Views from the Valley

I’ve been in a good space this past week.  It seems like I can’t catch up on anything, but I know that my colleagues are in the same boat, so it makes me feel a little better knowing that all of us are treading the turbulent waters of an unknown day to day schedule to…

I Need to See the Principal…RIGHT NOW!

I laughed typing the title of this post, and really I need to call my previous boss to apologize to her.  I can remember popping into her office frequently because I had questions, and she was always welcoming and helpful.  This is the same tone that I have with my faculty and staff, but I…

My Community Learns Professionally…I Think

My first year as a school teacher changed the way I view many things.  I always felt like I didn’t have enough planning time, no matter how much planning I got done.  There was always some data that needed to be analyzed, and there were always papers that needed to be graded.  As an English/Language…

Doing the Right Work

I’ve been reflecting on my school year so far, more so now than ever because we are coming to the close of our first semester.  After analyzing some of the data that we’ve gathered over the past couple of months, I’m able to see that there is still a lot of work to do for…

Measuring Student Proficiency…and Reporting It Accurately

I started doing research in 2008 on grading and reporting, and that research eventually led to my dissertation topic, which was titled, “Teacher and Parent Dispositions of Grading Practices in Differentiated Middle School Classrooms.”  From the research I gathered, I was able to see that teachers implemented different practices, some of which were not aligned…

Making Way for Year Four

Three years have gone by, and I’m not the same person I was when I first became an administrator.  I can recall colleagues making jokes of me “moving to the other side,” and I had no idea of what that really meant.  Three years later, I believe I do, and I am 100% positive that…