The Truth & The Fallacies of School Improvement: What are the three things you love most about your school? What are three things you would love to grow at your school? For each of the the three things you would love to grow, identify at least one thing you can do to help that process along.
1. I Love the small school feel and the camaraderie that we have together as a staff. I feel our relationships spill over to the students. 2. We work together as a team to enhance the students learning and show love to each one who walks through the doors. 3. I love how the community comes together to support our small school and to keep our doors open. There is much support in fundraisers to help the students grow outside of the school hours as well with trips and different educational events. I feel the three areas we could grow in are: 1. More feedback- I can definitely work on this. As a music teacher, I try to do let each student what they need to improve on, but I can work on even doing more with this. 2. Our school is doing really well with promoting success on social media. I do not do well in this area , so that is one of my struggle areas which I can definitely improve on. 3. Recruiting more students. Ours school is trying to keep our doors open. We are doing many things to enhance our school and I can just keep on being the best teacher I can be to help build our school up in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteFor each of the the three things you would love to grow, identify at least one thing you can do to help that process along
ReplyDeleteThree things I love about my school is the sense of Arrow Pride that runs through th community. This past year our superintendent also implemented "We are all arrows," within the elementary schools so as a town, we all have one mascot. I feel like this gives a sense of purpose and the younger can look to the older students. I like that we have PLC time, I feel that we still need to work on this concept to make it greater but we have a start,. I also like the connection with have with the local community college that allows students to take duel credit classes.
I would love to grow on the PlC within the high school. I have worked in other high school where PLC is done amazingly well. I think we need to go look at these schools and see what PLC actually is...not what it is not (All of us as robots doing the same thing). I would love to make our students do a capstone project that embodies their experience and goals for their senior project. This project would be a reflection of who they are, what they want to be and what they have accomplished through their high school. I would need administration support and complete but in from the staff! Lastly, I would love to see the restraints on advanced kids removed! My daughter is in advanced classes and she keeps being told no when she wants to challenge herself more. She has goals and I feel many advanced kids do and we need to listen to their goals and help them to our best abilities.
Things I love most about my prior school: 1. The relationships I had with my team of teachers. We always had each others' backs and it was evident to our students as well. 2. The team planning time we had was extremely helpful because we were always able to touch base and be on the same page about anything that went on. From lesson planning, activities we wanted to plan, parent communication, etc. 3. The amount of professional development opportunities we had access to.
ReplyDelete1. I would love to grow suggesting a "drop" like Hamish did with his staff. I think this would be beneficial to all staff to just hear the good without having to worry about policies, events coming up, reminders, or anything else. This would have to be a suggestion to maybe some team members, but then ultimately to administration. 2. I would also love to grow on the idea of making more hands on experiences in the community with our students. I would talk with some community members and get ideas together on where this could be incorporated and then talk with my team members and administration as well. 3. I would love to grow in the area of making technology more useful in my classroom, especially with being out of the classroom for a few years. There are many new ideas and apps available. I would need to research and look into different apps and see where I can incorporate more into my curriculum.
The three things I love most about my school are: 1. The sense of community and collaboration among staff. I genuinely enjoy, respect and appreciate working with my fellow School Counselors. Each person on the School Counseling team truly wants to support students and work together. 2. Our school has many opportunities for students to explore their interests and grow as leaders, whether clubs, organizations, athletics or the fine arts. It’s very rewarding to help students set personal and academic goals and assist them in finding experiences that help them develop confidence and skills. 3. The focus on social-emotional learning and student well-being. I appreciate that students’ mental health is valued, and I can contribute by running small groups, teaching lessons, seeing students one on one and assisting them in navigating post-high, emotional and personal, academic and other avenues.
ReplyDeleteThese are three things that I would love to grow at my school and how I can do that to help the process along: 1. Expanding mental health support for students. Some students could use more structured programs for managing stress and emotions. I can support this by leading more and new small groups, working with teachers to identify students who need extra support, and continuing to connect families with outside resources when needed. 2. Using data more intentionally to support the School Counseling program and the academic and social-emotional growth of our students. We can be more strategic about identifying trends and needs. Previously we used a program to track the amount of time given to our direct and indirect services and beyond. I would like to implement something like this again. Our team could do this and review counseling data, actionable insights with staff and administration, and collaborating on interventions that support students. 3. Strengthening student advocacy and voice in school decisions. I want students to feel like their ideas and perspectives matter, particularly personal, social, emotional and academic at school, but also in the items of their lives outside of school. Our School Counseling team can create student advisory groups, organize forums for them to share feedback, and encourage effective communication and leadership skills.
Overall, I would like to see what we do as School Counselors align more consistently with the American School Counseling Association national model. I do believe that we do a good job of this, but could improve on the items that are on the inappropriate duties list for School Counselors. Collecting some data could certainly support the work we currently do and need to improve on.
Three things I love most about our school.
ReplyDelete1. Supportive, Dedicated Teachers
2. Engaging Extracurricular activities
3. Friendly School Environment
Three things to grow at our school and how I can help with the process:
1. Personalized Learning- as the Foundation director I can easily assist by helping provide staff with additional ways to promote, enhance and enable education and enrichment opportunities in their classroom through Foundation grants and funding.
2. School Spirit additions- again through the Foundation we are currently working on adding more Bulldog spirit to the school. This project will foster a strong sense of community, belonging, and pride among students and staff. Hoping this positive atmosphere boosts student engagement & improves mental well-being.
3. More graphic design classes- right now the Foundation is also spearheading a grant request that will purchase a projector for the gymnasium. This addition will add a new class to the curriculum for graphic design.
Three things I love most about our school is the community involvement with the school; Many different organizations, sports, and clubs that the school offers to our students, so they can explore their interests; collaboration with my fellow teacher to make our school a fun place for our students to learn.
ReplyDeleteThe 3 areas I would love to grow at is getting feedback from students, teachers, administrators and parents. I enjoyed the topic Hamish talked about in his book about "drops" I think we could do more of this. The item I think the school could grow at and that is not spending the first day back to school talking about rules, regulation, and data.
The things I could do to help myself and the school to grow is to ask my colleague if I could come into their classroom to observed their teaching practice and come up with new ideas to help me become a great teacher and to get my students engaged. For the drop ideal it may be hard to start off meeting with all the staff but, I could get a smaller group together to reflect on the our successes.
Three Things I love most about my school are:
ReplyDelete1) Dedicated Supportive Staff
2) Positive School Culture
3) Extracurricular activities
Three areas I would like to grow in is 1) helping provide additional resources for our Co-Teachers, more professional development training, observation time of strong co-teaching partnerships. 2) helping provide more social emotional professional developments for our staff and helping our students learn self regulation techniques. Our students are facing more and more outside pressures that with there brain not fully developed is making it hard for them to work through difficult decisions. 3) Providing more opportunities for student and staff voice in the areas that we are struggling with, forming more committees to have a designated time to talk through topics, brainstorm ideas, and form action steps to move forward.
I love many things about my school. Here are my top 3:
ReplyDelete1. Staff members who work collaboratively with each other for the betterment of students.
2. Community involvement that supports all levels of students. Donations of food, gift cards, money for holiday meals, winter gear. We have supportive people working to help and benefit students.
3. Collaborative efforts with local agencies such as our SROs who help us work with families to ensure safety for our students.
Three things that I would like to see increased in my school:
1. Communication amongst everyone. Sometimes our communication is lacking from everyone leading to rumors and disgruntled staff or processes. This was brought up at our school improvement plan and we all said we need to make certain we are all communicating. One thing I can do is help this process along by making sure that I am sending out messages that are clear and allowing for questions without becoming defensive. I can also help be a sounding board for those who are trying to communicate with parents/staff and wanting feedback on their communication.
2. Mental Health counselors coming in—sometimes there is feedback from the therapist regarding the students and other times there is not. I think it is valuable if I make sure that we get updated information on student concerns so that we can best support them in the school setting. I also need to make certain that our referral list stays current and be able to have information for parents readily available upon request. I am currently writing a letter to area agencies to ask specific questions about staff and areas of focus for their staff as well as what age group they focus on as this is something at the elementary level that we struggle with is finding a provider to work with younger students. What resources can be provided to staff to better enhance the student behavior in the classroom.
3. Data—I need to make sure to delve into the data when it comes to student achievement not just at the beginning of the year. What different strategies or input can I have that could help a student who may be struggling? Do we have different supports or modifications that we can help kids? Be more vocal in the students support so that they get what is needed.
What are the three things you love most about your school?
ReplyDelete1. I love the small class sizes.
2. I love the relationships I have with my students.
3. I love the collaboration we have between our teachers.
What are three things you would love to grow at your school?
1. I would love to see Drops used more, like Hamish used in his staff meetings.
2. I would love to see more communication between teachers in our school between our two buildings.
3. I would love to see more shadowing opportunities from the businesses in our town.
For each of the the three things you would love to grow, identify at least one thing you can do to help that process along.
For the Drops, as teachers we could meet with administrators to see if they would set up and support this program.
For more communication between our buildings, I could ask a high school class to come to my 5th grade room and read to us or do an activity together.
For more shadowing opportunities, I could contact businesses in town to see if my 5th grade class could tour their business and see what your job is all about.
Three things I love most about my school are our resources, the teachers, and the students. Our school has strong materials and supports that help teachers do their jobs well. The teachers are dedicated and collaborative, and the students bring energy and curiosity that make the work meaningful.
ReplyDeleteThree things I would love to grow are stronger support from administration and the school board, less emphasis on standardized testing, and more opportunities for outside time, music, and movement during the school day.
To help grow administrative and school board support, I can communicate more about what is happening in the classroom and share successes and needs so decision-makers better understand what supports students and teachers.
To help reduce the heavy emphasis on standardized testing, I can continue to advocate for developmentally appropriate practices and share examples of how hands-on, play-based, and experiential learning benefits students.
To increase outside time, music, and movement, I can intentionally incorporate these elements into my daily routines and lessons, showing how they support student engagement, regulation, and learning.
The Truth & The Fallacies of School Improvement: What are the three things you love most about your school? What are three things you would love to grow at your school? For each of the the three things you would love to grow, identify at least one thing you can do to help that process along.
ReplyDeleteThree things that I love most about my school:
1. The students
2. The teachers
3. My administration
Three things that I would love to grow:
1. I think it would be awesome if our MS/HS and our elementary buildings could get together for our 'Wellness Wednesdays' that we have once a month to all come together and do either physical activity together such as a walk or a workout, or some of our staff like to craft, so they could craft together. I just think it would be neat if we made our Wellness Wednesdays district wide rather than per building.
2. Currently, we have early out Wednesdays for professional development. I think it would be very beneficial for both staff and students to change this day to Fridays. I think families would appreciate this more, as well as staff. For our professional development we have a rotation of class days (x2), clear your desk, wellness. I think it would be a great end to the week to have this on Fridays.
3. Finally, I think it would be beneficial to implement 1/4 days off for staff. Currently, we either have to take a 1/2 day or a full day. I think to lessen the stress of teachers as well as administration, it would help significantly with teacher absences we we could use just a 1/4 day.
Three things I love most about my school:
ReplyDelete1. Teamwork
2.Supportive administration
3. Smaller class sizes
Three things that I would love to see grow:
1. We are a small district, all in one building yet we seem miles apart between elementary and secondary. We used to do activities that involved the entire student body, but time restraints have impacted that. I would love to see some of those activites brought back. Our younger classes love working with the older students. This year we did bring back Reading Buddies with older students for 30 min. one afternoon. I hope we can add more time for this.
2. More time for Art and recess. We used to have an Art teacher, but with budget cuts that is one position that was cut. Our high school students can take a class on line if they want. Elementary had no Art class for many years. This past year our Music teacher has picked up Art and we have it once every 2.5 months. I know I can incorporate art activites into my curriculum, especially in Reading. We do have a Maker Space room that we go to once a week and I can always sign up to use it at another time.
3. Training in mental health issues. It seems we have more students coming to school with a lot of baggage. I do not feel we have had much training at all in this area. There are trainings on line that I could invest in. It would be nice if our whole school had the same training.
1. Professionalism
ReplyDelete2. Teamwork
3. Leadership
The Middle School I work at has such professional teachers. The conversations I have are of a professional nature, no gossiping and no running other teachers down behind their backs. I contribute to that environment by not gossiping, and by being professional in return.
My sped team has great teammwork. We spend time together to plan and come up with successful strategies for our shared students. I contribute to this success by being present and contributing to our conversations and implementing the strategies for our students.
Our Sped leadership has made such a difference. The case manager for my students is outstanding at his job, he communicates well and facilitates the IEP meetings professionally and I contribute to that process by providing documentation and feedback.
The three things I like about my school are:
ReplyDeletesmall classes
Teacher collaboration
Positive- faith based culture
The three things I would like to see to improve my school are:
More subject options
More time for mental health
Teacher collaboration time
The one I feel I could help would be the mental health issue. As a school counselor, it would be nice to have more time to spend with students that struggle with mental health in relation to school or assist them in finding an outside mental health professional to help them.
The Truth & The Fallacies of School Improvement: What are the three things you love most about your school? What are three things you would love to grow at your school? For each of the the three things you would love to grow, identify at least one thing you can do to help that process along.
ReplyDeleteThere are more than 3 things I love about my school. Coming from teaching in public school to a private school I am able to see the benefits. I love that we have small class sizes which in turn builds deep relationships. I love that we can bring our faith alive in the classroom. I love the kids. We have kids that have really tough home lives and even though it is hard I love seeing them change for the better. I will always die on the hill that kids will reverse bad behavior if you teach it like a skill and build a relationship with each student.
Three things I would like to improve: More recess time. I know that sounds trivial but I think the kids need to be out and moving more. It stimulates their brain etc. Unfortunately, I think kids do not get enough time for lunch or recess which causes them undue stress.
Teachers attitudes and them being held accountable. Some teachers are there only for a paycheck and it shows. It is such a damaging thing for all involved. Third thing I would like to see improve is more self paced learning. My high kids get hard to deal with when they are bored. Sometimes I do not have a choice as others do not have the new concepts mastered.
The Truth & The Fallacies of School Improvement: What are the three things you love most about your school? What are three things you would love to grow at your school? For each of the the three things you would love to grow, identify at least one thing you can do to help that process along.
ReplyDelete1. Great leaders in place - kind and helpful
2. Clean and professional staff and place to work
3. Helpful staff in general - always willing to talk
1. Need to loosen up and allow kids to talk freely
2. Principal needs more engagement with staff and students
3. Students need more free time outside
1 thing I could do is visit the principal's office and talk when available and nothing formal.
The three things I love most about my school is how collaborative and helpful the staff are with each other. If there's something that needs to be done with students and various plans, the staff here are great about listening and making sure it's getting done. The second thing I love about my school are the students and their openness to turn to me for help and guidance with anything that they may be going through. As a first year counselor, it's been so special to see students wanting to talk to me or asking me for help. The last thing I love about my school is the environment. With the environment I mean how each time I walk in the building, it's always a warm welcome, things are clean and organized, and it's very spacious. All of which is important to effectively work and manage in our rooms each and every day.
ReplyDeleteThe three things I would love to grow at this school is having more time in the day to talk collaboratively as a team. Many things are happening each day and things are always changing so just having more scheduled time to have those discussions with other staff to be more on the same page would be helpful. The second thing I would love to grow in at the school is to have a day of the week where half the day is spent with mental brain breaks to keep kids off electronics but to do something actively engaging with their mind. This could help with some behaviors at school and also give staff a chance to have that mental break as well. The last thing that I think could grow in the school is having more opportunities of resources that could be utilized in the school. This could look like having more inclusive days that help bring awareness and knowledge to the resources that are available in the community. Many families struggle financially and emotionally because they're unaware of what's available to them to aid them in any area. This could be a great way to bring the students and their families closer to the school community and also provide them with opportunities for their families and for the students to grow academically and social/emotionally.
One thing I could do to help with this process is communicate and advocate. Sharing these opportunities and ways that we could grow stronger as a school and community can help others to see how beneficial it could be. Continuing to work with the staff here and effectively communicating with them is a step in the right direction.
First, I like the relationships between staff and students. Most teachers here genuinely care about kids and do a lot for them both in and out of the classroom. We’re a small school with about 20–25 students per class, and being a small community means we end up doing a lot together, which makes those relationships even stronger. Second, I really appreciate how staff work together. Even though we all have different jobs, people are usually willing to step in and help when needed. Third, I like the variety of opportunities students have, whether it’s sports, clubs, or things happening in the classroom. As a coach, I see how much those experiences help students grow and stay connected.
ReplyDeleteThere are also a few areas where I think we can keep getting better. One is student engagement. Some classes are really active and involved, while others struggle more with attention and participation. In a small community like ours, one challenge is that limited numbers can sometimes be tough on programs or events. It can also lead to people being spread too thin, which can affect participation and sometimes result in lower numbers than we would like. In my own classroom, I can help with this by making lessons in history more hands-on and relevant, and by tying topics to current events or things students actually care about.
Another area is communication with families. We do a decent job overall, but it’s not always consistent. I can help improve that by making sure I send home more positive messages, not just concerns, and by building stronger connections with parents throughout the year.
A third area is student ownership of learning. I’d like to see more students take responsibility for their own learning instead of waiting to be told what to do all the time. In today’s world, especially with the rise of AI and instant answers, it sometimes feels like students struggle more than ever to function without being explicitly told what to do or how to do it. Because of that, problem-solving skills seem to be slowly disappearing. I can work on this by giving students more choice in assignments, more chances to lead group work, and more time to reflect on how they’re doing.
Overall, I think the best way to improve our school is to focus on what we can control in our own classrooms and programs. As both a teacher and a coach, I can help by building relationships, keeping students engaged, and pushing them to take more ownership of their learning.
What are the three things you love most about your school? I absolutely love that all staff members love each student and want what's best for them. I love that our administrators take a moment to listen to us and consider other alternatives where we may see fit such as scheduling and the flow of the student. I love that we are a very diverse school and students are taught that what matters is what is inside and people are people.
ReplyDeleteWhat are three things you would love to grow at your school? I would love to see more 'time' for our school to celebrate as a community. I could contribute to our good news newsletter. I would love for teachers to be empathetic for each area of subjects like music/art/library/PE as we see all of the students. I could help foster this by maybe visiting one of their PLCs. I would love to see our happiness/cheerful/positivity grow even more. I can only change myself - I can remind myself to smile more!
This is a bit hard for me as I haven't been in the classroom for several years. When I was in the classroom my favorite things about the school I was at was that it was - 1. small family atmosphere , 2. no egos among the teachers - truly team environment and 3. the parental involvement. Those 3 things helped make the school the successful school that it was.
ReplyDelete3 things that need improvement -
1. consistency in parent communication - each teacher has opportunity to use different forums. I think for ease of parents, it would be nice if the school adopted one method that way if they have multiple children the know what to expect and also it remains more fluid from grade level to grade level. This could be a suggestion at a meeting.
2. more time in day to collaborate with the other teachers - what works well in their classroom that could be adopted or what isn't working well - don't repeat things that haven't gone well
3. consistent training opportunities for teachers - make it easier for all educators to have access to the same opportunities
The Truth & The Fallacies of School Improvement: What are the three things you love most about your school? What are three things you would love to grow at your school? For each of the the three things you would love to grow, identify at least one thing you can do to help that process along.
ReplyDeleteThings I love about my school:
1. Strong Sense of Community
-There is support among students, teachers, and staff. People are approachable, and relationships are valued.
2.Dedicated Teachers
-Many teachers go beyond just teaching content. They care about student success and are willing to offer extra help and encouragement.
3. Opportunities for Involvement
-The school offers a variety of activities, clubs, and events that allow students to explore interests and feel connected.
Things I would love to grow:
1. Student Engagement in Learning
-Sometimes learning can feel passive because not all students are equally involved.
*What I can do: I can teach my students how to actively participate by introducing them to more ways/strategies on how to be more active in my class, encourage them to ask questions, and teaching them different ways to collaborate with peers.
2. Communication Between Students and Staff
-There can be gaps in how feedback or concerns are being shared and addressed.
*What I can do: I can respectfully share my ideas and/or concerns as well as encourage have open conversations with other teachers.
3. Inclusivity and School Culture
-While my school can be welcoming, there is always room to make everyone feel more included and represented.
*What I can do: I can be mindful of others, support inclusive activities, and stand up for classmates to help build a more positive and respectful environment.
After reading The Truth & The Fallacies of School Improvement, it was easy to think of the three things I love most about my school. First, I love the students. In my particular building, we have Pre-K through 3rd graders. Each day brings something fun and exciting, and you never know what it will hold. Second, I love the team I work with each day. They make me a better teacher, and they are a wonderful group of ladies who make coming to work enjoyable. The third thing I love most about my school is the way I feel when I am teaching. My students make me feel like I truly matter. My classroom is my safe place where I can be myself and do what I love most. I am myself when I am in my classroom, I am myself when I am with my students, and I feel confident and comfortable when I am teaching.
ReplyDeleteThe three things I would most like to grow at my school begin with improving the school culture. Instead of feeling like one whole community, at times it feels like we have separate “neighborhoods” within the school. Grade levels collaborate well within their own teams but rarely interact with other grade levels. I really like Hamish’s “drops” idea. It gives teachers and faculty members a sense of pride and recognition in ways they might not otherwise experience. Everyone wants to feel appreciated for going beyond expectations, and when someone else acknowledges it, it not only feels good but also encourages continued effort.
Another area I would like to see grow is parent and community involvement. Whether we attribute it to COVID or something else, we moved away from allowing visitors to come in and work with our students or participate in activities. It’s time to bring them back. This is an area where I would love to help make a difference. I have already invited families in for a “classroom play presentation,” and everyone involved loved it. I believe that providing opportunities—even just once a quarter—for families to participate in their child’s classroom or school activities during the day would have a lasting impact. Other ideas include projects, readers’ theater performances, game afternoons, and more. The opportunities are there; it just takes initiative to invite families in and create a welcoming environment.