Re: Ok, this is a learning opportunity for you

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1. When you are going to try something new, write it up and
include amount of time spent teaching/reviewing/evaluating it.
Basically - do a lesson plan. Get it approved by the admin.
That way, he/she/they will not be blindsided when the call comes
in. You didn't mean to, but you left the administrator without
information. That's why you're getting the stop light.
2. Second, procedures as the major objective go in the first
days of class, normally. That's ok - everyone, including
parents, understand students are coming in, getting the
paperwork done, pre-testing. They normally are in place before
starting the work of the semester. Your situation sounds as if
you started the semester on content and then switched to
teaching procedures - so the students were thrown off course and
reported to the parents and the parents are now wondering when
the real work is going to resume. If your students weren't
particularly bad, parents are wondering why change boats in the
stream.

Your administrator or an experienced teacher would have
said, "Don't stop regular work - spend a litle time every day on
this new stuff." It's very possible you WERE doing exactly
that. Or not....again, administrator couldn't protect you,
because he didn't know.
3. So, what to do to fix??????
a. Get the principal knowedgeable on Harry Wong. Easiest,
quickest? Borrow one the videos and ask him to watch 1/2 of
one.
b. Pull together an overall plan of 5 things you want students
to do by Christmas. Show those to admin and get their sign on.
Write a quick note to parents - tell them the 5 skills and that
the whole class will add these to the regular work. Tell the
students they are working on the five skills. Do one at a time
and get it down solid. Don't introduce all of them. It may
take a day for one, 2 weeks for another, 2 days for the third.
You are learning to teach procedures; students are learning to
do procedures.
c. Give the principal and the parents updates: We've mastered 1
and 2. We're about to master 3 and begin 4. We're ahead of
schedule! I'm very pround of every student for mastering these
life skills.
d. Keep going. You can do this. And, when the principal sees
your classes ARE better, he'll be more interested in learning
more.

Be at peace - you are changing the culture of the school - one
class at a time. Sometimes the rocks are buried deep and it
takes some digging to start them rolling.  

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