Middle School Building Representative 2011-2016 (I might have started in Spring 2010...)
Represented Members Aggressively in Meetings with Administrators
Questioning administrators' motives for meetings with members.
Pointing out inconsistent enforcement of administrative expectations.
Bringing up times when administrators' behaviors matched the behavior of our members.
Taking pointed notes every time administrators misspoke in meetings with members.
Following up repeatedly to discourage future meetings with members.
Assisted in Negotiating the First APPR Plan
Plan became the model for teacher-friendly APPR plans in the county.
Paid by the DTA to help teachers "hack" the APPR system and score points easily with written lesson plans and during observations.
On call almost 24/7 for APPR questions.
Represented members during APPR follow-up meetings to increase scores and factually disprove any "Developing" ratings in individual rubric criteria.
Used data and surveys to ensure that my union decisions actually represented the majority of member's beliefs.
Built strong relationships with non-teaching DTA members to ensure that non-teaching members voices were heard and represented.
DTA Member of the Year 2015
Attended President's Council meetings with Nancy Baker to learn local and county-wide union activism.
Mentored with Joe Sweeny (retired at the time) to learn DTA history and methods of building a strong union.
19 years Dunkirk teaching experience - I'm here for life.
8th grade ELA
8th grade AIS
"133" In-house Alternative Education Program
"RISE" 9-12 ELA Teacher
8A Team Leader
Represented teacher's voices in administrative meetings, making sure to communicate with teachers both before and after so that I reflected their voices accurately and completely.
Transparently communicated with teachers as soon as I knew information that would impact their workday, even if that information was still incomplete or in the works to ensure teachers had lead-out time to prepare.
Often this information was not something any of us would want to hear, but by sharing it quickly and openly, we were able to deal with it to the best of our abilities.
NEVER evaluated teachers, judged teachers, directed teachers, or behaved or said anything even tangentially administrative. We were an incredible team of equals working together with slightly different roles.
Supported teachers with behaviorally problematic students by enforcing clear, consistent, teacher-friendly consequences for students.
Taught in the classroom two periods per day. I have never left the classroom and I never plan to leave the classroom. I have always been, and will always be a classroom teacher.
Attended Network Team Institute trainings in Albany
Wrote common core interdisciplinary literacy map
Trained staff in implementing literacy standards across core subject areas
Trained administration to write and evaluate quality, rigorous text-dependent questions
Created “Interdisciplinary Team Planning Googledoc” recognized on “Schools to Watch” website
Park City, Utah
Saratoga Springs, New York
Turnkey trained mapping methods to staff using Performance Tracker and Google Drive software
Member of school leadership team
Trained in Albany to create and implement successful turnaround models in schools
Created, revised, reflected upon school comprehensive improvement plans (SCEP)
Created, revised, progress monitored strategic plan for school excellence (SPSE)
Presented Google Docs as a tool for feedback loops and monitoring to staff
Led school based inquiry team (SBIT) data meetings
Led retention meetings as Team Leader
Attended PBIS (positive behavior intervention & support) regional training and served on PBIS team
Bachelors of Science: English Adolescent Education at Fredonia State
Masters of Science: Educational Computing at Buffalo State
Professional Teaching Certification: ELA 7-12