#13 - Administrator's Meeting

On October 24, 2011 I attended the weekly administrators meeting at DPA.  The meeting was already in progress since I was teaching that day, I could not get to the meeting until 10:15 am.  The meeting began around 9:15 am.    

The members that were present at the meeting were:

• Mr. Glass - Principal
• Mrs. Scott - Dean K-2
• Mrs. Kinsey - Dean 3-5
• Ms. Griffie - Reading Specialist
• Mrs. Henry - Writing Specialist
• Mrs. Hayes - Media 
• Mrs. Gardner - Special Ed. Coordinator

There were notes on the board pertaining to the topics that they had already covered.  From the looks of it, it didn't seem like they went in order of the agenda.  When I walked in, Mr. Glass welcomed me and used the interruption as an opportunity to recap what they had already gone over.  As he talked, I glanced at the agenda and the notes on the board and they didn't always seem to correlate.  It seems as though he got off track a lot and got lost in topics that were not on the agenda.  This is something that I feel could hinder a good meeting because it wastes a lot of time which is precious to administrators.  I started to feel guilty for being there because I felt like if I had not come in, the meeting would have continued without interruption and then the recap he gave me.  Finally after about 15 minutes, the meeting seemed to go back to the agenda with Mr. Kinsey discussing the data committee and the Discipline Posters.

After about 15 minutes, Mrs. Henry had a turn to talk about the writing boards.  Then Mrs. Gardner had the floor to discuss inclusion and using the “Power of 2” movement that is going through the building.  This is an initiative that gets para-pros teaching with the teacher instead of just monitoring the room and observing. 

I was only able to stay for another 10 minutes because I had to get back to my class.  During this time the administrators talked solely on the Power of 2 and how we need to push staff to use it and to make sure that we are looking for it during staff observations.

Overall, I feel that the meeting should have been completed by the time I left which was about 2 hours after the meeting started.  I think that the meeting could of gone quicker if everyone had been sitting down and stuck to the agenda, crossing off each one as they got it completed.  I think that there may have been some staff that were not there on time so that might have been why they were not following the agenda in order.  That is another thing that would improve the efficiency of the meeting.

There was a lot of talking while Mr. Glass was talking which was not helping to get his message across.  I do feel that the administrators need time to communicate with each other before, during breaks and after the meeting so that they can catch up on what’s happening in other parts of the building.  Communication is a vital piece in running a school smoothly. 

The administrators at DPA meet weekly to discuss what is going on in the school.  Because their meetings run late every time, they usually have to meet again on Tuesday’s to finish the agenda.  I appreciate their diligence in getting together so frequently because it ensures that each person knows what the others are up to.  The only thing that I would change is the amount of talking during the meeting and lack of focus to sticking to the agenda.