Becoming as Instructional Leader at Milford High School
Currently I am a Spanish Teacher at Milford High School in Highland Michigan. Milford High is a public school that is one of three high schools in the Huron Valley School District. Our school has approximately 1,500 students that come from very diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. In response to the diverse needs of our student population Milford High offers two hour blocked classes in core subjects for students who have been identified as needed extra time to pass certain subjects. I have supported this effort by managing an intervention program that provides study time and mentors for these students during our seminar hour on Wednesdays. Although this program does not have a hundred percent success rate it did help 15 students pass 2-4 classes that they otherwise would have failed. I believe that there is no blanket approach that will solve the issue of students failure. Multiple approaches must be taken in order to cater to the diverse needs that our students present to us. I have been an active member of the Steering Committee at Milford High, which exemplifies the PLC model in action. Together we have looked at student data that allows us to answer such questions as: How can we identify incoming freshman for two hour block classes? What skills do our students have the most trouble acquiring? All of these questions lead us to the next question; What are we going to do about it? I have been apart of creating policies that have addressed these issues.