Context

How does awareness of your own biases, experiences of privilege, and personal values inform your chosen Capstone Project?

I was excited about being part of the Teacher Leadership Institute and what I would gain from being a part of it. This journey has opened my eyes even more to the importance of building relationships through teacher mentorship. Education is built on relationships. I am more aware of how my personal biases and values impact the decisions I make, as well as the way I choose to handle situations. The implicit bias tests I took was informative and has transformed my way of approaching people and situations. (Evidence #6). I carry out my personal values each day in the classroom with students and colleagues, and although others may differ, recognizing this is important. Being aware of the diversity around me has helped me be more cognizant of others and accept viewpoints different than my own. TLI has pushed me to reflect on my own experiences of privilege as a child and throughout adult life. This helped me to be aware of my students' situations and the reasons why this may not be the case for all. As an educator, I feel it is important to be aware of the experiences that may impact our students, whether it be positive or negative. I believe if we are open to accept others, ask questions, and have conversations, we can recognize everyone for their story.

Overarching Competency #1 - Personal Effectiveness

I began my TLI journey in the emerging stage. I recognize my strengths and acknowledge areas that I need to improve. Teaching math is my passion and I want my students to understand math in the classroom but also how it is applied to the real world. I am always looking for ways to become more involved especially through professional development. Continuing my education is something I enjoy. My goal moving forward is to reach the developing stage by intentionally working on areas listed in these stages. I know I can be a successful teacher leader within my building, especially in the math department. I will also support and be of assistance to our new and incoming teachers. I work hard to build positive relationships with my teaching partners, as well as colleagues within my building. I plan to be even more intentional with teacher relationships. This is why I chose to focus on relationship building and teacher mentorship. My original list (Evidence #1) consisted of real teacher challenges but I thought this was a starting point that would later lead to addressing the others.

Overarching Competency #2 - Interpersonal Effectiveness

I started in the emerging/developing stage. My teaching partners and I work diligently during our PLC time to improve our teaching practices and promote our shared vision for student success. I work on building positive and credible relationships with colleagues through daily interactions. In doing so, I am developing my own skills and becoming more confident as a teacher leader. Our 6th grade math team has been successful in the PLC process as we analyze student data in order to improve our teaching practices. My goal as I continue my educational journey is to be working through the performing stage next year and working on the next steps of utilizing our student data to drive our instruction.

Foundational Competency - Explore and Challenge Inequity

I placed myself pre-emerging in exploring and challenging inequity competency. I understand inequities exist, and I am working on gaining a better understanding of inequities within my school and our district. I will continue self-education regarding cultural differences and educating myself about cultural identities within my classroom, school, district, and community. I have revisited some books introduced to me in college. These have been helpful as I view them with a new perspective and think about how I can use the information within my classroom and with my students. (Evidence #2-5). Identifying my own beliefs and acknowledging my biases, opened the door to making meaningful connections with others. Prior to TLI, I lacked the realization about the forms of oppression and various inequities that exist, especially those within my school. Even though I consider myself to be a well-rounded educator, this is an area of growth for me. My goal as TLI comes to an end, is to continue moving across the stages of foundational competencies. I want to move forward by applying my knowledge of cultural differences and implementing more within my lesson plans to successfully address cultural groups better.

Leadership Pathway - Instructional leadership (Coaching and Mentoring)

I started TLI in the emerging stage of instructional leadership. I value the importance of my personal and professional growth. I believe in professional development and the positive outcome it has on teacher leaders and students. My passion for teaching math led me to obtaining my masters degree in mathematics. I believe I am in the emerging stage because I am working on developing professionally in order to positively impact students and staff. I believe there is still work to do. I can work toward observing others' teaching practices and engage in assistance for personal growth and development. One goal is to step out of my comfort zone and improve communication skills among my staff. My capstone project, introducing new and incoming staff, will help me kick start this goal. Current staff will also complete a slide and share information about their educational journey. My hope is to connect staff, get to know one another beyond a name and subject, and have a document that can be revisited throughout the year.

Describe your work with diverse stakeholders, shared learning experiences, and how you anticipate your leadership pathway mindset might evolve during the TLI process.

I work with a diverse group of colleagues within the math department, as well as the entire staff of MCMS. Sharing ideas, engaging in meaningful conversations, and embracing differences has really helped me as an educator. I can already see my mindset evolve through the TLI process. I address problems differently and seek out how I can help with a solution. I see a need for mentorship within our schools for new hires, but transfers and teachers changing grade level or subject should also be included. I see a need for creating community within school walls as we navigate unknowns year to year. As educators we are there to support and work together for the better good of our students and school community.

Describe how your awareness of those from different cultures, experiences, and backgrounds inform your chosen project.

I think we can all learn something from everyone. It is important for educators to keep that in mind as we collaborate and do what is best for students. Reaching out to various stakeholders provided me with a much broader lens of what most experience during their first few years in teaching. Hearing from those who shared their educational experiences confirmed the need for mentorship.