Vaudrey for Hire!

Hello, interview panel member!

Thank you for indulging my request to visit my website for more information.

I’ll be direct and brief, since I don’t love bragging, but I recognize the need for you to know more about me before inviting me to an interview (and assuming you’ve seen my resume and seen this thread already).

Reflection & Growth

This website has blog posts going back to 2007 (thirteen full years of teaching and learning, as of this writing). A constant theme throughout every post is my desire to get a little bit better every day.

As a teacher, I solicited feedback on lessons I was planning, joining with teammates I met on Twitter and at conferences to improve my craft and my classroom. I also offered my students a chance to grade me anonymously with the Teacher Report Card.

Since then, I’ve designed the Coach Report Card (which I delivered quarterly to the 1,000 staff I supported) and the Administrator Report Card, which I blogged about here. Additionally, I’ve traveled the country, speaking to educators about taking grand risks and trying new things (a theme of my book with John Stevens).

Technology & Learning

In 2012, my principal asked if I would pilot a 1:1 iPad program at our middle school. That began my process of applying technology (when necessary) to help students learn, and it led to spending five years as Instructional Coach of Educational Technology for 10,000 students across 13 schools.

While an extensive knowledge of apps and websites isn’t the only the thing that can innovate school systems, it certainly came in handy on Back-To-School Night this year:

Oh, that?

Itbs just ^four other languages^ to support parents on back-to-school night.#Bonitians #back2school @lhmsroar pic.twitter.com/4rf8fIOKrW

b Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) August 21, 2019

Those technology chops have been put to the test as COVID-19 forced our 39 teaching staff at Lone Hill Middle School to teach remotely for two months. I designed and implemented a system for parents to quickly and equitably provide their children access to their teachers and their instruction. Not all of our families have internet access, so each teacher places two weeks’ worth of learning onto one slide and includes “low-tech work.”

Relationships

Trust is built on consistent, reliable communication, and my friends and colleagues will tell you: it’s vital to me that I stand by my word.

For the thousands of people who have seen my workshops or read my book, they know my promise of “Lifetime Tech Support” holds me accountable to any claims I make, online or off.

When I taught in a neighborhood with gang activity, some students from the local gang told me, “You gotta give respect to get it.”

This year (my first in School Administration), I have listened and learned and paused and gotten much better at waiting for more information before I spring into action. Since those relationships with parents, students, and staff are important to me, I take the time to listen.

I listened when the students, parents, and staff were disappointed that we weren’t able to host the 8th grade promotion. So I coordinated with a production company for a video promotion and planned and executed a Drive-Through Promotion for the 8th graders this year.

And sometimes, it’s just fun to be silly. That builds relationships, too.

"Vaudrey, you rely on your personality a lot when teaching."

Yeah. And? pic.twitter.com/1pSYFD6hPk

— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) October 21, 2020

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Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing more about your school, and finding my place in it.

~Matt “Assistant Principal” Vaudrey