Florida Principal Competencies

Competency 1

Proactive Orientation

In control and taking responsibility for action

I addressed this competency by creating an informal brochure for leaders that includes information and tips on how and why to plan an in-service program. I believe this could be valuable to many businesses, organizations, or schools.

(link to In-Service brochure)

Competency 2

Decisiveness
Readiness to make decisions and commit to action

I have addressed this competency through many avenues. Deciding on and implementing an assignment plan for an online graphics class was often fun as well as frustrating. Not only did I need to choose an appropriate project for the class – but it had to be 1) on level with the students’ abilities. 2) A design that had steps I could demonstrate with words and pictures 3) A way I could do all this online.

Each week I would choose the project – and put the assignment plan into action. I would catch each step as an image as the design was created. Then I would edit the images, and incorporate explicit instructions with the images on a web page. Often during these preparation stages, I would realize the difficulty in either design or instructions and have to make a decision to change the project or find another way to illustrate and instruct with the original. Each week was a new challenge.

Competency 3

Commitment to School Mission -
Holds set of values about the school

I have addressed this competency through my volunteer activities. Along with other dedicated individuals – several of whom I personally recruited – we developed an organization with a government consisting of 12 committees. One is an advisory committee, where more seasoned participants bring their guidance, connections, and expertise to our board. Each of the 12 committees (including the advisory committee) has a chairperson that sits on the board. This board has developed our vision and mission and also takes on the responsibility of facilitating growth for our organization and staying in – line with the mission. Our mission is to support and educate young astrologers as a commitment to the larger astrological community. Each decision and action we take for growth reflects back on the mission. We take our commitment to the mission very seriously. As volunteers, we have no paycheck, and many of us work with only our free time. That is true dedication ?

[www.youngastrologers.org]

Competency 5

Information Search
Gather information before reaching conclusion

I have addressed this competency many times as a student. One of the recent projects I have done is about the advantages of story telling as a teaching tool. I have always loved stories of all kinds, but only through this research, did I realized how important it is as a tool. As part of my project, I wrote a summarized essay and created an activities booklet that included many story telling activities teachers could use as well as many online links for them to discover on their own or find out more.

(link to summary – essay)

(download activities booklet - word document)

Competency 6

Concept Formation
Able to form a hypothesis based on info from many sources

I have addressed this competency as a case study and in relation to another competency. For competency 1 – Pro-Active Orientation, I developed a workbook of information and tips for in-service programs. At a local business, where my mother works, they held an in-service mandatory meeting. I interviewed several employees and managers about the meeting – what they liked and did not like about them. I inquired about the purpose for the meeting and how they could make it better. From these interviews, I learned that this particular company holds quarterly meetings and they are important for the management to keep in touch with employees and relay any information that is imperative. The management hopes that these meetings will motivate employees to meet goals and make improvements where needed. With review of the reality of the meeting – I hypothesized that I may be able to show them ways they could make improvements and work with them to formulate an improvement plan. I will present them with this assessment and my brochure and hope to help them for future meetings.

Competency 9

Persuasiveness
Able to motivate others to take specific action

As also addressed in competency 3 - I work with a volunteer organization. This organization was founded on an idea and follow up by myself and a couple other people I knew. In October 2003, I attended a conference in Los Angeles, where I met a couple young men and we discussed that the astrology community was made up of primarily middle aged people. When I returned to Florida after the conference, I emailed my new friends and suggested that we start something to help support and encourage young astrologers so we would not be so outnumbered. One of the young men started an email list forum where we could invite other friends and have discussions. We both invited people who invited people and so on. We were passionate about supporting young people in the community as well as attracting more. Soon the group grew large and a few stood out as extremely dedicated. This is where the committees, vision, and mission began to develop and our organization took form. I’m very proud that my idea became a reality and that I was a part of its development.

(link to www.youngastrologers.org)

Competency 10

Concern for Image
Show concern for the image of the school and manages these impressions and public information about the school

I addressed this competency through activism. In a women’s studies class, we organized and held an event called ‘Take Back The Night’. A rally and march to speak out about violence against women. My participation in the planning was promotions and fund raising. I contacted several people, organizations, and businesses to promote as well as invite many to participate with a booth. I compiled a list of contacts - and aimed for women-owned businesses and organizations that worked with women’s issues. The end result was fantastic – we had a good turn out with several booths and we were able to get all the supplies we needed and a small budget donated. Some of the organizations represented were Florida Resource Center for Women and Children, Planned Parenthood, and NOW. We had a self-defense demonstration and counselors on hand. We marched and we rallied and we had a lot of fun in an inspiring evening.

Competency 13

Management Control
Plans follow-up mechanisms to achieve standards of productivity

I addressed this competency by creating an information booklet which addresses follow up and on-going management.

(link to Management Control Booklet)

Competency 15

Organizational Ability
Creates plans and prioritizes to accomplish goals

I addressed this competency in relation to 1 and 6 – In 1) I developed an information brochure about in-service programs and in 6) I used a local business where my mother works as a case study and addressed their quarterly meetings. I followed this up with the development of an improvement plan that hopefully will help them have much more productive and inspiring meetings.

(link to Improvement Plan)

Competency 16

Delegation
Delegates authority and responsibility clearly and appropriately

I addressed this competency by creating an imaginative case study, showing both good and bad delegation examples and discussion.

(link to Delegation Case Study)