Engagement First

Welcome From The SCASA Conference

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to American Book Company Spotlight for Success. I'm your host, Danielle Pintozi, and today we are here at the Skassa Conference at Myrtle Beach. And I have my special guest, Kendra. She joins us from Windsor Elementary. She is the assistant principal, and we are so excited to have you on today. Thank you for having me.

Why Administrators Gather Each Year

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Of course. So what brings you to SCASA today?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

This is a yearly, or I should say, an annual event of like-minded individuals, administrators throughout the state of South Carolina, and we look forward to coming every year so that we can sharpen our saw as administrators and go back and lead well in our schools.

Kendra’s Path To Assistant Principal

SPEAKER_00 0:48

So how did you get started in your current role as assistant principal?

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Okay, so I actually taught in the classroom for about 15 years, elementary. Well, I started in middle school as a seventh grade ELA teacher, also an avid site lead in where you prepare students for college and career readiness. And then I ventured down to the elementary level,

High-Engagement Teaching That Works

SPEAKER_01 1:13

which I always wanted to be a teacher, and I always thought about the elementary level. And so I taught third, fourth, and fifth grade for 11 years. And then I became an instructional coach in the district office. And so just taking what I used in the classroom to help inspire teachers was so important for me to, you know, just inspire the next generation of teachers and to teach them engagement strategies.

AI In Classrooms And How To Adapt

SPEAKER_01 1:41

And then I went into admin because I actually missed being with the kids. So I decided to go back in the building as an administrator.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Wow, that's a lot of experience to take with you. When you were a teacher, and even now, is there a specific strategy you used in the classroom that helped drive your students' growth?

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Absolutely. So I've always been a promoter of high engagement. Okay, even when I taught ELA or math. Growing up, sometimes I thought reading and writing was a very boring subject. So when I became a teacher, I committed to keeping it with high engagement. Because learning still has to be fun. It could be high-level thinking, but you want to make sure you incorporate fun in learning and making sure that students are engaged, keeping their attention because through that engagement is when you see students produce at their best potential.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Yeah. So piggybacking off of that, what are some current trends or issues you are seeing in the classrooms that you feel like need the most attention right now?

SPEAKER_01 2:51

AI. That is on the cutting edge right now. A lot of people are afraid of AI, but I think it yields a lot of benefits that could really help us. Believe it or not, technology is going to be the way of the world soon. The kids come out knowing how to use iPads, and so as educators, we can't become afraid of it. We have to embrace it, learn about it, and how we can best or effectively use it within the classroom because the kids are gonna use it either way. So either we're gonna have to catch up to the kids or kind of get left behind. It can be a powerful tool if it's used in the correct way. Um, and so we of course have to educate ourselves on it so that we can use it effectively in the classroom.

Closing Thanks And Farewell

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Well, thank you for that valuable insight. Um I hope you enjoy the rest of the conference. Thank you for joining us, and we will see you next time. All right, thank you.