Fall 2019 |
"Everyone matters, and everyone is needed- this is a moral imperative. If we don't care about the well-being of our students and each other, what do we care about?" ~ Katz (Ensouling or Schools) |
ECC 516 - Family Systems and Conflict Management |
“Change always starts with confusion; cherished interpretations must dissolve to make way for the new” ~Wheatly |
Changing Colours of the Fall:
Like the falling leaves from the trees, fall has seen me work through loss and change professionally. This course has been the most profound course for me for so many reasons.
First of all, the most welcome change was the addition of new voices to the conversation - the adding of new perspectives to my journey. I have grown immensely close with the three amazing people that I grew with through the first stages of this program. However, I was missing the diversity of perspective in conversations, and joining with the other cohort allowed for me to connect and learn with more individuals. I have already thrived in larger groups and draw from the energy and synergy that is created by groups of people.
Like the falling leaves from the trees, fall has seen me work through loss and change professionally. This course has been the most profound course for me for so many reasons.
First of all, the most welcome change was the addition of new voices to the conversation - the adding of new perspectives to my journey. I have grown immensely close with the three amazing people that I grew with through the first stages of this program. However, I was missing the diversity of perspective in conversations, and joining with the other cohort allowed for me to connect and learn with more individuals. I have already thrived in larger groups and draw from the energy and synergy that is created by groups of people.
Secondly, this course could not have come at a better time professionally. I was really struggling with loss from the dividing of YCMS into two, leaving me wondering about my choices and whether I had made the right decision. Professionally, I also felt my leadership testing in new ways, as I was supporting others around me who were also going through stages of grief. In the course of my reflection, I developed a metaphor around trees and school - again timely as the trees themselves were changing colour and transforming. Thus, this fall became transformational as I worked through the grief of what had been lost, while looking for and hanging onto what I truly valued. As a person who has experienced extreme loss in my personal life, I took time to pull back the lens on YCMS and look at the situation through a sensitivity that people in the building are experiencing loss and are grieving. Through this larger picture I can see that teachers are not necessarily competing for their own agendas, instead they are ‘bargaining’ to make sense of their new reality as well. We are all finding ways to move forward as a result of the loss of friends, programs, even the pure energy that a large school brings with it each day. As such I am brought back what I believe was my biggest question: do I want to move forward in the community and how do I and those around me stay healthy in the midst of such massive change?
Through quiet reflection, reading, and discussions with those close to me, I have come to this conclusion: I know I need to stay as a leader within this community of learners right now. I need to help it move forward and support the vision of the other leaders in the building. I need to stay and help the school heal. I believe that if I leave, I will become one more aspect of the tree that others will mourn. I have faith that together as a staff we can heal the tree. We need to recognize that the change cannot be undone, that we cannot return to what was, but we can move forward towards something better. It is time to fight off potential disease and come together. Together, through open dialogue, honest conversations and active listening, we can grow into a stronger, more balanced tree. I need to be honoured to have the chance to once again grow with some amazing people. It is time to grow forward.
My full reflections can be found here:
Through quiet reflection, reading, and discussions with those close to me, I have come to this conclusion: I know I need to stay as a leader within this community of learners right now. I need to help it move forward and support the vision of the other leaders in the building. I need to stay and help the school heal. I believe that if I leave, I will become one more aspect of the tree that others will mourn. I have faith that together as a staff we can heal the tree. We need to recognize that the change cannot be undone, that we cannot return to what was, but we can move forward towards something better. It is time to fight off potential disease and come together. Together, through open dialogue, honest conversations and active listening, we can grow into a stronger, more balanced tree. I need to be honoured to have the chance to once again grow with some amazing people. It is time to grow forward.
My full reflections can be found here:
Finally, I jokingly asked if I could present my final reflections for this course through conversation, and ultimately this is what I did. Sue and I met over coffee in her home and discussed so much of my learning. The conversation itself was representational of the readings and the journey I felt this course had been. I was at a loss for word in writing (which is not typical of me) and I appreciated the opportunity to talk through my writers block and work through the valuable readings and ideas that had been presented throughout the course. This was by far a true representation of the value of conversation and listening - the pillars of this course.
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abbotsofrd-bacon_and_keyworth_presentation.pdf |
EEA 642 - Internship II
(School Initiative, Presenting at Conferences)
The vulnerability of presenting to our peers and sharing our knowledge culminates with receiving feedback from participants. I am always anxious to receive immediate and formal feedback, for after all the hours of preparation, and the validity that it works with your students, there is still a chance that what you have to say will not be well received by your peers. |
This September marked a continuation of many opportunities to present to leaders in the district activities I have led in my school. In addition to spearheading the Global Read Aloud Initiative in my school, I was also asked to present about it and other literacy goals connected to our school action plan at the Middle Networking Meeting in September. Both Assistant Superintendents, the Superintendent, several of the district Principals for various departments as well as all the middle-school Administrators in Langley attend these monthly meetings. They are hosted at different Middle schools in the District, and although not my first time presenting, this was the first time I was asked to stay for about an hour after my brief presentation about GRA to further discuss literacy initiatives in the district. During this hour, myself and a colleague were asked many questions around literacy in our own classrooms and at YCMS. The focus was on how the district and administrators can best support newer teachers in middle schools to effectively implement district and middle school literacy goals.
Upon returning from AMLE, I was asked to attend another Middle Networking Meeting in December. Four other colleagues and I had all presented at speed sessions at AMLE, so they set our portion of their meeting like a speed learning session. Langley middle schools have been sending a group of middle school teacher and administrators to AMLE every year for the past six years; however, this is the first year where Langley sent presenters, and it was a great accomplishment for our district to have us all accepted to present. It was a great opportunity to once again be included in Middle School visioning for the district.
Upon returning from AMLE, I was asked to attend another Middle Networking Meeting in December. Four other colleagues and I had all presented at speed sessions at AMLE, so they set our portion of their meeting like a speed learning session. Langley middle schools have been sending a group of middle school teacher and administrators to AMLE every year for the past six years; however, this is the first year where Langley sent presenters, and it was a great accomplishment for our district to have us all accepted to present. It was a great opportunity to once again be included in Middle School visioning for the district.