Leadership: Where am I now?
Setting Goals
To continue to grow one must set goals and reflect along the way of reaching these goals. Setting short-term and long-term goals allows for measurable success. By taking the risk of making goals public, it gives greater accountability for accomplishing them.
For a short-term goal, I will focus on reflecting over the past few years of teaching and decide what the learning environment in my classroom will look like in the coming years. The past few years I have grown and tried different engaging activities. I need to decide what worked best, what I should set aside for now and what to bring back. By taking stock of my educational toolkit, I can refocus my vision and decide what I need to improve on. My goal is to have an engaging classroom where students explore, create and share their understandings. This is done by using real world tasks and focusing on growth mindset by analyzing misconceptions. I want to improve my website and add on to the “In the Classroom” section. During my reflection process, I will share my insights on my website.
For a long-term goal, I want to further explore, create and share my understanding of learning and teaching. By becoming more involved through Twitter, sharing my learning through my website, asking others questions, taking a more active role in educational organizations, I will continue being a tempered radical. One who is not satisfied with status quo, one who shares her understanding and seeks other’s point of view and one who is continually growing, reflecting and helping others. In five years, I will hope to complete another Master's degree in technology and leadership and to continue building a professional learning community with those from the MSU-Wipro Fellowship.
To continue to grow one must set goals and reflect along the way of reaching these goals. Setting short-term and long-term goals allows for measurable success. By taking the risk of making goals public, it gives greater accountability for accomplishing them.
For a short-term goal, I will focus on reflecting over the past few years of teaching and decide what the learning environment in my classroom will look like in the coming years. The past few years I have grown and tried different engaging activities. I need to decide what worked best, what I should set aside for now and what to bring back. By taking stock of my educational toolkit, I can refocus my vision and decide what I need to improve on. My goal is to have an engaging classroom where students explore, create and share their understandings. This is done by using real world tasks and focusing on growth mindset by analyzing misconceptions. I want to improve my website and add on to the “In the Classroom” section. During my reflection process, I will share my insights on my website.
For a long-term goal, I want to further explore, create and share my understanding of learning and teaching. By becoming more involved through Twitter, sharing my learning through my website, asking others questions, taking a more active role in educational organizations, I will continue being a tempered radical. One who is not satisfied with status quo, one who shares her understanding and seeks other’s point of view and one who is continually growing, reflecting and helping others. In five years, I will hope to complete another Master's degree in technology and leadership and to continue building a professional learning community with those from the MSU-Wipro Fellowship.
Rocking the Boat
Task Zero: Review
Rocking the Boat depicts the stories of several tempered radicals and the journeys through their organizations. Using the case studies of these individuals allows for personal connections to be made. If you asked me before reading Rocking the Boat if I was a tempered radical, I would have quickly said no. I have never seen myself as someone who inspires others or tries to rock the boat. After reading and understanding what it truly means to be a tempered radical, I can now recognize how I am one without being aware of it. Quietly through the years, I have found myself and become more of a tempered radical.
“Tempered radicals lead change and they lead people. They lead by creating relationships and local environments that support other tempered radicals, by acting as agents of “positive deviation,” by instigating small wins and creating learning, by pushing people and systems to confront their latent conflicts and adaptive challenges, by organizing other people to act together toward shared goals, and by inspiring change and people. (Meyerson, 2008, p. 171)
After teaching for several years, I understand that incremental approaches over time will result in change, slowly a difference will be made. My goal is develop lifelong learners, encourage other teachers, share my knowledge and learn from others. I am cautious not to rock the boat but committed to this quiet resistance through “patience, conviction, and fortitude.” (p. 11)
Task One: How am I different?
Dr. Meyerson identifies three ways people experience a difference from the majority: those who have different social identities and see those differences as excluding them from the mainstream, those who have different social identities and see those differences as cultural and not for exclusion, and those who have philosophical differences which conflict in their organizations (p. 20). Of the three ways, I identify most with the second type but have experiences that relate to the other two.
It has only been recently that I realized the effect of being the only female in the majority of my higher mathematics courses in college. Since I was not part of the boys club, I had trouble connecting to the professors and fellow classmates. Unfortunately, I let this affect my mindset and the confidence in my ability. I had amazing, supportive math teachers before college. I did not understand what changed but now I see that it was the institution. Even though I struggled to feel a part of the learning, I never gave up on my dream of teaching mathematics. I wish I heard of growth mindset and the struggle females have while I was in college then I would not have felt so isolated.
After college, I was accepted into the Chicago Teaching Fellowship. Growing up in the suburbs and becoming a teacher in an underperforming urban school made me an outsider. As a young teacher, I observed what was occurring in the school but never openly questioned the actions of others or the vision of the school. I found a mentor who I would ask some questions but kept many to myself. I conformed more than I would have liked early in my career because I felt like an outsider. I quickly realized over the years to surround myself with positive people. I had trouble relating to some of the experienced teachers who were negative and would talk about others or students. Why would you be a teacher if you did not believe in every student’s potential?
Since living in the city for ten years, I notice that my feelings towards equality has changed. I came in believing that it was an easy fix if you had a positive attitude and worked hard. I never realized the systematic oppression that existed. I grew up in my little bubble and had assumptions about how others were treated. Because of my experiences, I find that I speak up more to family and friends when talking about politics, education or equality. I feel that it is my duty to inform others of injustices and share what some of my students have experienced and how the education system is flawed. Several of my friends and family members are naive to what others go through and how it is our human obligation to help others by leveling the playing field.
Task Two: Becoming a Tempered Radical
On the continuum, I see myself on the far left where I resist quietly and stay true to myself. I work hard to reject negative self-definitions like women aren’t good at math or women aren’t strong leaders. I channel frustration to avoid being controlled by negativity (p. 41). I practice mindfulness and work to build relationships in order to stay sane and on the right path. I agree that I very quietly rock the boat. I can see how others may think that I am a conformist. I choose my battles wisely and work backstage. I mentor others. I make a point to include new teachers and hires. I encourage others to stay in the game and not let negativity overcome them. Even though I am quiet in my actions, it has been observed by the administration who put me in a lead role this last year.
I would like to move more to the right. I need to start viewing difficult interactions as opportunities and that my silence is a choice. My goal is to start using responsive turns to change the dynamic of a situation and create potential learning. I need to remember to step back and separate myself from the problem, not to internalize the situation but to remember my deeper goals. Besides focusing on goals, I have to recognize fears. Meyerson writes, “when people don’t identify their fears, they become hostage to looming anxieties, rational or not” (p. 91). I cannot let fear drive me to be compliant or remain silent. By setting those goals, I believe that more small wins will occur since small wins emerge from opportunities, and opportunities lie in the details of everyday life (p. 119).
Task Three: Facing Challenges
Meyerson describes four levels of challenges: the difficulties of ambivalence, the lures of co-optation, damage of reputation, and frustration and burnout (p. 144). For difficulties with ambivalence, guilt plays a huge role. I think most teachers feel that you could have always done more. Over the years, I have realized that this guilt will eat away at you if you let it. Now that I have a family, I have even less free time. Even though I am not spending as much time outside of the school day working, I now take better care of myself with eating healthier, going for walks and unwinding from the day by being mindful of my surroundings. This leads to greater productivity at work. Another toll of ambivalence is loneliness. Because I choose not to talk about others and avoid negativity, I am isolated from some of my peers. Usually over lunch, I find that most people gripe so many times I choose to stay in my room in order to avoid it.
With the lure of co-optation, I am guilty of waiting for a better time. Because I want to choose my battles wisely and stay true to my deeper goals, there are time that compromise and wait. I feel this also occurs because of gender roles. Being a white woman, there is pressure to comply to the role of silence rooted in cultural institutions. Most people worry about damage to reputation. Because I am to the left on the scale of tempered radicals, it is not in my nature to rock the boat so much as to damage my reputation. I am very aware of my surroundings and how my actions affect others.
Frustration and burnout definitely played a role at work. I know that there are ups and downs in the teaching profession. I have realized that I cannot help a colleague who does not want to improve so now I do not waste my time. I will occasionally share something that I tried in the classroom hoping to spark interest but I do not take it personally when teachers want to stay in their bubble. With this realization and the birth of my daughter, I am more than ever dedicated to improving education.
Meyerson, D. E. (2008). Rocking the boat: How to effect change without making trouble. Harvard Business Press.
Task Zero: Review
Rocking the Boat depicts the stories of several tempered radicals and the journeys through their organizations. Using the case studies of these individuals allows for personal connections to be made. If you asked me before reading Rocking the Boat if I was a tempered radical, I would have quickly said no. I have never seen myself as someone who inspires others or tries to rock the boat. After reading and understanding what it truly means to be a tempered radical, I can now recognize how I am one without being aware of it. Quietly through the years, I have found myself and become more of a tempered radical.
“Tempered radicals lead change and they lead people. They lead by creating relationships and local environments that support other tempered radicals, by acting as agents of “positive deviation,” by instigating small wins and creating learning, by pushing people and systems to confront their latent conflicts and adaptive challenges, by organizing other people to act together toward shared goals, and by inspiring change and people. (Meyerson, 2008, p. 171)
After teaching for several years, I understand that incremental approaches over time will result in change, slowly a difference will be made. My goal is develop lifelong learners, encourage other teachers, share my knowledge and learn from others. I am cautious not to rock the boat but committed to this quiet resistance through “patience, conviction, and fortitude.” (p. 11)
Task One: How am I different?
Dr. Meyerson identifies three ways people experience a difference from the majority: those who have different social identities and see those differences as excluding them from the mainstream, those who have different social identities and see those differences as cultural and not for exclusion, and those who have philosophical differences which conflict in their organizations (p. 20). Of the three ways, I identify most with the second type but have experiences that relate to the other two.
It has only been recently that I realized the effect of being the only female in the majority of my higher mathematics courses in college. Since I was not part of the boys club, I had trouble connecting to the professors and fellow classmates. Unfortunately, I let this affect my mindset and the confidence in my ability. I had amazing, supportive math teachers before college. I did not understand what changed but now I see that it was the institution. Even though I struggled to feel a part of the learning, I never gave up on my dream of teaching mathematics. I wish I heard of growth mindset and the struggle females have while I was in college then I would not have felt so isolated.
After college, I was accepted into the Chicago Teaching Fellowship. Growing up in the suburbs and becoming a teacher in an underperforming urban school made me an outsider. As a young teacher, I observed what was occurring in the school but never openly questioned the actions of others or the vision of the school. I found a mentor who I would ask some questions but kept many to myself. I conformed more than I would have liked early in my career because I felt like an outsider. I quickly realized over the years to surround myself with positive people. I had trouble relating to some of the experienced teachers who were negative and would talk about others or students. Why would you be a teacher if you did not believe in every student’s potential?
Since living in the city for ten years, I notice that my feelings towards equality has changed. I came in believing that it was an easy fix if you had a positive attitude and worked hard. I never realized the systematic oppression that existed. I grew up in my little bubble and had assumptions about how others were treated. Because of my experiences, I find that I speak up more to family and friends when talking about politics, education or equality. I feel that it is my duty to inform others of injustices and share what some of my students have experienced and how the education system is flawed. Several of my friends and family members are naive to what others go through and how it is our human obligation to help others by leveling the playing field.
Task Two: Becoming a Tempered Radical
On the continuum, I see myself on the far left where I resist quietly and stay true to myself. I work hard to reject negative self-definitions like women aren’t good at math or women aren’t strong leaders. I channel frustration to avoid being controlled by negativity (p. 41). I practice mindfulness and work to build relationships in order to stay sane and on the right path. I agree that I very quietly rock the boat. I can see how others may think that I am a conformist. I choose my battles wisely and work backstage. I mentor others. I make a point to include new teachers and hires. I encourage others to stay in the game and not let negativity overcome them. Even though I am quiet in my actions, it has been observed by the administration who put me in a lead role this last year.
I would like to move more to the right. I need to start viewing difficult interactions as opportunities and that my silence is a choice. My goal is to start using responsive turns to change the dynamic of a situation and create potential learning. I need to remember to step back and separate myself from the problem, not to internalize the situation but to remember my deeper goals. Besides focusing on goals, I have to recognize fears. Meyerson writes, “when people don’t identify their fears, they become hostage to looming anxieties, rational or not” (p. 91). I cannot let fear drive me to be compliant or remain silent. By setting those goals, I believe that more small wins will occur since small wins emerge from opportunities, and opportunities lie in the details of everyday life (p. 119).
Task Three: Facing Challenges
Meyerson describes four levels of challenges: the difficulties of ambivalence, the lures of co-optation, damage of reputation, and frustration and burnout (p. 144). For difficulties with ambivalence, guilt plays a huge role. I think most teachers feel that you could have always done more. Over the years, I have realized that this guilt will eat away at you if you let it. Now that I have a family, I have even less free time. Even though I am not spending as much time outside of the school day working, I now take better care of myself with eating healthier, going for walks and unwinding from the day by being mindful of my surroundings. This leads to greater productivity at work. Another toll of ambivalence is loneliness. Because I choose not to talk about others and avoid negativity, I am isolated from some of my peers. Usually over lunch, I find that most people gripe so many times I choose to stay in my room in order to avoid it.
With the lure of co-optation, I am guilty of waiting for a better time. Because I want to choose my battles wisely and stay true to my deeper goals, there are time that compromise and wait. I feel this also occurs because of gender roles. Being a white woman, there is pressure to comply to the role of silence rooted in cultural institutions. Most people worry about damage to reputation. Because I am to the left on the scale of tempered radicals, it is not in my nature to rock the boat so much as to damage my reputation. I am very aware of my surroundings and how my actions affect others.
Frustration and burnout definitely played a role at work. I know that there are ups and downs in the teaching profession. I have realized that I cannot help a colleague who does not want to improve so now I do not waste my time. I will occasionally share something that I tried in the classroom hoping to spark interest but I do not take it personally when teachers want to stay in their bubble. With this realization and the birth of my daughter, I am more than ever dedicated to improving education.
Meyerson, D. E. (2008). Rocking the boat: How to effect change without making trouble. Harvard Business Press.
In the Room Activity
Spring semester began with a digital quickfire. I had to find 6 random items in the room.
Step 1: Room and items
In the kitchen, I chose flowers, candle, spoon, toy monkey, a glass and cleaner.
Step 2: Reflect and record
I tried to mix up the randomness of the objects. Some objects have more meaning to me than others. I chose the kitchen because it is the meeting place for our family where we spend time talking, cooking, eating, singing, dancing and working. I was excited to begin the spring semester with a quickfire but also tired from being sick and taking care of my sick 2-year-old daughter. I was also relieved it was the weekend to try and get some rest. Fingers crossed that my daughter would nap long enough for me to finish my assignment.
Step 3: How do the items relate to leadership?
Flower: You must be willing to grow as a leader and help others grow by providing the water and nutrients needed.
Candle: You must spark a desire in others to learn and grow using your passion. You cannot let your spark burn out even when times get tough or others try to drag you down.
Spoon: You must be willing to mix things up. Leadership requires innovation and seeing things from different perspectives.
Toy Monkey: You must have fun learning and growing. Do not take everything so seriously.
Glass: You must be optimistic. The glass is half full. Also, stop and nourish yourself so you do not become fatigued.
Cleaner: You have to be willing to get dirty and you may have to clean up other's messes.
Step 4: How does a leader impact a room?
The leader sets the tone for the room. His or her emotions are felt by others. This can positively or negatively affect the desired outcome of the meeting. If the environment is not welcoming, others will not open up and be truthful.
Step 5: What does leadership mean to me?
Leadership focuses on helping others grow through whole group collaboration and implementation of a common goal.
Spring semester began with a digital quickfire. I had to find 6 random items in the room.
Step 1: Room and items
In the kitchen, I chose flowers, candle, spoon, toy monkey, a glass and cleaner.
Step 2: Reflect and record
I tried to mix up the randomness of the objects. Some objects have more meaning to me than others. I chose the kitchen because it is the meeting place for our family where we spend time talking, cooking, eating, singing, dancing and working. I was excited to begin the spring semester with a quickfire but also tired from being sick and taking care of my sick 2-year-old daughter. I was also relieved it was the weekend to try and get some rest. Fingers crossed that my daughter would nap long enough for me to finish my assignment.
Step 3: How do the items relate to leadership?
Flower: You must be willing to grow as a leader and help others grow by providing the water and nutrients needed.
Candle: You must spark a desire in others to learn and grow using your passion. You cannot let your spark burn out even when times get tough or others try to drag you down.
Spoon: You must be willing to mix things up. Leadership requires innovation and seeing things from different perspectives.
Toy Monkey: You must have fun learning and growing. Do not take everything so seriously.
Glass: You must be optimistic. The glass is half full. Also, stop and nourish yourself so you do not become fatigued.
Cleaner: You have to be willing to get dirty and you may have to clean up other's messes.
Step 4: How does a leader impact a room?
The leader sets the tone for the room. His or her emotions are felt by others. This can positively or negatively affect the desired outcome of the meeting. If the environment is not welcoming, others will not open up and be truthful.
Step 5: What does leadership mean to me?
Leadership focuses on helping others grow through whole group collaboration and implementation of a common goal.