PDP Reflection

It is very easy to live in the moment and neglect planning for the future.  Developing the PDP helped me think and reflect on what I need to learn to accomplish my goals.  One thing my superintendent made an impression on me about was the need to network with other superintendents.  She is part of a group of area superintendents that meet together to discuss education issues and also give and receive advice.  I really wanted this as part of my PDP, because it seems very valuable.  Developing my PDP helped me articulate why I needed this and how I would accomplish it.  The PDP helped me develop my other goals as well over the next three years. 

SISE Conference

My SISE meeting was short and simple.  My superintendent reinforced some of the important aspects of  the superintendent's job, such as fostering a strong relationship with the board.  It really stuck with me that the board has the power to get rid of a superintendent.  It seems much easier to get rid of a superintendent than a teacher or principal.  She also emphasized the importance of networking with other people, especially other superintendents.  She has some positive comments for me and the work I had been doing and wished me luck on the upcoming superintendent's exam.  The meeting seemed a fitting end to the program. 

The Value of Reflection

Reflection is an important part of leadership.  When I think of reflection, I think of the popular phrase, “pause to reflect.”  This is what reflection is.  It is taking some time to pause, to stop moving, to slow down.  Strong leaders are always moving forward and looking for ways to accomplish the vision and mission of the organization, but an important part of personal growth is to turn the focus inward for personal reflection.  This is how a leader internalizes the lessons he or she has learned and looks for ways to apply those lessons.  This is how we learn from our mistakes and victories.  Throughout this course we were asked to take our experiences and lessons and reflect on them.  I was fortunate to have people around me who were willing to help me in any of the activities I was trying accomplish.  I was lucky also in that these people would ask me good questions that would help me think about what I was doing and reflect on the lessons. 

Week Three Reflection

Review the above analysis, and write at least one page thoroughly describing recommendations and lessons learned from experiences with the improvement initiatives or action research plans.


I learned a lot in dealing with the aftermath of the tornado that blew through Rice destroying the brand new building that had just opened.  Although this was a terrible thing to have happen in our district, it provided me with a wealth of opportunity to see our district administration deal with the aftermath.  The thing that made this such a learning experience for me was the high profile the incident had in the media.  Before I could even get to the school that night to view the damage, the media had already set up shop in the parking lot.  Our superintendent, who has a lot of experience, was trying to figure out exactly what to do also.  I learned through experience just how pushy and scummy the media can be as they constantly pursued and tried to trap our district leaders into interviews and giving information.  My recommendation for this type of high profile media event is to immediately get in touch with the region center and get some resources on campus to help deal with the media. Through this experience I watched the board and district administration work together to get the district up and running again.  I saw firsthand the importance of a good superintendent/board relationship.  It was also interesting to see the contrast between our superintendent who was desperately trying to avoid the press and the mayor of the small town who was running after the press trying to get any air time he could.  I did disagree with our superintendent on this one matter.  She released a written statement and nothing more.  She never spoke to the press or gave a press conference.  In my opinion, this led to the underhanded tactics the media were adopting to “get the story.”  I feel if the superintendent would have sought some council on what needs to be said to the media and then offered one press conference to address the state of the district and give some basic information, much of the tension of the situation would have been eased.  There was not a feeling of transparency during the event, and this made people feel like the district was hiding something.  This whole experience involved everything from superintendent/board relationships to many physical plant issues. 
    It was a valuable experience leading my staff to evaluate our early literacy program and implement some changes.  It required the team to focus more on data and ensure that our program is data driven and structured around that data.  Part of our district’s vision statement is about a rigorous curriculum, and I believe we made some changes to ensure we were accomplishing the district’s mission.  We evaluated, made recommendations, made appropriate changes, and then engaged in on-going evaluation of the program.  This was valuable on a campus level, but is also valuable experience for leading a district as well.  These basic concepts are important on a district level to ensure that the district is accomplishing its vision and goals. 
    During this program it was required to do several interviews and I enjoyed learning from the experience of others.  As a principal many times I see the large picture of what our maintenance men, transportation director, nurse, human resources director, etc do, but do not see the smaller details of what their jobs involve.  It will help greatly as a superintendent to understand these jobs and the value they play to the district.  It will be hard as a superintendent to make decisions involving these jobs and programs without an in-depth understanding of the role each plays in the district. 

Job Entry Plan Reflection

I am serving my first year as a campus elementary principal after serving for three years as an assistant principal for both high school and elementary.  I am getting my superintendent certification because one day I would like to serve as a superintendent; however, I feel that I need more experience as a principal before I make this transition.  I feel an important step to this is transitioning from an elementary principal to a high school principal.  I am not saying this is a necessary step, but seems like a natural one.  High school is much more complex and involves more issues a superintendent needs to have a grasp of.  For my job entry plan, I created a plan to step into the role of high school principal.  Most of my activities focused on creating an academically successful campus.  It would be nice to be successful in athletics also.  The reality is that a superintendent search committee is not going to be interested in a superintendent who can’t lead an academically successful campus.  AYP and TAKS (STAAR) results are going to be an important component to promotion.  A successful football team may stand out as well to some of the old-school board members.  Having a qualified and competent athletic director is an invaluable asset to a principal, and I will want to develop a good relationship in that area as well as with the rest of the staff.  At the end of the first year as a high school principal I hope to have an in-depth understanding of the campus and what is working and what is not, so that we can make appropriate changes going into the second year. 

Week Two Reflection

Really the ten pages of review really are my reflections over the various activities I did.  It is always helpful to learn about how to do something but this falls short by itself.  This type of learning needs to be done with hands on training as well, and I feel this is what the internship addresses.  It allowed me to read about the ten competencies, but also to go out and experience the real world application of these competencies in the appropriate context.  One of the most beneficial activities I took part in was dealing with the destruction the tornado caused in our district.  During this time I had to work with the superintendent, principals, board, media, town government, etc.  Some of this involved me just observing the various interactions of these people and some I had to be directly involved with.  It was particularly interesting being a part of something that had such a large media impact.  I am confident that the intense week we spent dealing with all this hit on areas from all ten competencies.  The internship activities forced me to look beyond the campus and try and see things from a district perspective and how decisions affect the district. 

Week One Summary

Having taken these classes, I feel I have a much better understanding of the superintendent’s job and responsibilities than when I first began the course work.  Completing all the activities for the internship has helped as well.  However, I feel there is much that can only be learned through actual experience as an assistant superintendent or superintendent.  This is why for many of the areas I marked a “C” but still did not feel I could mark an “S”.  I gave myself higher marks in domain I because many of these leadership traits, such as ethics are shared with being a principal.  I feel these skills are somewhat transferrable from being a principal to being a superintendent.  I felt the same about domain II as well, so I gave myself higher marks in this area as well.  In domain III I scored myself a little lower especially in dealing with audits, budgets, and the physical plant.  I feel confident in dealing with physical plant issues for a campus, but not necessarily an entire district.  I feel much more confident in handling budget concerns with the board after taking the finance class, but I don’t feel I will ever be really confident in it until I am actually am involved with it.  I began this course work with little understanding of what it takes to be a superintendent.  I feel that having completed this course work, I am ready to begin the journey towards one day stepping into the superintendent’s role or a similar one.