Teacher Leader Highlights

A significant focus of my work this year has been leading the Instructional Leadership Team to create and implement professional learning cycles responsive to the identified needs of our teachers and students. Our focus is to ensure that the professional development and support provided are pertinent and impactful, contributing to elevating the teachers' instructional practices and, most importantly, providing our students with the support they need to achieve academic, social, and emotional success. An essential part as a Team Director has been actively promoting teacher communication and collaboration. This intentional approach has promoted connections that encourage vulnerability to learn openly from each other, building trust between us teachers, positively impacting our school culture and climate.

One of the greatest joys of being a Team Director is seeing the incredible leadership potential within our teaching staff unfold. My passion is empowering educators to leverage their unique skills and expertise to become leaders within our school community and outside of it. This year, we've seen several teachers step into new leadership roles, leading professional development opportunities and new initiatives that directly address the evolving needs of our students and enhance teachers' practices. Witnessing their growth and positive impact on our school culture and student outcomes is genuinely inspiring. I feel privileged to support their journey.

The opportunity to serve as a Team Director has been a significant source of inspiration, directly influencing my aspiration to pursue a principalship. Witnessing the impact of my leadership at a school-wide level has motivated me to expand the support I can offer to every member of our educational community, particularly to educators, as a principal.

I support my school's climate and ongoing improvement by collaboratively planning and implementing strategies that foster a positive culture.

At Gresham, we promote inclusion to ensure that all students are receiving equitable instruction. Through strong and consistent relationship building my team and I strive to foster a learning environment where students feel safe and supported. Culture/climate and school improvement start with our staff so I help to intentionally plan meaningful learning cycles and professional development based on various school-wide data trends and needs.

The most rewarding part of being a coach is seeing my teacher’s growth in their instructional practice. Knowing that I have a positive impact and being able to constantly see the evidence in student achievement brings me the most joy! I really love the feeling of making a difference in the lives of not only our educators but our students as well. My role has given me the opportunity to collaborate with all stakeholders in and outside of our school. I feel connected to the CPS community knowing that we all have 1 common goal and that is to see our scholars succeed in and outside of the classroom.

A meaningful experience I have had as a mentor was helping my mentee build their capacity and confidence with new instruction. One of my mentee's goals during our partnership was to begin using the CPS Skyline curriculum in the classroom. Through many weeks of discussions, modeling, and exposure, we were able to achieve the goal that my mentee had set for themself during quarter one of the school year. The coaching experiences I have acquired have made me a better teacher leader inside the building. Being a New Teacher Mentor has also helped me feel like I am a larger part of CPS, now I am reaching outside my comfort zone and my classroom to help inspire New Chicago Public School teachers to achieve their goals of being the very best they can be.

Over the last 6 years, under CPS’ Distributed Leadership model, I have seen how this work can transform a school community. As a teacher leader who has remained in the classroom, I’ve seen the advantages of leading as a peer. Trust is built quickly when teachers see that I’m doing the same work with them, rolling out new strategies together, or modeling practices that they can then integrate into their own classroom. We are even free to make mistakes together! I’ve learned that when teachers trust you, they are eager for feedback and collaboration that makes them better with each lesson. If I have learned anything from the CPS Distributed Leadership team it is that relational trust is the foundation for impactful coaching work that reaches both teachers and students. Some of the ways I spend time building and maintaining that trust with teachers is with collaborative goal setting, well-prepared co-planning sessions, formal and informal check-ins, options and choices in professional development, and intentional coaching cycles with clear benchmarks that make space for reflection and flexibility. I have learned that I can honor teacher needs without sacrificing positive student outcomes, because a well cared-for teacher is always better for their students.

While I hope that my work as a Team Director is having a lasting impact on teaching school-wide, I know for certain that my role as a teacher leader has had a tremendous impact on my own teaching practice. I’m a better teacher because of the things I learn from the teachers I coach and the teams I lead. While I didn’t expect that kind of return on the investment, it has made this work all the more worthwhile.