Putting the “fun” back into leadership

Fundamentals: School goals set direction and create a alignment between teaching and learning. They reflect the information collected through data as well as the mission, vision and values of the school and also in our case the IB PYP program. These fundamental principles must guide the work we do each and every day as leaders, teachers and students. This year we have decided to work on the following goals:

Goal #1: Staff will intentionally integrate and model the attributes of the IB learner profile into daily teaching and learning activities to develop internationally minded students.

Goal #2: Teachers and learners will use a variety of formative assessment strategies to inform teaching and learning of the essential elements.

Goal #3: Teachers will deepen their knowledge and pedagogical practice using the three levels of inquiry (structured, guided and open).

Teachers are going to unpack these goals with their students and make natural connections to their work in the classroom so there is consistency,alignment, focus and ownership.

Functions: As CISB there is a community of collaboration. Teachers have ten 40 minute prep periods a week. Five are through Mandarin and the other 5 are through music, physical education and art. Teachers must use 3 of these periods a week for team collaboration but more often than not they use 5 per week for this task. Also Fridays are early dismissal days and teachers are given 1-2 hours for their team or self-selected learning during that time. During this time grade teams come today to work on their units of inquiry, lesson plan, design rubrics, moderate student work and create assessment tasks. Subject teachers also come together as a subject team once per week to do the same. The discussion at these meetings is focused on teaching and learning, goals are set and progress evaluated. During these collaboration times teachers also have the support of our PYP coordinators, instructional coaches and administrators. Our attendance is required at least once per week at each team meeting. For us this translates into about 12 times per week. As administrators this gives us time to ask questions, push thinking and learn with our teachers. Discussion is rich and focused on student learning.

Funneled: Communication is always challenging when you have a large staff. At CISB all communication begins with the teacher. Teachers are the first line with the parents, with one another and with administration. If there is a concern or issue with a parent there is a very clear process in place for teachers to follow and it must always start with them. If there is a concern with a colleague then it must be directly handled between the 2 individuals first before involving anyone else. Most importantly there is continual feedback for teachers to support their growth in teaching and learning. This communication is funnelled in a variety of ways. Our PYP coordinators provide direct feedback with evidence to teachers based on the PYP framework. Our instructional coaches provide feedback on the elements of literacy, math and tech and the admin team provides feedback on teaching pedagogy, instructional strategies, classroom environment and classroom management. Each week our extended administration team sets out our schedule of formal visits for the week and communicates it to staff. Our goal is to provide feedback to teachers within 24 hours of the visit. Feedback is strength-based and allows teachers to follow-up as desired or required.

Fun I have been very honest with my close friends and family that for the first time in a long time my job is fun. Each morning I greet the smiling faces of 600 plus students from age 2-10 as they walk into the school to start their day. I am in at least a dozen classrooms a day where I get to take my time and observe, ask questions and participate in learning. I get to sit at the table with amazing teams of teachers and push thinking, ask questions and deepen my understanding of the PYP program. I am able to meet frequently with staff to set direction, answer questions and participate in fun and energizing professional learning activities. At the end of the day I stand in the foyer and send smiling, happy and joyful students home after a full day of learning. Most of all I get to make connections with staff, students and families and focus on the job of improving teaching and learning without distraction.

Outside of the work day I am able to eat properly, rest, relax, exercise and socialize. Each day I try hard to fit in some physical activity. I am doing yoga with a colleague at least 4 times per week. I go out to dinner, explore and find new adventures. There are always events at the school for staff, some of them formal and some informal. After our first week of school our director and the board had a staff BBQ for all staff members. This was a great way to celebrate and thank all of our staff who worked so tirelessly to get things ready to receive students and families this week. Living and working away from home and family it is important to take time to connect and develop a network of friends and supports that can get you through some of those difficult times. It really does feel like a community here. There is never a time you feel like you are alone. All you have to do is reach out and there is someone who is there to help.

Making the decision to change course and try a new adventure was a risk but right now the reward far outweighs the risk and I am glad that I have the opportunity to put the “fun” back in leadership and life.

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