LIBE 477 - Inquiry Blog Post #2 - Building Bridges, Building Up

This question is dear to my heart. For me, growing and developing ones' professional practice is a communal endeavour; I believe that sharing ideas, thoughts and inspiration, pushing one another to personal and professional growth and engaging together in new endeavours with curiosity are keys to a successful and enriching career. For me, these are demonstrated in four significant ways.

1.       Participating in broader initiatives

2.       Actively seeking mentorship and support opportunities

3.       Participating in the teaching/learning community

4.       Building connections with others

Participating in Broader Initiatives

A hugely formative experience for me early in my career was the opportunity to participate in a district-wide grant and innovation program. Our district provided Innovation Grant funding to school teams to support teachers in exploring new and exciting pedagogies, tools and techniques. My school group used our funds to create a repository of oral storytelling supplies for teachers to integrate into their classroom lessons. We used the funds for release time so we could visit other classes and see how teachers were using oral storytelling in their lessons, we purchased supplies and books for us to read on the topic and we invited district support teachers to model behaviours and helpful practices. At the end of the year, we met with the other groups in the district for a teacher show-and-share to demonstrate our new learning and exciting new techniques.

Too often I hear groans from teachers in staff meetings when new district or provincial initiatives are presented. It can be easy to think of these as “one more thing” or “extra burdens”. But when we engage these new ideas with energy and curiosity, they can be sources of great growth and enrichment as well as meaningful connection and community.

Actively seeking mentorship and support opportunities

My district has a vibrant mentorship program in which 

mentors and proteges are partnered and supported 

throughout the year through a variety of activities and initiatives.

 

As a new teacher in this district, I am still getting to know who and what is available to me to support me in my practice. I have been positively overwhelmed by the number of professional peers available and interested to engage in professional mentorship relationships – where I, as a new teacher, can share my struggles and learn from more experienced teachers. This district has a board-initiated Teacher Mentorship program designed to strengthen professional practice and resilience of new teachers. They also have several district level curriculum support teachers who are actively seeking opportunities to get into classrooms and share their professional expertise. I can’t wait to take advantage of these supportive experts who can model new practices and train me in innovative methods!

Participating in the teaching/learning community

An area of growth for me is confidence to share my new learning and skills. I have been inspired in my recent coursework to consider how I might be able to support others in developing their professional competencies by sharing my new understandings. For me, that may look like hosting an after-school session for parents on how to access our Learning Commons website, databases and supports such as Tumblebooks. I could start a weekly Tech-Tuesday mailout to teachers about our new iPad apps or innovative ways to incorporate technology into lessons or do a quick book-share or tech-talk at our monthly staff meetings. Ultimately, I hope that this will grow into an opportunity for me to share with others at a formal Professional Development session. I have already begun to explore how I might be able to participate on my own, or with others, in sharing our professional understandings at a formal ProD session.

Participating on the board of the local TL association is another powerful way of participating in the professional learning community. While on the board of the Manitoba School Library Association in my last teaching position, I had the opportunity to plan province-wide ProD events for teacher librarians. This was exciting and scary and energizing all at once! I really enjoyed the sense of community that grew from engaging with others and sharing with the broader professional community!

Another way of engaging in the teaching/learning community is by connecting through the virtual world. I follow several fun and energetic teachers both on Instagram and YouTube who provide me with helpful ideas, hints and tips for improving my practice. Here is a link to one of my favourite vloggers, A Pocketful of Primary, Michelle Ferre from Maryland.

(Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqLOsOAH2pE)

Building Connections with Others

There are many ways to build a sense of community and connection. However, for me, this can be a particular area of vulnerable professional growth. There is high competition for a select number of TL positions in most districts. It can be easy to perceive others as competitors instead of peers. In an effort to combat this particular inclination, I have chosen to intentionally try and build positive connection with others. I recently initiated a group conversation with other TL Diploma students in the district in an effort to generate a sense of camaraderie and support instead of competition. My hope is that, as our careers develop and our experiences flourish, we will be able to cheer for one another and learn from one another based on our shared learning experiences in this program.

(Photo source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/handshake-regard-cooperate-connect-2009195/)

Resources

School District 71. (2019). Learning & Growing Together, Teacher Mentorship [Pamphlet]. Courtenay, BC: Jacquie Anderson.