KELLY DUNHAM

JANUARY 2014
200 HOUR INTERNSHIP
CUMULATIVE HOURS 34
ELCC STANDARD

MAJOR ACTIVITIES

STANDARD 1

RTI Webinar
Participated in 1:1 training with BOCES Staff Specialist for
RTI
Created community based survey for teachers and
distributed
Met with Home-to-School Coordinator for Community Project
Met with RTI Coordinator to start needs assessment
Read Driven By Data
Attended a faculty meeting - took minutes
Created RTI survey for teachers
Identified current RTI forms and processes
First meeting with teachers to look at RTI processes and
develop direction of RTI
Attended K-4 awards assembly
Worked with principal on assisting Speech Therapist with
scheduling issues
Created a plan to resolve Speech Therapists scheduling
issues
Worked with Speech Therapist to implement plan, worked
with many teachers to assist with adjustments
Met with 1:1 Aide that was not adhering to the dress code
Met with Union Representative regarding Speech Therapists
schedule
Met with Superintendent to resolve Speech Therapists
scheduling issue
Identified parent willing to help start PTO and identified
planning meeting
Met with parent, teacher and Home-to-School Coordinator
for PTO planning meeting

STANDARD 2

STANDARD 3

STANDARD 4

STANDARD 5
STANDARD 6

STANDARD 7

Met with administrator to review attendance

policies/procedures
Met with Home-to-School Coordinator and developed and
plan and schedule for meeting with high attendance rate
families
Developed Matrix, met with supervisor
Started over-arching community project - research

January 2014
Reflections / Comments:
RTI Developing a needs assessment for RTI, once administration mentioned that it was
a project needing attention, was a task. I met with administration and then
developed a survey to identify teachers perspectives on RTI and what processes
were currently in place. I received one survey back with an answer that she didnt
know what RTI was. Not knowing the ins and outs of RTI myself required many
hours of webinars and I had a BOCES Staff Specialist meet with me to go over
Belfasts documents that had previously been established, just never implemented.
I started with our Reading Specialist and one other teacher as a means of seeing
what processes were in place that resembled RTI. My next step will be to start
grade-level meetings as a way to begin a common language and system. Education
of the RTI process will need to occur at the initial phase.

Community Project I decided to start a community based project as a way to bring school, family and
community together. Knowing that teachers have complained for years on how to
better help students has always been a mystery to me. It appears important to give
families the information they need to help their children be more successful without
them having to search for answers. It seems like every time a parent has a concern
they are led from one person to the next to get answers and supports. A guide that
puts all of the community and school supports in one place seems as though it
would be beneficial. A PTO has not been in place in years at Belfast School, this
appears to be an area that could assist bringing all of the areas of concern together.
I was fortunate enough to find a teacher and parent to start the beginning stages of
development. Our school has a Home-to-School Coordinator through a grant, this
person will be of great value in making goals happen too.

Attendance As an effort in reaching out to families, I would like to help educate families and
students that have high absenteeism rates. I met with the administration and have
full support as there appears to be a need for family involvement in this area. My
beginning stage is looking at attendance and finding patterns of tardies and
absenteeism so that I can plan who I work with. A goal within this process is to work
with the Home-to-School Coordinator for further and on-going support.

Scheduling Issues The Speech Therapist approached the principal with a case-load too big for her
schedule. The principal handed the challenge over to me for ideas. We looked at
possibly changing her 5 day cycle schedule over to a 6 day schedule to allow more
session times. I worked very diligently with teachers, administration, parents and
the Therapist in making changes. This process ended up overlapping with CSE but
was a process all in itself. This was a huge undertaking and required a lot of time
and communication with all parties involved. Once the schedule was finished it
allowed not only for more sessions but gave extra room for prevention time within
the classrooms. The job was well worth the outcome!