Qualifications

(in progress) Doctorate of Educational Leadership program-University of New England

Certificate of Advanced Educational Leadership-Harvard University Professional Learning Program

Post-Masters (K-12) School Administrator Certification-Eastern Michigan University

International School Leadership Certification-Principals’ Training Center

International Teacher Leadership Certification-Teacher Leadership Institute of the Principals’ Training Center

M.S. International Education-Nova Southeastern University

B.S. Education-Indiana University

Leading and Learning 

I am an inclusive educator and leader.  I believe that everyone has the capacity and right to learn and that learning is maximized when the environment is personal, social, and engages the emotions of the learners while providing opportunities to make real-world and authentic connections.  I seek to make a difference in the lives of others.

In learning, I believe that all individuals should have the opportunity to gain timely and descriptive feedback on the learning process and should be encouraged to set individual learning goals with guided support along the way.  Support occurs through various individualized approaches, effective facilitation of meetings and modeling best practices in education coupled with cognitive coaching sessions and effective questioning to help individuals arrive at their own solutions to challenges that they face.  I believe that the process of learning is important to truly make an impact, and I believe in the power of formative assessments guiding individuals to make corrections, take risks, and reach new learning goals.  We learn from our mistakes and need guidance along the way.  My beliefs are applicable to learners of all ages, and I am a learner still today. 

A school that has a common mission and vision for learning with a set of core beliefs and learning principles is a school that truly values learning as the top priority whether it be academic, social, personal, physical, or emotional learning.  It is a school that encourages others to make effective change by aligning their thoughts, ideas, curriculum, assessments, and suggestions to the core beliefs of the school.  It gives all stakeholders a sense of purpose and a positive sense of collective identity while ensuring and prioritizing the development of a safe and caring environment most conducive to learning.

I believe that an effective leader sets an example and seeks out examples for improvement.  This involves modeling effective practices and not hesitating to “roll up one’s sleeves and get into the trenches” to work with individual teachers, students, or parents on their designated needs.  Effective leaders set standards of excellence and believe that everyone is on their own individual learning journey towards excellence.  Adults like students are all on their own learning journey that requires scaffolding and feedback along the way.  With that said, some individuals may have additional competencies, skills, and characteristics.  Effective leaders help develop other’s capacity for learning.  By developing teacher leaders, collaboratively, one is able to differentiate not only the experiences for students but also the professional experiences for teachers based on a developmental continuum of professional needs. 

An effective leader must also understand the process of change.  I recognize that change is a process and believe as Michael Fullan states “never a checklist, always a complexity, there is no step-by-step shortcut to transformation.”  Effective change involves buy-in, collaboration, diligence and recognizing at times, that there will be losses along the way.  Persistence and perseverance are needed in leadership.

Individuals should feel empowered and “heard” in a school environment, and leaders need to understand the investments that others have made and are willing to make.  This involves being humble enough to seek to understand through questions, to take criticism and to be reflective enough to change one’s own thinking when necessary.  A change without buy-in is a change that individuals do not believe in, so leaders must understand the process of change and seek to uncover each individual story in a school. 

In learning-focused schools, leaders are dedicated and diligent while understanding the importance of positive human relationships.  I believe that an effective leader must prioritize and value the importance of building positive relationships both in and outside of the school environment.  I believe in a transparent approach to leadership that is built on trust involving all stakeholders of a school.  An emphasis on community is highly important to me.  Through a distributive leadership model with positive encouragement, I believe that individuals are empowered to make a difference, encouraged to collaborate, and to be motivated to take ownership in developing solutions that ultimately impact student learning. 

Effective leaders respect the time of others.  Effective meetings have clear learning-focused agendas with protocols established for trust-building and norms of collaboration.  Meetings in a dynamic learning environment emphasize the importance of open communication, and the environment should be established to allow teachers to take risks by using critical friends for unit plan development, curriculum mapping and alignment, assessment analyses and reflective practices, to reflect on the current research and best practices in education, to examine learning data, to engage in learning conversations on individual students needs and thinking processes, and for guiding discussions about professional, parent, and student learning.    

In closing, effective leaders work diligently to set high expectations for the school, our team, and our students to ensure that the mission is not just a statement posted on a wall but is a living and visible reality through the words, actions, and accomplishments of the school’s stakeholders. They bring passion, a drive for success, a can-do attitude and an unwavering heart.  They empower others and seek to understand those around them.  They know that common purpose and understanding is a necessity to truly make an impact on what is most important which is learning, and they do not give up when faced with challenges.