Tier 1 Add-on Blog Summer 2017

In many school districts, I've seen various types of instructional coaches in many different schools. I've worked in schools where there were four different instructional coaches for each of the major content area subjects. I've also been in schools where there is only one instructional coach and that instructional coach is responsible for everything in terms of instruction. As a teacher and department chairperson, I sometimes have a hard time understanding the need for an instructional coach. This is probably because I am not serving in an administrative role and I do not know the relationship between school administrators and the instructional coach. I guess my question becomes what exactly should be the role of an instructional coach in a school building when you only have one instructional coach allotment? I currently work in a school where there is only one instructional coach and that person is responsible for things like looking over lesson plans and providing feedb...

I had the opportunity of going to an Advanced Placement workshop this summer at a high-performing high school up in Cobb County. As I was on that schools’ website, I was looking at some of the teacher and administrative profiles and I noticed that many of the teachers and the administrators have been at that school for several decades. In the district in which I work, you don't normally see teachers or administrators at the same school for several decades. What you often see is teachers and administrators moving from school to school and even from district to district. I started to ask myself well why would one stay at a school for 20-30 years. I then started to put things together and I looked up the schools report card and found that this is a school that has a CCRPI score of over 100. In talking to some of my teacher friends in other school districts and at schools with CCRPI scores that are not that high, it seems that teachers are under a lot of pressure and stress and order ...

As I've already mentioned in previous posts, I serve a dual role on the school's leadership team. I am department chair and I am also the grade level chair. As the grade-level chair I work closely with the assistant principal and other members of the administrative team in order to ensure the smooth operation of the entire grade level. Recently, I had a conversation with the administration about teacher absences. In particular, we talked about handling chronic teacher absences. In my mind, when a teacher is sick or when a teacher is unable to work due to illness of some sort, whether that illness be intermittent or whether it is long-term then that teacher cannot work and I think administrators should respect that. However, on the administrative aspect of things, school administrators have the responsibility to operate the school. Chronic teacher absences impairs the smooth functioning of a school building. In addition, it also impacts instruction. I'm just wondering a...

Vincent Williams I learned a great deal about how the meetings are run.  I figured it was Robert’s Rules of Order.  I met some key players in the community.  When I sat in the wrong seat, I met an Area Superintendent and he introduced me to some other members.  I learned that the operating budget was $1.5 Billion and did not expect it to be that large. The behavior of the board members, I observed to be very professional and actions were displayed with grace.  They were definitely comfortable with Roberts Rules of Order and spoke confidently when it was their turn.  The superintendent was quiet during most of the meeting and really only spoke during the report.  The board chair was one of the oldest members on the board.  The meeting was extremely short and less than one hour.  I asked someone if it was always that short and they said, “yes.”  It is a good thing that it was short because that means that they took care of all...

Vincent Williams I’ve been really struggling with the fact that, the information that I have been learning thus far in this program is information that every teacher should learn.  The law and ethics course is one that every teacher should take.  How can we thrive in an environment where we don’t know all the parameters and laws to protect us?  Even outside of the classroom, in our everyday lives, we move through life not having a clear understanding of our laws and rights.  Some people who operate like this may find themselves to be a victim one way or another. As educators, we should be educated and well versed in the things that affect our ability to provide quality teaching for our students.  This knowledge should not be kept for only the leaders.  But what about all of the vacancies in the districts and there are long term substitutes in the building.  They get treated the worst by the students, parents, and the other faculty members....

Vincent Williams This summer got me thinking about motives.  I know that I genuinely want to help the community.  As I have been going through a variety of training and professional development, I noticed that I do not see many of my building colleagues.  Recently, I started to get involved with the NEA.  Wow! I was blown away by the things I was missing out on.  My first three years I was teaching and paying dues to the association but had no clue that I was even a member.  I went to two different leadership development trainings, one in Savannah and the other in Boston.  Both were great!  The one in Boston was the national conference and they had a smaller conference on racial and social justice before the main assembly conference. The conference was empowering and enlightening.  The information was relevant, with impactful discourse taking place.   Why wouldn’t others want to partake in something like this?? Many of my b...