leadership in high schools

• Definite turn offs/downers: You look like you hit the bars last night.
• Making longer than necessary eye contact with an interviewer on the panel, insinuating a relationship that does not exist professionally.
• Being too friendly and casual.  Translation:  you do not have the substance for the job and are hiding behind your social self. 
• Calling in saying you will be late.
• Coming in with a bottled drink and drinking it the whole time of the interview while complaining that you are nervous.
• Complaining that the questions are too long.  Translation:  You do not know the answers.
• Coming in with an unbuttoned shirt, no socks and clothes that are too tight and say you are leaving to go to the first bar you find after the interview.
• Saying that you know you should have brought a portfolio, but you did not. 
• Shouting at an interviewer because you asked for clarification, you got it, then get angry. 
• Ask questions at the end of the interview that take longer to answer than the interview itself!
• Ask questions that if you had done your homework,you would not need to ask.
• After you accept the job, call back and say you did not know you were interviewing for that particular job.

The above is all based on my real experiences as a school administrator.

No one can make any of this up!  Do other interviewers have pointers that they can share to assist teachers land a full time job? 

The minutea of running a school is my answer.  Sorting out Personnel issues, easing tensions amongst staff,  physically checking on staff and student attendance, work with community agencies, outreach to parents, follow-up with other principals, returning email and telephone messages, answering questions that are common sense based, that come up throughout the day that do not necessarily require a principal to answer.   All these tasks are very important and cannot be ignored however, there is never enough time to have the sustained professional conversations with teachers that emphasize personal growth. 

The focus of all leaders should be Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment.  This is the crux of our work.  If a principal is deterred from this focus, the school will waver in focus and direction.  Students will suffer and educational outcomes will be haphazard.  I call upon all educators to join in the dialogue aimed at focussing our attention on the jobs that can be problem solved everyday by adults in the school (build capacity for problem solving) who work in various capacities, and provide quality time to school leaders to engage in professional discourse about curriculum, instruction and assessment. 

Virtual world conversations using web 2.0 technology will be the basis of my professional growth and discovery. 

July 15-17, 2008 a group of educators – teachers, counselors, principals, directors and administrators gathered to examine education in the new millennium and how this is being affected by the 21 indicators of work force preparation – 21st century skills. 

Sheryl Nussbaum Beach presented on Connecting with the 21st century teen.  This training session was all about the need to expose students to web 2.0 technology tools (which some of them already harness) by bringing educators on board with the ease of this technological revolution that is occurring throughout the world.  I attended this cohort last year and took away some.  Attending again this year and being taught again by Sheryl was inspiring but oh some much easier in terms of my learning curve.  I got to speak to Sheryl after her training session and we compared this years session to last.  Her point was that this years group was so much ‘quieter”.  I reminded her that this years group was younger and comprised of more teachers familiar with technology and unafraid of the avenues she was taking the class down.  The quiet hum of awe inspired students prevailed on both days.  Sheryl you are not loosing your touch with students – you did connect and you did bring us all along your virtual journey.  Thank you again. 

What did others think?  My collegues Phil Stock, Amy Stormer, Steve Ruszcyzk and Russ La Tour were my round table buddies and I dedicate this to them all. 

To Steve Wright, technology teacher at Dunkirk I will be sending you information on radio broadcasting/Jamestown High School/Dennis Drew (of 10,000 Maniacs fame)

In June 08, before the end of the school year, the Student Council voted for a $300 seed fund to distributed to the summer school High school classes.  The purpose of this fund is to challenge the thinking of students in free enterprise.  the goal is to see if the students can double the $300 investment and turn a profit for student council based on the idea of free enterprise -running a summer school business over 6 weeks. 

In the first week July 7-11, the students sponsored a salad bar and made a profit of @$54.  Each week the students working with three teachers, Cindy Jackson, Amy Montgomery and Jim Hedlund will embark on a business venture aimed at teaching successful work habits, the value of profit and loss, advertising, how to start and run a business, customer relations etc. 

In the new school year, 2008-09 student council might well benefit from sponsoring a sister club SIFE devoted to the notion of promoting free enterprise with an additional foray into donating some of the profit to a needy organization that benefits students eg.  research into autism, cerebral palsy, mental illnesses or pervasive developmental disorders   all issues that impact the quality of life of our students.  What do you think? 

This past Spring work began on a collaborative model between Chautauqua Works and Erie 2 CC BOCES.  For the Alternative and Special Education High School student who attends the instructional programs at the Hewes Center, linkages were forged between Chautauqua Works and the BOCES.  The entire process of selling the model to students, engaging parents in the process and making work a fashionable alternative to doing noting over the summer became the focus of our consultant teacher, Rose Dorey and our work experience teacher, Amy Montgomery.  The greatest plus of this work experience exposure has been the notion of students understanding the need to not work “under the table”, the need to become tax payers and understand their role in the local economy.  Most important is the schools goal of making education and a high school diploma relevant to the world of work and the skills needed in that environment. 

Students must meet income eligibility requirements – family of four making less than $42,000 a year.  Preference for students on probation.  Will need proof of citizenship, have working papers and have clearance from a physician stating that the student has no work restrictions.  All students must be aged 16-21.  These students are placed in jobs in the community and will be supervised by counselors from Chautauqua Works.

The above program sponsored by Chautauqua Works is different from that offered at the Hewes Center for summer school in that regression statements dictated summer school attendance and limits the number of hours worked to less than 30.  Please refer to category on Collaboration with Chautauqua Works.

Any comments regarding the difference between this summer program and the work experience programs of Erie 2 CC BOCES in the past?