Reflect

Overarching Competency 1- Group Process: Performing: Throughout this process I have learned how to manage group dynamics and mediate group conflict. I was part of negotiations and because of my TLI work felt confident in ensuring that I helped contribute to us coming to a compromise on our one year contract that was best for all stakeholders: teachers, administrators, board members, and community members.

Overarching Competency 2- Technology: Developing: I have grown a lot in this area because I am becoming more engaged in professional collaboration through technology. I am able to work through the NEA VAN site and pull/identify needed data and present it in a format that is clear and concise.

Diversity-Equity-Cultural Competency Section- Collaborate Purposefully: Performing: I have collaborated purposefully with many different people throughout this process. Being part of the bargaining team allowed me to engage with stakeholders across our district in planning, gathering and analyzing the data about how our district is going to be impacted over the next several years and making decisions that will impact our future. I have had many great opportunities to talk and work collaboratively with individuals/groups to help make changes in our district and to strengthen our membership.

Association Competency Selected- Building Capacity of Others: Transforming: Door knocking has helped me to invite, include and promote leadership roles within the school and district because I have met people who have valuable insight into different areas and asking them to be part of a specific team (I.E. someone close to retirement to be on a retirement committee team looking into offering an incentive). It has also provided me with the opportunity to empower members with knowledge and interest in what is going on in education at a district level. By having one on one discussions members are increasing their ownership of our shared association vision and standing up to become leaders within their buildings.

My next steps in continuing my teacher leadership is to continue to activate and involve others, helping them to find their voice and passions in our educational system. I am also just finishing up my National Boards and think that I would like to become involved as a teacher leader in that process, helping to encourage others to go through the same process. Also, we may have some board positions opening up at the high school level and I am going to think about becoming more involved at that level.

I think the most valuable part of the TLI process for me was sharing time with other teacher leaders. One of the questions in unpacking the competencies asked us to identify an individual who we would describe as transforming in each competency. My problem was that for most of them I didn’t have anyone that I was familiar with or it was the same person over and over for different competencies. This process has allowed me to engage with other teacher leaders who strive to make a difference in the educational system. It goes without saying that we all want what’s best for students and it doesn’t matter which leadership competency we chose, by becoming teacher leaders we strengthen and improve the educational system for all.