Context

Part A

I have been a music educator for 16 years. My first 10 years were spent at a K-8 school teaching elementary general music to students in kindergarten through fifth grade, beginning band to fifth-grade students, and band and choir to students in sixth through eighth grade. Since then I have been employed as an elementary general music teacher within Billings Public Schools (BPS), which is the largest public school district in Montana and employs around 12 full-time general music teachers to cover its 21 elementary schools. During my tenure with BPS, I have taught music to both general education and special education students in kindergarten through fifth grade at seven elementary schools (including three Title 1 schools).

A typical workday includes teaching around 150 students within seven to ten 30-minute classes with an average of approximately 20 students per class. My school district requires that grades kindergarten through third have general music class once a week for 30 minutes and grades fourth and fifth have general music class twice a week for 30 minutes each time. Most full-time BPS elementary general music teachers teach at two or more school buildings. I sometimes have a music classroom at my assigned school buildings but other times go into each general education or special education classroom to teach music class.

I am currently a proud member of the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE) and Billings Eduction Association (BEA). I served as both union president and a member of the negotiations team while teaching in my former school district. During the past six years as a BEA member, I have served as a building representative and member of the political action committee. Throughout the two most recent legislative sessions, I have been an active member of the MFPE Rapid Response Team, which is a community of individuals who are committed to contacting legislators to share viewpoints on various legislative bills that affect public employees and public education.

Part B

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

The various assignments and discussions that are part of the TLI modules have made me more aware of my personal biases. As a mid-career teacher, I have often assumed that beginning teachers and teachers hired to the school district don't have much to offer and that they'll need a lot of guidance in order to become an effective teacher. However, becoming more aware of my own biases has helped open my eyes to the fact that they have an entire different perspective to offer that can be energizing, refreshing and valuable to current teachers. I now believe it is vital to provide whatever guidance they feel they need to successfully navigate the start of their teaching career and/or employment in a new school district while simultaneously appreciating the knowledge, skills and strengths that they already possess. 

Having obtained my undergraduate degree from a private college that is widely respected for its music program, I assumed I would be well prepared to begin my teaching career. However, despite the privilege of receiving an outstanding undergraduate experience, I still felt a definite learning curve during my first several years of teaching. This has allowed me to empathize with beginning teachers and has encouraged me to want to help these teachers as much as possible. Because my district was lacking a clearly defined pathway to do this, so I decided to create a mentorship portfolio and program with the hopes that every elementary general music teacher who is hired in the district will receive the attention and guidance they desire in order to grow professionally and feel successful while teaching in the district. 

With a current teacher shortage in Montana, I strongly feel that more needs to be done to not only incentivize teachers to seek employment in the state but also foster their teaching career. The mentorship portfolio and program has the potential to positively impact elementary general music teacher recruitment and retention in my school district.

2. At the beginning of the TLI program, at which level in the progressions did you place yourself for each of your four chosen competencies?

• Overarching Competency #1: Personal Effectiveness, Emerging - I have specific strengths and passions as a teacher leader that I continually utilize with both my district elementary general music teacher colleagues and music teachers outside of the district. I am a National Board Certified Teacher and am currently a TLI fellow.

• Overarching Competency #2: Adult Learning, Pre-Emerging - Although I respect the expertise of my elementary general music colleagues and understand that there are differences in how adult learners grow in their profession, I haven’t given much thought to the different methods in which adult learners grow professionally. I also have not researched ways in which adult learning impacts student success.

• Foundational Competency: Explore and Challenge Diversity, Developing - I recognize, understand why, and agree that oppression and inequity exist and are real issues experienced by a variety of people. I realize that I have limited knowledge and skills when interacting with other cultural groups, but I am committed to continual education and self-reflection in order to make improvements.

• Specific Leadership Pathway Competency: Instructional Leadership, Coaching and Mentoring, Emerging - I understand the importance of continued professional growth and development to improve one’s teaching effectiveness. I have invited multiple elementary general music teachers and college students working toward their music education degree to observe my teaching. I have attended summer elementary general music workshops where teachers share lesson ideas.

Part C

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

Seasoned teachers are well aware of the struggles and challenges associated with being a beginning teacher. The current staff of elementary general music teachers in my district along with the fine arts education coordinator all agree that the district is lacking in its means to provide the necessary guidance to teachers hired to the district. This is especially true of elementary music teachers since they are the only one of their kind at their school building and only meet with other elementary general music teachers a few times a month during the designated hour for PLC. I anticipate my leadership pathway mindset for coaching and mentoring to evolve from emerging to developing throughout the TLI process and then even expanding beyond that as my capstone project is implemented.

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

My awareness of people from different cultures, experiences, and backgrounds has made me realize that each individual teacher knows best what they need in order to work toward becoming an effective practitioner. The level of desired mentoring will vary from teacher to teacher and should be determined by the mentee and not the mentor. Therefore, I want to make sure there is flexibility within the mentorship program so that teachers hired to the district are able to personalize it to best fit their current needs.