Almost my entire career has been spent in the high school setting. As a result of this, I was very comfortable going into both the general leadership and the principal practicum in relation to almost all aspects of being a high school principal. One requirement of the principal practicum is that 80 hours of the required 320 hours must be completed in levels that one does not teach at. This meant that I had to complete 40 hours of administrative work at both the middle school and high school level. These were eye opening experiences for me. I have always used the analogy of English speakers in America and the United Kingdom to compare high school and elementary education. To me, I am speaking American English and elementary educators are speaking UK English. We're both speaking the same language, but the dialect is quite different.
I was fortunate to gain a lot of priceless experience at the middle school and elementary levels through the 320-hour principal practicum. Most of that experience came from my time working with Fergus Falls targeted services program called Otter Adventures that serves students in grades K-8. I learned about curriculum alignment, how to work with students, staff, and parents at the elementary level, and the developmental needs of children at all ages. I still have a lot to learn, but my time working with Otter Adventures and my learning in SPED 545 has made it so that I at least understand the vernacular of the elementary language much better.