Atkinson - EDAD 694 - Project 2 - IsLCC 5

8/9/2019 Atkinson - EDAD 694 - Project 2 - IsLCC 5

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EDAD 694 Chris AtkinsonProject 2 March Madness Discipline Program

ISLCC Standard 5

School discipline is something that can be a large time consumer

for any middle school administrator. At Creekside, the Junior High

where I did my off-level internship, administrators determined that the

amount of time spent on discipline issues increases significantly in

March as it is the month that leads up to Spring Break. Therefore,

focusing on ISLCC standard five, I was able to help strengthen an annual

positive behavior program used to motivate student behavior and

therefore, decrease discipline referrals during the month of March.

The idea of the program is simple: use rewards to encourage

students not to receive discipline referrals. Below is a video that Icreated where I interviewed the principal; this video was played to the

students to introduce the program.

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ISLCC Standard 5

This program essentially helps to promote a safe learning

environment for staff and students (ISLCC S3.P21).

In preparation for the launch of the program I filmed some

student-created skits that would be played for their peers to promote

our program: March Madness. Along with these videos there were

posters hung around the building, and I also created a website where

weekly updates were posted in order to communicate to the

community, staff, and students the weekly results.

In this particular project, my goal was to communicate the idea of

the March Madness discipline incentive program in a more streamlinedand efficient way. I believe I did this, and in turn, students worked to

treat staff, peers, and other community members with even more

respect and dignity. Modeling respect and dignity for everyone in the

school environment is a standard that needs to be set by the

administrator to see its reciprocal effects.

Using the office staff and resources to promote March Madness

was crucial to the success of the program. In order for us to keep

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ISLCC Standard 5

idea how much discipline the administrators dealt with on a daily basis.

At Creekside Junior High there are two assistant principals, and they

deal with almost 90% of all the discipline. This, of course, was

somewhat of a shock to me coming from the elementary where very

little of our administrators days are spent dealing with student

discipline cases. Over the course of my time at the Junior High and

through this project I saw how using a positive school culture to

incorporate programs really can help minimize the amount of time

spent on discipline (ISLCC S2.P3).

As a future administrator, I want my school culture to be a

positive environment where my staff is not afraid to try new things,including incentive programs. This is directly related to how well the

school leader is able to develop a caring school community (ISLCC

S5.P7). This semester I also read an article by Jim Collins, author of

Good to Great. In this article Jim ponders the idea that values should

be directly tied into the organizations vision. Jim says, But there is a

big difference between being an organization with a vision statement

and becoming a truly visionary organization. The difference lies in

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ISLCC Standard 5

2. What ISLLC performances (skills) have YOU

developed?

I have developed several ISLCC performances through my work on

the March Madness project. Some that I feel I have developed the

most are: ISLCC S5.P2 demonstrates values, beliefs, and attitudes thatinspire others to higher levels of performance, ISLCC S5.P6 treats

people fairly, equitably, and with dignity and respect, and ISLCC S5.P5

uses the influence of the office to enhance the educational program

rather than for personal gain.

I firmly believe in the saying practice what you preach. The

school leader is responsible to promote a safe positive school culture,

and one of the biggest factors in doing this is by modeling integrity and

ethical behavior. This is something that I did while I facilitated my

internship at Creekside. Unfortunately, modeling ethical behavior is

something that many principals seem to lack these days. In fact, this

year in the Indianapolis area (including the district where I teach andconducted both internships) there have been news stories of principals

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ISLCC Standard 5

The dispositions that were developed are in step with the

performances practiced during this project. Again, the school leader

must be an example of ethical and just behavior.

During this project, it was crucial that I looked ethically at data

each week as I assessed who had the least amount of discipline

referrals. It could have been tempting to fudge numbers in order to

make students think it was closer than what it was, but in order to stay

ethical in the eyes of the staff, and by my own moral standard I did not.

The school leader must also work to shape a positive school

culture. The leader must work beside the community to initiate

programs that will help the school be seen as a positive learningenvironment. The school must be developed and valued among the

community, this March Madness program promoted the school into the

community. The success of the project was communicated via a

website that was accessed by parents and other members of the

community. Theses dispositions developed will help me as a future

school leader.

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ISLCC Standard 5

during the day on school televisions). Making sure this all got done

required me to work with various stakeholders.

Artifacts Attached Below Rubric

Rubric On Next Page

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ISLCC Standard 5

RUBRIC FOR REFLECTIVE ESSAYS (Revised 6/07)

Name Chris Atkinson Date 3/28/09

Self-Assessment Score 99/100 Professors Score ________/100

Project Standard # (1-Vision, 2 Culture/Instruction, etc.) : Standard 5

22 or 23 20 18 16 14 < 12

Excellent Marginal Poor

Evidence of

Leadership &

Administrative

Skills(23 points possible)

23 pts.

The essay clearly demonstrates

current knowledge and practice

of effective leadership skills

such as collaboration,

communication, interaction with

key stakeholders, identifying andresolving problems, organiza-

tional skills, & applying multiple

perspectives to problems.

Essay provides minimal

evidence that effective

leadership and

administrative skills have

been practiced. Conclusions

show some alignment witheffective leadership

practices. Minimal use of

multiple perspectives.

No evidence of leadership and

administrative skills being

practiced. Conclusions do not

support current knowledge on

effective leadership practices.

No references to employingmultiple perspectives.

Professional

Growth

Through

Analysis(23

points possible)23 pts.

The essay clearly demonstrates

professional growth through the

analysis of experiences and

changing assumptions and

beliefs. There is evidence of

new learning (being stretched).Thoughtful self-assessment

comments are included.

Some professional growth is

evident and some basic

assumptions and beliefs

have changed. Self-

assessment comments are

minimal.

Experiences are usually

assessed from only one

perspective and little or no

change in assumptions or

beliefs are shown. Self-

assessment comments notfound.

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ISLCC Standard 5

Videos I Created to Promote March Madness- Skits were written by students

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Website Created for Project:

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http://www.wix.com/Catkinso/March-Madness-2009


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94.7%

93.3%

94.1%


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No, not the basketballkind of madness!!

We are talking aboutthe kind of madness

caused by behavior!!!


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Dont let this

happen to you!

h


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Prevent MarchMadness!


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Good behavior during March =GREAT Rewards!!!


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Documents

Atkinson - EDAD 694 - Project 2 - IsLCC 5