The Next Five Years
Part 1: A Personal Reflection
Since this is my last year in the classroom, my long-term goal as I transition to administration was originally to create a school environment that promotes interdisciplinary STEM collaboration. I realized that this goal was not audacious enough for me. After seeing the success of my One STEM Chicago and inspired by my time at the Google Innovator Academy in London I want to not only focus on my own school, but in what ways can technology help improve STEM professional development opportunities across the city.
In transitioning to this new role I have to expand my social network. I mostly collaborate with urban STEM educators, but as a school leader I will be responsible for providing professional development and instructional leadership for all the teachers in the building, not just those in my content area. I have been fortunate to have worked with a diverse group of colleagues in my ten years in the district and have been actively working to expand my professional learning network (PLN) outside my normal channels (e.g. G Suite for Edu, Chicago Public Schools) by joining more digital PLN's and participating in global Twitter chats. I feel empowered to abandon the past, take risks, and innovate. As I mentioned in my ImagineIT Final Report, being a part of MSUrbanSTEM has shown me first-hand the power of collaboration to design, plan, and iterate to improve learning outcomes for all students. As Rosalinde Torres said in her TED Talk, "Great leaders dare to be different. They don't just talk about risk-taking, they actually do it." But these risks have a better chance of taking hold when championed by a team as I think we all experienced this year during our fellowship.
Part 2: Curating My Resources
Below is a list of resources that I will use to build my leadership skills and presence over the coming years.
Since this is my last year in the classroom, my long-term goal as I transition to administration was originally to create a school environment that promotes interdisciplinary STEM collaboration. I realized that this goal was not audacious enough for me. After seeing the success of my One STEM Chicago and inspired by my time at the Google Innovator Academy in London I want to not only focus on my own school, but in what ways can technology help improve STEM professional development opportunities across the city.
In transitioning to this new role I have to expand my social network. I mostly collaborate with urban STEM educators, but as a school leader I will be responsible for providing professional development and instructional leadership for all the teachers in the building, not just those in my content area. I have been fortunate to have worked with a diverse group of colleagues in my ten years in the district and have been actively working to expand my professional learning network (PLN) outside my normal channels (e.g. G Suite for Edu, Chicago Public Schools) by joining more digital PLN's and participating in global Twitter chats. I feel empowered to abandon the past, take risks, and innovate. As I mentioned in my ImagineIT Final Report, being a part of MSUrbanSTEM has shown me first-hand the power of collaboration to design, plan, and iterate to improve learning outcomes for all students. As Rosalinde Torres said in her TED Talk, "Great leaders dare to be different. They don't just talk about risk-taking, they actually do it." But these risks have a better chance of taking hold when championed by a team as I think we all experienced this year during our fellowship.
Part 2: Curating My Resources
Below is a list of resources that I will use to build my leadership skills and presence over the coming years.