I used the eight week Fulbright experience as my professional internship.  Those eight weeks were very intense since I spent one week in 6 schools in various parts of the country. The other two weeks were spent presenting staff development activities for the Alianza, the agency that sponsors English language and culture classes throughout the country.  I chose bilingual education to be the topic to address in the workshops I gave to the participants, who were Uruguayan English teachers .  I chose this topic because the Ministry of Education had decided to establish dual language programs in the new schools that were being started to address the needs of high poverty areas.  Dual language was a buzz-phrase that was heard in academic circles and I wanted to get their understanding of what it meant.  I also felt that it was an area of expertise that was not represented by the other Fulbright participants.

     For more information about the internship experience, reflections specifically on the summer, please click on the link above.

 

     When I returned to my school in the fall of 2003, my job had changed.  My principal asked me to take a new position, Instructional Support Team facilitator.  Neither she nor I understood what the position entailed but I accepted and then tried to find out what I would be doing.  I found out that the position was funded for three years under a grant under the district office of Special Education.

     Instructional Support Teams (IST), also known as Instructional Consultation Teams (IC teams) were begun in Virginia (VDOE) in 1999 with a small number of model school sites around the state.  My school district works closely with Prince William County Schools for training in an initiative called VA IST (Virginia Instructional Support Teams).  The goal of IST is to enhance, improve and increase student and staff performance.  The IST provides staff development in the school through collaborative problem solving , modeling of strategies and interventions and coaching teachers who need assistance with an individual student or with the entire class.  IST also provides student intervention through a collaborative problem solving process that includes assessment, problem identification, data collection, intervention implementation and evaluation.  For more information about IST in Virginia (VA IST) or about Instructional Consultation Teams (IC teams from Un. of Maryland) these websites will give you the philosophy behind the process and an idea of the training that IST facilitators go through.  Here is a Powerpoint that will give you some understanding of IST. (IST process)

     Implementation of the IST is approximately a three year process.  This is my second year at the team facilitator.  The first year, or Phase I,  consists of intense training and practice in collaborative problem solving for the facilitator.  The second year the facilitator builds a school-based team and trains the team in collaborative problem solving.  That is what I am doing now in my school.  I also provide monthly staff development sessions for the teaching staff and issue a weekly newsletter with teaching strategies and answers to professional questions that staff members pose. 

     Here is a description taken directly from the VA IST brochure:
 

     My goals this year in my position is to build a team that will be ready to start working with the teaching staff by the beginning of 2005, begin training of new members for the team in February and have all staff members familiar with the IST process and comfortable accessing the team by the end of the school year.  I am also trying to set up an on-line strategy site so that staff can go directly to the site for quick reference for intervention strategies for reading, writing, math and behavior problems.  Because of my lack of technical expertise, this project may take more than this school year.

     Outside my position as IST, I volunteered to be the school's representative on the district's Staff Development Council.  On the council, I am in a small working group designated to publish a description of the characteristics of a 'professional development community'.  In the school I serve on a committee of two to assess staff needs for staff development and either design the sessions or find someone who can address their needs.  Presently I am working on a workshop for teaching reading and writing to English language learners and one on non-member training for IST. 

     As part of staff development, I have offered Quickie workshops that consist of a Powerpoint presentation and a follow-up activity.  Some of the Quickies are:  Reading strategy: Pocket words,  Vocabulary strategies: Developing Velcro,  Another activity that I have started is to read and synthesize books on strategies or any issue that pertains to our school's population.  Last month I presented a brief presentation on Word Choice, a book that addressed a number of concerns that I had based on my classroom observations.  The premise of the book is that teachers need to be aware of the words they use with students because what teachers say and what students hear could very well be different.  (Word Choice)
 

     I was honored by a call from Dr. Levy asking me if I would teach EDUC 516 in the summer of 2004 in the FASTTRAIN program at the Arlington campus.  I was also asked by Roberta Schlicher from VDOE if I would consider teaching EDUC 600 that same summer. Luckily the dates did not conflict and I taught both courses. 
 

     EDUC 600 (syllabus)

     EDCI   516 (syllabus)

     I am almost finished with my coursework.  I have enjoyed almost every minute of the process and now I want to continue to see the process to its end.  I have discovered that I enjoy delving into scholarly material and trying to see how it all fits together.  What I see as my strengths are: an intellectual curiosity, an optimistic nature (that keeps me going).  Practically speaking, I have a job that allows me to use what I am learning in both bilingual education and also in trying to effect change. I am a people-person with strong interpersonal skills.

     Here goes with the 'needs':  I need to be more critical in my thinking.  I'm learning but I still have the first impression that if it is published, it must be the truth.  I need to know where I am going in my research so that I can focus.  I am still very broad in my reading and research interests.  I need to concentrate on being a better writer so that my writing, especially technical writing, is concise and to the point.  (with a strong thesis, well stated).  My memory betrays me more that I would like to admit so I have to do things more than once and read articles more than once to remember them. I don't always get the main ideas of articles and have to struggle with them.  And, I get very flustered when I have to orally produce original thought.  So, I need to relax when I have to explain myself.
     
     That is where I am.  I am working on my 'needs'.  My strengths will get me through. (God willing!)