Part II

Connecting Self-Assessment,Stakeholders

I found the following quote that speaks to what personal biases are. Frank Clark stated “We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't.”

Personal bias is something many are unaware of. Reflecting on the learning during my TLI tenure and with using the tools provided to us to help determine personal bias, I've learned that my biases are few and rarely impede my interactions, but there are some present. For example, I have a bias toward unwilling parties, not able to breach their feigned inability to participate or even explore the unknown. Also I have a bias toward the generation of educators who are vehemently against technology usage. Learning how to be an unbiased party, listen to all viewpoints and be open to opposing views has been my focus this year. I have also learned that I have difficulty with people who exude personal biases openly and act in a superior manner. Some reflections regarding my personal biases and interactions.

• I think my personal biases only affect my work and interactions when I am not aware of them. This is true with all of us.
• Working on the reflective competency, I have been more thoughtful about planning meetings and discussions around my biases and being thoughtful about those prior to engaging with others.
• I have found it most useful to take the other person’s views on education as my own prior to interactions.

Attempting to understand someone else's perspective is difficult yet very important. I recognize that it is important to include all cultural stakeholders when making decisions, that managing group dynamics involves making all individuals feel welcome and important. I believe as I started on this road, I was emerging in the competency of Collaborate(ing) Purposefully.

1. Technology Facility

• I placed my performance as developing because:
  • I was using technology frequently within my classroom, with educators, am a member of the Technology Committee, and present uses to educators and district members.
  • I engaged in professional collaboration (synchronously and asynchronously) through technology use via Google Docs, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Forms to gain feedback, create documents, and share lesson plans.
  • I had an established social media presence and utilized social media-type tools in my classroom to promote positive interactions between parents, students, and myself.
  • I sought grant opportunities to promote technological facility in my classroom by purchasing Lego WeDo kits, iPad and iPods, interactive technology, Kindles, and Chromebooks to promote collaboration and online learning in my classroom.

2. Reflective Practice.

• I placed my performance as emerging.
  • I was in the initial stages of acknowledging myself as a teacher leader, understanding my need to grow as a reflective practitioner.
  • I was serving as a teacher leader by being a member of our school's Montana Behavior Initiative team, Technology Committee Member, facilitating Science Fair, leading our school's Conflict Manager program, and serving as a Starbase 2.0 program coordinator.
  • I actively promoted my pursuit of National Board Certification and alternative endorsements such as a K-12 administrative endorsement.
  • I lead a Professional Development session on Microsoft OneNote for educators, promoting its use in a classroom setting to enhance collaboration and teacher organization.

3. Collaborate Purposefully

• I placed my performance as emerging.
  • I was in the beginning stages of collaborating purposefully in regard to diversity, equity, and cultural competence because I was just aware of the differences between, within and among cultural groups, but I was not incorporating them into instruction and rationale as much as I should have been.
  • I had noticed that this was also the deficit at the district level in many grade levels and with educators who shared this same reflection.
  • I was beginning to look into ways to incorporate diverse standards and cultures into daily lessons; specifically with Indian Education for All standards.
  • I recognized that interactions with individuals and groups of different cultural backgrounds rather than their own because of the intentional desire to understand different perspectives via student and parent interactions. I found I wasn't connecting as I should and I wasn't as empathetic as I needed to be.
  • I wanted to work with others to establish accessible practices for interacting with different cultural groups and to ensure that communication was a priority.

4. Coaching and Mentoring

• Initial competency performance was developing.
  • I effective fostered a collegiate environment with staff, students, and leaders within the district that was based on trust and respect. Peers looked to me for guidance in many areas such as behaviors, instruction and parental interaction.
  • I practice guidance through questioning and advice, but never projecting or telling others what must be done.
  • I participated in opportunities to give and receive feedback on instructional practice. This was mostly validated through my National Board Certification process.

Connecting Assessment of Diverse Stakeholders to Your Context

The work embedded in the Teacher Leadership Institute Modules was the work I needed to complete as a new instructional coach. The largest focus of my work was on establishing relationships. I enrolled as a TLI fellow before I knew I was going to be an Instructional Coach, so my progress was halted because I had to reestablish myself in a new setting. I had no relationships with the educators, I was unfamiliar with leadership, and the stakeholders and population was unfamiliar to me. I started by sending out an input/needs analysis survey before the year began to gain insight into what educators needed to help their instructional practice.

I met with the two building principals to outline goals, target specific areas of need and determine the best way to provide instructional leadership. I also met with the central office administration as well as Office of Public Instruction officials to aid in the the process of implementation. After attending a Coaches Institute prior to school starting in August, I was ready to take on new challenged, increase educator and student success, and help our schools evolve and become more collaborative; teaching with open doors and relying on their peers to enhance their practice.

The two schools I would be working in were 100% poverty schools. I know that both schools had quick turn over in administration within the past five years and the students and educators were in need of consistency, people they could trust, and understanding of the trauma they were experiencing. Student performance in the two schools was not where the district would like it to be and the students had performed poorly on the past two years of state testing. A simple solution, in my mind, was to get the teachers to rely on each other because instructional leadership was not the administrative focus at the time. Behavior was the largest issue in the two schools, which rolls over into academics, and our teachers needed help with that.

Creating an opportunity for educators to collaborate from different schools, engage in reflective practices, and increase performance through Video Leadership Teams project would increase their desire to work together, to build their culture of trust and interdependence, and to enhance their instruction to directly impact the students. I would need to establish trusting and supporting relationships in order to carry out my project as well as communicate effectively so that I could establish a solid relationship with administration as well. Lastly, I needed to focus efforts on improving school culture. Helping the educators to see each other and support and not competition or judgement was of most importance.