Back to Prep GPS Self-Narrative — Prep for Josh Conversation

GPS Self-Narrative — Prep for Josh Conversation

Review cycle: Aug 2025 – Aug 2026 Status: First-draft outline, bullet form. Meant to be edited freely before any text goes into GPS. Stanford guidance recap: Tell your story in your words. Draft in external doc (not GPS — submissions alert Josh). Link wins to Stanford core competencies. Info-dump first, refine later.

Questions for Josh

  • Format expectations this cycle — bullets vs. prose? Same as last year’s “30-min bullet exercise first draft”?
  • Which projects do you want to spotlight on your side? (Last year you mentioned language around 3 spotlights + capacity-building through-line.)
  • Timing — when do you want the first draft in hand? (Last cycle: end of June submission deadline.)
  • Any core competencies you want me to emphasize for the performance conversation with your chain? (Last year signaled: Develops Self & Others, Drives Results, Job Knowledge.)
  • For “Areas for Development” — honest read: what would you flag that I might underweight?

Section 1 — Key Accomplishments (Aug 2025 – Apr 2026)

Through-line

Capacity building for localized experimentation. Outputs (workshops, toolkits, facilitators, prototypes) lead to outcomes (formats travel without me, new rooms open, ideas get tested faster, work feeds the broader GSE/AI+ed ecosystem).

1. Scaled Build-a-Bot from “workshop I run” to “program others run” — [Develops Self & Others] [Drives Results]

  • Courtney Garza (TCEA 2026, Feb) — trained facilitator who submitted + delivered Build-a-Bot on her own at a major TX ed-tech conference. Strongest scaling proof point to date.
  • Andy Hock (Eugene 4J, Feb) — independently adapted the deck for a CTE conference session. His own slides, his own framing, successful run.
  • Gregory Wilson (Mar 3) — completed first formal Build-a-Bot facilitator training walkthrough.
  • What “success” looked like: sessions happening without me in the room, in contexts I didn’t design for.

2. ISTE Partnership — moved from workshop booking to authorized-provider licensing — [Vision & Strategy] [Leading Change]

  • Feb 25: pivoted ISTE conversation from “run one workshop” to train-the-trainer + revenue-share model.
  • Mar 4: Isabelle engaged OTL. Partnership moved to formal licensing stage.
  • Mar 9: OTL meeting confirmed two-tier IP model (open curriculum + proprietary TTT).
  • Mar 12: ISTE Live June attendance locked as showcase milestone.
  • Apr: Nadia confirmed Wed 9–10:30 AM ISTE Live slot in AI Pavilion.

3. AI Flash Lab — format traveled internationally and across domains — [Creativity & Innovation] [Collaboration]

  • designkit.stanford.edu live and in active use; copyright notice added post-OTL conversation.
  • Anna-Lena delivered internationally (Q4).
  • Rachel Wolf (Mar 16): “exactly the scaffolding that would work” for her USDA aquaponics/AI-education K–12 grant. Flash Lab applied to agricultural science education — not tech training.
  • Gregory Wilson Tinkery Toolkit — co-developed website-format version for on-campus reuse.

4. Legal 101 — first true cross-cohort workshop — [Collaboration] [Communication]

  • Feb 18 delivery. Pulled seed grantees, tEquity, and Create+AI together — first offering that crossed program lines.
  • Kristen Blair: “Ooh. This is great!” — Josh forwarded broadly.
  • Evidence that cross-cohort programming is viable; candidate case study for Goal 2.

5. Oman Hackathon (Feb 2–5) — international delivery + spawned follow-on thread — [Vision & Strategy] [Collaboration]

  • Delivered with Fatma Al-Dohani (Ministry of Education, Oman). Thank-you quote: “Your presence, professionalism, and thoughtful contributions added great value.”
  • Spawned special-ed whitepaper thread with Dr. Shariffa.
  • “Effort is a tax on change” reframe still getting reused in my consultations.

6. Technical prototyping as a strategic function — not just a service — [Job Knowledge] [Drives Results]

  • HarmonAI speakerphone adapter (Cheddar) — 3D-printed magnetic latch. Elizabeth Schumann: “WOW!!!!! This looks amazing!!! I could not love it more!!!”
  • MyBook (Wen Ma) — 12-module training app. Wen: “went above and beyond for a sustainable app.”
  • AI Comic Studio — prototype that turned Dan Schwartz’s hallway idea into an active study. Cathy: “You really re-invigorated the project. It had stalled.”
  • Health Coach Bot — reactivated with Marily Oppezzo (Prevention Research Center). Marily: “Ahhhh Reuben You’re SO AWESOME for doing this!!”
  • VFT Moderation review — Rachel Wolf & Sarah Williams-Habibi unblocked on AI-with-minors safety. Rachel: “I bet there are plenty of folks in the GSE who would find this very useful.”

7. Team communication architecture — operationalized — [Communication] [Accountability]

  • Monthly end-of-month tag meetings (Feb, Mar delivered; Apr upcoming). Cadence held.
  • Airtable batch entries: 12 records filed Mar 3. Airtable hygiene still the weak link (honest).
  • Seed grant lifecycle framework (SPARK → BUILD → SHARPEN → SCALE) mapped with Three C’s — now a shared vocabulary with Josh.
  • Tag analysis plan agreed with Josh (Mar 12): AI-assisted, 3-month rollout.

8. Personal leadership scaffolding — Logic Model + Claude assistant system — [Develops Self & Others] [Emotional Intelligence]

  • Personal Logic Model built — living document, operating modes, defensibility roadmap, evidence chains.
  • Strategic Horizon (Mar 3) — rolling 3-month-back / 6-month-forward narrative.
  • Claude executive-assistant system fully operational: daily prep, end-of-day, inbox, synthesis engine, web dashboard.
  • Weekly review held consistently since January.
  • Capacity analyses (Jan: 18→14 threads; Mar: 20 active threads).

Section 2 — Areas for Development

Honest self-read (first draft — want Josh’s pushback)

  • Airtable / CRM hygiene — still inconsistent despite being the measurement instrument for Goal 1. Joe is the model, I’m still the cautionary tale. Need a habit that sticks, not willpower.
  • Physical routine — Goal 4’s one unambiguous gap. Reflective and mental routines are solid; physical hasn’t landed. Need to pick something small and actually start.
  • Capacity triage “in the moment” — I’m better at retrospective capacity analysis than in-the-moment “let me check and get back to you.” Still default to yes too fast.
  • Case study / documentation writing — I’ve done the strategic work (10+ consultations) but haven’t converted it into publishable artifacts. Goal 2 SMART target (2 case studies by end of Q2) is the forcing function — but I should name the writing gap itself, not just the deliverable.
  • Going deep on one expertise area — I touch a lot of domains (AI tools, 3D, hardware, moderation, prompting, toolkits). Breadth serves the role. But is there a depth area worth formally claiming in the next phase? Open question for the career-planning 1:1.
  • Saying “no” earlier in the funnel — some threads that later stalled (LAUSD Foundation rescheduled, DeVeaux quiet, King ambiguous) probably needed earlier discernment about fit.

Section 3 — Goals / Competencies for Next Year (Aug 2026 → Aug 2027)

Draft framing — refine with Josh

Carry-forward through-line: Capacity building for localized experimentation — with documented proof and a clearer expertise claim.

Proposed goals

  1. Documented strategic influence — formalize the consultation + case-study output. Publishable artifacts from the work, not just the work itself. [Vision & Strategy] [Drives Results]
  2. Scaled capacity programs with revenue mechanics — ISTE Live as the showcase moment this June sets up FY26-27 for: (a) more authorized facilitators, (b) revenue-share agreements proven, (c) self-service toolkit maturity. [Develops Self & Others] [Leading Change]
  3. Strategic-connector identity over implementer identity — formal continuation of the “more connector, less doer” shift Josh flagged back in Apr 2025. Measurable via ratio of consultations → prototypes-I-build-myself vs. prototypes-others-build. [Emotional Intelligence] [Collaboration]
  4. Sustainable leadership — with a physical anchor that actually sticks. [Positivity & Resilience]

Competencies to prioritize

  • Vision and Strategy — fit for where the ISTE/OTL licensing path is going
  • Develops Self & Others — fit for facilitator-training scale and mentoring posture with seed grantees
  • Leading Change — fit for the capacity-building model I’m pushing through OTL + leadership
  • Drives Results with Quality and Excellence — honest commitment to finishing documentation artifacts, not just shipping prototypes

Notes for the conversation with Josh

  • Walk in with this doc open. Don’t try to write the narrative live.
  • Ask him to react to the through-line framing first — if that’s wrong everything downstream is noise.
  • Last cycle he asked for “3 spotlights + capacity-building connective tissue.” Offer the same frame: ISTE, Build-a-Bot scaling, Flash Lab as the three spotlights; capacity building as the through-line; seed grant shepherding as steady-state.
  • Keep the “Areas for Development” real. Don’t sandbag. The honest ones (Airtable, physical routine, case-study writing) are already on the table with him — better to name them than dodge.
  • Remember his Mar 2025 direction: “Show don’t tell. Exhibit expertise in a constructive way. More ‘connector’, less ‘doer’.” That shift has been running the whole year — the narrative should reflect it.

Assumptions in this draft

  • Review period is Aug 2025 – Aug 2026 (based on last cycle’s “have until end of June” timing).
  • Josh wants first-pass bullets, same format as 2025.
  • Three-spotlight + through-line structure is still the shape he wants (ask him to confirm).
  • Core competencies worth naming: Develops Self & Others, Vision & Strategy, Drives Results, Leading Change. Open to reordering after the conversation.
Source: prep/2026-04-23-gps-self-narrative.md