Reflection #1

September 19, 2016

Today I ordered two building substitute teachers for my special

education team so that I could have some planning time with each of
them. I allotted two hours to work with two teachers at a time. Our
goal was to clearly identify the needs of students receiving special
education services, create final schedules for teachers and special
education assistants. The plan for special education services in my
building this year, is to increase inclusive practices to the biggest
extent possible, and provide mainstream instruction, more specifically
for students receiving Federal Setting III services.

I began the day waiting twenty minutes for my first teacher to arrive.
Although I had told the team where we would meet, she did not know,
nor did she leave her desk to figure out where I was waiting. When I
found her she was sitting at her desk in her room. I then returned to
the workspace, packed up all the materials I needed, and brought it to
her. I knew that within the next two hours, I would need to move
anyway as there was another meeting in the conference room where I
was originally located.

I was able to work with each of the 6 teachers in my department.

Although we did not accomplish all that I wanted, it was very
informative and eye opening. Here are the things I learned.

Always send reminder emails of meeting locations. Although I

shouldnt have to, it will save time in the end.
Although mainstream teachers in my building have said they are
teaching routines and procedures in their classrooms, they
havent taught the academic expectations because they are
waiting for assessment results to plan instructional groups.
Principals of adult learning are very similar to that of children.
They need explicit instruction on what is expected by
administration.
My team has made every effort to move toward full-inclusion.
We have many students who are ready for this, but have to
revisit schedules to change programming of students who are
not.

In the middle of my day, about 11am, we had parents show up for a

12pm IEP meeting. I had to leave the two teachers I was working with
at the time, to attend the meeting. When I returned 40 minutes later,
the teachers had accomplished very little. I think they are too stuck in
their own situations to see the possibilities.
The intentions for the day were great. I learned a lot about many
things. In order to make planning time like this even more successful, I
really need all the teachers together at one time. We could not
effectively discuss cross programming options within our department
without everyone being present.
Reflection #2
November 22, 2016

The days leading up to a long weekend or break during the school year
are often filled with anticipation and hesitation. Often times the
students are nervous about being away from school, and these feelings
are demonstrated through their behaviors. Today, the day before a 5
day weekend and a big holiday for many families was as calm as could
be.

7am- 8:15am
My day started with a special education team meeting. The team used
the meeting time for a work session. Since all of the 5 special
education teachers are new to Minneapolis Public Schools, and 3 of
them are brand new to teaching, they have a lot of general questions.
This was a time for them to bring their laptops, just complete due
process work, and ask questions as needed. Its never enough time,
but it was helpful for a couple of them at least.

8:50 9:05
I was asked to drive a student home for the day. The student has had
some very big struggles this year, and made it very clear that he would
not be completing any work today, and was extremely disrespectful to
his teachers. A phone call was made, and staff was assured that an
adult would be home to receive the child. Upon arrival, and several
minutes of knocking later, no one answered the door. So we returned
to school with the student.

9:20 - 10:50
I had a meeting scheduled with our Director of Special Education. We
began meeting about 3 new students who had just been assigned to
our Federal Setting III behavior program. About 5 minutes into the
discussion, the school social worker and the Setting III case manager
walked in expecting a transition meeting for one of the new students.
The parents never arrived, the social worker left, and the case manger,
Director, and I continued to discuss programming and caseload
numbers. We concluded that at least 2 of the 3 new students were
properly placed in the correct program. Our jury is still out on the 3rd
student.
10:50 2:15
Its hard to say exactly how the rest of the day was split up. Even
though I left work just an hour ago, Im not sure I can fully track the
day. Somewhere in this time slot I did the following:
Reviewed resumes and scheduled special education
assistant interviews for Monday
Consulted with an associate educator on bus conduct
reports and decided on next steps
Covered lunch duty for a brief time
Made several laps around the building looking for a staff
member who needed to return a parent phone call
Handled a discipline situation in a 2nd grade classroom
Wrote a letter to human resources asking them to remove
a substitute teacher from our building list due to too
many behavior concerns and inappropriate verbal
interactions with students
Retrieved 2 kindergarten students from their classrooms
for early dismissal (this takes much longer than one would
think)
Consulted with a school psychologist on the roles and
responsibilities of the new counselor beginning in 2 weeks
Scheduled an IEP meeting using the language line as the
parent does not speak English
Wrote the team meeting notice for the above mentioned
IEP meeting in English and completed the translated form
as well
Put meeting notices in the mail
Emailed a teacher about an upcoming observation that I
need to complete
Ate half of a left over bagel sandwich for lunch
Consulted with a literacy specialist about training another
staff member on a reading intervention
Supervised bus duty

2:15 4:00
Was the administrative designee for an IEP meeting

5:00pm
At home working on homework
 Reflection #3
December 5, 2016

Today was my first day at my middle school switch site. I will be here
for the next two weeks. I didnt do much today. I observed a lot. This
included hallway supervision rounds with the principal at the beginning
of the day. I observed supervision in the lunchroom for the 6th and 7th
grade lunch periods. I spent a lot of time just shadowing the principal,
and frankly, feeling like I was an afterthought and in the way. Not the
most comfortable start to a two-week experience.

December 8, 2016

Today was the third day of my two-week experience. It was a little bit
more comfortable than day 1. I participated in an interview for a
Behavior Dean position, shadowed the principal on morning rounds,
spent time informally observing in classrooms, supervised the 8th grade
lunch and spent part of the day with the 8th grade Behavior Dean. I
still havent felt like Ive done anything, or have been useful. I have
however, learned a few things.

The systems set up in this middle school are pretty set. The Behavior
Deans have a well-run system of student support. There is a Dean to
support each grade level, a Lead Dean, and a Resource Dean. The
Lead Dean supervises the whole team and fills in where needed with
behavior support. The Resource Dean also floats throughout the
building helping where needed. The Deans have a lot of autonomy to
investigate student behavior, and to make disciplinary decisions.
Before suspending a student, or handing out any consequences, the
Deans heavily investigate every situation. It is apparent they have
strong relationships with the students in their grade level. This is due
to the fact that they loop with their grade level. The Deans remain
with the same students from 6th grade through 8th grade, as do the
classroom teachers. The deans consult with the principal and AP
before suspending a student, but their recommendation is taken
seriously and rarely overturned by admin.

Reflection #4

Tuesday, Jan 3, 2017

I havent been in my own building in a month. I ended the first half of

the year at a middle school completing my middle school hours. We
have since been on winter break. It feels like Ive been gone for
months.

Since leaving for the middle school, our school counselor began as did
a Behavior Dean. After checking in with our Dean, and answering a
few questions, and having her say, Im so glad youre back, its clear
to me she did not have proper on-boarding for her new job, and has
had no guidance on what is expected of her role.

The building overall, does feel a lot calmer than it did in October and
November; possibly due to the addition of behavior support. Our PE
teacher has been pulled from his classroom for the last month to
support behavior. Apparently, there is no end in sight and he does not
know when he will return to his teaching assignment.

We did have our first Student Support Meeting today. This included the
4 people supporting behavior, our school psychologist, social worker,
counselor and administration. We identified the students who are
needing the most behavior support right now, although we did not
begin to plan about how to support them. We talked a bit about the
role of the Behavior Deans. Overall, the meeting was a step in the
right direction. We did not set an agenda for next meeting, nor did we
leave with any actionable steps.

I came away from the day with 1.5 pages of a to do list, but wasnt
able to accomplish any of them. It felt good to just be back in my
building. Ive requested a meeting with the principal and AP to discuss
my role for the remainder of the year now that we have behavior
support, and it doesnt appear that that will be my sole focus now. I
havent gotten admin to agree on a day or time yet for that meeting,
but Ill keep trying.
 Reflection #5

Friday, January 13, 2017

Started the day at 6:45am with a meeting with my 5th grade special
education teacher. She let me know she is resigning and leaving her
position as soon as she is released.

Then supervised breakfast duty, greeting students as they exited the

breakfast line.

Walked the halls and randomly visited a few classrooms during their
Morning Meetings.

Had a one-on-one meeting with a special education teacher. We

reviewed her caseload numbers, due process requirements for the
remainder of the year, and discussed upcoming evaluations. I was also
observed by my program director during this meeting.

Met with my program director to discuss feedback and my facilitation

of the one-on-one teacher meeting.

Met with the after school coordinator to brainstorm and find a solution
to Tuesday after school programming. We needed to redo the schedule
in order to free up teachers to meet for Instructional Leadership Team
meeting. We solved it! Then shared the plan with administration.

Spent the remainder of Friday the 13th supporting staff with behavior
concerns.

Reflection #6
Friday, January 27, 2017

Today was a student release day. Teachers worked on report cards.

Today was quiet. I was able to get a lot of business type stuff done.

I worked on creating a guide for teachers on what to put in their sub

folders. We have not had teachers turn them in this year, and have
found that many teachers are not prepared for their substitute
teachers.

I attended a budget meeting with our Associate Superintendent. It was

a very informative meeting at least for me. She walked us through
how to run the first couple of budget meetings with a budget
committee, including parents and possibly community members. She
outlined how to walk them through understanding the budget
spreadsheet and classroom allocations from year to year.

I then had a chunk of time in the afternoon to go through my Inbox,

clean out emails, and make a list of To Do items from emails.
Through this, I scheduled a check in with our School Social Worker to
discuss a few student concerns that were emailed to me including a
couple of possible special education evaluations.

Reflection #7
Friday, February 17, 2017

Today we had the second-half of parent/teacher conferences. It was

just a half-day today. Teachers worked 8-12, as they also worked until
7pm last night. It was a short day for all of us. Since I am a TOSA and
still on teacher contract, I too was able to leave at noon, but was at
work until almost 2pm anyway.

Right away I met with a special education teacher to discuss her

Setting III team. The team is having some conflicting ways of dealing
with behavior concerns, as well as understanding the difference
between Setting III behaviors (which is how students entered the
program to begin with), and more intense behaviors that require admin
intervention and possibly suspension. We started by creating a list of
the most common behaviors students in her program display. Most of
the behaviors are pretty low-level behaviors. The concern is that the
behaviors are often non-stop. We listed reasons that would warrant a
suspension and what behaviors require a different consequence. We
discussed a team decision making model that requires her SEAs
(Special education assistants) to report all behavior concerns to her,
and to consult with her on discipline decisions. We plan to meet with
her team next week to go over this information. In order for her to
keep a good relationship with her team, I will do most of the presenting
of the information, from an administrator point of view.

After that I sat in while my principal made reference checks for our
secretary candidates. THAT was interesting. I was amazed how one
company (and we talked to 2 different people in that company) were
very rude and referred us to corporate office. We felt that was an
indicator that something didnt go well at this candidates last job. I
learned that if a candidate does not list a direct supervisor as a
reference, that it can be a sign of problems in that job. We tried to
check references of two other candidates, but it appeared one person
gave us a fax number instead of an actual phone number. We also had
concerns about the barely complete resume from a secretary
candidate. Is it a sign that their work would reflect the same lack of
effort put into the resume? After the reference checks, I called another
candidate to set up another interview.

Reflection #8
Thursday, March 2, 2017

The day began as usual with breakfast duty supervision. I followed

that up with an email to the special education team to reiterate the
need to have them out at their assigned morning duty locations
everyday, as one of the special education teachers does not report for
her morning coverage.

Immediately following that I was called to the front office to meet with
a parent. I didnt know who it was or why they were there. It ended up
being the parent of a new 5th grade student that I have dealt with
several times. She is always upset when she comes into the building
and usually yells at staff, pulls her son for the day and leaves without
allowing staff to actually talk to her. Today she was upset about a
restrictive procedure that was used with her son he receives Setting
III special education services. She was yelling at me, telling me it was
illegal to touch her son and that she had called CPS and they told her it
was illegal. I let her finish and began to explain that is wasnt illegal,
and it was called Restrictive Procedures and if shed like to learn more
about it we could step into the conference room. She followed me into
the room, and I explained what RP are and when we would use them.
We also talked about the safety of it and I assured her all staff are
trained in order to ensure student safety. She was less angry when she
left.

I then spent the hour with my administrative team to begin planning

for our budget team meetings, as we received 2017-2018 school
budgets just a few days prior.

Next up was a teacher observation.

I returned to my principals office for more budget work, where I spent

pretty much the remainder of the day. We began by discussing the
$1million cut our building had to account for, discussed the given
positions needed to run the building, and started looking at cut backs
and what licensed and non-licensed positions the cuts would affect.

We did have a leadership team meeting in the middle of the budget

discussion. We talked about the upcoming professional development
series around Guided Math that was to begin the following week. We
also planned for SIP review, and the next ILT meeting.

More budget discussions.

Bus duty at dismissal.

We finished the day with PLC work. I support 5th grade with their PLC
work.

Reflection #9
Thursday, March 9, 2017

The day started with breakfast duty supervision.

After breakfast the parent from the last reflection day returned. This
time she was angry about her son being sent to the behavior support
room the day before. We spoke about why that happened, as I was
unfamiliar with the situation. She was calm when she left.

Pre-planning meeting for a new student starting with Setting III

services:
I met with a couple of the special education teachers about a new
student starting. The student is a 2nd grader with Setting III services.
He spends his mornings at day treatment, and was receiving
educational services at treatment, but the educational service provider
abruptly pulled their services from the treatment center. So we had to
plan a transition for this student who is a ward of the state, and has a
lot of traumatic experiences, and does not handle transition well. We
decided to redo 1 teachers schedule in order to meet the students
needs, as the Setting III program we have, services grades 3-5, and the
student does not do well with more than 1 or 2 other students around.
This student will receive 1:1 adult instruction for the 2 hours he is at
school.

Next we met with the county social worker and foster parent of the
new student. We discussed what the students schedule would look
like and what supports we could provide at school. We also had a
lengthy phone conference with the therapists from day treatment.
Now we wait for the bus to be ready. The student will start in about 1
week.

I ate lunch

I attended an evaluation results meeting as the Administrative

Designee.

Worked on budget with administration.

Bus duty at dismissal.

I left early was I am sick.

Got home, called in sick for tomorrow.

(I actually ended up missing 2 days of work due to illness).

Reflection #10
Monday, March 20, 2017

Breakfast duty. Today I had to catch Bus 3 as it dropped students off. I

have received repeated bus conduct reports for 3 siblings and am
concerned about some unfair treatment on the bus, as the boys do not
have problems on their afternoon bus, nor do they have behavior
problems in school. I have spoken with this parent earlier this year
about behavior on the bus, and the boys were suspended from riding
the bus this fall for a couple of days. The bus driver and I did not see
eye-to-eye. He was not willing to listen to my suggestion to solve the
problem of the boys hitting each other. He wants the boys to ride a
small bus to school. I told him that wouldnt be possible as they dont
receive special education and do not need a separate bus. Later in the
afternoon I received another bus conduct report for each of the boys
for this morning. I have now reached out to our transportation
manager and plan to speak with the drivers supervisor.

Facilitated a couple of reentry meeting for students returning from

suspension.

Spoke with the aunt of 1 student who returned from suspension a day
early. Allowed the student to return to class, as no one could pick her
up to finish out her suspension, and did not want her missing another
day of instruction while she was in the building. She will complete the
suspension tomorrow. The aunt was understanding, and frustrated
that her sister (the mother) was unresponsive.

Supported behavior. Behavior was very escalated for many students

today. One student ended up hitting one of my special education
teachers.

Found coverage for lunch and recess supervision for an absent staff
member.

More behavior support in the building. Processed a fight in 4th grade.

Met with principal and parents about the possible misconduct of a

classroom teacher. Processed with the principal on steps to take to
investigate the situation. Circled back with principal at the end of the
day. Investigation is pointing to misconduct of employee. Last Friday
when the teacher was angry with a student, the teacher grabbed the
student by the neck and the student fell, or was pushed by the
teacher, to the ground. Teacher admits putting his hands on the
student. Principal to file report with MDE tomorrow.

Bus duty at dismissal. Had to support kindergarten with their students.

We had to carry two students to the bus. The kindergarten teacher
called the parents to inform them of the situation.

Met with a parent to plan an initial special education evaluation for

academic purposes. This is also the parent of the boys with bus
conduct reports from Bus 3. She was unbelievably understanding and
supportive of my decision to follow through with consequences for the
boys and a bus suspension for 2 days. I also informed her that I was
working with transportation supervisors to resolve the situation, but
regardless, needed the boys to be safe on the bus and refrain from
hitting each other.
Called candidates to set up interviews for vacant Special Education
Assistant (SEA) positions.

Emailed select staff members I thought could support kindergarten

with dismissal times. Now that the special education teacher who
usually supports them is working 1:1 with a second grade student,
kindergarten is in need of an extra hand or two to get students to their
buses.