Personal+Professional+Development

=Personal Professional Development To Do= =Skills to Improve=
 * What do I want in a education program?
 * [|Dept of Ed -- Doing What Works]
 * American Society for Curriculum and Development (ASCD)
 * ASCD starting page - []
 * ASCD online media - []
 * ASCD teaching blog - []
 * On Web site also search for "Mining the Research" -- new studies related to each month's topics.
 * [|Institute for Educational Services Practice Guides] (recommendation from people at IRA) as one of the starting points -- looks like great in-depth materials for RtI and other issues
 * IRA starting page - [|www.reading.org], [|archive of IRA journals], [|search pubs]
 * [|Educational Leadership articles]
 * NSTA [|Learning Center], [|Scientific Principals]
 * Documents to read, take notes, and then move
 * [|What Works -- Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary Classroom]
 * [|Classroom Assessment]
 * Different state tests for elementary:[|NY], [|VA],

Communication

 * Email
 * How to deal with difficult students, parents, staff members, and others
 * Be confident in what I'm doing, communicate what/why, hear opposing points of view, resolve differences
 * Self Improvement Newsletter (Loughran 6/22/2009): Make being an observer of yourself a habit. Slow down enough to notice your body's physical and emotional cues her and assess their relevance and respond appropriately. Practice. If you aren't getting the results you want or having the relationships you'd like, pay close attention to people's reaction to you. Then, create a habit of observing yourself just as you observe others.
 * Documentation: Need to document issues with employees, such as discipline, counseling, complaints, and termination.
 * Create close to time of incident, date, employees full name, signature if possible.
 * Clear (not ambiguous), expectations (performance standards, policies, procedures, standards) and behavior that must change, action plan with timeline and goals and potential consequences.
 * Have employee write their version or include it.
 * Complete follow up (result of action plan).

Empathy

 * I am an empathetic person, but sometimes I get overly affected by the problems of others. Here is a statement from Heather T. Forbes, Feb 6, 2009 Newsletter: //**It is not up to us to make this person better**. The reality is that we cannot change or fix another person. We can surround them with support; we can love them unconditionally, free of judgment or control; we can set appropriate boundaries, and we can align with their pain. Yet in doing this, it is **still ultimately up to them to make their life work**.// I put on my own bold parts for me to remember.

Networking

 * [|Art of Networking]: Aided by desire to get to know other people and the intention to establish a relationship. Use network for friendship, advice or assistance. Start with people you already know - ask questions to learn more about them, go early to meetings and events.

Management

 * [|Conflict or Consensus] - Some conflict is healthy in an organization (C cognitive - ideas, processes to teach). Other conflict can be unhealthy (A affective - she/he knows more, is better/worse, who does he think he is, she doesn't care about the kids).
 * How can I help/hold employees accountable for taking responsibility of success for our organization?
 * [|humanresources.about.com - resource for a lot of management issues]
 * Link with business world
 * Management of documents
 * [|5 secrets of high achievers] (article about taking control and not letting others get you down)
 * [|Ventures for Excellence] - Hiring (recommended by Mike Holmes)

Leadership
=Personal Goals for GCS=
 * CoBiz leaders need to adapt article - Leaders often do not recognize that they may need to behave differently because of the environmental changes around them.