Reflect

At which level do you NOW place yourself for each of your four chosen competencies? 

Overarching Competency #1 Technological Facility- I place myself at Performing in this competency. I definitely model use of current and emerging technology, such as AI, to further my own learning and that of my adult students. My online course, once published, will reach across the digital (and continental) divide. It is a beginner's level course on what AI is and how it can benefit teachers and students. 

Overarching Competency #2 Continuing Education- I place myself at Performing in this competency as well. I designed learning opportunities for librarians in a number of ways: face to face during the Summer Retreat, the MFPE conference, and the ULA/MPLA library conference. At these in person sessions, I shared content beneficial to school librarians such as AI and legal concerns, as well as content on how MLA can support school librarians.  I also designed an accessible online course for librarians and other teachers. I intend to design more online learning opportunities and will continue to present at conferences locally and regionally.  

Foundational Competency Cultivate socially just learning environments- I place myself at Developing in this competency because I have more work to do in this regard. My work on the Summer Retreat reflects a sincere desire to create a more socially just learning environment for school librarians by my increasing awareness of the cultural differences in the librarians who do and do not routinely attend or present. Thanks to the preparatory courses I completed in accessible online learning, I think that as I move forward with developing future online sessions for school librarians, I will continue to grow in this competency.  Now that the current MLA board has set a goal of building our school librarian membership, more efforts will be made across the state to recruit school librarians and equitable and just professional development is one way to make membership attractive.

Association Leadership Pathway: Organizational Effectiveness: Leading with Skill- I place myself at Performing in this competency. I have conducted MLA's business with integrity, using their resources and my own to to build capacity in the School Library Division. I have worked to recruit and engage new MLA members in my own district and statewide.  

How did the TLI experience impact your growth as a teacher leader in each competency?

My understanding of how challenging and difficult it is to design effective and equitable online learning opportunities was integral to my growth in Technological Facility. Right before my TLI cohort began, the MLA Board met and discussed the idea of offering an online conference to members for free, for members who would otherwise not be able to attend the other MLA in person conferences. This idea intrigued me, which is why I hoped to learn how to design an online course through TLI. Designing just one course was strenuous and difficult work, so I don’t think MLA will attempt a fully online conference, but we can offer individual courses as librarians like me create them. The topic of my online course was derived from the topic survey sent out to MLA members. Artificial Intelligence was a top vote getter in that survey. I did not know much about AI at the time, but my skill and understanding of AI has grown exponentially as I prepared that course. 

My work in Continuing Education for librarians will carry on in a number of ways. I have been providing professional development to my co-workers for several years, but through TLI I have expanded my horizons to librarians across my state, and even neighboring states. Presenting at MPLA pushed me several hundred miles out of my comfort zone! Becoming a Law for Librarians trainer was an unexpected yet welcome step in my evolution as a leader. 

 For the Foundational Competency Cultivate socially just learning environments-I feel like I have more work to do than the others, but my awareness of social justice has prompted me to take action during the TLI process and I hope long after the end of this cohort. My focus in this area was relatively narrow, but it’s an area that is close to my heart so it was a good place to start my journey. If teachers and librarians struggle with socially just workplaces, it creates an additional challenge to ensuring our students have socially just classrooms. 

As for Association Leadership Pathway: Organizational Effectiveness: Leading with Skill, when I rejoined MLA and became the SLD Co-chair, I must admit my leadership style was something like “Well, if no one else will do the work, sign me up!” A good deal of good intentions but not much else. I was the junior co-chair, but the senior co-chair was honestly as clueless as I was about leading our division. This year, with help from TLI and a junior co-chair who was a recent TLI participant, my leadership style developed into a more thoughtful and thorough style that can be replicated. The Summer Retreat was such a new event, a lot of people, like me, were unaware of its existence. I think that has changed in the last few years, which has us poised for future growth. In my new role as the chair of the retired librarians interest group, which has been inactive for a few years, I will use what I have learned to galvanize my fellow retirees into an advocacy arm of the MLA. 

What was the most valuable part of the TLI process for you? 

My leadership journey began shortly before I discovered TLI, but it played a vital role in my evolving leadership style, tapping into my desire to give back to my profession. Throughout my evolution as a leader in my TLI cohort, one thing I learned is that once you start saying yes to things, even things that seem scary and daunting, the universe rewards you with further learning opportunities and connections to others. I now have an expanded network of colleagues and friends who are committed to improving the outlook for teachers and librarians. 

I think TLI imbued me with courage to step outside my comfort zone to present at the joint ULA/MPLA conference in May. I don’t know if I am ready to present nationally, but regionally is no problem for me now! After my first presentation on the Future of Libraries, I ran into a college librarian who attended, and she took the time to share how important the content I shared was to her and how it opened her eyes to how contagious negative thinking can be. To top that, the next day she and her colleagues sat with me at lunch and we talked a lot about my presentation since her coworkers were curious after she shared what she learned. It’s not often teachers get that kind of feedback from a colleague much less a total stranger, and it bolstered my resolve to keep leading from the podium.

What are your next steps to continue your growth as a teacher leader?

I decided to retire from teaching this year, but I will continue to serve my library association in my new role as the chair of the retired librarians interest group, which has been inactive for a few years, I will use what I have learned to galvanize my fellow retirees into an advocacy arm of the MLA. MLA would like to leverage our retired librarians during the upcoming legislative season, which promises to be just as contentious and frankly dangerous for librarians and teachers as last year. I intend to use what I learned as an MPO and MLO for the Montana Federation of Public Employees to guide retired librarians in supporting our cause at the state capitol. I will continue to present in person at state library conferences, both the MLA annual conference, the School Library Summer Retreat, and this fall at the Fall Retreat organized by our Public Library Division. I will be part of a panel on Law for Librarians, and I hope to share my Future of Libraries presentation. I want to continue sharing my presentation on the future of libraries as well as offer training based on my Law for Librarians work. I intend to design more online courses for librarians to be made available on MLA’s website, and possibly the Office of Public Instruction’s online Learning Hub. Finally, I intend to write an article promoting TLI for school librarians. The outline is as far as I have gotten, but I would like my local union to share it at the district level, and I will use MLA's Facebook page to share it with a wider audience. 

Reflect Evidence 1-2