Design

Capstone Action Plan

Describe your action plan and how each of your 4 chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.

My action plan for my Capstone Project is pretty direct in design. I have already worked with many of the District Level coaches and formed professional relationships with them, allowing me the opportunity to go to them when needed throughout my project. I will first need to start looking at the math modules and determine which lessons within the modules can have a math IEFA lesson created that directly corresponds with the core curriculum. Once this has been decided, the next component will be to find Montana tribal components that relate to that specific module and even the lesson concept. 

As I begin to create these lessons, I will continue to focus on my four competencies, ensuring that I am still aligning my work to these. My leadership pathway - Instructional - Coaching and Mentoring will be the leading force behind my lesson design, ensuring that the decisions I make align with instruction in a classroom. I will be sure to incorporate an easy lesson design for teacher use, with the hopes of including more specific information regarding Montana tribe cultural connections. My overarching competencies - Continuing Learning and Education and Technological Facility will jointly function together as I progress through the lesson writing process. Teachers will be able to explore lessons and learn about tribal connections, expanding their knowledge, while utilizing technology components that may be new to them. Finally, I will actively focus on my foundational competency - Explore and Challenge Inequity by incorporating cultural connections from Montana tribes which will offer for further discussion from staff and students within the classroom. This will acknowledge many of the Billings Public Schools staff and students’ ancestors. 

Design Artifact 3 - The 7 Essential Understandings were first created when OPI pulled together a group of representatives from the various Montana tribes to ensure that Indian Education for All is accurately implemented within schools. At least 1, but in some cases many of the 7 essential understandings are incorporated into IEFA lessons. I will utilize these guiding principles within my lessons to ensure that I am aligning my lessons accurately with the American Indian tribal ideals. 

How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the action plan, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?

By creating IEFA lessons that are aligned with the core curriculum being taught in the classroom, I am offering educators an opportunity to grow and be successful in expanding their educational learning. I am providing them with the option to learn while teaching their students versus strictly teaching their students. My goal is to create a moment for educators to understand the importance of our Montana tribal connections.

How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?

I plan to connect with the District coaches when possible, as well as with other grade-level teachers who have experience with creating and implementing IEFA lessons. Once I have my lessons designed, I will ask for feedback from the District coaches and other educators within the district to ensure that I am meeting all of the requirements set forth by Billings Public Schools. I will test these lessons in my classroom, as well as ask others to test them to see if they find value in the lessons I created. I will accept their feedback and adjust things as needed.

Design Artifact 4 - Discussion with District Coaches and other IEFA lead teachers. When looking at the new math curriculum and thinking about the Montana tribes, these initial match-ups made the most sense. There were IEFA resources I could pull from to build out the support lessons while offering background information for educators to ensure their understanding of the connection of the Montana tribe culture and its relationship to the core curriculum of Billings Public Schools. Each lesson idea has the Common Core Standard, and IEFA Essential Understandings listed.  

How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?

The major obstacle that I expect to encounter during my Capstone project is the changing curriculum aspect. I will need to make sure that even though I am building these lessons off of the new Eureka Squared math curriculum, I also need to make sure that I think in the broad spectrum of what the Montana Mathematical Standards say so the lessons I create can be shifted if the curriculum changes. I am relying on the district-level math coach to facilitate guidance where needed to make sure that I correctly and adequately align the lessons I create. I will need to communicate the importance of my want to continue learning and education and implement technology facilitation for my fellow educators.

How will you know if your action plan is successful?  What evidence would support your claim?

I will consider my Capstone project a success if I can adequately and accurately design “grab and go” lessons for educators that allow them to further their understanding of cultural connections within education from Montana tribes while aligning each lesson to a specific Common Core Standard and at least one of the & Essential Understandings. Educators will be able to implement the lessons created with ease through their design and will be able to continue expanding their use of technology within the classroom. This will be shown through testimonials from educators, specifically 4th-grade educators within the district, as that is the grade level the Capstone project will begin formulating lessons for.