Just a short video that we put together in our district. We use it for recruiting. It is a great thing to hand out on a CD alongside pertinent district information to potential candidates .
Finding True North
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Superintendent Interview
Dr. Vickey M. Giles, Superintendent of Schools
Sheldon I. S.D.
When asked about her definition of leadership she had no hesitation stating that a good leader places competent people in the right positions and lets them do their job. She monitors their progress by being on the campuses and through our roundtable discussions. This is our Superintendent’s fifth year in the position and she has always been very visible throughout the district.
As we continued our interview, we discussed both the positive and the difficult aspects of being a Superintendent. Dr. Giles smiled as she talked about the positive impact on student learning that she can have in her position. Her commitment to increased student achievement is easily identified anytime one talks with her. Dr. Giles also is well aware that being a Superintendent does not come without challenges. She discussed with me that dealing with the little things can keep you from focusing on what is important if you let it. It is a challenge for the Superintendent to stay focused if they are not “out in the field” monitoring what is happening. During this discussion, I was reminded of a recent conversation in which she reminded us that Central Office’s role is to serve the campuses. We are to be servant leaders just as we expect our principals to practice servant leadership on the campus.
The next question focused on the attributes of a good superintendent. As we sat at her conference table she shared her experience. Dr. Giles stressed the importance of the superintendent being a good communicator. A good superintendent has a vision of where the district can go and is able to communicate why it should go there. A strong work ethic is also paramount to the success of a superintendent. The hours are long and the reward is not always immediate. The last thing that Dr. Giles shared with me was not expected. She said a good superintendent needs to be able to laugh. With everything that happens on a daily basis it would be easy to get overwhelmed. Sometimes being able to laugh might be the best medicine.
Our district has embarked on the development of a new strategic plan. With this in mind, I was looking forward to discussing how a leader develops a shared vision. I thought she would discuss the process of the strategic planning in answering this question. However, she went further. She discussed not only strategic planning but reiterated the importance of communication. It is not enough to have a vision it must be communicated. Dr. Giles said that it is important that the students and parents know her and understand that she is willing to listen to them. Whether it is a student in the hall on a campus or a community member at a football game she is ready to spend time listening what they have to say.
Although I asked many other questions, one other answer stood out. When asked about building a good working relationship with the Board of Trustees, Dr. Giles emphasized the importance of building a one on one relationship with each member of the board. Although the Board is a group, it is important that the superintendent understand the personality and vision of each member of the Board. These individuals dedicate their time to the school district and it is imperative that a superintendent be willing to listen to each person.
I really enjoyed this assignment. It was beneficial to my own professional development to sit and discuss these questions and hear the answers from someone who has the experience that she has. As I continue on this journey it will be important to stop and listen to those who have trod the road before me. Their knowledge is a resource that should not be squandered.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
My Vita
James R. Webster
12218 Carriage Oak Circle, Humble, Texas
(W) 281-727-2015 (H) 281-852-4528 (C) 832-250-3812
webj1@comcast.net
Education/ Certification
M.Ed. Education Leadership, Prairie View A & M University Prairie View, Texas, 1995
B.S. Education, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, 1991
Mid-Management
Certificate Texas
Teacher Certificate Elementary Education (1-6 self-contained)
Early Childhood
Administrative and Leadership
Experience
Coordinator of Student Services
Sheldon I.S.D.
Houston, TX 2010-present
· Served as the internal coordinator of Strategic Planning, ensuring that goals and action steps were developed and timelines for their implementation.
· Coordinated the homebound program to ensure appropriate instruction was delivered in accordance with the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook.
· Served as the district’s grievance officer ensuring objective decisions were made based on legal and ethical responsibilities.
· Coordinated student registration including a centralized district registration process.
· Supervised the counseling program of the district resulting in the implementation of a consistent counseling curriculum.
· Coordinated the Reach Out to Dropouts Walk resulting in the return of students who had quit school.
· Organized summer school for all campuses and grade levels in the district.
· Coordinated the district’s Fine Arts program.
Principal, Carroll Elementary,
Sheldon Independent School District
Houston, TX, 2008-2010
Recognized Campus 2009-2010
· Facilitated the opening of a new building through the hiring of staff, purchasing of supplies and overseeing the bid process on capital outlay purchases.
· Implemented the CHAMPS program across the campus to improve classroom management and increase time on task.
· Implemented the CSCOPE curriculum to align grade level instruction resulting in a Recognized rating.
Principal, Royalwood Elementary,
Sheldon Independent School District
Houston, Texas 2003- 2008
Recognized Campus 2004-2005, 2005-2006
· Focused on researched based curriculum, implementation and delivery resulting in significant increases on T.A.K.S. scores in all areas, including a 52 percentage point gain in Writing.
· Reduced the percentage of Special Education students from 12.2% to 5.8% by providing focused interventions prior to referral.
· Implemented a three tiered model of intervention for struggling students that consistently resulted in higher academic achievement.
· Implemented the “Be Part of the Pride” program which resulted in decreased school discipline referrals.
· Dramatically closed achievement gap between subgroups.
Assistant Principal, Cravens Early Childhood Academy,
Sheldon Independent School District
Houston, Texas 2003- 2008
Ÿ Opened a new school building, which entailed the ordering of all furniture and supplies for the entire building under strict timelines.
Ÿ Merged three different staffs into one academically focused team.
Ÿ Developed a writing continuum, correlated to reading skills, which focused on the developmental levels of students.
Assistant Principal, Thurgood Marshall Elementary
North Forest Independent School District
Houston, Texas 1997-2002
Ÿ Actively pursued parent/ community relations which included the development of a “Fast on Facts” video that was shown on the Houston Public Access station.
Ÿ Demonstrated effective time management and delegation skills while serving as the only Assistant Principal on a campus of 1200 students.
Ÿ Coordinated all Language Proficiency Assessment Committee meetings and consistently met deadlines for a Bilingual/ESL program with over 300 students.
Teaching Experience
Kindergarten Teacher, Thurgood Marshall Elementary,
North Forest Independent School District
Houston, Texas 1991-1997
Ÿ Managed a team of eight teachers while serving as Grade Chairperson.
Ÿ Served on the District Site Based Decision Making Committee for six years and participated in two T.E.A. monitoring visits to the district.
Ÿ Served on the Campus Site Based Decision Making Committee to develop campus procedures that positively impacted student achievement.
Ÿ Mentored new teachers by providing support in the areas of instructional delivery and classroom management.
Professional Development
Ÿ Dyslexia and 504
Ÿ Region 4 Legal Summit
Ÿ Grievance Training
Ÿ EEOC Training
Ÿ Professional readings including Teach Like a Champion, The Fluent Reader, The Art of Teaching Reading, In the Company of Children and many others.
Ÿ Professional Development Appraisal System (PDAS)
Ÿ LPAC training
Ÿ Margaret Kilgo workshops
Ÿ Training in Guided Reading and 6+1 Writing Traits
Ÿ Gifted and Talented workshops
Ÿ Phonemic Awareness and Reading Assessment Training
Presentation Experience
Ÿ Webster, J.(August 2011) PDAS for New Teachers. Presentation at the 2011 New Teacher Inservice.
Ÿ Webster, J. (August 2011) Documentation and Discipline Coding. Presentation at 2011 Assistant Principal Boot Camp, Sheldon I.S.D.
Ÿ Webster, J. (August 2011) 504 Requirements and the ADAA. Presentation to school district counselors and dyslexia teachers, Sheldon I.S.D.
Ÿ Webster, J. (August 2010) How to Handle A Grievance. Presentation at 2010 Assistant Principal Boot Camp, Sheldon I.S.D.
Ÿ Webster, J. (April 2010) Data Disaggregation. Presentation at Carroll Elementary, Sheldon I.S.D.
Ÿ Webster, J. (August 2010) Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Presentation at Carroll Elementary, Sheldon I.S.D.
Ÿ Webster, J. (August 2009) TEKS /TAKS Alignment. Presentation at Sheldon Elementary, Sheldon I.S.D.
Honors & Awards
Ÿ Leader of the Year, Carroll Elementary 2008-2009
Ÿ Texas Regular Educator of the Year 2006-2007 -Texas Coalition of Administrators of Special Education.
Ÿ Gulf Coast Regular Educator of the Year 2006-2007 -Gulf Coast Coalition of Administrators of Special Education
Ÿ Educator of the Month - North Channel Rotary Club
Ÿ Leader of the Year, Royalwood Elementary, 2006-2007
Ÿ Principal of the Year, Sheldon I.S.D., 2006-2007
References
1) Dr. Vickey M. Giles, Superintendent of Schools, Sheldon I.S.D.
11411 C.E. King Parkway
Houston, Texas, 77044 (281) 727-2006
2) Dr. Joan Bowman, Asst. Superintendent of Instructional Services, Sheldon I.S.D.
11411 C.E. King Parkway
Houston, Texas, 77044 (281) 727-2046
3) Larry Pfeifer, Asst. Superintendent of Administrative Services, Sheldon I.S.D.
11411 C.E. King Parkway
Houston, Texas, 77044 (281) 727-2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Blogs in Education
Blogs can be used in a variety of ways in education. Principals or superintendents can use blogs to show what is happening in their building or across a school district. Just add a few pictures and a small description and you have an online newsletter that can be linked to your district website for parents and students to access. Feedback can also be collected on an ongoing basis using this tool. It is important to note that when posting pictures of students that permission for publication of a student's image is on file. This is also a great tool for the classroom that can easily be accessed from home.
Action Research
Action Research is vital to a district’s continued improvement. It allows individuals and groups to work collaboratively in order to find solutions to both simple and complex problems. Action research can be used by a group of teachers within professional learning communities to investigate and develop solutions to student’s lack of academic achievement. It could also be used by a Strategic Planning Committee to explore current statistics and develop action steps to solve them. Consider a track coach who looks at the times of a student running the 100 yard dash. If the coach simply looked at the times of the runner he may resolve himself to saying that the student needs to run faster. However, by utilizing action research at the time of the event he may realize that his student is the fastest runner but is the last athlete off the blocks. This would allow him to focus his training on the start and thereby improve his participant’s time.
I am currently serving as the internal coordinator for Strategic Planning for our district. This experience has allowed me to see first-hand the importance of Action Research. Action teams were formed and were given one of five goals that had been developed by a committee of 25 stakeholders representative of the district. The teams were given the task of developing action steps that would ensure the success of each goal. These committees utilize action research to allow them to come together as a group of professionals and collaboratively analyze a problem by investigating numerous forms of data. This investigation allows them to generate multiple viable options and solutions. For further reading check out the link below.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
EDLD 5396 Internship A- Beginning Week
I have started my coursework for the Superintendent's certification at Lamar University. As part of the course it is required that each of us create a blog. I have never had a blog before and find it to be a bit overwhelming and exciting. See, I am not a tech native (more of an immigrant at best). The school I attended in High School had one computer lab of Apple 2e computers. Unfortunately, there was either not a teacher who was certified or no one who knew how to use the computers so the lab sat unused. Students today are so quick to learn the aspects of technology. Don't worry, I will get there. Now let me go find that ribbon I just bought for my typewriter. Just kidding!
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