Sub-Competencies
Reflections and Artifacts
Summary: This artifact is a presentation I gave at our school that provides an overview of the building's PBIS and behavior processes. This included an overview of the program, the building matrix, an explanation of the major (office-managed) or minor (classroom-managed), and, finally, the creation of a welcome-back slideshow featuring all the teaching staff within the building.
Reflection: School principals must be able to articulate their building's vision and communicate it in a way that elicits buy-in and drives success. This presentation was an opportunity for me to lead a back-to-school presentation of our PBIS structure in the building. As the leader of the building PBIS committee, I created and delivered a presentation that served both to introduce new staff to the building-specific procedures and to give returning staff a refresher on the small changes that occurred over the summer. One point of tension in this presentation was the new way minor forms are being processed in the building. This led to challenging, sometimes tense discussions about the effectiveness of this approach. Importantly, I learned that as a leader, I must be able to accept these frustrations even when I am not the one who made that decision.
Summary: As part of the district mentorship and peer coaching leadership team. I am responsible for delivering and organizing new-teacher and mentor training, which takes place prior to the back-to-school workshop at the beginning of September. This dual-purpose training is the result of a complete revamp of the mentorship program within Foley Public Schools. Through this new teacher and mentor program, we have now trained more than 40 teaching staff in mentor training through the New Teacher Center Framework.
Reflection: Near the end of the first day of new teacher and mentor training, a heated discussion broke out among staff members regarding mentor responsibilities; additionally, much of the frustration was directed toward me as the district representative in the room. After a discussion with our training coach, I reflected on my initial feelings about what was being said and learned to recognize that this pushback is not an expression of entitlement; it is a communication of uncertainty, anxiety, and stress. As a leader, I can't take these challenges personally, especially because, as the leader in this situation, even though it wasn't a decision that I agree with, I still have the responsibility to uphold that decision and be a listener when people aren't happy, work to change and control, and communicate what I can back out.
Summary: I prepared this presentation to deliver to the staff at our intermediate school, covering the current office and classroom referral numbers for the year to date and the previous month. Additionally, I presented the ways that PBIS was being implemented within our building. Our building had several staffing shifts between the new year. This presentation also served as a formal introduction to the implementation of the PBIS framework in our building.
Reflection: Staff cannot understand what they cannot see. As a principal, I often communicate important district and school updates through staff meetings. In this presentation, I compiled our behavior data and gave a reintroduction of the PBIS system to our building at our monthly staff meeting. An important part of this presentation's design was making the data as legible as possible. If I want the staff to understand the data I present to them, it is vital that they can see its representations. Designing short, easy-to-read slides is one approach I use to effectively communicate important information to staff. This is vital to my core belief of removing barriers to others' success. As a teacher, I design materials to be as accessible as possible; as a principal, I must continue to do so for students, families, and staff to provide the best possible educational experience.