Sunday, August 31, 2008

Superintendent Expectations - A 4 Part Series

I have to say I am more impressed by our new Superintendent, everyday. So much so, I will hence forth call her the Super Superintendent. She is taking on a great battle and seems to be doing an outstanding job.

What does the Super Superintendent want to see this year? How will teachers and principals be held accountable? Well it was all laid out for us Monday at the Convention Center P.D.

If you were busy creating lesson plans in your head or catching up on the latest gossip, don't worry. I took notes for you.

1. We will be responsible for creating caring relationships, by taking an interest in the well being of students, maintaining high standards and the belief that all students can excel.

How does this look?
  • Praise for effort
  • Affirming greatness
  • Inquiring how students feel
  • Treating students with respect and dignity
This doesn't sound unreasonable. Hopefully, most of us do this, already. If not, make the effort, these strategies payoff by increasing student motivation and effort and eliminating many discipline issues.

The Super Superintendent referred to a video about the Monroe Doctrine.
Who is Monroe?
Lorraine Monroe " wanted to be a physician in order to help and to heal. Instead, Dr. Lorraine Monroe chose education as her profession and found that she could touch far more lives through the power of teaching." to cotinue reading this article, click here.

2. We will be responsible for forming extended families.
How does this look?

  • emphasize the common good
  • Students helping students
  • school and classroom rituals

Ron Clark is used as an example of creating these extended families.

A Complete Joke by Tamara Lauriano
The first day my new teacher walked into our school in Spanish Harlem, I burst out laughing. Ron Clark was this young white guy from North Carolina who talked with a funny Southern accent. He said he used to be a singing waiter. I thought, Who is this guy? He's a complete joke.
To find out more about Ron Clark, click here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If you want to be a super teacher, you must know how students think. See "Teaching and Helping Students Think and Do Better" on amazon.