DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

During our first semester I realized that I was in a difficult situation with a member of my team. We were not working as a cohesive team and it felt unfair and frustrating to the members of the group that were doing all the work.I knew that I had to learn how to make it work, and that my personal attempts were not working. Professor Rivera had a book in her office called, Difficult Conversations: How to discuss what matters most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen. I borrowed her book and read it in between the moments I had during the day. I started to make personal connections to the text, and considered how I would apply what I was reading to my reality. I tried to remember some of the conversation sentence starters that were deemed "nonconfrontational" with co-workers before I tried it on my team mate. It didn't necessarily offer me a concrete strategy to fix the problem, rather it helped move me along my personal journey of honesty and self-reflection, as well as compassion. 

 

In order to promote the success of all students, a school must have a positive school culture where members treat each other with respect. Instructional Supervision Standard ELCC 2.0 states that a positive school culture promotes the success of a school and it's students. By trying to foster a respectful and productive working relationship with a difficult group member, I was aligning myself with that standard. I realize that being a highly effective worker and valuable employee is not enough. One must be able to cooperate with those around them to accomplish great things.

 

Another resource of mine, Common Formative Assessments/How to Connect Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment by Larry Ainsworth and Donald Veugut has taught me the importance of instructional coherence and assessment alignment. This book helps to understand how to use common formative assessments in your own school. Applying best practices to student learning is a component of ELCC 2.0. Using assessments to inform instructional decisions is best practice.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.