JET Annual Mid-Year Meeting
On January 17, JET hosted the annual Mid-year Meeting which included JET scholars, mentors, district liaisons and JET staff. Given the impacts of uncertainty in the present time, we wanted to create time and space to come together as a community to accomplish several goals. The goals of this meeting were to reflect on successes and challenges, provide time for JET scholars and mentors to complete surveys that provide essential feedback and updates to JET staff, and hold our professional learning workshop.
We kicked off the agenda with a mindfulness and reflection activity and then met in role-alike breakout rooms to discuss issues relevant to the group and address questions. After coming back together, we welcomed our amazing guest speaker who facilitated the majority of our time together.
This year’s professional learning session was led by Dr. Liza Talusan, an educator, facilitator, and strategic change partner for those looking to build their skills in areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and leadership. Dr. Talusan is faculty at the University of Massachusetts Boston Department of Leadership in Education. Based on Dr. Talusan’s recent book, The Identity-Conscious Educator: Building Habits and Skills For More Inclusive Schools, the workshop focused on building knowledge, engaging in reflection, and moving to action. This is important as identity very much informs our daily work. Dr. Talusan explained that engaging in conversation about identity “really helps to build collaboration, it helps to build community, it helps to build curiosity, and it helps to develop critical thinking.” She shared tools on how educators can communicate with students and one another with an intention of working toward greater equity and inclusion.
With the support of everyone involved and the engaging facilitation of Dr. Talusan, the turnout of this meeting was very successful, and the attendees expressed great enthusiasm for the professional learning offered by Dr. Talusan. As JET scholars continue their journey with the ultimate goal of becoming a classroom teacher, spaces that allow for reflection and conversations with the community are crucial. The exciting afternoon with everyone together proved to be very valuable as we strive to support the journeys of aspiring educators.