been written regarding parent responsibilities in terms of school attendance.

In my district, the focus of attendance has been at the high school level because at that

level, it is more student choice when it comes to attendance. This means, students have more

opportunities to not attend school because they are able to transport themselves or have other life

situations that may prevent attendance. With House Bill 410, the district has to carefully monitor

attendance for all students, kindergarten through high school. There are thresholds the schools

must pay attention to and notify parents as students are meeting them.

My project is working with the administration to help monitor student attendance. We

are also implementing reward systems for students who are attending school. My initial

presentation to my principal was to reward on a quarterly basis. He felt that was too lengthy of a

time period, so he decided we would do a monthly reward. He realized, after we started a

monthly program, that it was too short and has become cumbersome. I am also responsible for

creating rewards for the students who earn perfect attendance. In determining baseline data, I
will be looking at data for attendance, breaking it down so we can determine if there is a specific

grade level we need to further promote attendance, or a specific subgroup.

There have been some limitations to working on this project. For instance, because of

my current position, there is quite a bit of data that I cannot access independently. Therefore, I

have to rely on going to my administration for this information. This does not always mean I am

allowed to have access to the information anyway. Also, my ideas and thoughts regarding next

steps and future ideas must be cleared with administration. I do not have much freedom in

leading and taking initiative with this project at times.

Instruction

This area of our Internship hours has been rather easy to accrue. Through Teacher Based

Teams (TBTs), Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Professional Development (PD) days, I have

been able to earn hours each week. As teachers, we are required to meet for TBTs a few times a

week. During this time, we look at data, our standards and curriculum and determine what we

can do to better meet the needs of our individual students. This year, I am teaching just math, so

I am leading each of the math meetings for our third grade team. Our principal and

administrative intern attend our meetings as they are available. When our principal is in

attendance, he is often there to simply observe, but sometimes offers insights and information

from an administrative perspective. This is nice because we are able to ask him direct questions

in terms of resources available or schedule changes that may be necessary. He is also able to

give us timelines and schedules.

Our instructional program has to be effective and streamlined, especially with the

students we service. We have to make sure the information we are teaching is delivered to a

variety of different learners, but also meeting the requirements set by the state. I service students
identified as gifted this year. This means that another component of my instructional needs is to

be able to enrich students who are gifted in math. So, I went to a PBL training for three days.

Through this, I was able to not only learn a new instructional strategy, but I was also able to

better understand how to reach those students who are identified.

With permission from the state, our district is able to exchange some of our school days

for PD days. Our teachers spend the day in specifically identified classes to help support our

needs as instructional leaders. This year, our new Curriculum Director has done a fantastic job

of ensuring the classes and sessions offered during our PD days are relevant and interesting to

our staff. We have spent many of our days learning our newest English/Language Arts

curriculum our district purchased over the summer. This will hopefully support our teachers in

helping students to be better readers and writers.

Collaboration

Collaboration is one of the most important aspects of being a leader. I believe you will

never be an effective leader if you do not listen to and work with the people who surround you.

That is not to say that your own thoughts and decisions are not best, but sometimes you have to

trust you have surrounded yourself with the best people. I decided to get my degree in

Educational Leadership because when I was a mentor to a new teacher I realized how much I

loved collaborating with her and being able to bounce ideas off of her. I enjoy professional

development sessions where I am given time to learn from other teachers and hear what they do

in their classrooms. One of the most beneficial experiences I ever had as a teacher was going

into a classroom, observing that teacher and then getting to pick her brain about how she made

math work in her room. That collaboration in education is essential to the growth and

development of teachers. It is why we have students work together as well.

 To earn hours for Collaboration, I documented my time in our Reading Teacher Based

Team (TBT) meetings, our Grade Level Team (GLT) meetings and our staff meetings. I wish I

could add something like Building Leadership or PBIS committee, but my building principal said

I was not allowed to be a part of them. Unfortunately, we do not have many other opportunities

for collaboration in my building. However, during our TBTs, I am able to talk to my grade level

teammates to understand what they are doing in their classrooms. Even though I do not teach

Reading, I am able to share with my coworkers about things I have done. They trust me enough

to ask for advice or a fresh perspective.

GLT meetings are our opportunity to talk to other Third Grade teachers in the district.

We discuss curriculum decisions as well as common assessments. This time is to discuss our

district goals more so than share teaching ideas.

Staff meetings are enjoyable when we get to pair up with teachers from other grade levels

because we never get to collaborate. These small moments are valuable because we are able to

discuss topics but from perspectives of different grade levels. It allows teachers to better

understand what drives decisions of other grade levels.

Continuous Improvement

I have been recording hours for my internship since August and I have found that

Continuous Improvement is one area that I have had a hard time earning my hours. While I do

have about 11 hours toward the required 25, I do not feel as though this area has really been an

area I have learned a lot. I asked my principal if I would be able to join our school Building

Leadership Team (BLT) for this school year and he said no. He felt as though there were too

many people on the team as it was and that if it grew bigger, it would no longer be a BLT, but

just an extra staff meeting. I understand his opinion and I respect it as the building leader. I do
feel as though the BLT meetings are truly where he is sharing his vision, goals and plan for how

he wants our building to continue to grow.

The hours I am earning are mostly coming from attendance at staff meetings. I have

presented at one staff meeting regarding attendance and PBIS. My presentation was limited and

I was given the information and told what to share. My other hours are coming from my

attendance on the Intervention Assistance Team (IAT)/Attendance Intervention Team (AIT)

Committee. This committee is focused more on the IAT process and student academic success.

The meetings are highly unorganized and I do not feel as though much is accomplished. I have

spoken to my principal about this and he has pushed the responsibility onto our guidance

counselor without much support or guidance given to her regarding expectations.

I do feel as though student progress and success is absolutely important to my principal

and I believe he wants only what is best for his students. However, I am not sure he effectively

manages the staff at times in order to meet those needs and goals.

School Operations

This area of our internship hours has been the most fun for me. As Head Teacher and a

graduate candidate, my principal has allowed me to “run” the building a few times. During these

hours, I have been able to step into the leadership of the building and see how a school works

from a different perspective. This has also allowed me to interact more with our student body

and teachers which has been an absolute blast! What is even better is that it is when my

principal is out of the building, so I am truly having to make decisions regarding behavior,

schedules and routines on my own. Going back to what Pat Paulkin taught us over our summer

sessions, “Are you prepared to defend the decisions you make?” echoes in my head. These are

truly the times when each decision you make has to be deliberate, but also often quick and
without hesitation. As I fill the role of leader in my building, I’ve learned it is important to allow

teachers to feel they are supported. Right now, this means that they are able to make decisions

for their students without me questioning what they are doing. They are professionals. If a

teacher is comfortable enough to come to me or ask me to help with a student, I trust the teacher

has exhausted all outlets and tricks before coming to me. This has always been the case with my

staff this year, but I know it is not always true in other buildings.

Other responsibilities I have taken on are running morning and afternoon announcements.

We meet as a school in our gym for both. This is somewhat unstructured, so it is important to

make sure everyone is doing their job. Teachers notice these moments when we need a little

extra help and they step in right away. It is good to know we have a well-oiled machine in that

aspect. I have also taken on bus duty in the morning. The biggest issue is safety with this.

Students need to stay in the crosswalk and stop before entering the bus lane. Having an adult

monitor also ensures that parents are aware of routines and procedures so they are not entering

the bus lanes, or dropping off students at inappropriate or unsafe spots.

Parent and Community Engagement

In order to earn hours in this category, I had to get creative. At the beginning of this

school year, I was able to join my principal for our yearly “Lockdown Drill and Review”. From

that, I asked a few questions about what our school was doing to ensure we were as ready as we

could be. I have worked in other districts where we had “Go Bags”. These are emergency bags

teachers are to grab and go in evacuation situations. My principal allowed me to take over this

project. I have been preparing lists of necessary supplies and creating donation letters for

potential partnerships with local businesses. I reached out to our football booster and initially

received positive feedback.

 Other ways I have earned hours are reaching out and meeting with parents about

attendance, which is a part of my internship project. These meetings have been positive and for

some students, has led to better attendance. I have other components of my internship project

that will hopefully include outside support such as mentors for our students who are at risk for

attendance.

My class has also started working with a local artist, Dyanne Williams, through the

STARKArts program. She is a mosaic artist and has done some amazing work around the world.

She has started a mosaic project with my students, tying in math. Our final project will be posted

in the cafeteria for all the staff and students to enjoy.

I had a few other ideas I had presented at the beginning of this year, but my principal did

not support those ideas. One idea was to have father volunteers come in and be mentors for

some of our more troubled students. Other ideas were to just have a breakfast club with our

administrative intern. These are ideas we will continue to push and hopefully pursue.