I am a bit disappointed in my progress so far with my GAME Plan. The past few weeks I have made steady, if not slow progress. However, this past week I have struck a wall. There has been so much going on at my school for the end of the school year and preparing for next year, I have let some of my progress fall by the wayside.
I have decided that I need to continue with my GAME Plan, but extend it and try to apply the new knowledge I gain to my plans for next year instead of this year. Since I am currently out of the classroom in my school, I do not always see a regular class. Since it is the end of the year, I have been swamped with non-classroom tasks to complete. This means I have not been able to apply anything that I have gained so far. Thus, my revised plan is to stay the course with my plan, but since I will be a classroom teacher next year I can apply what I have learned to those plans and that class.
I have really failed at my time management for this year. I have underestimated how many tasks I would be assigned by my administrator at the end of the year. Next year, I need to be willing to say “no” more often. Not to just say “no”, but instead to say it so I can take time to concentrate on my professional development to improve my craft. It is difficult for me because I tend to take on many administrative tasks because I try to be a voice for my colleagues. Therefore, I rarely say no when my input or services are requested.
I would like to ask my Walden Community for insight. How can I balance my time to be involved in the decision-making at my school, but still make time for my own professional needs?
Richard:
ReplyDeleteThat is a tough question. I face similar issues as the technology coordinator and coach as well as a classroom teacher.
When you talk about decision making at your school, do you mean with technology issues or other decisions? I used to be a union representative at our school but had to stop because I wanted to be able to focus more on the technology things. Perhaps a talk with your administrator about what you want your priorities to be to see if that works for everyone. The fact is there is a limited amount of time in the day and if you are trying to do too many things it seems like none of them get done well.
Also, the fact that most of us are now our of school for the summer makes it difficult to work on our GAME plans. We can certainly set goals, but the action, monitoring, and evaluation may have to wait until the fall when we start back up again.
Chris
Richard,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chris. Sitting down with your administrator and ironing out exactly what your role is, what tasks need to be done by you, and what your boundaries will be, might help you with this sense of frustration. We all, of course, are tired and overwhelmed at this time of year, so keep that in mind. I would take a week to think about what you do want and what you don't want from this role, before you sit with your administrator, so that you go in rested. Good luck with that. Those of us who want to help, usually end up getting burned out. Boundaries need to be set and clear guidelines as well.
It truly is difficult to set up any goals right now and implement them, even if you are still in the classroom. All we can do, is go into the summer with ideas, take the time to do the planning and start next yeat off strong.
Have a great summer - you deserve it.
Kim
Richard,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are passionate and care deeply about your school and learning community. How are decisions made at your school? Does your principal use a shared leadership model at all? Are committees set up to handle different school decisions? It's admirable to stand up for your colleagues, but they also need to stand up for themselves. If they are investing the time into school-wide decisions, they will be more vested in the process. Next time an administrator asks you to do something,ask if you can make a team of teachers to help. Even better, you can ask teachers from each grade level for vertical alignment. This will make a more collaborative environment at your school. As you are a natural leader, you can facilitate the meetings/conversations between your peers.We use this model quite effectively at my school. About 80% of our decisions are made this way.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteLike most of us, we have all been swamped at the end of the school year, and all of our GAME plans progress has slowed down a bit. For my personal GAME plan, I have narrowed down my focus, and had begun to make progress, but now I will have to begin to map out how I will use this plan in my classroom next year. Now that my school just let, out, I should have some more time for my research, and this should help me implement this plan in my classroom. We all have school work that needs to be done, some of us are coaching sports, and we also have families and lives outside of school that are busy. Add on the research and work we have to do for our Walden courses, and this doesn't leave much time for our GAME plan. But as school ends, all of us will have more time to further develop our plans, and get the knowledge necessary to use these plans next year.
When it comes to your situation, it is very hard. I myself have a hard time during the school year finding time for my own professional development. Between grading, lesson planning, coaching, and college work, it is hard to find time to do research on things that we need to learn before we can use them in our classroom. Plus, you are having input in your school on important decisions that are made involving your colleagues. I do not know how you say no when you are a voice that they often come to for decision making. The only thing I can think of is the summer needs to be the time that you get the most of your professional development in. Find a way to implement your GAME plan next year, and then you can take these lessons during the school year, do them with your students, and then you can evaluate these lessons and come up with ways to make improvements. This type of work could be done during the school year. But to have to lesson plan, and grade, it could be hard to do your research. The summer is the time to do the research.
MS
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ReplyDeleteResponse to Chris and Kim,
ReplyDeleteMy administration seems to rely on me to help make many of the choices for the next year. This includes staffing, events, hiring etc... I have spoken with them about lessening my direct involvement with all of these choices. However, that has not happened as of yet. I am hopeful that as I will be a full time classroom teacher next year, that this will make sure that my involvement is more limited. We will see.
Response to Kathleen,
ReplyDeleteI like your suggestion a great deal. I am going to attempt to apply it for next year. You are correct. It is extremely important to for my fellow staff members to participate in the leadership at my school.
Response to MS,
ReplyDeleteIt is hard during this time of year. You are also right that I do not want to give up my leadership role in the school. I feel that I make a valuable contribution to the school community and want to continue until someone else is willing to step up. I just need to set priorities and stick with them.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteI think you are dealing with one of the tough issues many of us face, which is, trying to make our school “our” school but also allowing ourselves the time to function in it. One suggestion that I might offer is not only meeting with your administration, but also meeting with your colleagues. I have found that while I like to be involved, sometimes I have been given great perspective on where I can be the most effective simply by listening to my peers’ suggestions. I was not sure I wanted to get involved in a mentor program I am currently in to help new teachers, but after talking to many of my peers felt that it was a better use of my time and I could help more than I did in another committee I was in that didn’t seem as vital, to my peers or me in the end, as helping our new staff adjust. I think you have great suggestions on here, but I thought I would offer one more.
Eric