My Experience : My Shadowing Experience In Elementary School

Identifies skills, theories of change, program designs, partnerships, and ways of building schools where students achieve.

Closing the achievement gap is not an easy task. However, education leaders have a moral obligation to create a system of student supports and a belief system in which all students achieve beyond the standards. A superintendent's belief system and passion need to extend outward. As you move your institution toward the goal of everyone passionately believing, as a district leader, you only hire teachers, administrators, secretaries, bus drivers, custodians and all staff members who believe this as deeply as you do. By doing this, you begin to change the culture of your institution be it a school or an entire district.

This interview was conducted with Wes Jensen the current principal of Mountain View Middle School. He has been the principal at his current school for two years, and was vice principal of the Blackfoot High School for two years. Before he became an administrator he was a classroom teacher for seven years, giving him 11 years of experience in education. The school has a very diverse population comprised of many different ethnicities including Native American, Hispanic, and Caucasian. The economic situations range from wealthy to highly impoverished. As the principal of this school he is a very professional man who holds high expectations for his staff.

Many health professions, generally, involve more than just memorizing the material. Professional schools don't just require good grades, they also look for a more depth academic background in a student. Involving experience, volenteer work, personality, and how you present yourself as a professional vocally and physically. To start, these professional schools want to know that you know a little bit of what your concentration is going to be consisting of. A record of job shadowing can show that you have collected information about this carreer path. Meaning you will know how to prepare yourself in this field and what your future will be based on. Also you know not only the good about the job but also the cons that comes with it. Whether it be major or not. A benificial way to gain knowledge about the career is asking people in the field questions similar to the following: What are the hours pertaining to this job?, How much is the salary?, Do you enjoy your job?, What is the pro's and con's?,How has this position evolved since you have been in it?, What are some of the biggest challanges you have faced?, Can you describe a typical day or week in this position?, Are there any comments you have about my fit for the job that I could improve or address?

For the purpose of this assignment, the leader I have chosen Ms. J, the principal of a charter school in New Orleans charter school named Harriet Tubman Charter School. Ms. J was also a founder of a school network that oversees 3 elementary to 8th grade schools. Founded in 2011 the schools now serve over 1700 students in the New Orleans area. Tubman Charter school has a staff of eighty. Ms. Lauses role is to oversee eight staff members that ensure that the school produces leading results for the state as well as promising scholars that will path their way to college. As the principal of this school specifically, Ms. J has large obstacles that go beyond the walls of the school. Harriet Tubman Charter school is within a neighborhood that struggles both economically and educationally. Almost 100% of the scholars qualify for a free lunch and are black or Latino and the kindergartens scholars that arrive on the first day know only one or two letters of the alphabet. Historically before Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans on 38% of public school students graduated high school (quote). While most people see this as a place where most people see extreme challenges, Ms. J see’s it as an opportunity for change and promise.

My first shadowing experience was on April 6, 2017 in a Prince Gorges County Public School middle school facility. As I entered the building, I was greeted by a young man (a student) holding the door for me. “How polite” I thought to myself. He then directed me to the office. Once in the office, I was greeted by the secretary and asked to wait patiently because they were extremely busy. Even though the front office was busy, everyone was welcoming, friendly yet efficient.

I had my job shadow at West Liberty Middle School and I chose this school because I have been there previously. I spent the whole day at this school and learned a lot throughout the day. I am a family friend with the teacher who teaches seventh and eight grade English. Although I do not plan to teach middle school I still enjoy and learn a lot going to this school, because there’s a very diverse group of students from my different backgrounds. I feel like shadowing this school is much more realistic to the difficulties I may encounter as a teacher, therefore I benefit from shadowing this teacher and school.

As a leader I envision my school as one where students and teachers come to a place they enjoy entering each day. All share the focus of the school, the belief that all students can become high achievers. Staff is centered on student achievement; no matter what academic level that all students face coming into the classroom. All staff will understand that all children are teachable, even those with learning issues.

What is it that enables a trajectory-changing education? At Building Excellent Schools, the answer is rooted in sound and relentless execution on all the core fundamentals of running a school, i.e. the academic program, school culture, and operations. At Educate78, the answer is rooted in designing a school experience for students that is authentic to a particular community and also allows for deeper learning. As a lead petitioner in the process of founding a school – and a fellow of each of these organizations – I have been fortunate enough to observe and learn from both viewpoints. I have come to an understanding that both are true and not mutually exclusive. My goal is to soundly integrate the best aspects of both models

I job shadowed at an elementary school in our county. I was interested in the value of an experience at another school and grade level. The day started with welcoming buses and students being dropped off in the car rider line. It is amazing to me to see how effective organization and planning can allow for movement of six hundred plus children to safely happen. While each school has a different way to load and unload buses, I saw proof there is more than one effective way to get it done. As a future administrator, I have now seen and experienced a variety of strategies for arrival and dismissal and feel confident in implementing the best one I see fit for my school.

The shadowing days were very insightful. I truly enjoyed experiencing two different leadership styles. One style was completely hands-on and completed many task herself. The other participated in SAMs which is designed to allow a team of people to assist so that the principals focus remains on instructional practices. Therefore, felt more comfortable delegating responsibilities. Each principal had different styles yet the results were similar. I was extremely impressed with both principals. Their knowledge of the curriculum and the fostering of such a positive school culture is commendable. This was a though-provoking

For my job shadowing experience, I visited my step-father Joe Stankula at Midwest Health Center in Dearborn, Michigan. During the day, I was able to observe as he worked as the head of the IT Department. He constantly needs to monitor the flow of the servers and make sure other people can do their jobs. He has direct power over the internet and phone lines. The equipment he handles runs the building, without it, the business wouldn’t be able to function.

Montclaire Elementary School (MES) is a Title I neighborhood school located at 5801 Farmbrook Dr., Charlotte, North Carolina. The building was built in 1957-1958 and sits on a large, beautiful campus with a new playground and sports field that are maintained by the parks and recreation association. Montclaire is part of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), an urban district of over 145,000 kindergarten through twelfth grade students attending in the 164 schools. For this evidence I analyzed the organizational structures, management routines, budget operations at MES, both internally and externally. Information from the NC Report Card, the TNTP Instructional Culture Insight survey, interviews/surveys I conducted, and current processes that already exist at MES, were reviewed and analyzed in order to provide an accurate analysis of this school.

My teacher shadowing occurred on October 21, 2016 this was one of the best experiences of my life. I was able to see what a day would be like as a future educator. This experience made me feel as if I am going into the right profession. The teacher I shadowed was Julie Schmidt a second grade teacher at Arcadia Elementary. Ms. Schmidt did her teacher preparation here in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University where she earned her bachelors in earth science with a secondary education certificate in 1978. Then in 1980 she received her master’s degree in early childhood with an elementary teaching certificate. Mrs. Schmidt has been teaching for 28 years she even focuses on school during the summer time. I learned that teaching changes as the politics change over time. I was surprised because I did not realize how often education changes. Julie is an excellent professional who has great classroom control. Mrs. Schmidt says, “Building relationships with students is a key motivator. This lets me know that I shadowed a passionate teacher who takes pride in her job. Not only is Mrs. Schmidt a great role model teacher has also taught me that involvement with students outside of learning time is also important. Outside of teaching she serve as the First/Second Grade team leader, write grants for the school, and sponsor Free Comic Book Day for all students in May, mentor teachers, tutors and volunteers. This experience was beneficial for me, it taught me ways to handle situations,

School improvement is transformation. It is one of the most important actions of a school. It is a process that schools must use with fidelity to ensure that at all students are given the opportunity to perform and achieve at exemplary levels. School improvement is vital to schools and it is a process that cannot be done in isolation. It requires team work, collaboration, and constant analysis of data and setting of goals. School improvement goals focus on how to meet the needs of students. Addressing the educational needs, funding, and achievement gaps between subgroups is collaborative effort involves everyone that has a vested interest in the schools. These basic measures set the foundation for improvement. And so, if it is the