Internship Plan Review

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On October 28, 2010, I emailed my Internship Plan to Superintendent Thomas Collins for review. I knew that we would be attending day 2 of a Dana Center Walk through training together. He reviewed the plan early Friday morning and we were able to discuss it prior to training on Friday, October 29th. Our discussion on Friday morning echoed his email date and time stamped October 29, 2010, 6:07 am. I asked if their was anything I needed to add or change and Mr. Collins said the plan looked great and that district personnel would do anything I needed to assist in completing the plan. He did not have any recommendations for the plan. He asked if I had seen his email.  I have posted his response email on my wiki.   I could tell he had many things on his plate for the day. He received several calls and had to call the deputy superintendent out of training briefly before he left for the day. All of this took place prior to 9:30 am.

Interview of Superintendent

INTERVIEW OF SUPERINTENDENT

My interview with Superintendent Thomas Collins of Waxahachie Independent School District was very informative. Mr. Collins willingly invited me to his office for this interview. He was very personable and helpful. During the interview he was relaxed yet confident.

The repetitive theme of the interview was that the Superintendent’s responsibility is to develop relationships with the School Board, administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents, and citizens of the city/town. From the definition of leadership, the positive attributes of a good superintendent and building a good relationship with the Board, to developing a shared vision, Mr. Collins feels it is the Superintendent’s responsibility to foster relationships between the Board, the employees of the district and the people we serve. He said being able to take people in the direction you want them to go, because they believe in what you are doing and want to follow, is based on the relationships you have formed. Keep your constituents informed, be honest and open and deflect criticisms and minor concerns as the Public Relations officer of the district.

When asked, “How do we encourage the engagement of the community?” Mr. Collins gave me the most interesting quote. “If we don’t engage we will enrage. Engaging all families benefits all students. People do the best they can with what they have. If we don’t win the hearts and souls of our community we don’t win our students.” He pointed out that the community can be our best asset in reaching the children.

Superintendent Collins discussed how the superintendent accomplishes wide range strategic planning. He said there must be an analysis of what works and what hasn’t before creating an Action Plan. There must be a tight alignment of K-12 as we analyze the data and plan together. We must always ask ourselves, “What will we do when the students don’t understand the concept or can’t perform the skill.” He said it is like driving down a highway. The Action Plan must serve as mile markers so that we can anticipate our progress toward our destination.

Professional Vita

Week 2 Assignment: Profesional VITA

Professional VITA

Transfer Theory

WELCOME

Welcome to the world of Superintendent Certification for Lamar University. Excited about learning new things and sharing ideas for district improvement.