Betsy Fera
New Year’s always seems like a great time to reflect on what has passed and look forward to what might be. Everyone around the world seems to look at the switch of a calendar year as being that “golden opportunity.” This year was no exception. As I thought back on the first semester, I reflected that it was a huge celebration that I survived! There were many curve balls thrown my way over the last few months. As I reflect on them, there were some things I would have changed, but for the most part I wouldn’t have gone back on any major decision that I made. The school is moving forward, and we are making progress in the right direction.
As I thought of the New Year’s resolutions there was one that hit the top of my list. I began getting a feeling of disconnection to the classrooms toward the end of the first semester. I was able to make some classroom visits, but many days I felt like I was stuck going through the business end part of running the school and losing touch with the educational part. I had been warned by many school administrators that this can easily happen and realized that it was beginning to happen to me. I talked with my Leadership Coach about this, and we came up with a plan to schedule visits like I had been scheduling meetings and then asking a colleague to hold me accountable to those visits.
So far the scheduling has worked well and I am increasing my time in the classrooms by observing an aspect of the educational process every day. There are so many positives that are happening with my being in the classrooms. I’m seeing the kids that I only saw to say hello to around the buildings now learning in the classroom. I’m able to ask them questions as we pass before or after school and make connections to what I saw in the classrooms. I’m able to see the teachers in action and talk with them about the learning that is happening. These conversations are informal but help me to remain connected to the educational side of being an administrator. They also help me keep a pulse on what is happening by seeing the week-to-week connection in the classrooms and plan where we need to go in the future. Education is always changing, and knowing some of the details of what is happening at the classroom level will help guide me in future decision making.
Every year resolutions are made, and many are broken. This is one resolution that I’ve seen great benefit from immediately and that I will strive not to break. In the upcoming weeks, I know this will be challenged as we take on our reenrollment process, budget work, contracts, and those unknown challenges still yet to surface. My resolution is to continue to prioritize and balance the business and education side without sacrificing either in the process.
With the start of the 2011-2012 school year, Betsy Fera begins her first year as Executive Director of Horizon Community Learning Center in Phoenix. She has previously worked as a teacher, Master Teacher, and Media Specialist at Horizon Community Learning Center. In the past few years, she was the TAP Systems Director for Arizona State University, working on education reform in the College of Education. She can be reached at betsy.fera@horizonclc.org.
