Reflections and Intentions [Blogpost 104]
Initially, I had intended to use this post to reflect upon the last year and to look ahead to the next. Mindful that one decade has just ended and we are entering “The Roaring Twenties”, it seems apt to reflect not simply on the year, but the decade, and to consider (to paraphrase Gibran) not just achievements, but aspirations, too.
I am aware that this last decade has given me plenty of opportunities for professional growth and acknowledge the following experiences and achievements:
* I have had, as part of my decade of working in a international school in KL, two teaching and two administrative positions: Elementary School Learning Support (2009 - 2010), Grade Three Homeroom Teacher/Team Leader (2010 - 2013), Student Support Services Coordinator (2013 - 2017) and Head of Admissions (2017 - present).
* I have led initiatives regarding day to day practices: (i) I oversaw the successful introduction of various practices in our school: WIDA MODEL assessments (2013 - 2015), MAP testing (2013 - 2015) and mixed delivery model for EAL and LS in Elementary School (2015-2017); (ii) I co-wrote the Child Protection Policy (2016 - 2017) and Co-chaired M’KIS WASC Focus Group C, Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth (2016 - 2017).
* I have led initiatives regarding Professional Development: (i) I organized with great success Dr. Virginia Rojas’ on-site weekend workshop entitled Key Principles for ELL Instruction: What We All Need to Know and Do (2016); (ii) I successfully liaised with Hils Learning, a local agency, as the M’KIS coordinator for on-site weekend workshops: Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking® (2016); Professor Tony Attwood’s New Strategies to Understand and Help Children and Teenagers with ASD level-1 (Asperger's) (2017); Dr. Joyce Mills’ Improving Behaviour Through Expressive Methods (2018).
* I attended summer classes - Creating and Administering an Effective School (2014), Leadership and Team Dynamics (2015), Assessment Leadership in the International School (2016), and Instructional Supervision and Evaluation (2017) - leading to The Certificate of International School Leadership awarded by The PTC, Principals’ Training Center for International School Leadership (July 2017).
* I have engaged in various formal Professional Development opportunities including EARCOS Leadership Conferences, webinars, on-line courses and - most recently in November 2019 - I earned Google Certified Educator - Level 1.
* I have engaged in ongoing informal Professional Development covering a range of topics. In the last year I have read a wide range of articles and texts and especially enjoyed reading Dalziel’s Aspiring to ‘be’ or to ‘do’?, Husain’s The Skills: From First Job to Dream Job - What Every Woman Needs to Know, Scott’s Fierce Conversations: Achieving success in work and in life, one conversation at a time and Wu and Dunning’s Unknown Unknowns: The Problem of Hypocognition. In Aspiring to ‘be’ or to ‘do’?, Dalziel’s notion that “Leaders and educators need to develop, within others and within themselves, our substantive statement of purpose, identifying what we are here to do, and not what are we here to be.” resonated - and continues to resonate - with me. As to Wu and Dunning’s hypocognition article in Scientific American, I very much appreciate the explanation, the examples taken across time and cultures as well as - with regards to looking into the future and expanding our knowledge - the concluding paragraph which states, “Over the past decades, social science has catalogued numerous knowledge gaps in the human mind. Perhaps we can start to gain insights into these blind spots by adding the notion of hypocognition to our cognitive arsenal. It will not cure our fallibility, but it might just invite us to seek out our personal unknowns and lead us to a wiser and more enriched life.”
* I have expanded my understanding of various cultures through professional development and by working in an international environment and especially so in my role as Head of Admissions. More recently, this has included learning about Nunchi (a brief overview of Nunchi may be found here, What Is Nunchi? 8 Rules For This Korean Secret To Emotional Intelligence).
* I have written blog posts on various topics, including but not limited to Admissions, Leadership, Learning Differently, School Culture, Social Justice, and Third Culture Kids (TCK) (2016 - present). I am aware that I have increasingly been drawn to the themes of wellbeing and TCK/identity.
* I have had articles published in TIE: Improving Behaviour Through Expressive Methods (2018), ASD (2017), and Social Thinking® (2016)
I am mindful of Fagin’s quote, “Knowledge will bring you the opportunity to make a difference” and - in looking ahead - I aspire:
* To continue - over the next year and a half - to expand my repertoire of skills pertaining to Admissions, Leadership and more through day to day practice, reading, formal and informal Professional Development opportunities.
* To continue working closely with the relevant departments so as to launch OpenApply as our on-line application platform mid-January 2020. We have had training sessions and built our landing site. So as to optimize our online application being user friendly for our prospective families, we delayed slightly the launch so as to be able to spend the last month or so fine-tuning it.
* To continue to engage in opportunities for professional growth, be it through formal Professional Development sessions or - as I do on a regular basis - through reading a range of blogs, texts, and articles recommended by friends, colleagues, and/or those I follow on Twitter and LinkedIn. I want to review some of the readings/recommended texts shared as part of the PTC courses and continue to focus on expanding my knowledge base, specifically with regard to the MYP and TOK, and generally with regards to education, leadership and more. With regards to Tsundoku: The practice of buying more books than you can read, I am, “Guilty as charged.” While the pile of books by my bed veers more towards personal reading (thankfully) than professional reading, my stack of professional texts to read includes the following:
..
Alchin’s Theory of Knowledge,
Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking Penguin
Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow: The Psychology of Happiness: The Classic Work on How to Achieve Happiness Rider
Duckworth’s Grit: Why Passion and Resilience are the Secrets to Success
DuFour et al’s Learning By Doing A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work
Duhigg’s The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change
Garcia and Miralles’ Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
Garmston and Zimmerman’s Lemons to Lemonade Resolving Problems in Meetings, Workshops and PLCs
Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
Glickman’s Leadership for Learning How to Help Teachers Succeed
Hammond’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
Husain’s The Skills: From First Job to Dream Job - What Every Woman Needs to Know
Kriete and Davis’ The Morning Meeting Book
Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)
Mattos et al’s Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Professional Learning Communities at Work
McDonald et al’s The Power of Protocols. An Educator’s Guide to Better Practice
Reeves’ Leading Change in your School. How to Conquer Myths, Build Commitment, and Get Results
Responsive Classroom’s The First Six Weeks of School
Scott’s Fierce Conversations: Achieving success in work and in life, one conversation at a time
Sinek’s Leaders Eat Last
Stuart’s Global Perspectives Professional Learning Communities at Work in International Schools
Thaler and Sunstein’s Nudge Improvised Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness
* To start planning for the 2021/2022 school year and beyond. Since my daughter will graduate May 2021, I will not - when it comes to recruiting season - have to consider so many factors and will have much more flexibility than in previous years. When I took the position of Head of Admissions, I was concerned as to how a resume with Student Support Coordinator and Head of Admissions would read. I am, however, now less concerned as I do see an enormous benefit to having the skill set that both require and have faith in finding my niche for the 2021/2022 school year and beyond.
* To continue to blog and share (on a weekly basis) my thoughts pertaining to Admissions, Leadership, Learning Differently, School Culture, Social Justice, Third Culture Kids (TCK) and more.
* To publish. As referenced in Reflections and Aspirations (my December 2018 blogpost) I intend to write professionally and submit entries to various publications. (For a variety of reasons, writing and submitting, simply did not happen this year).
* To strive (again referenced last year) to have balance in my life (an ongoing aspiration!).
In thinking about reflections and aspirations, I appreciate this image,
Advice From A Tree (Source unknown).
What are your reflections on the past year/decade and intentions for the upcoming year/decade?
References
Alchin, N. (2008) Theory Of Knowledge Hodder Education
Breyer, M. (2018) Tsundoku: The practice of buying more books than you can read Treehugger.com
Cain, S. (2013) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking Penguin
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002) Flow: The Psychology of Happiness: The Classic Work on How to Achieve Happiness
Dalziel, J. (2016) Aspiring to ‘be’ or to ‘do’? LinkedIn
Duckworth, A. (2017) Grit: Why Passion and Resilience are the Secrets to Success Vermillion
DuFour, R., DuFour Rebecca, Eaker, R., Many, T, & Mattos, M. (2016) Learning By Doing A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work Solution Tree Press
Duhigg, C. (2013) The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change Random House
Fagin, C. Knowledge will bring you the opportunity to make a difference quote. Askideas.com
Garcia, H. & Miralles, F. (2017) Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life Hutchinson
Garmston, R. & Zimmerman, D. (2013) Lemons to Lemonade Resolving Problems in Meetings, Workshops and PLCs. Corwin
Gibran, K. “To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.” Quotefactory.net.
Gladwell, M. (2019) Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know Little, Brown and Company
Glickman, C (2002) Leadership for Learning How to Help Teachers Succeed. ASCD
Hammond, Z. (2015) Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students Corwin
Hong, E. (2019) What Is Nunchi? 8 Rules For This Korean Secret To Emotional Intelligence MindBodyGreen.com
Husain, M. (2018) The Skills: From First Job to Dream Job - What Every Woman Needs to Know Fourth Estate
Kriete, K. & Davis, C (2016) The Morning Meeting Book Center for Responsive Schools
Maeda, J. (2006) The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) MIT Press
Mattos, M., DuFour, R., DuFour Rebecca, Eaker, R., and Many, T. (2016) Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Professional Learning Communities at Work Solution Tree Press
McDonald, J., Mohr, N., Dichter, A., and McDonald, E. (2013) The Power of Protocols. An Educator’s Guide to Better Practice Teachers College Press
Reeves, D. (2009) Leading Change in your School. How to Conquer Myths, Build Commitment, and Get Results ASCD
Responsive Classroom (2015) The First Six Weeks of School Center for Responsive Schools
Scott, S. (2004) Fierce Conversations: Achieving success in work and in life, one conversation at a time Berkley Books.
Sinek, S. (2017) Leaders Eat Last Penguin Random House
Stuart, T. (2016) Global Perspectives Professional Learning Communities at Work in International Schools Solution Tree Press
Thaler, R. & Sunstein, C. (2009) Nudge Improvised Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness Penguin Books
Wu, K & Dunning, D. (2018) Unknown Unknowns: The Problem of Hypocognition Scientific American
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