The days seem to be flying by. January came and went, and now February is quickly passing us by. Before we know it, we will be student teaching and shortly after (hopefully), we will have our own classroom. At this point, we are all probably still scared and overwhelmed. I have no doubt that when the time comes, we will step up and be the teachers we all hope to be.
I want to always make sure that I am challenging myself and looking for ways to become the best teacher I can be when I finally have my own classroom. I look at the standards that will be there for us to follow. The very first standard tells us that we are to be demonstrating leadership. From currently being a pre-k teacher, I have found that leading in the classroom comes naturally to me. Beyond leading in the classroom though, I want to be sure that I am leading in the teaching profession.
NEAToday published an article yesterday talking about the recent meeting between various education organizations and current teachers. The meeting was held to discuss improving and embedding leadership in the teaching profession. At first, when I heard the term "leadership in the teaching profession", I immediately thought of becoming an administrator. However, Deborah Hollis tells us that this isn't the case.
"Hollis explained the being a teacher leader doesn't mean you have to leave the classroom and become an administrator. Leading the profession could be sharing with other educators something that is working well in your classroom and inviting them to observe-"that's a teacher leader," explained Hollis, who has been in the teaching profession for 14 years."
That gave me a whole new perspective about leadership. There are simple but effective ways that we can lead in our own profession. This should challenge us to come up with new ways to do this. The first step to doing this would be to be strong and confident your teaching philosophy. Step two involves being caught up on current issues and ideas in the education world. From there you can come up with new ideas to make change or help other educators.
Educators are already starting to take action together. There are many times that new policies and initiatives are put into place in the schools. However, classroom teachers were not there to give any input or advice. These are the ones that should be making new suggestions. Classroom teachers know what works best, what their students need, and what needs to be changed. These are the people that see it and deal with it every day, and these are the ones that will continue to implement these new policies. Current educators are in the process of creating a council that will help make more decisions. This will give teachers more leadership, but also lead to more efficient policies in the school systems.
Check out the full article!!
http://neatoday.org/2016/02/10/teacher-leadership-summit/
Lauren,
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing this information. Sometimes as teachers, they do not walk into the leadership role that they already have. They take the lead within their own classrooms, but when it comes to leadership within the school, or even their communities- they hide behind their desk. I did not really look at teachers as leaders in the school, and knew nothing about this type of leadership until we were presented with the professional development standard: 1. TEACHER DEMONSTRATE LEADERSHIP. I thank God for an opportunity to learn about professional development. Great post!
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteYes - - - teacher leadership is crucial. I am glad you have already begun to take steps for becoming a leader inside and outside of your classroom.
At the school that I work in, they have the Leader in Me initiative that encourages students to make the right decisions and sharpen their leadership skills in order to become a future leader. The leadership skills being taught are not only important for the students but, also vital for our teachers. Teachers have many opportunities to discuss the curriculum and share strategies that work in their classroom with other teachers. The teachers participate in PLCs weekly to analyze data, develop benchmarks and other common assessments, and unpack curriculum standards. This allows teachers to have a broader understanding of what strategies work in the classroom and also gives them the platform to take on leadership roles.
ReplyDeleteLauren,
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post! I agree with what you said about how it is important for teachers to be leaders. As future educators I feel that it is important for us to begin creating our own leadership qualties. I think that all teachers are different and each can preform leadership in their own way!