My+Personal+Reflection+Diary

=**My Diary**=

Week of May 10, 2010.

This week I attended the orientation meeting at Kean for the field study I. I met Dr. Babo and Dr. Christie. I was very impressed by the number of students ending this school administration program. There will be many people competing for jobs in the near future.

Week of May 17, 2010.

I discussed some assignments with my mentoring administrator. She is grateful to have another pair of hands for a couple of hours. There are sooo many details with end of year exams, reports and staff summatives. From now through the end of the school year, I will fasten my seatbelt for a wild ride.

Week of May 24, 2010.

The most overwhelming of tasks are not usually connected to any learning strategies, but rather crowd control, detention issues and picking up the pieces for students lack of enthusiasm. I would like to read some more about the movitation strategies that could be infused at the high school level. Student ownership of their education seems to be lacking. Guidance offices are really busy places. From secretaries to counselors, there is never a spare moment. They even take home a lot of work.

I have observed a lot of my colleagues over the course of the last two years knowing that I myself would like to become a principal. I've recognized that organizational skills and communication manners are the most critical tools one can have to be a successful administrator. If I am principal I will be sure to make sure clear directives are given to staff.

Week of May 31, 2010.

We have a short week which makes for a busy week of course. End of year crunch time provides me with an extra load of administrative tasks to perform for my portfolio and field internship. I am also working on summer reading tasks with a social studies over the summer project assignment with the supervisors. School teachers and administrators certainly are **not overpaid!!!!!**

Week of Jun 7th, 2010.

This week was hectic. With end of year tasks in guidance and main office, it has been non stop. Then on the high school level we have prom, class nite softball game, trips, awards nights. The list is just simply exhausting. I feel so happy for the seniors that they have achieved so much in four years. I feel proud for each and every one of them for growing into young adults. If I was principal I would have an apple placed in each teachers mailbox on the last day of school from the seniors. Nice small gestures are so important.

Week of June 14, 2010

Exams, Exams Exams: It seems like maybe this isn't the best way to assess our students. Putting a bunch of kids in a classroom for two hours to sit quietly is sometimes next to impossible. I think that portfolio combined with written evaluations might be better for some subjects. Not sure; I realize this is a complex issue.

On another issue: Scheduling of courses for the high school is very complex. Even though we have a computer based program that puts the kids in their classes, there are many many constraints. We are a small staff and that makes for only a few electives. Plus honors level courses are only one section and then the brighter students cannot take A/P Bio and Spanish IV honors because they are the same period in the day. It is quite confining. To alleviate some of this, we have offered an online tool for our students to take courses completely over the internet. This gives somes students a great opportunity to take courses that are not offered at our school. It has been successful but we also need some new electives on board so that the students will want to take them. Being an administrator is a LOT OF WORK that most people don't realize.

Week of June 21st, 2010.

This has been a dramatically tough week. Our graduation exercises and last day of school is a draining time both emotionally and physically. The bittersweet feelings of the summer finally here and then saying goodbye to the seniors after watching them grow and learn and develop into mature young men and women is intense. I spent the rest of the week checking over the mailings of report cards for the underclassmen to make sure everything was complete and correct. This is a very time consuming and tedious task but soooo important that the children's records are accurate. The mailings that go home from a school are critical and must be accurate. As always in most situations, people will not call to express their gratitude when everything goes well, but if one little detail is wrong or misconstrued there will be many phone calls from parents and board members. We are definitely under a microscope in public education. I am very aware of the accountability issues now that I have been working in a main office environment. It is so important to have cracker jack secretaries to depend on every day.

Week of June 28th, 2010.

This week has been a little light in that I did not have my own demanding work load in addition to my internship duties. That made it a whole lot easier to focus on the tasks given to me by my assistant principal. We have gone through files to throw out and files to reorganize for next school year. The staff summatives must be filed both physically and electronically. That took some time to set up for easy reference in the future. I also wrote a staff final evaluation. I had to put away all the graduation materials and document every detail that goes into the graduation exercises for future reference. It is a beautiful ceremony with many details going into the evening to make it all special for the students, parents and community members. We keep our fingers crossed for the weather to cooperate so we can enjoy the outdoor ceremony under the sunset. Everything came off without a hitch and I felt a special feeling of joy, since I did have input to setting up and coordinating some of the details and also the party for the staff afterwards. I am happy to be a part of this culminating activity.

Week of July 12, 2010.

This week I am working on filing the last of the book fines, and other details from the last week of school. I will work with my mentor on cleaning the main office and principal's office. He has retired after 43 years and there is a lot of debris, sports equipment, files, you name it from his tenure that must be thrown out. We must do this before the custodians can come in to paint for the new principal. It should take at least four days for us to complete this task. Lot of physical and dirty jobs ahead. Sometimes it is better to do manual labor than mental labor. I accept this kind of work and know that while working in a small school environment we all wear many hats. I am confident that when I am done the new administrator will walk into a freshly painted and clean cheerful office ready to hit the ground running.

Week of July 19, 2010.

This week has been dedicated to reading some articles as well as coming up to speed on some details for September. As I already know, an administrator cannot be enough prepared for the first week of school. There are still lots of things to discard and put in another place for safe keeping that were left behind from our previous principal. It was a very "cleansing" experience both physically and emotionally. I am ready for a new beginning. I've learned that it is very important to stay organized and discard things regularly. If I were principal I would set a clean, professional office as an example.

Week of July 26, 2010

I am filled with emotion as I know that my mentor is moving on to another district. It is a bittersweet feeling to know that I have worked with this person intimately in a school setting for 8 years and surprisingly she is leaving the district. I know that change is always a good thing but at the same time I feel somewhat left abandoned. Then after speaking with Dr. Christie and hearing her recommend that I follow her a little at the new place, I feel relieved. I think getting some experience in a different environment will be a good thing. I look forward to perusing and seeing the internal workings of an elementary school.

Week of August 2, 2010

I feel like I've done quite a bit. I've been working in my mind all of the different tasks and details that I've been involved in and I feel as though I've gotten a great wealth of experience in the area of administration. From scheduling to discipline to score analysis, it has been a demanding and rewarding experience. I hope I can get a mentor for the fall who will be just as cooperative and challenging for me.

Week of August 9, 2010

Today I met the new principal of my school. He seems to be very genuine and has a great positive spirit. Though I feel a tinge of anxiety I know a fresh new start is necessary and I will embrace the change and move forward along with him and all the other new people on board. This has been a tumultuous year with all of the state issues going on and the face of education changing every day. I am fortunate to be able to work in a school close to home with a great staff. I think I am going to like my new boss and I will learn some great things from his leadership style.

Week of August 16, 2010

This week there are a lot of loose ends to tie up before school starts. I met with my mentor in her new school and got acquainted with some tasks she is doing that I did not have an opportunity to do in the high school level. I also met some young vibrant teachers. I must admit I felt a little old in years but I still recognize that I am young at heart and I still relate well to the students. I love being around youngsters and working with all of their possibilities. I think we all make a difference in their lives because we don't contribute to their burdens but we actually lighten their emotional loads from home life. It is a great gift to be able to be that for the kids.

Week of August 23, 2010

WOW; the fifteenth and final week. I am relieved that I have some downtime to enjoy totally free before the first day of school!

I feel accomplished and happy to get this internship under my belt! I am very pleased to be coming into the homestretch of the post masters principal program. When I am principal I will definitely involve all stakeholders in decision making processes.

Next