# data[].attributes.body
I wish this practice was more socially acceptable these days but I don't believe it would be welcomed in many families. On occasion I have been invited to student's homes for team functions or a graduation party but have never dropped in on a student at home since teaching in Charles County. In my previous teaching experience working with at-risk youths this was something our staff did on a monthly basis. After three years working with that program I only had one bad experience. Usually the visit resulted in more open communication, understanding and respect on both ends. Even if the parent wasn't available the students knew you were there and went out of your way to see them in their environment which helped build strong relationships.

# data[].attributes.headline
49.  Does the input I receive from My Students' Parents Matter to Me?

# data[].attributes.subject
49.  Does the input I receive from My Students' Parents Matter to Me?

# data[].attributes.body
The easy answer is yes, their put does matter to me.  Many of the students that I've had behavioral problems with in school tend to have issues that are going on at home.  Most recently I found out that one of my students parents' had split up and the student was having a difficult time maintaining his relationship with his mom.  I realized that his attitude towards me and his behavior in class was a reaction to some of what may be going on at home.  It helped me to realize that I might need to approach him on a different level in class.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Often Do I Notify my Students' Parents About Their Children's Success in My classroom?

# data[].attributes.subject
How Often Do I Notify my Students' Parents About Their Children's Success in My classroom?

# data[].attributes.body
I work very hard to make sure parents are aware of their students' successes in my class.  So often parents only hear the bad things their students do.  I think it helps build open communication with parents to also let them know when their students are excelling.  It's also nicee for the student when they get home and their parent is congratulating them.  So often the kids come in and make a point to thank me for my kind words.  I also find that sharing the positive things with the parents of the students who don't usually recieve praise is helpful.  I often have students that aren't trouble makers but are also not exceptional students.  Sometimes these students need reminding that they are welcome and supported as well.  Offering them a little praise often goes a long way.

# data[].attributes.headline
To what extent does professional literature enhance my practice? 

# data[].attributes.subject
To what extent does professional literature enhance my practice? 

# data[].attributes.body
I am an avid internet user. My subject (Art) deals with a variety of skill sets and technique that need to be practiced before demonstrating to students. Every day I scour numerous websites, blogs, Instagram feeds to understand what is current in the art world, how artist are using subject/content to create symbolic work, and helping to develop projects. I also research best practice techniques, approach, hot topics that other art educators are discussing. Along with art and teacher resource material I am a news junkie, I believe my use of the internet has allowed be to also become more well rounded culturally allowing me to connect to my diverse student population.

# data[].attributes.headline
43. In what ways do I benefit from the knowledge and experiences of my colleagues? 

# data[].attributes.subject
43. In what ways do I benefit from the knowledge and experiences of my colleagues? 

# data[].attributes.body
I benefit a lot from the knowledge and experiences of my colleagues. When i first started here I had no experience teaching my own class. I had been a substitute, but that does not prepare you for teaching. It has been nice to bounce ideas off other teachers, especially ones that are teaching the same subject. It's nice to know when an activity worked well for another teacher because it gives you ideas for activities you can do the next year. And if an activity doesn't work you can talk about what you can do to change that outcome. Working with others and bouncing ideas off others makes for a better methods of how you're doing things.

# data[].attributes.headline
49. Does the Input I Receive from my Students' Parents Matter to me?

# data[].attributes.subject
49. Does the Input I Receive from my Students' Parents Matter to me?

# data[].attributes.body
Absolutely. They see their child in a whole different way than I do at home. Typically my students are very well-behaved in my classroom but are totally different at home. So I value any additional information they give me so I can possibly work on those issues at school. I encourage the parents to give me feedback when I'm updating their IEPs and progress reports. Rarely do I actually receive any, but when I do, I do take their information into account. I teach these students for 4 years. I must try to have a positive relationship with the parents in order to better help their child find success.

# data[].attributes.headline
47. How often do I notify my students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.subject
47. How often do I notify my students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.body
I do not do this as often as I would like to or as often as I should. I do however, try to notify at least two parents each quarter letting them know something good about their son or daughter. I try to pick the students who would not normally receive a "good" call home and I try to find something good that they did. It can  be that they were very polite or picked up trash when no other student would, or stayed on task, anything to give a good call home.

# data[].attributes.headline
46 a. Do I make parental and community engagement a priority in my practice as a school leader?

# data[].attributes.subject
46 a. Do I make parental and community engagement a priority in my practice as a school leader?

# data[].attributes.body
I feel that I have an outstanding relationship with parents, but I need to do more to get more community members involved.  This is difficult, because as a  Vice Principal I am moved around every few years.  It takes time to get to know your community members and by the time you make those strong connections then you are moved to a different school.

# data[].attributes.headline
47. How often do I notify my students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.subject
47. How often do I notify my students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.body
As most people have said, I do not do this nearly enough. Kafele suggests calling each parent at the beginning of the school year, which is obviously a daunting task to consider undertaking at the high school level, but I do see the value in reaching out to parents early in the year.
In the past, I have tried emailing a welcome letter to all my students' parents in the first few weeks of school. In the email, I described the current units of study and explained how I could be reached with questions of concerns. It was time consuming, because I created groups in my email for each class, but I thought it would be worth it. Several parents responded positively to the email, and I intended to send a weekly update email about positive goings-on in the classroom. With so many other tasks that took priority over this, however, I quickly slacked off.
Now, I do send the occassional personal email home to let parents know about a particularly great day their student had, or a really impressive writing assignment. I would really like to do this more often.

# data[].attributes.body
No.

Not only have I not made any home visits lately, I have not made any home visits ever. Teachers do not have to visit homes to teach students, or to understand them and have empathy. It does not matter whether a student lives in an challenging neighborhood or on a farm, my appropriate place for interacting with them and their family is the school house, not theirs.

# data[].attributes.headline
43. In what ways do I benefit from the knowledge and experiences of my colleagues?

# data[].attributes.subject
43. In what ways do I benefit from the knowledge and experiences of my colleagues?

# data[].attributes.body
When I first started teaching here, I had no experience in a high school classroom. I also had no one else in the school teaching the same class as me. In, short, I had no idea what I was doing. I still don't feel like I completely know what I'm doing. I take every opportunity I can to see what other teachers are doing in their classroom, or how they handle situations. I really view this slightly lost feeling as a good thing, it drives me to constantly questions my actions and decisions, and drives me to find a better method of doing things.

# data[].attributes.headline
#43. In what ways do I benefit from the knowledge and experiences of my colleagues? 

# data[].attributes.subject
#43. In what ways do I benefit from the knowledge and experiences of my colleagues? 

# data[].attributes.body
I can't say enough about how much I value the information, neat ideas, experiences and knowledge of my colleagues!! Not only does it help to talk with veteran teachers in my own discipline, but also speaking with teachers in all subject areas. Being a math teacher is awesome to have teacher that teach your same class, or even teachers that teach a class you haven't taught in a while or ever! To be able to plan with them and know what helps the students, or sections of a particular worksheet that are very confusing that maybe to skip is a tremendous help! Also speaking with teachers in different subject areas that new ideas of how to present a lesson or new tricks, websites, apps, etc that they can share is AWESOME!! Even sharing information about a student personally can help me to "reach" a kid, because I have a better idea of their background. Knowing as much about your students is even more valubable that the lesson you teach :)

# data[].attributes.headline
47. How often do I notify students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.subject
47. How often do I notify students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.body
I do not do this nearly enough.  When I do it I usually use email as it is easier.  It is clearly a beneficial practice and I need to do it more often.

# data[].attributes.headline
42. How often do I seek out my own professional development?

# data[].attributes.subject
42. How often do I seek out my own professional development?

# data[].attributes.body
I look at the e-mails that the county sends in regard to the offered courses. I also worked for MSDE for a few summers, so I also get those emails and try to look into other opportunities. I am a firm believer that I am a life long learner and would love to get another Master's Degree, but cannot afford another college loan. I also have plans on eventually getting my doctorate degree, but have so much to learn about education before I tackle that tasks. I always want to challenge myself, which is what I try to bring to the classroom. Education is constantly changing and as educators, we need to be willing to change with the times and needs.

# data[].attributes.headline
42. How often do I seek out my own professional development?

# data[].attributes.subject
42. How often do I seek out my own professional development?

# data[].attributes.body
I am always seeking out new ways to keep myself up to date on new strategies and new information. Health is a subject that changes often and if I don't keep myself up to date on the newest information, I could be giving out wrong information. I am always signing up for PD classes and reading books/information on anything health or teaching related. I also help present at various inservices and workshops so I can share what I learn and do with other health teachers in the county. I think it is important for teachers to stay on top of new teaching ideas/stategies and on top of any changes/advances going on in their content.

# data[].attributes.headline
48. Do my student's parents have access to me? 

# data[].attributes.subject
48. Do my student's parents have access to me? 

# data[].attributes.body
The answer to this is YES.  When I taught at a traditional school, I made myself available to my parents via e-mail, phone, and my website.  At my current location (non-traditional high school) I still use email and phone, but I've added the REMIND APP for both the students as well as their parents.  I actually prefer this, because I am able to quickly contact them (both if needed) to inform them of something wonderful the student has done or to check in when I have a concern about a student. I have found that by using the REMIND APP I am sending more positive/encouraging comments to both students as well as their parents.  **Keeping in mind that it is easier to do this with the small class sizes that I currently have.

# data[].attributes.headline
47. How often do I notify students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.subject
47. How often do I notify students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.body
I honestly used to be better at doing this consistently. This year has been rather busy for me so I have slacked a tad in calling home for positive reasons. Typically, I try to call home to give parents good news each time I have to call a household to deliver bad news whether it be low grades, poor behavior, etc. I actually just had a student who I taught 3 years ago visit me this month and strangely enough he brought up the time I called home to tell his mother about his success in my classroom. He actually said that his mother still has the message in her saved voicemail (3 years later!) and recently played it again for him. I thought this was very surprising but wonderful and it truly demonstrated the value of calling home to provide positive feedback. He said it was the only phone call home from La Plata he/his parents had ever received. His words made me realize I have been slacking this year and since then I have called 3 students' parents to provide positive feedback.

# data[].attributes.headline
47. How often do i notify students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.subject
47. How often do i notify students' parents about their children's successes in my classroom?

# data[].attributes.body
The answer to this is: not often enough. I see so much good that students are doing on a daily basis, and I think parents need to know (and the students need to know) that their hard work, or kind approach, or respectful behavior is noticed and appreciated. It is also great for me to make the time to formally focus on the positive things that I'm seeing around me. I loved when we had the "Good News Home" post cards in the office, and it was awesome when there were address labels already to go in the mail room. Maybe this something we could bring back - not as a mandatory thing that every teacher has to do each month, but as an easy way for those who want to get good news out there to do so. We have a form for everything else, why not for student success ;-) ?

# data[].attributes.headline
41. To what extent does professional literature enhance my practice?   

# data[].attributes.subject
41. To what extent does professional literature enhance my practice?   

# data[].attributes.body
Currently in addition to this Book Club book I am reading Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness (Deborah Schoeberlein) and Teach, Breathe, Learn (Meena Srinivasan).  And this school year I have had to address some new content topics because of a new curriculum and textbook, so I have had to do quite a bit of Internet research.  I enjoy professional literature and the challenge of connecting it to my content area.  This has not only allowed me to stay current in my field, but provides me with new ideas to keep my instruction interesting and relevant.  Typically I read about 2 hours per week on professional topics.  One problem I have is being able to incorporate all the ideas I find into my instruction.  At one time I was “pinning” ideas for the classroom daily, but spent so much time pinning, I had no time to actually do anything with the ideas.  Last year I made a time commitment to develop one idea per week every Thursday during my lunch time.  This worked well as long as I kept to the time schedule.  This year with the new curriculum that was given to us the first week of school, I have not been as disciplined due to the overwhelming task of every lesson being new and not having any advance planning time. I look forward to next year when teacher life should be back to a better degree of organization and I have my summer to make adjustments for next year.

# data[].attributes.headline
44. Am I open to accepting constructive feedback from my colleagues and administrators?

# data[].attributes.subject
44. Am I open to accepting constructive feedback from my colleagues and administrators?

# data[].attributes.body
I have difficulty changing the way I do things but I do continue to try. I like feedback from colleagues. We used to have group time to share ideas among my colleagues and this helped us all discuss what works for one teacher without criticizing if someone else tried it a different way. I miss this.  I have never received too much constructive feedback from an administrator, but any feedback is cause for reflection, and reflection is always good. One administrator wrote down so much detail of my activities during an observation that it made me realize some things that I just naturally do that really works, and it helped me highlight my strengths. The actual suggestions I have received sometimes seem petty, but some are easy to address.

# data[].attributes.headline
44. Am I open to accepting constructive feedback from my colleagues and administrators?

# data[].attributes.subject
44. Am I open to accepting constructive feedback from my colleagues and administrators?

# data[].attributes.body
When I first started teaching, I knew I had huge areas for improvement, and I wanted to get better but I used to cringe when it came to the "improvement" part of my evaluation. I took their advice and made changes but also always took the critiques too personally. Then one year I had an administrator who just wanted to get the paperwork done. He never took the time to give me constructive feedback, and I realized that made me feel worse. I felt stuck, because I had nothing to work and reflect on and no basis for my self-improvement goals. It will always feel better hearing the good things about your work as opposed to the improvements, but I find myself seeking out those critiques now. I realize they are the only way to make myself the best.

# data[].attributes.headline
Remember to include the question number and the question in the heading of your post.

# data[].attributes.subject
Remember to include the question number and the question in the heading of your post.

# data[].attributes.body
Feel free to include a video post, but video posts may be shown during a book study meeting.