Reflect

V. REFLECT

My Year 3 Cadre group has given me a great opportunity to grow as a teacher leader because I am now designing opportunities that allow others to build their leadership skills and grow as a collective group. This has moved me into the early stages of Transforming in Adult Learning (Develop professional learning opportunities for colleagues, targeted to their specific needs and designed to encourage growth). I feel like I am definitely in the Performing stages of Continued Learning and Education. I am not yet to the point where I am teaching higher ed courses or presenting research at conferences, but my goal is to have my Cadre group become teacher presenters for future PD in the 2019-2020 school year. I did apply to present at the MFPE Conference this year. I led conference sessions with our new teachers . See evidence below.

Term 2 has opened my eyes even more when it comes to the issues of the Foundational Competencies. The competency I have chosen to focus on is Collaborate Purposefully. I feel like this is an area that I now have a little more understanding on and it is critical to develop this area to ensure my success as an Instructional Leader. I feel like I am still in the Emerging/Developing stages of this competency but I look forward to learning and growing through the stages. The Foundational Competencies have really shown me the areas I need to grow the most in. Like I said earlier I need to think bigger picture and open my eyes to what is going on out there and that will make me a more effective leader. (Engage in ongoing self-education, self-reflection, and self-improvement.)

I feel that this experience has only deepened my passion for coaching and mentoring. I chose the Instructional Leadership pathway because I feel so strongly about it and I wanted to learn more about how to be a more effective coach and mentor. This last term has shown me that I am strong (Performing/Transforming) in the areas of Coaching and Mentoring but need to widen my vision and think bigger picture.

My Cadre group is a great example of me building collegial communities based on needs and fostering an environment of learning and teaching among colleagues to inform and improve their practice. It is also evidence that I am developing professional learning opportunities for colleagues, targeted to their specific needs and designed to foster growth.

TLI has been a great experience and has definitely engaged me in ongoing self-education, self-reflection, and self-improvement.

Capstone Project:

• In year 2 of this plan new teachers will attend LEAP (Learning, Engaging, and Applying Practices) training. This PD will allow me to lead sessions where I share content research and best practice and take teachers to see these practices in action. Teachers are encouraged to bring and share new ideas to help each other grow professionally. This will regularly engage me in my chosen overarching competencies (Adult Learning/Continued Learning and Education).
• This plan will enable me to provide mentorship and formal coaching, if wanted, on a daily basis. I will be available to these new teachers for whatever needs they have. I will also be able to identify strengths and needs and help these new teachers connect with each other and learn from one another (Coaching and Mentoring).
• Giving these teachers a chance to build that relationship will allow for opportunities to get to know more about their cultural background and needs. Once that is recognized and acknowledged then we can work on collaboration skills that may be a limitation. The first step is establishing that relationship (Collaborate Purposefully).
• We will meet as a Curriculum team once a month to discuss how the plan is going. If there are any changes that need to be made we will implement those on the fly. This is going to be a year of trial and error. We will be transparent with our teachers that the plan is in its first phase of development and that their feedback will be critical to its success. Teacher feedback will give me an opportunity to learn and change the things that I need to in order to make the plan successful and ensure its longevity.
• When it comes to how we view our environment and the people we interact with, there is often a disconnect between what we think should be and what actually is. As we make decisions and take action based on our perceptions, there is a risk that these unconscious biases could negatively affect the outcome. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to take part in the various exercises that showed me my unconscious biases and how to think in a more global way so that those biases do not get in the way of my leadership skills.
• At the beginning of this process I will admit that I rarely thought about diversity, equity, and cultural competence in terms of my leadership skills. I am so glad that this process has opened my eyes to see how much I am missing when it comes to being an effective leader. I chose to focus on how to Collaborate Purposefully. I feel like this is a huge piece that I need to grow and develop. I would say that at the beginning of this journey I was not even in the Emerging phases of that competency. After months of discussion and reading I can confidently say that I am now demonstrating qualities of the Emerging/Developing phases of this competency and I look forward to growing and getting more confident in these areas.