At which level (emerging, developing, performing, or transforming) do you NOW place yourself for each of your four chosen competencies? Name each competency and the level at which you started and now place yourself:
Note: Evidence of growth has been present throughout all sections of this website.
Overarching Competency # 1 Interpersonal Effectiveness: Performing: I was able to leverage a variety of communication and collaboration strategies to lead the monthly cohort to supporting and uplifting one another. Not only did we commiserate on challenges, we were able to offer suggestions and support; we also studied best practices and shared resources. Our alignment helped us to craft and build consensus around an actionable stipend proposal.
Overarching Competency # 2 Personal Effectiveness: Performing: Both of my parents are incredibly charismatic people who are able to ingratiate a variety of individuals to their cause. Throughout this project I have been able to gain more confidence in this area and know how to apply certain strengths to different contexts, for example, being honest and outspoken, but doing so in a professional way. I have balanced this project (in fact, it has given me more vigor) while competently meeting all of the demands of my day job.
Foundational Competency: Exploring and Challenging Inequity: Performing: much of the discussion of the cohort centered around inequity faced not only by self contained teachers, but also the students and families that we serve. Many of the practices (as evidenced within the cohort meeting format and materials--"Design" section--were built to help self contained teachers support one another in the inequities we face and how we can help ourselves and one another in breaking through these. In supporting each other in our own practices, we are better able to support those we serve. In creating a proposal, that was publically brought forward and debated, we put our challenges as self contained teachers out in the open, making them something that anyone involved in negotiations (and those with investment in the contract, which was most everyone during this contentious year) could understand and support.
Leadership Pathway Competency: Policymaking: Performing: I gained information from all relevant stakeholders, and utilized wisdom collected to create a proposal that has been adapted and approved for the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.
How did the TLI experience impact your growth as a teacher leader in each of your four chosen competencies? Honestly, at this moment I am struggling to see my own growth. I come from a family and society where you do things because they are the right thing to do, and I likely would have done this project regardless of being involved in TLI. I suppose my biggest areas of growth were wisdom collected and confidence. I now feel much more confident in my ability to lead my peers, as well as use my voice on a larger scale. I also appreciate a more thorough understanding of how negotiations work within our district and within the larger sphere of Montana and other similar size districts.
What was the most valuable part of the TLI process for you? It was invaluable to connect with peers in similar settings. So much of what can be alienating about the job is that it can feel so lonely, like no one else understands. To engage productively with peers and hear how they have endured was and will continue to be immensely helpful.
What are your next steps to continue your growth as a teacher leader? I think that the actions proposed throughout this work, must continue therefore I endeavor to continue to serve KPS with the following: volunteer to mentor new self contained teachers/staff, and facilitate the self contained teacher cohort (it already has district approval for next year). I will continue make sure that the stipend is included in future CBA and hopefully empower other groups, like classified staff (paraeducators) to pursue their own stipends, but giving them our proposal and guiding them through the process. Also, in seeing how successful the purposeful discourse among professionals in similar settings has been I am awaiting approval to start a similar group within the alternative school I work at for this upcoming year.