Change As a Collaborative Inquiry

What information from the article did you connect with the most and why?

I think that a lot of this article deals with goal setting and keeping your priorities straight. There is a clear picture of where and what the end game/implementation will be. I also connected with compliance vs collaboration. People are more more willing to put their being and engagement into a problem if they fully understand it. When someone tells you there is an issue and you will do this to fix it. It feels forced and not genuine. You want to understand and collaborate on how to best fix and create a better school. I also like transparency when it comes to school problems. Why would we hide areas that need support? The community is a huge key player in our goals and overall outlook of the district. We need to share with them our need and the future of our school.

Thinking of your own school community, what are the issues and concerns regarding school improvement? How are these addressed with the administration and staff? What can you and other staff members do to work towards a more collaborative constructivist approach towards improvement?

Currently, my largest concern is that we had set ideas of incorporation. We wanted all staff to be using Schoology/updating. We wanted staff to start incorporating standard based grading. We wanted more PLC time. Now, as I look forward my concern would be how our school community will change under new management. We are currently pending the next year with our middle school principal. What I do know is that we need to be open to change and be willing to collaborate towards our improvement. I want to make my time meaningful and I want to make steps towards our own goals. As a school and department we do a great job of setting Smart Goals. Having personal goals and classroom goals helps keeps fluidity in the classroom. We all need to be willing to the vision of new leadership and new concepts.

How do you see the action research you do in your classroom supporting adaptation and process of change?

I see this action research as a method to understand reading and how to best facilitate strategies of comprehension in my classroom. I hope to also use it during our Storm time to help share and foster the joy of reading for others. I want to use it as a Smart Goal in my classroom to help push myself and my students.Read Alouds are not just for entertainment but they provide many great modeled strategies and discussions to help share the joy and process of reading.

Change as Collaborative Inquiry

Catchphrase: Invictus

"I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul."

One of my favorite poems ever written is called Invictus. It is latin for unconquerable or undefeated. This quote is my catchphrase. I am responsible for my own choices. I own me.

Here is the poem.

What does it mean to you? What is the context?

When I first read this I felt like it was a poem about about determination. I thought maybe it could be linked to war. 

The author wrote this poem at a very dark point in his life at hospital when he had tuberculosis. He ended up losing one of his legs. You can imagine the despair and the fear one may feel in that situation. The lack of control. I just find the words in this poem very relatable and inspiring. As I get older I am especially am finding my own strength and my own voice. 

There will always be elements of life you can control even when it feels like you may be losing all your control. You control your attitude and the way you want to feel. You can control if you want to accept or decline what is happening around you. Choice. Whatever the future may be or whatever anyone goes through. You still have choice and you still are the master of your fate and you are the captain of your soul.

There is only one you. Own it.

It is a great message for students to hear.

Radical Leap Leadership

Radical Leap Leadership

A teacher is a leader in the classroom. Leadership can come in many forms. Leadership can be motivating and supportive or it could be the opposite. When I look back in my life at leaders that I respected it always came to the thought of their willingness to help. When there was times to get work down we all pulled up our sleeves and made it happen. It made me respect them and trust them. 

What needs to happen is to...

Cultivate love, generate energy, inspire audacity, and lastly by providing proof.

One of the best leaders I have ever had has been my teacher mentor. She has since retired but she was fierce. She made me feel loved and she loved teaching. It streamed through everything she did and every conversation she had with kids. She was someone who believed in relationships. She really supported and cared for others. People would come for her advice and she would listen intently. I couldn't believe all the different people who she made a connection with that would come and visit her. I was across the hallway but she also helped me find a place in our school. She was tough but she cared so much. She also cared a lot about me and how I felt. If I was worried or was overthinking she would say the right things. She just knew how to erase negative feelings. She generated energy for language arts and was excited and got into deep conversations with me about grammar and books. It made me love what I taught even more.

The biggest quality she had was to cultivate love. When she retired I put together an event at a coffee shop and invited her there. It was a surprise retirement party. She hates surprises. I had her closest friends bring their favorite books. So many people came! I inserted a sticker inside each book honoring her and her years of service as a teacher. She was shocked as person after person appeared. You can tell she had deep connections and great leadership too. Her mentor from years ago came to visit. It was a beautiful day. All those books were donated to different libraries and to this day I look for them. She taught thousands of students and her love for reading will be scattered around the community she loves for new readers to enjoy.