Frostburg State University

Form 002

Intern Amber Shingler

Administration and Supervision

Self-Assessment of Final Practicum
Your internship has been a total experience that included not only yourself, but also all of
the staff, administration, students, parents, and community members who participated in
some way in projects of your implementation. Also, you might consider all of the individuals
you were required to deal with as you conducted the internship duties and responsibilities.
For example, discipline problems would normally involve students, teachers, and parents at
a minimum. As you attended to such discipline problems, you would be engaged in trying
to facilitate among the needs of all individuals. Given this back-drop, provide answers to
the following questions regarding your internship practicum experience.
1. Was your internship effective? Did it meet all of the goals and objectives as stated in
your Planning Guide?
In answering this question fully, consider the use of such instrumentation as:
a. Pre- and post-surveys to determine outcomes of staff development training
b. Observation checklists to determine if students were behaving in the ways
expected by the school and the community
c. Interview schedules to determine parent and community opinions about the
need for a change or the impact of a change
d. Data from standardized tests and measures to determine how well students
have learned over a given period of time in given subject areas.

Yes, the internship was successful. Every core activity was completed as well as additional
activities that allowed documentation for each element under the core standards. Staff were
able to pass post assessments from professional development trainings that were sent directly
to MSDE. My growth of understanding of each standard and element in relation to the job
description, evaluation tool and everyday responsibilities has increased significantly.

2. Did your internship projects meet the specific needs of all of the individuals who
participated? Where Question #1 focuses on the project goals and objectives of your
internship, this question focuses on the needs of individual participants. How well do
you believe individual participants needs were met throughout your internship?

Anecdotal feedback from PDs indicated positive results. During the Learning
Parties, parents provided positive feedback. Last year, during the coaching initiative, the
Director of HCC Learning Center provided high praise for the initiative and positive results
for both staff and student. The professional development survey results were shared with the
principal. She responded that it was good food for thought going into planning for next school
year. My preschool collaboration partner has expressed all year long how much shes
appreciated our time together and has valued the feedback. She was hopeful that it would
continue next year. When I coordinated preschool visits for an incoming student, the parent

thanked me several times afterwards.

3. Did your internship help to bring about meaningful organizational change in your
school building? Many times internship projects are designed to facilitate the
development and implementation of new programs either for the delivery of
instructional services to students of to help in the management of the organization.
Did your internship facilitate such conditions at the building level? One important way
to determine the answer to this question is to investigate whether or not your
internship projects had an impact on the buildings mission and /or vision statements
regarding schooling. Was learning positively affected by your work?

As part of the leadership team, we have brought about organizational change over the past two
years. The Think Tank model has allowed a more focused professional development model
and the ability to move the program forward with two new initiatives. My goal for the parent
involvement proposal is to facilitate more positive interactions between parents and their
children. If the plan is successful, developmentally appropriate learning will increase with our
students. The professional development for the Child Outcomes Summary which is through
MSDE has positively impacted student learning. By facilitating the process through the IEP
it allows parents and staff to have a more functional view of the child.
4. Did your internship help to bring about meaningful organizational change in the school
district? There have been times when an internship project has been piloted at a
building site with the intention that, if judged to be effective, the district or the division
would have considered adapting it at other sites. In this way a pilot project could have
an impact on the organizational change of an entire district or division. How close did
your internship come to enjoying such an impact on the district or division? In refining
your answer to this question with an interest of establishing a broader base t it,
consider reviewing the districts or the divisions mission statement or board of
education annual reports on their goals to the community.

As a part of the leadership team who helps facilitate the Think Tank model, MSDE is
considering our format as an example to other counties. Though the coaching model and RBI
implementation, as a county, we have made huge strides compared to other counties according to
MSDE. Im proud to be a part of the leadership team to support our systems change. RBIs will
also be expanding into Funkstown Elementary next school year.
5. Did your internship experience provide project participants an opportunity to have
input on the overall assessment of the experience? Did you give staff members,
parents, students, and community members an opportunity to let you know how they
think your internship affected the district or the division, the building, and the
instructional programs?

Due to my internship being spread over many schools including the B-5 program and across the
past two school years, my main source of input has been Mariam Robins. She is a member of
the leadership team and has helped the team facilitate the systems change and growth over the
past two years. She has indicated that my coaching skills with colleagues to master new skills is

admirable.

6. Identify your efforts to bring members of different groups together to work on

achieving similar goals and objectives.

Through the leadership team, Ive continued to model and support new initiatives to move the
program forward. I utilize a positive approach, coaching skills and a high level of effort to
collaborate and make decisions for the students on my caseload. I try to listen to everyones
ideas and perspectives to help bring the group to a consensus. Its also important to understand
when a compromise might be the best solution.
7. Identify strategies used to engage members from different constituents in the project
work. Examples of such constituents include but are not limited to these: parents,
senior citizens, and local government figures.

The learning parties were held during their childs learning session to allow parents to easily
participate. We ensured that drinks and snacks were provided. In the parent proposal I plan
to use social media to help keep parents easily engaged with the B-5 team. Throughout the IEP
process we are continually seeking parent input through evaluations, the COS process and RBIs.

8. Name or identify types of planning strategies utilized in your project work.

When planning, I kept prioritized lists of to dos which ranged from action items to contacting
various staff members (principals, Director of Special Education, Director of Elementary etc.).
I was consistently referring back to my tools such as the list of core activities, Blackboard and
lists. I prioritized items to ensure that enough time was given for each activity. I used Google
surveys to elicit and compile PD and collaboration survey results.
9. Name or identify ways by which your internship experience might have made it clear to
you that local issues can confront us with barriers to change.

The first experience that comes to mind is the community and BOE not agreeing to a Downtown
Learning Hub. Theres a stigma towards downtown Hagerstown and programming that does
not serve every student but a select group of students. Also, in B-5, we are confronted with
the crisis of drugs and societal shift in parenting. This greatly impacts our daily work and we
are attempting to problem solve ways to reach our parents.