Field Experience Reflection

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Field Experience Reflection
ISLLC Standard 1 – Vision
A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

Fulfilling the contact hours required for the “vision” standard proved difficult in my role as a classroom teacher. However, since I was fortunate enough to be selected as the Summer School Administrator, the first-ever at the high school level in our school district, I was given the opportunity to shape the high school summer programs in terms of physical layout, timing, and curriculum. The activities that allowed for me to gain the experiences within this ISLLC standard all related heavily to the summer school development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluating the systems put in place. The most challenging was the Connections program which was created to help bridge the gap between Middle School and High School for a very specific group of students. With the help of the Mexico Middle School guidance counselors, twenty-six students were identified as “at-risk” as they were moving from eighth to ninth grade; issues such as behavioral problems, academic deficiencies, attendance issues, and general attitude issues all helped identify the students who would be invited to be a part of the Connections program. These students were invited to a meeting at the high school, along with their parents, and the purpose of the program was outlined. Twenty-three of the twenty-six students enrolled. Two teachers, one certified in Social Studies, led the instruction over the four-week period. The Connections program ran for six hours each day, and included Physical Education, Character Education, and Social Studies remediation, as well as hands-on field trips to various learning spots throughout mid-Missouri. Students responded well to the program, which allowed them to earn one half-credit as a “jump start” to their high school careers. The amount of planning, which far exceeded the maximum eight hours allowed per activity, was eye-opening to this classroom teacher. The amount of communication – upper level administration, middle school and high school guidance counselors, parents, teachers, and the students themselves – was a lot more than expected. Coordinating this program was indeed time consuming and frustrating at times, but as the program actually started (instead of being in the planning stages), the hard work paid off, and the program was a success. The Connections program will once again be offered as a transition piece between Middle School and High School (if summer school funding is appropriated by the state). As one of the staff members responsible for planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the program, I am glad that it worked out well. One more mind-boggling thing about the experience – I had the luxury of dedicating time to this project exclusive of any others; the ability to “multi-task” as an upper level administrator became a lot more evident.