Reflect

Where am I now in the competencies -

Overarching Competency 1 -

After completing my TLI work so far, I feel I am now at the developing/performing level in interpersonal effectiveness. I have learned to communicate more effectively and listen to the needs of others instead of just assuming I understand why they do things the way they do. I have built stronger relationships by listening more and asking others what their opinions and advice for me are. That has led to the development of a professional development class based on a shared vision.

Overarching Competency 2 -

The work I have done so far has led me to grow into a transforming level in the adult learning competency. I will be leading a professional learning activity to enhance the practice of others and I have done so by involving colleagues who have knowledge and expertise in this field. By developing and providing professional learning opportunities for my colleagues, I am able to address their specific needs in order to encourage their own professional growth.

Instructional Leadership Competency -

I moved to a performing level in the coaching and mentoring competency. I will be providing more formal coaching and mentoring to elementary colleagues based on data analysis and instructional needs. I have sought out additional leaders to support and mentor myself and the elementary colleagues based on their strengths.

DECC -

I have placed myself at the emerging/developing stage for this competency. I have become much more aware of inequities within our school system and have begun to speak out about them since I started this journey. I am also using the knowledge I have of the socioeconomic inequities which exist in our elementary district to inform my planning of the professional development I will be providing in order to make sure teachers are aware of how to find the resources they need.

Impact -

This TLI journey has caused me to slow down and really examine issues from a different perspective. I have become more aware of the issues facing elementary teachers and the huge amount of time required of them for math and ELA standards. Collecting the data I did through my needs assessment and subsequent survey gave me actual data about why teachers have such a difficult time fitting science into their schedules. I have become more reflective about issues facing not only those elementary teachers, but students within my own classroom. I have become a fighter for the underdog during this past year and continue to bring up issues with lack of resources for our students.

Next steps -

My next step will be to continue planning the science professional development sessions for the elementary teachers based on their needs and the data I have collected and will collect. I had registered to teach a session at the MFPE annual teacher conference for elementary teachers. This session would have impacted elementary teachers from all over the state instead of just teachers in my district. The registration confirmation is below. Unfortunately, I will not be teaching this session due to COVID-19. However, I am willing and hope to be able to teach it in the future. I will continue to speak out against inequities in our district especially because those inequities have become even more apparent due to COVID-19.

Most Valuable -

For me, the most valuable part of this process is the awareness I have gained about the inequities in our school district. I have become very vocal regarding our attendance policy. The policy seems to punish students for things out of their control and I am working to put an end to that. In addition, during the school closure and as we move into a hybrid model of school for next year, I am working with our administration to make sure all students have access to the technology resources they need to be successful. This can be seen in the email exchanges I had with my principal shown below.