EDU 706 Field-Based Experience Journal/Log

Name: Sheena Strada

Site Name: Beeman Elementary School/Mt. Abraham Unified School District
Site Description: Elementary School/ School District
Location: New Haven, VT
Supervising Mentor Name: Catrina DiNapoli
Summary of Leadership Responsibilities: Organizing and instituting an inaugural family
outreach night (“Literacy Night”) compliant with Title 1A parental involvement guidelines.

Record of Field-Based Experience Hours

Week Dates Hours Major Activities

1 10/21/2019- 10 ● Initial planning meeting with principal and

10/25/2019 literacy coach
● Called town public library and invited librarian
to participate in event.
● Reached out to district food service co-
operative requesting quote
● Prepared to attend PTO meeting by creating
informational poster publicising event
● Completed catering order for district food
service co-operative
● Completed procurement process related to
materials order
● Connected with mentor regarding plans for the
event
● Put out request for volunteers

2 10/28/2019- 12 ● Attended PTO meeting

11/1/2019 ● Submitted order to central office for purchase
order and ordering; Collaborated with central
office staff to ensure correctness of order
● Met with coach and literacy interventionist to
determine finer details of parent informational
sessions
● Connected with PTO regarding publicity and
donations
● Met with representatives of the faculty to plan
and divide responsibilities for event
● Connected with mentor re: language of the
Title 1 grant

3 11/4/2019- 9 ● Publicized event

 11/8/2019 ● Connected with town librarian re:
library/community relationships
● Created parent sign-in sheet, submitted
catering order, secured spaces in building
● Connected with mentor

4 11/11/2019- 11 ● Collaborative planning sessions with literacy

11/15/2019 coach
● Continued to work on parent informational
sessions
● Met with mentor
● Met with principal to share planning details
and solicit his feedback

5 11/18/2019- 16 ● Met with mentor

11/22/2019 ● Finalized list of volunteers and their
responsibilities; shared this information with
volunteers
● Received delivery of books and literacy
games; ensured all materials had been
delivered and signed for
● Set up event, co-hosted event, cleaned up
event
● Created feedback survey for faculty
volunteers
● Created feedback survey for parent attendees

6 11/24/2019- 1 ● Thank you cards to facilities staff

11/25/2019 ● Thank you emails to volunteers, faculty and
town librarian
● Sent feedback survey to volunteers

7 12/2/2019- 12 ● Collated and analyzed feedback from families

12/6/2019 & staff volunteers
● Synthesize reflections, planning, and
materials to inform future events
● Met with literacy coach to capture thoughts
and feedback to inform future events

8 12/9/2019- 9 ● Share feedback from both surveys with

12/13/2019 principal, mentor, and school’s literacy coach
(scheduled) ● Deconstruct experience with principal
● Deconstruct experience with mentor

Total Hours: 80
Detailed Record

Week: 1 Activities: PSEL Standards:

● Event planning meeting with principal and ● 8g
literacy coach
● Invited town librarian to participate ● 8b; 8j
● Reached out to district food service co- ● 8g
operative requesting quote
● Created a spreadsheet of initial supply order ● 8g
after brainstorming meeting with principal
and coach; searched/shopped for packages
of new paperback books and literacy-based
games; adjusted draft supply order after
learning of reduced budget; completed
procurement process related to materials ● 8g
order
● Re-connected with principal and coach ● 8e
regarding adjusted supply order
● Prepared to attend PTO meeting by creating ● 8g
informational poster publicising event
● Completed catering order for district food ● 8g
service co-operative
● Connected with mentor regarding plans for ● 8g
the event
● Put out request for volunteers ● 8g

Activities Reflection:

Much of the work this week was administrative in preparation for the event. I look forward to
addressing additional elements of standard 8 in the coming weeks.

PSEL Analysis:

The administrative work this week was to prepare to open the school to families, which
seemed to me to fall under standard 8g, as much of the work I was doing was related to
“develop[ing] and provid[ig] the school as a resource for families and the community.”

Week: 2 Activities: PSEL Standards:

● Attended PTO meeting ● 8a, 8b
● Completed additional procurement; ● 8g
submitted order to central office for purchase
order and ordering; collaborated with central
office staff to ensure correctness of order;
made edits to order to replace out of stock
 items
● Collaborated with literacy coach to ● 8g
create and divide a to-do list; scheduled a
planning meeting with coach and literacy
interventionist; met with coach and literacy
interventionist to determine finer details of
parent informational sessions; shared
pertinent details of grant language with
coach
● Confirmed the extent of town ● 8b; 8j
librarian’s participation
● Re-connected with PTO regarding ● 8a; 8b
publicity and donations
● Met with representatives of the ● 8g
faculty to plan and divide responsibilities for
event
● Connected with mentor regarding ● 8e
language of the Title 1 grant and how this
particular school uses Title 1 funding

Activities Reflection:

In week 2 I was able to do a bit more related to actual community outreach, in meeting with
the PTO, confirming planning details with the town librarian, and working with faculty
members to plan parental information sessions.

PSEL Analysis:

I was able to address additional elements of standard 8 this week by taking the initial steps to
connect with the PTO and the town library. I’m excited to see these relationships grow in ways
that support this small school at a time when small schools in our county are closing due to
decreased enrollment.

Week: 3 Activities: PSEL Standards:

● Reached out to central office and the ● 8a
school’s front office to request information
publicizing event be posted on the district
and school social media pages and shared
with families.
● Connected with town librarian to learn more ● 8d
about the library’s relationship with the
community.
● Secured spaces for event in school building; ● 8g
contacted town to reserve cafeteria and gym
spaces
● Put out a second request for faculty ● 8g
volunteers
 ● Submitted catering order ● 8g
● Checked in with mentor ● 8e
● Created parent sign-in sheet for event, ● 8g
outlining how the school uses Title 1A funds

Activities Reflection:

Week three was heavy in administrative preparation. While an important element of preparing
the school to host the event, actual connection with the community was very limited this week.

PSEL Analysis:

These events mostly felt connected to standard 8g, in that they were related to preparing to
open the building to families.

Week: 4 Activities: PSEL Standards:

● Continued to work on parent informational ● 8g
sessions; researched ideas for parent
sessions on how to support reluctant
readers and how to read with your child
● Collaborative planning sessions with literacy ● 8g
coach
● Met with mentor ● 8j
● Met with principal to share planning details ● 8b
and solicit his feedback

Activities Reflection:

Similar to last week, week 4 was largely spent preparing for the event by creating the
informational session for parents and ensuring that event planning was on track.

PSEL Analysis:

The research into parent-friendly resources was the heavy lift this week, which again seemed
to fall under section g, develop and provide the school as a resource for families and the
community.

Week: 5 Activities: PSEL Standards:

● Created informational handouts for parents ● 8b
● Requested event advertising be republished ● 8a
on district Facebook and school website
● Met with mentor ● 8j
● Finalized list of volunteers and their
responsibilities; shared this information with
volunteers
 ● Received delivery of books and literacy ● 8g
games; ensured all materials had been
delivered and signed for
● Created event map for volunteers/facilities ● 8g
staff to explain how cafeteria and gym
should be set up
● Set up event, co-hosted event, cleaned up ● 8a, 8e, 8g, 8i
event
● Sent Title 1 sign-in sheets to central office ● 8g
● Created feedback survey for faculty ● 8c
volunteers
● Created feedback survey for parent ● 8c
attendees

Activities Reflection:

This was the week when all of the work and preparation came together and we held the first
ever literacy night at Beeman Elementary! We had 24 families in attendance, which I thought
was great for a school with 80 students. It was wonderful to see so many families come out in
the dark and the cold to engage in literacy-based games and activities. The storytime with the
town librarian was a hit, as were some of the games.

In the future I would make some adjustments, for sure, but for a first attempt I think this was a
success.

PSEL Analysis:

Family literacy night was when I truly understood the potential behind the title of Standard 8:
Meaningful Engagement of Families and Community. There are many ways to engage
families in the school experience, an evening event is just one of them. And if our family event
could be so well attended and students can be so excited for an hour long event, I think that
compels us to do more throughout the year to engage with families and the community at
large.

Week: 6 Activities: PSEL Standards:

● Thank you cards to facilities staff ● 8b
● Thank you emails to volunteers, faculty and ● 8b
town librarian
● Sent feedback survey to volunteers ● 8c

Activities Reflection:

This was Thanksgiving week, so we had two days of inservice and zero student days, which
meant that the amount of time I could spend was limited. But I wanted to be sure to thank the
people who made it possible and gather information from the faculty members who
volunteered.

PSEL Analysis:

While not specifically addressed in standard 8, I think showing gratitude to those who helped
make an event or project a success is an important element of leadership, as is seeking and
responding to feedback from faculty.

Week: 7 Activities: PSEL Standards:

● Collated and analyzed feedback from ● 8f
families
● Collated and analyzed feedback from staff ● 8c
volunteers
● Synthesize reflections, planning, and ● 8c
materials to inform future events
● Met with literacy coach to capture thoughts ● 8j
and feedback to inform future events and
debriefs with principal and mentor

Activities Reflection:

The ability to reflect on the event with others and to inform that reflection with information from
families and staff members in attendance felt like an important way to wrap up the experience.
While the event was overall a success, there are areas for improvement. The feedback from
parents was enlightening and the fact that they took the time to provide us such thoughtful
feedback on their way out the door says good things about the culture of the school.

PSEL Analysis:

Working with the feedback collected in week five, I’m finding myself wondering how to collect
more ongoing feedback from families about all (or at least more) aspects of the school
community and educational experience of children.

Week: 8 Activities: PSEL Standards:

● Shared feedback from both surveys with ● 8f, 8i
principal, mentor, and school’s literacy
coach ● 8e
● Deconstructed experience with principal ● 8e
● Deconstructed experience with mentor

Activities Reflection:

The experience of preparing to share the feedback and collaboratively reflect on it with the
school’s literacy coach and the principal allowed me to begin to consider other ways I can
support their extension of literacy as an integral piece of their school community.
PSEL Analysis:

Public schools exist to serve a community; we cannot properly serve a community without
building connections to and with community members. Schools do not exist in vacuums. They
are influenced by the community and the community is influenced by the school and the ways
children are educated and treated within its walls. A reciprocal relationship is important for the
health of both the school and the community.