TLI Final Meeting: Positive Challenge and Support

Terrific guiding competencies for teacher leadership. 

Today was our final meeting for the year-long Teacher Leadership Initiative (TLI). It was a great course with substantial learning and challenge. I was introduced to so many areas that I can continue to focus on to develop my skills and abilities with regard to teaching and leading well. The teacher leadership competencies offer a rich guide to teaching and leading well. In fact, it would be a good guide to begin using with pre-service educators as they prepare to teach.

As I learned today, I realized that it's important to invest oneself into questions, problems, and areas of study, research, and work that is meaningful to you--areas where you feel you can make a significant impact on those you collaborate with. We all bring with us different styles, experiences, vision, and goals, and it's important to recognize those elements in yourself and others as we move individually and collectively towards goals.

It was heartening to hear that the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) holds promise for greater teacher leadership, choice, and voice in schools, and that to know ESSA well, is to maximize the positive qualities of the law. Leaders today noted that many schools are creating ESSA implementation teams to give the new law the time and attention it deserves. I think this is a good idea, and once I finalize this year's paperwork and get some rest, I'll probably take a good look at the new law.

Going forward from the Teacher Leadership Initiative, I plan to invest time into growing our shared teaching model with colleagues, developing my math teaching repertoire, and looking for ways to help struggling learners learn more. As a union representative, I'll continue to update our website and work on sharing news of union events and opportunities. And with regard to the the big picture, there's lots to do with regard to our upcoming ECET2 event this fall. It looks like we may have to change our date or location due to an unexpected turn of events, but we have time to deal with that.

With one more day of school and Father's Day tomorrow, it's time to get ready for the celebrations. Onward.