Week 4 blog

I often refer to iQ Academy as a start-up company. This description helps when discussing the staff interactions. Most of the staff are from the initial start up and are heavily invested in the school. They are considered risk takers in the district. They demonstrate a passion and common goal. Meeting over the years have been productive.
Last year we hired a new Principal, a teacher with great technical skills and a high degree of motivation. The new principal does have a totally different style than the last principal and there has been several speed bumps in the transition. Though I personally functioned better under the leadership of the last principal the current principal is the right person for the present circumstances. Cuts to staff, slow growth in enrollment etc.
The morale is low at the moment because of the loss of some very passionate qualified teachers. Many feel the best in online education is yet to come and are still hopeful toward the future.
We have a celebration acknowledgment section each staff meeting. I have noticed the number of personal and professional celebration sharing has decreased significantly this year.
We need to make sure we encourage teachers to be involved with the needs assessments, development of changes and there implementation. We are currently working on a mandated change and it is not going well at all.
From my experience as a educator I would say that a positive and productive climate can make all the difference. I have been in situations where there was staff participation and mutual respect. This environment encouraged and maintained an open invitation for faculty involvement. I have also been a part of schools that have used the top down approach, and my experience it has been less effective or beneficial.

Usually in a top down deployment you will not have as much buy-in and you may develop individual or group resistances. I found even if the change was successfully implemented the staff did not feel the same way about the process.

Teachers that feel they are being supported and are a part of the change process are going to be more motivated and experience a greater degree of satisfaction. This could ultimately determine the success of the proposed change.
In principal at IQ we do have a methodology in place for a continuous improvement plan. It is called Summer Academy and supporting that is the establishment of Professional Learning something that start with a C I believe( it is not cheese). PLC's. ah that is right communities.
We do have discussion and set SMART goals and review them each year. But this Summer Academy takes place in July. So some of the same dedicated folks attend each year. They supply a small stipend which comes to 5$ an hour so here we see those informal leaders we have discussed previously coming together. (due to contract dispute I fear this year's SA will not be well attended)
While the summer academy is helpful it needs to be carried through throughout the school year and it has been my experience that this happens some years and some years more pressing issues interfere with the follow through. More time needs to be found for PLC's and follow through on established SMART Goals. I also find it very interesting how teachers are expected to develop curriculum, continue their own education, meet in teams and oh yeah almost forgot Teach and be responsive to individual students and their families. Within a Calendar school year. Obviously this doesn't happen within the school day most of it happens outside the school day, just something to reflect on. Interesting model we are working with.