Jolene Teske: Iowa Falls-Alden High School

Jolene Teske: Iowa Falls-Alden High School

Personal value narrative: Jolene Teske

Name: / How participation is changing me as a professional (e.g., skills, attitude, identity, self-confidence, how you feel, etc.) / How participation is affecting my social connections (e.g., number, quality, frequency, emotions, etc.) / How participation is helping my professional practice (e.g., ideas, insights, material, procedures, etc.) / How participation is changing my ability to influence my world as a professional (voice, contribution, status, recognition, etc.)
Reasons for participation
(e.g., challenges, aspirations, professional development goals, meeting people, etc.)
+/- / The part that is so exciting for me is being a part of this group of English teachers working on the cutting edge of this pilot project. I’m so proud to be a member of this group of innovative educators. / Wow! This has been such fun! I have connected with friends and colleagues I haven’t seen in years, and I’ve made so many new friends! This is so much more than simply networking at a conference. / I took last summer’s moodle course with Evan, and I even used some blended learning in my classes this year, but I was barely able to scratch the surface. I can already see the potential that I was missing before. / I am very excited about helping others with blended learning. There are several teachers at our school who are toying with blended learning, and we are going 1:1 in the fall. It’s going to be great to share everything I’m learning with them!
Activities, outputs, events, networking
(e.g., lesson material, discussion, visits, etc.)
+/- / I feel this project is going to be pivotal in my teaching. I have always tried to develop great lessons, but creating them with this type of group will be incredible! / I couldn’t think of a better way to develop new courses than working together with other professionals. I am actually feeling confident about the future of education, finally. / Developing this curriculum together is going to benefit our students as well as all of us. We are going to send ripples throughout Iowa! J / Definite influences will be everywhere – among those of us working together, the students with whom we’ll be working, and with the staff we’ll be working with at our own schools.
Value to me
(e.g., being a better professional, handling difficult situations,
Improving organizational performance, etc.)
+/- / Again – pivotal. I am learning so much about technology as well as conceptual learning. I know I’m struggling with my “old school” ideals and how they fit with the conceptual learning. I look forward to learning and growing through this process. / I know I personally will grow through this experience. I will be able to learn from others as well as share my expertise. I am already enjoying the many conversations we’re having and look forward to many more! / I feel that the confidence I’ll gain from working with this group of educators will help me daily in my classes. I am also hoping my creativity and ideas develop as well. I want to be innovative! / I look forward to being a resource for the staff in my building, but more so to the growth we will see as educators implementing the pilot this school year.

Note: +/- Indicates that you can provide positive / negative experience

Value-creation story: Jolene Teske

Note that the story does not need to start at 1, or go all the way to 5.

Name
Typical cycles / Your story:
1. Activity:
Describe a meaningful activity you participated in and your experience of it (e.g., a conversation, a working session, a project, etc.) / There were so many meaningful activities during our two days together and since. I guess one of the most meaningful was when we split into groups to create the World Café. It was so interesting to hear ideas from everyone, even those in other disciplines. Our paper was completely filled with ideas we generated!
2. Output:
Describe a specific resource this activity produced for you (e.g., an idea or a document) and why you thought it might be useful. / Our group, the Agenda Activists, created a very useful tool! We created a list of technology resources and people with expertise using each resource. This will be incredibly valuable for us as we move to more online work. It can be a working repository for all of us, a virtual toolbox! J
3. Application:
Tell how you used this resource in your practice and what it enabled that would not have happened otherwise. / I haven’t used the resource yet, other than reading through it once in a while to see what new resource is available. I have looked at some of the resources, and I think it will be of great value to all of us. I really like that we have a contact person for each resource if we have questions.
4. Outcome:
a. Personal: Explain how it affected your success (e.g., being a better professional, job satisfaction,)
b. Organizational: Has your participation contributed to the success of your organization (e.g., metrics they use)
5. New definition of success:
Sometimes, such a story changes your understanding of what success is. If it happened this time, then include this here.