As of this year, I have been teaching for 20 years. I have worked diligently to stay up on best practices, to form a relationship with our community and to be a professional, trusted colleague. It has often been whispered in my ear that I would make a great administrator. I am an active listener, I am proactive not reactive and I form & maintain relationships fairly naturally (thanks, Dad). However, until last year, I truly didn't believe that that was where the action was...where the most impact was made on students. And then my assistant superintendent sent me to a training called "Building Leadership Capacity." That is where I was first introduced to the Teacher Leadership Framework with Katie Taylor from CSTP. My world and vision and goals were forever changed.....
I'm going to follow the format we used yesterday for looking at the framework. (I see, I think, I wonder)
I see that there are so many teacher leadership skills, knowledge and dispositions that I already have. I also see that there are so many areas I need to be aware of and continue to work on.
I think I enjoy retreats such as this--(actually I know). To be around colleagues with similar goals is inspiring. To discuss what is happening around our state empowers me. To build friendships with a wide range of life long learners.
I wonder how I can bring this to Walla Walla. We have so many amazing teachers who don't realize the leaders that they are. I am excited to ponder this, formulate and plan and move forward.
As I enter my administrative credential program, I see that I can continue to directly impact student learning by empowering teachers. This is my calling. I love the complicated yet rewarding job of working with adults. I am able to see how to bring this to a reality in my district.
Additionally, my goals are bubbling with excitement right now. I want to submit an idea for the Teach to Lead summit in Tacoma. I plan on developing a proposal for our district on providing opportunities to share the Teacher Leadership Framework. And finally I look forward to planning out my role as a facilitator for National Board Certification.
Beyond all of the learning, the relationships that are being formed are priceless. CSTP does a great job of being sure there is time to sit back, relax and get to know one another (TRUST). Yes, we have a lot of teacher talk but we also get to know each other as people.
No comments:
Post a Comment