A Showcase of Best Practices In Becoming an Effective Leader!

A Showcase of Best Practices In Becoming an Effective Leader! Mary Grace Phillips American College of Education

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Learning Goal: An effective leader will be able to lead and support best practices to accelerate student achievement.

Objective: Effective leaders will utilize frameworks and research based strategies to implement, monitor, and accelerate student progress, as well as increase the effectiveness of core instruction, promote collaboration, and ensure use of effective interventions.To include: identifying targeted groups that require additional support and offering support and professional development to faculty and staff to ensure all are offering a high quality education for all students.

An effective lessons includes a learning goal to achieve and an objective for the lesson. Here are mine for educational leadership.2

What will guide a school on a journey to success? A Mission and Vision!Creating this with my leadership team improved my skills with communicating the importance of a shared vision for ALL!

Without a mission and vision there is no path to success!3

Ways I have implemented best practices:Work with individual and small groups of students identified through data analysisSupport lowest 25%Support MTSS Tier II and Tier III studentsProvide Professional Development to Build CapacityLead and Support Common Planning and PLCsCo-Plan, Co-Teach, and Conduct Demonstration LessonsAssist and Support Leadership with Data AnalysisAssist with Developing a Mission, Vision and Create Our School Improvement PlanModel and Support MTSS Problem Solving Process and Monitor Early Warning SignsStudent Support40%Teacher Support30%Leader Support 30%

It has been said that a teacher can be the single most difference maker in a child's life. I want to be that positive difference maker for my students! I also want to demonstrate this for other teachers and so they will be, too!4

Student Support:

An effective leader puts students first and promotes the academic and social success of all students.

All means ALL!!

My hope is for each and every student to be offered the same educational opportunities, my teachers to offer all students a high quality education, and to provide a caring and safe learning environment for all to succeed, both academically and socially. 5

I want to lead by example and these are ways I have offered small group support for our lower quartile students!

These students are in our schools targeted group of lower quartile students.6

One on one supportInterventionsProgress monitoringBuild strong relationships with students and families

My ESOL friends!

Ensuring our diverse students needs are being met to promote their individual success.7

Support for E.S.E. students and teachers!

Support for teachersProvide resourcesModel lessonsSmall groupsBuild Relationships

Making sure all accommodations are offered for these students individual success.8

I brought our 1st Annual Tropicana Speech Contest to Tavares Elementary!Improving our students 21st Century SkillsThis was a great opportunity for our students to learn and grow by preparing a written speech and with public speaking!

Proficiency in Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening are needed to prepare our students to be successful in college and in their chosen professions.9

Student CelebrationsTeacher CelebrationsSchool-Wide CelebrationsG-Great behaviorR-Respect for allO-On task at all timesW Winning attitudeL Limitless learning

PBSAnother important way a leader can build capacity is to celebrate successes!These are ways I have celebrated success for all throughout the year.

I feel, as a leader, it is so important to recognize all the hard work everyone is doing and to celebrate all the great accomplishments. This builds moral on campus and inspires all to do there best. We cheer, we teacher bingo, and we get our G.R.O.W.L. on with our Positive Behavior System. All promote academic and social success for our school.10

My small group cheering after doing a G-o-o-d J-o-b!Listen.

Click on the picture to hear the cheer! Enjoy!11

Teacher Support:

Through instructional leadership it was my intent to problem-solve potential instructional deficiencies that were identified through data analysis, to improve overall content delivery, and enhance professional development (American College of Education, 2016).We are all in this together!

Working together builds strong relationships, provides equity among all, builds a schools capacity, and fosters stewardship. 12

Through coaching, classroom walk-throughs, and cooperative planning I have used this teachingmap to ensure that our teachers instruction is to the full intent of the standards.

This standards-based classroom teaching maps aligns with our districts initiatives for delivering high quality instruction for all students.13

I believe its important to offer teachers support and time for collaboration!

Collaboration allows each person to share their unique strengths and is proven to have a direct, positive impact on the outcome of a task or project.14

I found using the PLC Process with fidelity kept us on the course to student success!

This process supports and aligns with our district and state requirements of following Floridas Continuous Improvement Model (FCIM).15

Coaching Support

This opportunity allowed for continual learning and professional growth for both of us.16

Model lessons for teachersModel lessons for students across all grade levels (K-5)Lessons include: Informational Based WritingOpinion Based WritingIntroduction of Writing FrameEffective use of FSA Rubric Open Response TasksEditing and RevisingPeer Review with appropriate feedback Model lessons that include structure from Writing from Beginning and Beyond Thinking MapsLessons focused on different stages of the writing process Small group pull-out to work on specific skillsMini-lessons to focus on areas of need for specific grade levelsProvide resources Provide specific feedback/data to help drive instruction30 Day Countdown to FSA

Effective planning and implementation for writing my area of expertise.

As a leader, I feel it is important to celebrate student successes and classes scoring the highest writing scores, in each grade level, for a final product (per 9 weeks) received my oversized inflatable pencil to display in their classroom. It was a great incentive and the students (and teachers) loved it!17

Leadership Support:

An effective leader implements skills, concepts, and practices to structure an educationally rich, positive, and safe learning environment (American College of Education, 2016).Leading By Example!

As my principal says all the time Try to be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today. This is what I strive for and want all my teachers and students to strive for.18

E.W.S. Data

Creating Pivot TablesConsulting with Guidance CounselorsSupporting Students and FamiliesMonthly Monitoring ofAttendance/Referrals/Suspensions

These at-risk students were another targeted group I worked with and supported in an effort to increase their attendance and decrease their referrals and suspensions. Again, its all about building those relationships with students and letting them know you care!19

My leadership skills were strengthened by creating a scope and sequence for the year.

Effective planning leads to effective instruction!20

We are a Thinking Maps school! This year we rolled out a continuing program called Write From the Beginning & Beyond with 3 Sessions of Professional Development for grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. For my professional growth, I am a trainer for both initiatives.Professional Development Opportunities

The implementation of this writing program offered students structured ways of organizing their ideas, based on specific thinking processes, and improvement in writing can been seen in all content areas across all grade levels. I expect the more it becomes embedded, the more improvement we will see.21

Daily Duties Ensuring School SafetyCafeteria DutyWalker DutyMember of my Leadership Team for all Safety Drills

Some of the main factors contributing to school safety are procedures, schedules, and assigned duties for all faculty and staff.22

School + Families + Community = SUCCESS!The right kinds of school-family connectionsthose built on relationships, listening, welcoming, and shared decision makingcan produce multiple benefits for students, including higher grade point averages and test scores, better attendance, enrollment in more challenging courses, better social skills, and improved behavior at home and at school (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2002).

As a future leader I have realized that making these connections are imperative for improving student achievement. 23

I believe in family and community involvement and have participated in various engaging opportunities.Parent UniversitySTEM NightDonuts for Dads

Book FairsPTO (Parent Teacher Organization)Grits with GrandparentsA breakfast celebrating GrandparentsLiteracy NightSchool Talent ShowsAwards Ceremoniesper quarter.Promotion and GraduationCeremoniesFamily Seussville Carnival

I feel that making these connections can also improve parents' feelings of efficacy and can also increase community support with providing the school with resources it needs to be successful.24

Another professional learning opportunity for me was participating in the process of writing our schools improvement plan.On-Targ Makin Progress

No Progress

On On Making Progress

No Progress

As part of my leadership team, this took collaboration, data analysis, and problem solving skills to create two clear goals, possible barriers, action steps, designating people responsible for carrying out tasks, progress monitoring, deliverables, and evidence to support our schools 4 page plan. This was a lengthy process that took hours to create, however it was a huge learning opportunity for me. 25

I am so proud to be a part of this dynamic team and could not have accomplished all that Ive done without them!

We work hard, but we have fun doing it!

From left to right: Shaunna Purdy- Math Coach, Mrs. Durenda McKinney- my amazing Mentor and Principal, Me (Mary Grace Phillips)- Writing Coach and Potential Specialist, Lindsey Holmes- Literacy Coach, Judith Ann LeMoyne- Curriculum Resource Teacher, and Carol Peppers- Assistant Principal.26

As I reflect on my internship experience, Id like to leave you with my goals as a future educational leader..It is my hope to build strong partnerships for students, instill the value of collaboration, have open communication, and a shared vision of increasing student achievement!

Together we can achieve anything! - Ms. Phillips

Good luck to all of my fellow educational leaders!27

ReferencesAmerican College of Education. (2016, September 12). Transcript: Introducation to the internship: standards and outcomes. Retrieved from Amercian College of Education: https://ace.instructure.com/courses/1470690/files/70918988Lake County Schools. (2016, October 10). Lake County Schools. Retrieved from Lake County Schools: http://www.lake.k12.fl.us/Page/1344Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, Texas: Author.