Hey ATC Family,

I hope you’re having a terrific Tuesday! I know that TESS season can be a lot of work and it requires a lot of Brave Vulnerability, but as a coach it also brings me a lot of purpose and excitement. I love listening to your reflections on your classroom, celebrating your accomplishments, and learning about the ways in which you’re making the role of teaching your own. There will always be best practices for our work, veteran teachers to advise us, and curriculum maps to guide us, but at the end of the day, we decide who we want to be in the classroom and how we want to show up for kids.

One of our main roles as coaches is to help you reflect on why:

• Why is this the teacher you want to be?
• What personal values does this approach to teaching align to?
• What is the impact on your students?
• Is that an impact you can defend?

When you ask me what I would do if faced with a certain challenge in the classroom, I’ll respond with both what I would do and why I do it because I want to model moving with purpose. Think of the best teachers and leaders you know. I’m sure they’re not all the same. They may not present the same, share the same speech patterns, or even value the same content, but I’m sure they are intentional in both how they show up and the lessons they pass on. 

So as you prepare to meet with your coaches and to do your self-reflection, I want to challenge you too see the TESS process as a tool to building your best teacher self. One that is skilled and committed, but also authentic and purposeful. A teacher that can live into Leadership for Equity because they are confident in why and how they do what they do. 

All the best to you,
Donnalie