Superintendent Review of Plan

During the meeting, we discussed the reasoning for all of the activities.  We talked about areas that I would like to address as well as some things that she would like for me to have exposure to.  In addition, we talked about the things that we were currently working on together and how I could take some leadership roles in them in order to strengthen my portfolio.

She really liked the idea that I was using things that we were currently working on to build the foundation of my plan instead of creating new tasks and objectives to accomplish. In addition, we discussed how we can change things in the future if new plans arise.

She recommended that I continue to work closely with her on HB5 and also help her to write a board agenda, which is new to me and she said took her a while to learn how to do.

Finally, she wanted me to know that her door is always open for questions and ideas to help me further my career.

Superintendent Reflection

In interviewing Dr. Jennifer Blaine, Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, she opened my eyes to many different ideas and was very clear in her message.  The first answer that really stood out to me was the one where she talked about the relationship that she had with the board (competency 4), and her discussion about the relationship she was allowed to have with the board as a member of Senior Staff.  She talked about trusting her staff and building strong relationships with the board.  She emphasized the meaning of strong relationships with the board; I will remember this as I move in the system.

            Communicating and emphasizing a shared vision was the next part that stood out to me.  She talked a lot about being consistent and crystal clear in your message as you deliver it.  In addition, she discussed the importance of communicating your message frequently and with passion.  This piece of vision also brought forth the 3^rd competency in dealing with communication.  As stated earlier, being crystal clear and consistent in the message makes for a smooth running system with everyone on the same page and a system moving in the same direction.  In addition, competency 8 was enlightening in the sense that she talked about managing resources with the right people.  Knowing what you want your system to do, finding the resources and people to manage and make your vision happen, and then allowing them the freedom and trusting that they will do a great job in managing the resources allocated to them.

Finally, Competency 9 discussed the physical plant and support system, which is an area that I am uncomfortable.   Listening to her talk made me realize that I should spend more time learning about the physical plant and support systems so that I can increase my knowledge in this area.

My Vitae

Jennifer Voss Collier

Home                                                                                      Work

13623 Mansfield Point Lane                                                  901 Yorkchester

Houston, TX  77070                                                              Houston, TX  77079

(832) 385-9980                                                                       (713) 251-1800

jennifer.collier@springbranchisd.com

EDUCATION

Ed. D. Lamar University-Beaumont, TX (8/2012- Present

Educational Leadership

M.Ed. University of Houston – University Park (8/2008)

Major:             Educational Leadership and Cultural Studies

B.A.     Lamar University – Beaumont, TX (12/2002)

Major: Music Education

K-12 ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Spring Branch Independent School District

Westchester Academy for International Studies

Associate Principal (7/2013-Present)

Key Duties:

• Responsible for planning and implementing instructional programing. 
• Responsible for building the Master Schedule for Westchester Academy for International Studies.
• Coordination of keeping WAIS teachers familiar and certified as International Baccalaureate studies.
• Leader of Campus Leadership and Campus Improvement Team.
• Responsible for making all staffing and budgeting decisions as well as maintain and coordination facilities, transportation, and food service.

Spring Branch Independent School District

Spring Woods High School

Associate Principal (7/2011-6/2013)

Key Duties:

• Responsible for planning and implementing instructional programing. 
• Responsible for building the Master Schedule for Spring Woods High School.
• Coordination of testing for STAAR, EOC, TELPAS, PLAN, PSAT, and all Local Benchmarks and Assessments.
• Member of Campus Leadership and Campus Improvement Team.
• Assisting with all staffing and budget decisions.
• Coordinator of the following programs and activities; New Teachers, Counseling team, Student Engagement Committee, Vertical and Horizontal Alignment, At- Risk, and RTI.
• Active member of the following committees; RTI, Summer School, Technical Certification, and Program of Studies.

Spring Branch Independent School District

9^th Grade Summer School

Principal (12/2011-7/2012)

Key Duties:

• Responsible for planning and implementing instructional programing including planning and executing a new curriculum. 
• Hiring summer school staff and managing the budget for summer school.
• Coordination of District administration of End of Course testing.
• Building and executing the master schedule for Summer School.
• Responsibility of all discipline and attendance for all students who attended summer school.
• Supervision and evaluation of teaching and learning of all teachers at summer school.
• Coordination of foodservices, building and maintenance and transportation for the summer school program.

Spring Branch Independent School District

Middle School Summer School

Curriculum Principal (1/2011-7/2011)

Key Duties:

• Responsible for planning and implementing instructional programing including planning and executing a new curriculum. 
• Hiring summer school staff and managing the budget for summer school.
• Coordination of District administration of End of Course testing.
• Building and executing the master schedule for Summer School.
• Responsibility of all discipline and attendance for all students who attended summer school.
• Supervision and evaluation of teaching and learning of all teachers at summer school.
• Coordination of foodservices, building and maintenance and transportation for the summer school program.
•  

Spring Branch Independent School District

Spring Woods High School

Assistant Principal (12/2008-7/2011)

Key Duties:

• Responsible for planning and implementing instructional programing for 9^th and 10^th grade teachers.
• Instructional Leadership and supervision of Fine Arts Teachers. 
• Responsibility for implementation of discipline, communication and operations for the class of 2013.
• Coordinator of the following activities and programs: extracurricular activities, UIL Academics, Freshman Transition Program, Campus Communication, Textbooks, In-School Suspension, Grade Level RTI meetings, All School Activities and Events.
• An active member of the following campus committees; College Planning Committee (Co-Chair), Freshman Transition, and Graduation Planning.

Spring Branch Independent School District

Spring Forest Middle School

Administrative Internship (7/2005-Present)

Key Duties:

·      Assisted in administrative duties including, but not limited to:

o   Processing Discipline Referrals both by assisting principals and taking the lead in a variety of discipline referrals.

o   Establishing partnerships with parents & students by making phone calls home and sitting in on parent/student/administrative conferences.

o   Assisting with teacher walk-throughs and classroom observations to become more familiar with what is going on in a wide variety of classrooms.

o   Assisted with TAKS Administration for both regular education and special education.

o   Helped to analyze data used by the discipline committee to look over the data that will be used to make decisions about discipline for the upcoming school year.

o   Assisted with a variety of aspects of the scheduling committee which was formed to move the campus to a new schedule in 2008-2009.

K-12 TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Spring Branch Independent School District

Spring Forest Middle School

Assistant Band Director (7/2005 – Present)

Teaching Responsibilities:

·      Beginning Trumpet

·      Beginning French Horn

·      Beginning Trombone/Euphonium/Tuba

·      Intermediate Band

·      Concert Band

·      Assist with Symphonic Band

Other Duties:

·      Served on Technology Committee and help assist in upgrading technology in the school and designing professional development opportunities to benefit faculty and staff. 

·      Served on Campus Improvement Team as the fine arts representative which approved decision for the entire campus and helped to communicate needs to the community.

·      Served on Scheduling Committee as the Fine Arts Representative to help make decisions for the 2008-2009 school year in regards the a new schedule.

·      Handled all Inventory Matters for the band program which included, but were not limited to;   checking out instruments. Rental payments, deposits, bill pay, and receipting of all items related to inventory.

·      Taught Beginning Brass classes which included various techniques for beginning brass students.

·      Conducted Concert Band and Intermediate Band which were variations of the 7^th grade level curriculum modified for different levels of proficiency on their instrument for all instruments.

·      Conducted Concert Band and went to UIL 2007 which is a state evaluated performance.  This group received a superior rating on stage and an excellent rating in sight-reading. 

Spring Branch Independent School District

Memorial Middle School

Assistant Band Director (7/2003 – 5/2005)

Teaching Responsibilities:

·      Beginning Flute

·      Beginning Clarinet

·      Beginning Oboe/Bassoon

·      Beginning Saxophone

·      Concert Band

·      Assist with Symphonic Band

Other Duties:

·      Served on Technology Committee and help assist in upgrading technology in the school and designing professional development opportunities to benefit faculty and staff. 

·      Handled all Private Lesson issues for the band program.  This included but was not limited to interviewing and hiring of teachers, scheduling of private students for teachers, and collecting finances for the initial start of the program.

·      Handled all the incoming monies for Student Accounts which included the collection of dues and fundraisers by individual students.

·      Handled all Parent Committees that were formed to help support the band program.  Some of these committees included Fundraising, Volunteers, Decorating, and Communication. 

·      Conducted Concert Band and went to UIL 2004 and 2005 Received Excellent Ratings on stage both years and a Superior Rating in Sight-reading in 2005.

·      Taught Beginning Woodwind classes which included various techniques for beginning woodwind students.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Delta Kappa Gamma

Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)

Texas Music Educators Association

Texas Bandmasters Association

National Association of Secondary School Principals

Order of Omega Greek Honor Society

Delta Omicron Professional Music Fraternity

Alpha Delta Pi Sorority

REFERENCES

Lance Stallworth, Building Principal, Spring Woods High School

Lance.Stallworth@springbrachisd.com

Pamela Butler, Director of Secondary Teaching and Learning, Spring Branch ISD

Pamela.Butler@springbranchisd.com

Sophia Petrou, Director of Secondary Administrative Services

Sophia.Petrou@springbranchisd.com

How Leaders can use Blogs

   Educational Leaders can use blogs for a variety of things.  The first way that they could use them is for communication, blogging is an excellent way for leaders to communicate important information or share articles with their staff, community, and other stakeholders.  In addition, blogging can be an excellent source for feedback.  If a leaders wants feedback regarding questions, concerns, or just general information, they could use a blog as the mechanism to create in depth dialogues when people have time to communicate.  Similarly, I think having a way to share resources and information is crucial, and blogging can do that.  Blogging allows to you share a website, an article, or any other vital information with staff, community, and faculty.

What I've Learned About Action Research

     Action research is the ability for educators to use scientific processes and practices to improve their practice as an educator.  Action research can be used for a variety of reasons, to help solve a problem, to become better at the craft of leadership or teaching, or to learn about a variety of solutions to various problems within the system.  Regardless of the reason that action research is used, it is invaluable in its role to improve the quality of education.
     My current role is as the Associate Principal at a large comprehensive high school in Houston.  Our school has a variety of problems including a large hispanic population that struggles in all aspects of their education.   I can use action research with the various teams at my school in order to evaluate various strategies, monitor them during implementation, and use data to guide our next steps, and best practices.   Currently, we are monitoring and implementing literacy strategies in order to help our ELL learners to be more successful in class.  Various teams are evaluating and implementing different reading, writing, listening, and speaking strategies within their classrooms to improve the quality of learning for students. Weekly, we look at data and lessons to evaluate their effectiveness over time.  I see it as a useful tool for not only myself, but also for my teachers and staff.