Do

Identify the part(s) of your plan you were able to implement (given the nature of leadership work, your project may actually continue beyond submission of your capstone portfolio).

I was able to implement the group meetings successfully. We met twice and there was interest in meeting again, but we ran out of time at the end of the year. In many ways, however, the project and my action plan were just the beginning steps to this project. I will need to continue to use what I learned and plan purposefully to keep the ideas going. The submission of this portfolio is kind of an outline of what I started, and I really hope to keep it going. It will be exciting to see what comes out of our meetings and collaboration.

1. How successful was your plan of action at addressing the challenge?

Which stakeholders and practice or program were impacted?

How do you know (site evidence)?

When reflecting back on my action plan, the challenges I was addressing were: providing a collaborative environment for teachers to talk, share and brainstorm reading instruction and best practice. Also, to find ways to work together purposefully and efficiently. My measure of success was:

~If colleagues show up for group meetings

~If they are engaged and ant to discuss during meetings

~If they show desire to continue the group and/or research other professional opportunities

I do really feel that my plan was mostly successful in addressing the challenge in that I met my measure of success. When I began forming this idea, I had loftier ideas/goals of changing and shifting the reading instruction/curriculum in all classes at once, and I have realized that the conversation must happen first, consistently and in a thoughtful way that respects diverse ideas and practices. Artifact 11 shows the section of my notes during the last meeting that indicate next steps and goals for our group. The conversation that ensued when I brought up what we wanted to do next year and if we wanted to continue was inspiring and teachers had tons of ideas about incredible things we could do to boost the reading culture at our school!

How were your four chosen competencies used in the implementation of your project?

Foundational Competency “Collaborate Purposefully” This competency was used in many ways. This competency helped me work actively to remain aware of my own biases and opinions about the project. I worked to develop and exhibit an appreciation for the differences among those in my group and even those who chose not to join. I had to think about this as I ran meetings and I engaged in self-education, reflection and improvement between meetings in order to make use of our time in the most meaningful way. See Artifact 12 where I marked notes in the margins of the agenda to be mindful of asking what others think, their opinions and how they would like to spend their time.

Overarching Competency “Interpersonal Effectiveness” I used this competency through informal connections and email correspondences I had with my colleagues. I needed to seek opportunities to build trust through conversation and check-ins. See Artifact 9 for individual email connections.

Overarching Competency “Communication” I feel as though this was one of the most important competency focuses for me. I was surprised to learn about myself that I felt fairly uncomfortable communicating an idea with adults, despite feeling incredibly comfortable in front of my classroom. I had to really learn the importance of articulating a message meaningfully and thoughtfully to my colleagues so as to respect their time and commitment of being there. Again, you can look at the comparison of the agenda I created for our first meeting compared to the agenda for our last meeting as great evidence for this shift in mindset in Artifact 10. Also see Artifact 13 which are the handouts I created and distributed for the meeting. I focused on the mini-lesson component of using workshop and put together some resources for my colleagues to take away with them.

Instructional Competency “Facilitating Collaborative Relationships” I used this this competency tremendously as well. I needed to not only show a willingness as part of a group to address challenges, but I needed to collaborate and build peer capacity through my own energy.

What obstacles, if any, did you encounter? How did you address them?

I think the most obvious obstacle was time and energy. I felt as soon as I had a good understanding of what I needed to do and how I wanted to do it, the school year was slipping through my fingers. As a teacher, too, I also know the craziness that ensues at the end of the school year. I didn’t want to push something else for my colleagues to feel like they needed to do, and still I wanted to get the ball rolling. I felt the pressure of the time and the commitment of TLI on my shoulders, but tried to stay level headed and journey focused instead of focusing on a “finish line”.

Another challenge for me was getting some veteran teachers to join the conversation. I will say, I didn’t push myself to have these conversations with those teachers because I felt more worried about running the group then gaining all the members I could. I did find myself wondering though why they didn’t want to join, but not knowing how to encourage them without pressuring.

Given the outcomes, describe any changes you might make to the Capstone project plan of action.

If I were to do it all again, I think I would have begun the meetings sooner. I would have told myself that I didn’t need everything to be perfectly planned and ready to start, no matter how scary that seems. I think it may have felt a little more rushed at the start, but it may have allowed for an extra meeting or two and maybe would have led to some deeper discussion or action steps within the group. I know, however, that the group will continue and we will get to take some positive steps next year, so I don’t feel regret about the process. It was the timeline that I needed to take for myself to understand myself as a leader and that is important in and of itself. I look forward to moving the project along in the years to come and seeing what comes of it.