1

Running head: DIRECT LOG WEEK THREE

Lindsay Gigous
DIRECT Log Week Three
Drexel University
EDUC 827: Superintendent Internship: Curriculum Models
July 10, 2016

Describe
This semester I finally have had time to start researching in order to create documents for
the district I am interning in. Not working in the district has been a difficult situation for me, as I
dont have much investment in the day to day happenings that occur there. However, last
semester proved to be a unique one, with the district having a student death as the result of a
bullying situation that stemmed with online threats. Because of this, my mentor and I discussed
how it would be helpful to have one page handouts to provide for parents at the new student
orientation or back to school nights in the fall, since this is a major parental concern now in the
district. This has become my task, and I have begun researching studies and finding tips to
include on these one page handouts. I have also been engaged in this process by viewing
webinars related to communication with parents, which is another task that my mentor suggested
to me: finding a way for parents to connect with their children and monitor their online behavior.
This is all new to me, as my specialized area of education has always been early childhood and
elementary education, where students generally do not have as much freedom online or do not
engage in group settings in an online venue, such as chat, message boards, social media, etc.
Identify
The ISLLC standard that I feel is most relevant to this situation is Standard 4: A school
administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of every student by
collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interests
and needs, and mobilizing community resources. The Drexel competency that this opportunity
allowed me to develop was organizational ability.
Reflect

This task, while important to the members of the community in the district that I am
interning in, is also important to my professional growth. Not only am I learning how to respond
to the needs of the district, something that I will want to do in my future as an administrator, but
I am also honing my research skills, which is the next phase of my doctoral program that I will
enter come fall. Additionally, throughout this practice, I am also gaining organizational skills,
which is the competency that I wanted to work on this semester, as I am truly dealing with a
large volume of paperwork at this current time in preparing my dissertation and revising work
related curriculum decisions. Although these are not all internship-related, I am starting to
experience what the workload will be like when I become an administrator, which is very heavy,
with many areas of interest occurring at the same time. I feel as though this task is equally
important to the other tasks that are actual things that have deadlines and are of value to my own
life, so although this is a service, I am giving it equal attention to my other priorities. Part of
being a good leader is knowing what should take priority, what can be delegated, and what can
be put off until a later time. Giving me additional tasks to complete allows me to start to learn
how to make these organizational decisions, which will help me in the long run. One of my
major anxieties right now is how the next year will look with my dissertation planning and
execution, so this is an important skill to master now. I feel as though designing handouts for the
district will show that I am working towards my organizational ability in a long term capacity,
which will help me not only in my professional growth for my career but also in preparation for
the next year when I conduct my dissertation research, all of which will operate on my own
designated timeline.
Evaluate & Connect

In looking at the felt need that existed of my lack of experience with management, I sat
down and created a timeline and list of daily events that I will need to complete over the summer
by looking at all of my course calendars, my personal calendar, and the district calendar. I was
able to prioritize, which took some rearrangement but really allowed me to make decisions that
had me look at alternative options and weigh out the best choice. I do believe I utilized my
resources effectively within this internship situation by proactively anticipating my personal
needs based on my schedule and others schedules. Although not in a district scale, this act of
organization and the beginning of the design and research has allowed me to realize how I will
need to organize my own thoughts when I become an administrator. In this process, I am also
learning that a lot of information is not on what I would consider to be a parent level of reading.
The research is helpful for me to read from a researchers perspective, but I will need to turn this
into more of a practical tip sheet language in order for parents to find it useful. This reminds of
me the Parents and Schools class that I took last semester when we discussed how
communication is key in these relationships, but so is knowing how to say things to each
audience. I know that I need to approach these handouts in a way that makes theme useful and
not just another paper to ignore or throw away. This is important to remember as I continue along
in my internship and in my future career-how to talk to each stakeholder.
Toward New Actions
My next steps in this situation include actually carrying out the timeline with the planned
activities and continuing to gather information and design the handouts. I plan to consult with the
district staff to see if there are any set formats that are traditionally used so that my handouts are
similar to what parents and students typically receive. Additionally, since I have started thinking
about language and how to communicate with various stakeholders, I think I will also consult

this semester with the Public Relations Coordinator for the district. Last semester, she was very
busy talking to the press about the situation with the student death, but now in the summer, I
think her schedule will allow her to have a little more time to chat with me, so I will consult with
my mentor and then with her if that is agreeable. I am very glad to have so many resources to
utilize as I create these documents this summer.

Hours Log
7/4/16 (3 hours)
One Page Handout Research
Completed discussion board
Weekly readings
7/5/16 (2 hours)
Completed DIRECT log
Total Hours Completed This Week: 5
Total Hours Completed This Summer: 34/100
Total Hours For All Internships: 238.5