Personal Best Staff Bulletin
Volume V Number 1 November 18, 2016
Feedback and Reflection
If you recall, last year, I asked teachers in June to respond to a short Google form to give me feedback about my own professional performance as the principal.
Here is a link to a very slightly edited version of the data I received. I made a few edits to maintain the anonymity of certain individuals who responded: http://bit.ly/2g3aPz7
This was so helpful to me. I’ve said this many times, the life-blood of growth is feedback. If we do not welcome advice from those around us, how are we supposed to learn?
Most of the responses I received were reinforcing of the priorities I set for myself as a school leader. This is an important part of reflecting as well, what are those things that you're doing well and that you need to keep doing. It was helpful for me to know these.
Maybe it’s human nature, but I found myself dwelling more on the smaller number of low ratings and “constructive criticism” type responses I received than the positive ones. I know that many of you are like me in this regard because, well, I give you feedback. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that if you're going to ask for feedback you need to value it and act on it.
Based on this survey I realized that, in addition to things I must continue to do, I need to do more of the following:
- · Make sure that all opportunities are offered equally to every member of the staff.
- · Ensure that the great work of all staff members is shared with the community.
- · Celebrate and value all members of the staff -- because everyone deserves this.
- · Hold all staff accountable for being collaborative members of the MS family.
- · Communicate better my personal understanding of the challenges and complexities of teaching.
- · Become more directly involved in the teaching / learning process in classrooms.
Consider giving a survey to your students to assess how you're doing. If you do it before the winter break, you can make adjustments in the second half of the school year to practices and approaches that your students tell you aren’t working. Of course, you'll also get feedback about things that you should keep doing because they're helping your kids to learn.
Again, I want to say thank you for being awesome and for helping me GROW!
Best Practice
Laura Diehl and Diane Stile taught kids how to properly use science equipment by having them employ a triple balance beam to weigh a Darth Vader toy. Seems like a minor detail but kids loved the fact that Diane and Laura incorporated their interests into the lesson.
Rose Scalera asked students to recall verb endings for challenging and irregular verbs. I did not know that glut is a verb! By the way, it gets conjugated in the past tense with two "T"s. When a student was struggling with the meaning of a word and with Rose’s explanation, she cheerfully said, "Do you have a phone, take it out and look it up."
I'm not sure if you heard but back at Homecoming, a seventh graders got hit in the chest with one of the small corks that are part of a shooting game at the carnival. He wasn't hurt but many police officers responded here to investigate this matter. Kathleen Greene did a fabulous job of keeping everyone, children and adults, calm at the scene. Showing once again that nurses need to have clear heads.
Valerie Mignone is re-purposing the dictionary holder and the atlas stand from the middle school library into free libraries to be placed throughout the school. Such a creative idea by our new librarian. If you have Ideas about where free libraries should be placed, let her know.
Links and Resources
Principal's Staff Bulletin
Email: dgately@jerichoschools.org
Website: dfgately.wordpress.com
Location: 99 Old Cedar Swamp Road, Jericho, NY, United States
Phone: 516-203-3620
Twitter: @Donald_Gately