Focused on Flagler Schools
Focused on Flagler Schools
So, Are You the Top Teacher?
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We sit down with LaShakia Moore, a former classroom teacher, elementary school principal, mom, wife, and Director of Teaching and Learning for Flagler Schools. You may not know what she and her team do, but you'll get a better understanding after listening to our conversation.
As a principal she was never afraid to challenge a student to a lunchroom dance off. As the Director of Teaching and Learning LaShakia Moore is equally fearless as she tackles challenges from every direction. This is focused on Flagler Schools and I'm Jason Wheeler, Community Information Specialist with Flagler Schools. We want to share the achievements and challenges facing our students, teachers and staff right here in Flagler County, Florida. So let's dive right in. We're sitting down with LaShakia Moore, who is the Director of Teaching and Learning for Flagler Schools, relatively new position for her but she is not new to Flagler Schools. First of all, thank you for joining us today. Thank you for having me. Let's talk about what is your background? How did you get here to Flagler Schools and your current position.
LaShakia Moore:So I started off as a teacher in a surrounding county, I've been here in the county now think about 15 years, I started off as a teacher. And then I applied for a position to be a teacher support colleague, which was a position that we had here in the district for a number of years, that really allowed me to get a lot of training around instructional coaching and how to support our teachers in implementing processes in order to help our students be successful. I was in that position for four years, then I have also served as a curriculum specialist at the district office, a principal at Riverview elementary school for a few years. And now I am back at the district office as the Director of Teaching and Learning. What is the teaching and learning department? A lot of people don't really understand what it is you do.
Jason Wheeler:Are you the head teacher? Now? How does this what is how's this work?
LaShakia Moore:It's funny, I when I announced to the students that I was going to be taken on a new position, and that I will be the Director of Teaching and Learning, a student asked me that very thing, like, what is it that you're going to be doing? Are you going to be a head teacher. So teaching and learning really encompasses a lot around the work that is done in our classrooms. And so in my department, we we focus on the instruction that that's happening in all of our classes. Our the team that is in that department, they work in collaboration with the schools in order to ensure that the resources that we are using that they are aligned to the standards. We also oversee assessment, and accountability. So that is our assessments that we use be at our diagnostic assessments and or our end of year assessments, as well as we help to submit the data that will generate our school grades. A part of our department that many people don't know is that we do have a Grants department that is in our department that really oversees all of the federal and state grants. And so that is another interesting part of our department, which also includes the work that we do with Title One, the work that we do for our students that English isn't their first language, as well as how we support our students that are in our families that are in transition. So our department oversees a lot of really what the work around what classroom instruction looks like, and how do we ensure students have access to that instruction?
Jason Wheeler:So it's a good thing you have like 100 people in your department, right?
LaShakia Moore:Well, not quite 100 people. But it is great that I have a vast number of people in our department that come from many different backgrounds.
Jason Wheeler:What is the value of having a team like that? Obviously, you can't do it yourself? No one could, but to have these various experts, because they are and as that go between between what comes out of Tallahassee and what is done in our classrooms, how valuable is that team to you?
LaShakia Moore:Extremely valuable to me and to our district, because just as you stated, that team is making sure that as things change within our within our state and from legislation, that they are ensuring that our schools have that information that can be implemented with fidelity and in our classrooms. And so they are extremely valuable to me and to this to this organization. They also are the people that our teachers go to or our academic coaches or administrators go to when they have questions around specific topics related to specific subjects or if they have a question around, can we use grant dollars to do this or how could we go about making this happen? And so that the team is extremely valuable and and oftentimes you don't see them many of their faces that the community may not see them. But they're definitely in the background working hard in order to ensure that our students receive a quality education and that our district and organization is moving forward.
Jason Wheeler:What are some of the biggest challenges? In this position? For you? I know every every position has a challenge has its own unique set of challenges. But in this particular position, what are some of those that that you not struggle with, but that that are kind of eye opening? And knowing that you've been in the in that department before? But things change when you're the one everybody looks to for leadership?
LaShakia Moore:Yes, I think the biggest thing is when I was here in this department, I was over one area with one population of students. But I think the biggest challenge now is making sure that I am, I have a view of the entire scope of the work that we're supposed to be doing every day, to ensure that it's done well. It's done with integrity. And it's done in a way that it's going to provide the best opportunities for for our students because they deserve our very best.
Jason Wheeler:A few minutes ago, we we went through your your your resume. Those roles that you played in this district and in other districts, how have those related to where you're at now, what what have you learned from those positions that you've taken to this particular one now.
LaShakia Moore:So when I think back on every position that I've ever been in, I have sat in that position and never thought that that will be a role that I would be in I, I am a teacher through and through. And so had you interviewed me 15 years ago, I would have say it for sure. 15 years from now, I'm going to be in a classroom surfacing students, but what I have gained from every position is really an appreciation for the work that is being done in the classroom. And the need for individuals to be in position that have their mind focus on that work, so that we protect the work that is being done in our classrooms. And that we're making, we're making systems and procedures that allow our teachers to be able to focus on that work. And so every position that I've been in has really been with that in mind. And that has helped me in this role to really every day I come in and on my board, it says How did you impact student achievement today? And am I a direct impact on student achievement I'm not, but the decisions that I make around the people who work in our department, that does have an indirect impact on what student achievement looks like. And so every one of those positions just has given me a different view of the work that needs to be done in order to protect the work that is happening in our classrooms.
Jason Wheeler:Some of my most favorite moments in my position, you know, going to those different schools and seeing educators in their native environments, watching you as a principal, because you didn't let that title get in the way of you interacting with the kids. Do you miss not being in the classroom, being on a school campus all the time, you know, you try to get to the campuses but and you mentioned you know, having a line to the kids but not having that direct line any longer do you miss that?
LaShakia Moore:I miss that terribly. I do miss being there on a campus and being in the hustle bustle of being in a campus what I what I love the most is the challenge of making sure that I knew every one of those students that I was responsible for. And so I went from having 1100 students that I'm responsible for, and I knew every one of their names, and now to 13,000 plus. And so I'm struggling a little bit more, remembering their names, all of their names, but I missed terribly being on campus. And I made sure that I am on campuses very often to get to know this, those campuses as intimately as I knew the campus that I was a principal over but I do I do miss being in a classroom as well as just being on campus.
Jason Wheeler:And the position opened up with retirement Diane Dyer, who want to say she was an institution would be an understatement to the word institution. Absolutely. When you were asked to or given this job, your your thoughts on on I replace her or you don't replace Diane Dyer, but you gotta follow that.
LaShakia Moore:I will tell you and...I....I...Would I love that that question came up because it gives me an opportunity to say that Diane Dyer was monumental to the organization. But I did have a panic attack when I thought about having to follow in her footsteps. And so I spent time with her in those last weeks before she retired to gain as much information as I could from her in those moments. And so it was a big fee, because she had done it and done it whale. And so I will tell you a secret. And maybe it's not a secret because I tell as many people as I can, every now and then I still reach out to her and say, Hey, you told me I could call you anytime. But it really was just to come in and to be able to know the information the way that she knew it and still knows it to this day. But I appreciate that she's still there and available to support when there are times or things that come up, that I may not know why the decision was made to do it a certain way. And so that has been it's been an inspiration, because when I was a teacher support colleague, Diane Dyer was also she over, she was the overseer of that grant in so I had an opportunity to work closely with her so in this position, I want to make sure that I keep with the integrity that she had around our organization.
Jason Wheeler:There have been challenges during this year first year, regarding teaching and learning from all different areas. And I don't want to get in those deep, those details. But how do you stay motivated, keep smiling, keep laughing, keep your sense of humor about you keep your wits about you in the face of all of these challenges that you and your team are constantly facing.
LaShakia Moore:It goes back to the integrity of the work, I think what every challenge that we've experienced this year, and every challenge that we will experience, it is an opportunity for us to evaluate our process, evaluate our procedures, in order to ensure that we are making choices that allow what what is best for our students. And how do we get the input from our stakeholders around what they think towards different topics, it just is making us better. I think with every, every every challenge, everything that that comes as something that we have to overcome is just an opportunity to make us a better organization to make us a better department. And so that's how I look at it, I look at it as this is an opportunity for us to grow. I do write notes to myself. If you come into my office, you will see that everywhere you look from any direction, I have intentionally made sure that there are positive affirmations that keeps us grounded to the work that we are doing each and every day for our students.
Jason Wheeler:I know when you were principal, that's when, you know, two years ago, we COVID hit and the repercussions from actions taken not by only our school district, but all schools
LaShakia Moore:I think we will feel some of the impacts of this in the state across the country are being felt every day. Is for a few years. But I think what we have to focus on now is ensuring that as our students are re engaging with our physical spaces, that they are coming into environments that are safe, that are welcoming, and that are focused on our that in the forefront? We always talk about learning loss and how standards, so that we can help to expedite their growth, so that we are back on track where we were before the pandemic, not going to be easy. It's not going to be easy. It hasn't been easy. are we helping those kids who had two years of just It hasn't been easy. But I do believe that we have the most amazing staff here in our district, everyone, because everyone has an impact on student achievement. You know, unprecedented educational challenges? To get them back on it may not be the direct you're not the teacher in front of the classroom, but every person in this organization has a direct impact on our student achievement. And I believe that track? How long are we gonna be handling this dealing with this? we have the best staff in order to make the leaps and gains that we need.
Jason Wheeler:Last two questions in the same two questions. I asked everybody who who sit in front of that microphone. First one is what makes you sad?
LaShakia Moore:Not...I gotta be vulnerable here. What makes me sad is when I don't feel like I am doing or moving in the right direction, in order to make someone's life better, be it my life, my family's life, the students that I'm responsible for their life, our employees, their life, that makes me sad is when I don't, I'm not engaging in productive work.
Jason Wheeler:What makes you happy?
LaShakia Moore:What makes me happy in this role for sure is to know that I get to work with the most amazing 13,000 plus students and that their families and trust us to do what's best for them and to provide them with a quality education. So that makes me happy in this space, outside of this space, is to know that I have a family where I'm focused, first famous there in my home, that I'm pouring out to my family just as much as I pour out into others.
Jason Wheeler:LaShakia Moore, thank you for the conversation. It was a brief conversation. I know. You have so much more to add and I challenge anyone if they catch her in the line at Publix or wherever, talk to her. You are a great conversation, a great person and thank you for taking up every role that you're asked to do with 100% of yourself. You're true to yourself, you're true to your family, and we appreciate it.
LaShakia Moore:Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Jason Wheeler:And we want to thank you for listening to focus on Flagler Schools production in the Flagler County Schools District. New episodes are released every Thursday. If you like what you hear, subscribe, and check out Flagler Schools at www.FlaglerSchools.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where they're at Flagler Schools. Thanks for listening and remember, let's keep focused on Flagler Schools.