The Skills or Attributes Necessary to Be an Outstanding Student Support Services

A student support service provider needs to love children first and foremost and see each child with the potential to do and to be great. Students who need support services often are lacking self-confidence and motivation and often the support staff provides a refuge from home life and even the regular self-contained classroom. He or she must demonstrate patience as it is not uncommon to find students who need emotional or psychological support. The support staff must try to provide another perspective on the students abilities and talents, strengths and areas for growth, that might have otherwise been overlooked. In this way, the support staff has to be an advocate for the student consistently coaching, motivating and inspiring the student and those whom come in contact with this individual. If the support staff can relate to all students and not just those in whom s/he sees, then this can add much value to the school community. The school staff must also deeply and truly care about the students they serve. They can attend sporting events or theatre performances in support of the student when appropriate.

This individual must work well with others particularly the lead teacher to make sure that the work and skills that are developed outside of the traditional classroom are well aligned and supported with the standard curriculum. The support service provider must be a transparent and clear communicator. If a student is performing well or is struggling than the support staff must communicate this information to the lead teacher and make decisions together when appropriate. The support staff is in an essential member of the school community and as s/he practices love, patience, clear and consistent means of communication and alignment with others, all students will thrive and excel in such a culture.

The Importance of Technology in Education and the Tech Skills Necessary to Support a District

Technology is crucially important but not as important as what you plan to do with it.

A district and/or school can have the best technology, SmartBoards, Projectors, Elmo Machines, State-of-the-art computers running the latest operation systems, and software but all these platforms and machines are futile, even counterproductive if there is not a clear path for how it will improve student learning. Too often there is an excitement, and rightfully so, to bring in the latest equipment and technology as it provides the "flashy" evidence that the school and or district is improving. We must ensure that whatever technology we bring into our classrooms and schools that we have a clear system for monitoring and evaluating the technology so student learning is maximized.

Assuming that we have a clear plan in place with solid monitoring and evaluating systems, then technology becomes essential as our students enter the 21st Century and the globe becomes flat. Students must have a solid understanding and use of software programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but students should also be comfortable in using the computer for social issues and learn how to conduct research using valid, credible sources. Additionally, we must help students understand how using technology enhances human interactions but is not a substitute for it. Sending email is often time as important as a hand written note. Searching Wikipedia has advantages but cannot possible capture the entire Library of Congress. Proper balance between on line platforms and social interactions must be the job of the school.


As an educator deeply steeped in exemplary student achievement, I can bring a set of experiences and thinking that can serve both students and schools and families. I strongly believe in identify meet short-,mid- and long range goals. For instance, if we wish to improve reading in our particular district or school, then there is strong evidence, both quantitatively and quantitatively that several reading software programs yield results. However, I have seen even the best software go awry. Upon one site visit that I made to a school the math software program used to bring students up to grade level, was being ran by the Spanish teacher who had not the slightest clue about the program or on how to help students. I provide this example to demonstrate the fact that our plans must include how our staff are supported in the use of whatever technology we bring into our schools that there is proper "buy in" to programs used to help students.Its crucial that the school community is comfortable with multiple platforms and that proper training is conducted.

What Makes an Excellent Administrator?

An excellent administrator is someone who demonstrates the unique ability to relate to all people and inspires, motivates, organizes, and implements programs and policies to ensure that the school excels so that all students lead exemplary lives in and out of the classroom.

An excellent administrator is someone who is kind, compassionate, understanding, flexible and has the respect of everyone in the building and local community. For teachers, s/he listens intently to the concerns of the staff and takes proper steps to rectify situations whenever appropriate but is also the school's number one cheerleader encouraging and challenging teachers towards creating an exemplary community of learners. An excellent administrator has the vision and is able to see the big picture and effectively communicates this vision to families, students, community partners, school staff and key stakeholders with ease. This communication is clear, concise, and consistent with the mission and vision of the school. To this end, s/he is hardworking and is usually the first one to arrive at the school and the last one to leave. Clearly, this individual is the most public person in the school and is not confined to his or her office.

He or she is humble and not above doing any and every job in the building, whether its picking up random trash on the school grounds to make sure the community is clean or if its taking over a classroom when he or she sees that a teacher is struggling that day because of a death in the family. The administrator has a “do whatever it takes” attitude. In all ways, he or she is flexible, filling into the places of the school to ensure that the program runs smoothly. He/she gives respect and earns the respect of others and is able to create a culture of connectedness with all and other teachers, staff, families and students.

The administrator creates a culture of shared responsibility. Yet, at the same time, the administrator provides clear expectations of everyones roles and responsibilities. S/he sets up, whenever possible and in close collaboration with staff, procedures, policies, monitoring and evaluation system that are consistent and fair. S/he encourages a participatory approach and provides ample opportunities for folks to take leadership opportunities in the school. Whether it is at staff meetings or in the hallways of the school, everyones voice is heard and honored. The administrator both public recognizes the contributions of others and rewards others as appropriate. Rarely does s/he take ownership of accomplishments but constantly looks forward to celebrating the success of the team and takes ownership of problems to alleviate pressure from an already often worn out staff. S/he consistently has gatherings outside of school and creates a family of educators that truly and sincerely care about each other. So even when the highly organized and efficient administrator who has transparent systems and protocols fails, the "family" quickly picks up the broken pieces and repairs the system so there is no disruption to the business of the school.

When it comes to students, this excellent administrator expects and demands exemplary performance from all youth. S/he creates mantras and expressions that all students recite and understand and plays meditator between students and the larger school community. He inspires and coaches students to reach their full potential, warmly greeting and learning each and every student in the building. Students trust his or her judgement and feel safe and secure in the building as a result of his/her presence and systems that are in place.

S/he brings best practices, both nationally, locally, and more importantly, recognizes the techniques, tools and resources that are taking place right in the classroom, in the community, with families and students all the time. Teachers and staff begin to feel valued beyond the work that they do just in the school but they feel valued as human beings. In this way, accountability, although deeply embedded in structured protocols, also lives in the lives in the hearts and minds of all who are in the quest towards achieving greatness for all students.

The Qualities it Takes to Be an Outstanding Teacher

An outstanding teacher deeply and truly cares about each and every students. One must build outstanding and passionate relationships with each and every one of your students, even the ones that prove to be difficult or can give the teacher a hard time. It is the job as a teacher to reach each and every single student in your classroom. Whether that is through telling personal stories of both triumphs and failures, or relating to youth through pop culture, or attending students sporting events, each and every student must understand and feel that one truly and deeply has their best interest at heart. The teacher is there to change and impact lives and souls. This is perhaps, the most important skill or attribute and at the same time the most difficult one to master. While there is no specific training or module that one can study, teachers must be able to relate to students on their level, which is often just being human, vulnerable, open, funny, and model behavior in which others wish to aspire to. If students understand that you truly care about them as individuals then they will clearly see that the classroom is a place where respect, truth and power are shared rather kept in the hands of one single solitary person.

In this way, classroom management is one in which everyone shares in and values. The teacher, while is certainly the one guiding and motivating and inspiring, s/he does not have to do it in a way that uses threats or consequences, but rather positive reinforcement and acknowledging and celebrating student successes. The ability to create a warm and positive classroom environment, allows for true and natural learning to take place on personal as well as social and academic levels. A teacher in a real sense must have that unique ability to both see students where they are and meet them there and also see their potential and where they need to go. The teacher must be a motivator and a counselor, and create a classroom of high expectations, understanding, and preparing youth for college, careers and life long learning. Teachers must be advocates for youth and at the same time, challenge, inspire and motivate all students to exemplary performance in all areas of their lives.

An outstanding teacher has a deep understanding of both content and real world experiences. The teacher structures the classroom as a place of organization and breaks down larger concepts and ideas into smaller and manageable knowledge. The teacher uses an interdisciplinary approach consistently linking content in the classroom with other subjects. An outstanding teacher uses what kids are learning in the classroom and ties it to the community, the world and neighborhoods in way that engages students to learn. This content and work then contributes to students being prepared for college and for life as the teacher consistently ties in college prep work as much as possible. A rigorous experience both inside the classroom and outside of it encourages students to come alive. Students in this teacher’s classroom are active, contributing members of their community and their work improves conditions for others.

An outstanding teacher contributes to the overall culture of the school and cares about the well being of all students in the school. This teacher also collaborates well with other teachers, discussing on how to reach particular students, cross-curricular opportunities, and reaches out to parents regularly to acknowledge positive student work. At staff meetings, he or she contributes to conversations and assist the administration in ensuring that policies and procedures best suite the entire school community. This outstanding in all ways conducts professionalism, passion and a high level of integrity to ensure that all youth receive an exemplary education.

Film as a Tool for Teacher Training and Development

Reflecting and thinking about my own upbringing as a classroom teacher, and aligning this with my most recent work over the past few weeks of capturing footage in six, very unique middle and high school classrooms, I began to ask myself a simple yet powerful question: Did I or have I been privy to, in my own development as a high school teacher watch flims on exemplary teaching and learning in the classroom? After some self-discussions, and reflection, I came to the solid conclusion, that very little if almost none of my development as a professional was done with film. With the exception of some footage from Big Picture, that focused on the days and lives of an advisor (which as you can see I still remember) the opportunity to view and reflect and to enhance my own craft was void of any such film. Recording the classroom is a particulary powerful experience for all involved. For teachers, it creates obvious anxiety, for many reasons the most prominent of them all, centering around the fact that practioners are not certain about what is the intent and use of such footage. Perhaps, for many teachers who volunteer and open their classrooms, it is simply a way for the administration to evaluate and critique and perhaps, even negatively assess practice. It is a very highly personal experience and for the six brave souls that allowed me into their classrooms, their responses either prior to, or shortly after the conclusion of the experience certainly led me to think this way. One teacher stated that "she was up all night" trying to review and become familiar with new material. Another teacher straight up asked, "Now, what is the footage being used for?" In this role, I become a sales person and a carrier of the professional learning community touch all in one. I try to ease fears and stay in the background of the classroom. For students, at least the ones that I was in the classroom with, were pretty open and naturally free about the footage, from what I could tell. Of course, there is the possibility that students are not normally that well behaved, but I would venture to argue that these were normal days. For some students, it was visibly clear that they did not want to be on camera and some even gave off a very negative vibe of being recorded. For myself, as the video camera man, it made me think that I was capturing some very powerful experiences and that I should respect and honor all that I was to capture. Nevertheless, the purpose of writing about film as a tool for teacher training and development is simple: if we are to improve our practice and learn from each other, then we must begin to examine and view film on exemplary, mediocre, and poor teaching and be able to know and learn the difference. When I was in high school, and literally obsessed on becoming the next great Division I Basketball Player (I received a few offers but not D-1!), I received a tip from one of my peers that I should literally record, study and memorize basketball games with my favorite players. Can I tell you to this day I still remember the explosive cross-over and behind the back moves from when I was a youngster? I was able to review, and see, and observe and then practice over and over again, until my moves became second nature and when I arrived on the court, at full speed, I made moves and became a Honorable Mention Basketball Player for my high school divison. Now, video footage is not the silver bullet, however, if we infuse high quality footage of teaching and learning, particularly of teachers in urban areas, and structure a process that infuses such practice into the classroom, then we are providing the structure for teachers to hone their craft, see exemplary teaching, and make those same moves when they are on their own basketball "courts," their classrooms, and students become beneficiaries of this knowledge exchange.

The Black Male and Education

Perhaps, with the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, the Civil Rights Act, and the election of the first African American President, Black folk, particulary, Black men have achieved a certain level of accomplishment in this racist, capitalist society that has been built on the blood and backs of slaves. Statistically, our current state for many of our young black brothers is in a state of emergency, perhaps, far beyond anything worse than what slaves or activists have suffered in the past. Today, nearly 1 in 5 young men of color who enter high school as freshmen graduate from high school, many of whom are living in urban centers that resemble colonialized nations. Young black men aged 16-34 number one cause of death is homicide, followed by death by AIDS. The black middle class that was emerging in the middle 90's has shrunk largely due to outsourcing, and the burgeoning middle class in India. All these factors lead us to the "back to basics" movement which largely argues that in order to reverse this alarming trends, that equitable education, providing experience and training to young black men, will close and eventually eliminate this gap and create a society where everyone truly does have an equal opportunity to achieve and live a life of value. Unfortunately, the 21st Century, with all of its new inventions, rapid technology advances, and globalization, have placed a new twist on how to best meet the needs of our young men. Intertwined with these challenges, is a society that conveys messages to young people, particulary black men, that they are to fit into a particular mode, to be accepted and to achieve success; these messages prompted by mainstream white America is fueled by profits. Education has a challenging task; to combat these notions of inferiority and limitations, and perhaps, begin to create a new identity for colonized black men living in a country who still profits from their "blackness." For many of our young black men, we are fighting an almost impossible battle, because on one an environment and culture that is deeply rooted and respected becomes diametrically opposed to whatever other form it may encounter, including, education. If we can begin to change the identify of young men, and deal with the multiple issues that come from living in urbanized areas in the 21st Century, then and only then can we really "educate."

Network Collaboration

In order to effectively build small networks of schools, practioners must be willing to accept the fact that there is no silver bullet; development must come through actively facilitating and leading educators across the country in action research, peer reviews and observations and collaboratively creating tools and processess' that address the most pressing issues in education. As student drop-outs are on the rise, dedicated and experienced educators will have to take a leading role in school leadership but schools and organizations often time do not create a pipeline for emerging leaders to take charge. It is essential for networks to develop that strong leadership, deeply rooted in the experiences of the school community, can reach out to others in networks to share resources and act as critical friends. The school district and it's board must encourage this collaboration and invite as many critical friends into the fold so our young people can be reap the benefits.