A Final Reflection of my Practicum I

What a wealth of information I have learned so far during my PracticumI! When I started this journey a few short years ago, I did not realize how much I would grow both mentally and confidently. All my experiences thus far have taught me so much about the relationships between students, staff and administration, and how they all mesh together in a strong web. I have also learned that the number one priority is not just student achievement, but the personal side of each student in my care. As I typed each of the nine journal entries required for Practicum I, I realized the personal growth, which I spoke of earlier in this paragraph. What follows now is a brief summation of what some journal entries meant to me. The first journal entry is one of my favorites. I had sent an email to Mr. John Mulhorn, Principal of Salem Middle School in the latter part of December 2011. Due to hectic nature of the holidays, we were unable to organize a meeting until the middle of January. When I arrived at his school at 12:15 P.M., Mr. Mulhorn had been called to the board office. As I sat and waited in the office, Ms. Banetti, a vice-principal, and Mr. Will Allen, the other vice-principal, spoke to me and asked me how I was doing with my coursework. Mr. Allen discussed his new program, the Gentleman’s Club, which he had started in the middle school. He explained to me that this program is divided up into three categories, based on the students’ grade level, and is available only to the middle school boys. As a matter of fact, as I was moving through the hallways with Mr. Mulhorn later that afternoon, we met up with a group of “Gentleman in Transition”, or the third and fourth graders. All the young men placed their right hands out to me and told me their names and politely asked me mine. Wow! That was quite a refreshing experience! The rest of the time was spent with Mr. Mulhorn in his administrative rounds for the afternoon. He had showed me his walkthrough form back in his office which had been adapted from the one designed by Dr. and Dr. Dunham, that we use at the high school. As we toured both the seventh and eighth grade classrooms, many of the other students either gave Mr. Mulhorn a hug or a handshake (probably a Gentleman’s Club participant!), which he was eager to share. Mr. Mulhorn also pointed out exemplars of student work, as well as teacher boards. As I left the middle school, both Mr. Mulhorn and Mr. Allen told me I was welcome to come back anytime, and do whatever I needed to do to complete any additional hours with them. I sent emails to both and thanked them for their generosity and knowledge sharing. My next journal entry I felt I learned a great deal from was Journal # 3, Collaboration Meeting #1. I enjoyed all aspects of the set up; discussion of what survey questions to include, brainstorming other ideas from my fellow faculty, regarding how to incorporate common planning time between special education and general education teachers, as well as teaching styles and other collaborative strategies we could utilize. It felt good to have the support and the encouragement of the staff to increase my confidence to complete my mini-change project at our school. The other two meetings that were held as per my Collaborative Mini-Change proposal were just as interesting and productive. At the Collaborative Meeting #2, my committee discussed the survey results using a print out of the survey, as well as a large print version that was easier for all of us to read, provided by one of my committee members, Ms. Mutter, the librarian. As a committee, we collaborated and discussed what we wanted to include in the Collaboration Committee Proposal for Enhancement of Co-Teaching Teams, which was submitted to Dr. Dunham. In the third and final Collaboration Committee meeting, we conversed about the short answer responses from the Collaborative Survey. A comment was made regarding the number of responses the survey received – 44% of the staff- which was notable. We then discussed an article from NJEA Review magazine, “Co-Teaching: Myths, Tips & Goals”, that I felt was relevant to our committee’s purpose. The final discussion was regarding the peer to peer, summer workshop. I suggested that a co-teacher of mine, Theresa Derham and I do a presentation for this workshop. We discussed convenient dates and settled on Tuesday, July 10, 2012. The workshop will be titled, “Trail to Collaboration: Co-Teaching Tips & Strategies”. All the committee members enjoyed a beverage of coffee, tea or water, as a token of my gratitude for their support and assistance during this portion of my change project. This internship has helped me to become more confident and knowledgeable in my quest to become an active administrator. All the activities that I have become voluntarily involved in have assisted me in realizing so many other facets of being an administrator, ranging from observing play practice to opening night, to watching both junior varsity and varsity basketball players practice and then use their honed skills to play against the local teams. I was involved in Fall Sports Awards night as well, and was introduced by Doc Suiter, our Athletic Director, as a teacher who was now working on her Administrative certification. That was a great feeling! In Journal #8, I reported my ‘shadowing’ of the monthly Administrative Team meeting, which was a meeting of all the administration of Salem City School District, from the Business Administrator to the Principals of all three schools, as well as the Director of Special Services. The Superintendent, Dr. A. Michel, had data on New Jersey state aid, with regards to Salem County, and the latest information from Governor Christie and the NJSMART program and how it will affect us at the Salem City School District. As Practicum I winds down, and I only have a couple of weeks left to collect more administrative hours, I will reflect back on these days as having been some of my most rewarding and interesting. Just as I look ahead to this fall and the continuance of Practicum II with anticipation and some trepidation as to what may be in store for me in the homestretch of my Master’s in Educational Leadership, I hope to live up the expectations of not only myself, but of those who have supported me and had faith in me and my goal. Thank you for all your help and encouragement.