This week was filled with a lot of data analysis. I find it is very interesting to see the areas that should get a focus but may not be for whatever reason. The hard part of this whole assignment is that there are a lot of numbers to pay attention to a lot of screen flips to get it all figured out.
This we we also read chapters 2 and 3. Now, there was a lot of information regarding the potential hiring of new teachers, what questions should and shouldn't be asked, and how to properly ask the questions so that we do not lead the person to the answer. However one section just got me laughing aloud, and that was the discussion on proper e-mail etiquette. Wow was that fun. I spoke in the questions about how there are teachers that have difficulty with understanding that e-mail is also a professional way of communication. Everything that is sent through e-mail is saved in public record and can be used as evidence or as a way to gain information about a specific teacher. There are two such people in my department who have difficulty understanding this concept, and one of them does not understand that by using italics and quotations does not help us understand what you are trying to say.
Given our current political environment, I found the funding area of WINNS to be most interesting. Although there are no clear trends I did pay attention to the fact the local tax rates to fund the school district have gone up in recent years. The explanation for that is that we have been inside our 5 year referendum that was voted on a passed by the taxpaying community. After the 2011-12 school year, that referendum will have expired and we should see a decrease in that category. That is the scary part for our district.
I completely agree with your reaction to email as a communication tool. A couple of years ago I worked with an administration who never used capital letters or correct punctuation in his emails. It was very difficult to take his emails seriously and I had a hard time respecting him as a leader.
ReplyDeleteI get a lot of questions from staff about using email with students. Many people think that email is "old fashion" and wonder why we should be teaching our students how to use it properly. I remind them that email is used as a professional communication tool and that students need to understand the difference between purpose of text messages and email.
It sounds like maybe some professionals need to learn how to use email along with their students!
The email section had me thinking about a few teachers I know too. I liked how he said that if it is too long...dont email it! I really dislike getting an email that takes me 30 minutes to read and then I still need clarification and have to have a meeting for it in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even notice a funding area on the WINSS site. (I was slightly overwhelmed by all the other data!) Thanks for pointing it out. I will be sure to check it out now.