leadership in high schools

Yesterday we at the Hewes Center interviewed 5 Special Education teacher candidates.  On the interview panel were two administrators, two teachers and a school psychologist/administrative intern.  All five candidates were exceptional in that they spoke to the needs of students in the classroom - 6 traits of writing, project based learning, community learning, positive feedback, pod casting, video streaming, smart boards, clickers, blogging and other technological media.  I was interested to hear one candidate say she was warned not to explore Face book for fear that someone or something might discover her!

We at the Center need 4 teachers - we may have found 3! One  is more driven to serving in a consultant teacher capacity with sights on a doctorate in Educational Psychology.  To place this person in a classroom would be to cage a beautiful bird that needs to fly freely.  This was a good day for teacher recruitment.  We shall definitely be a very different place in the Fall when school starts because these teachers are coming on board excited to reach out to generations “Y” - 1975-1990 and Generation ”E” - 1991+ , who are wired to a new economic reality.  At present this economic reality is rooted in schools because knowledge is still being cultivated here.   We must understand that if schools cannot produce new thinkers, new managers of information who can quickly understand and maneuver through vast reams of information using technology , team players who can coordinate across cultural and political lines, then schools as we know them will become obsolete.   

The next step in this process is to submit the names and applications of our teacher candidates to the office of our Director.   In 3 weeks the Hewes Center will be a very different place. 

I cannot wait for the start of the new school year - there is so much to be done. 

• 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? 

This past school year I worked alongside Linda Finn an educational administrative intern through SUNY Fredonia.  This summer Sandy Olson will be attached to the Hewes Center Summer School Program as she works on completing her administrative internship through SUNY Fredonia as well. 

Administrative Interns give Principals and Supervisors working in schools a unique opportunity to stop and take stock of process and procedures in the day to day running of an educational venture.  Most of the time veteran school administrators work on automatic pilot knowing or seeming to do exactly what needs to be done at the given moment.  Time to process information and challenge decisions does not come until the end of the day when school is over, by this time, students may have left school with hurt feelings, teachers may have left feeling ignored or paraprofessionals have left for the day without informing the office of some nagging problem.  In my mind even when the school is quiet, the principal may not devote time to valuable reassessment of the day because calls have to made to parents regarding disciplinary actions, email has to be answered, paperwork has to be completed and turned around so as to reach higher office and the demands continue into the night. 

Having an administrative intern for me is the greatest joy because I get to explain what is happening in real time, share my thoughts in real time, ask for in-put from another adult in real time, check for understanding of the issues with another school official and get another perspective from people who ordinarily work in school settings in other capacities - Linda Finn is comprehensive health educator throughout Erie 2 CC BOCES, while Sandy is a school psychologist at Panama Central School in Western New York. 

It is a privilege to be associated with an administrative intern program.  The goals of this program are to give an individual interested in pursuing educational administration the most succinct immersion in the working life of a principal/supervisor.  Examples of internship duties and exposure are as follows - hiring, staffing, participating in CSE meetings, writing memos, planning faculty and staff meetings, developing short school based programs, contact with parents, discipline of students, working with outside agencies, developing a administrative portfolio, interacting with teachers and staff, problem solving, assisting in writing grants, researching school based programs and assisting in the evaluation of teachers among other worthwhile opportunities that can be provided by the internship experience.   

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the interns that have been assigned to my office in the past, now and in the future.  You challenge my thinking and my practise and for this I am grateful because together we both learn.  To the teachers and staff of the Hewes Center thank you for your patience and understanding as you partake in the development of school leaders. 

On Feb. 8, 2008 the Transition Coordinator for our BOCES will be visiting the Hewes Center to first meet with teachers and then have a face to face meeting with all Special Needs students Age 14+.  This meeting with the teachers and students is a monumental achievement for the Work Experience Program because it expands the opportunities available to students and allows them to make the direct connection between school and the world of work.  This meeting will also inform teachers and students of the opportunities available to students within the community to practice knowledge taught in school and inform the IEP process. 

We at the Hewes Center are getting rather good at this.   Our 1:6:1 middle school classroom is now fully staffed.  The beginning of this program owes its roots to the OSS program at Hewes.  Two students were referred here awaiting testing after a referral was made to the Committee on Special Education.  Then came the solicitation to school districts asking for students who met the criteria for out of district placement and special education classification.  It was not long before the classroom was filled.  Now we have a waiting list for students at the middle school level at the Hewes Center.  This means that if one student moves his/her residency, a space will open up and the waiting list will be called up for student registration and in-take. 

The 1:6:1 programs in Special Education are the most restrictive and by design are intended for students with the most maladaptive behaviors who cannot participate in speciliazed programs within the school district or within general education. 

Last week a component school district inquired into the possibility of us opening an elementary classroom.  After speaking to the Director of Special Education, Danielle OConnor, this is now a go.  We have three IEPs to consider, permission to hire staff and do the student intakes.  This classroom will complete our continuum of Special educational services at Hewes Center - Kindergarten to Age 21.  Major considerations will be the qualifications and experience of the teacher and staff.  In order for this class to continue, sustain and  survive past June 08 much team work and building wide support will have to be garnered.  I look forward to the Faculty Meeting to be held this week which will provide us the opportunity to discuss this idea in greater detail.  I have learned personally from this experience - opening a classroom requires total commitment, professional expertise, energy, emotion and positive thinking.  I know that the teachers at the Hewes Center will be delighted with this news - our challenge is to collectively sell our success as a team and in turn buy success for this elementary class, just like we did for the middle school classroom.