Using Teacher Leadership in the School and Classroom to Engage Students in New Literacies: ECI 508 Teachers as Leaders.
Question: How does taking the initiative as a teacher leader when teaching new literacies in the classroom benefit students?
From taking the course ECI:508 Teachers as Leaders one of the key concepts discussed throughout the semester is how it is important as the teacher leader to communicate openly with my colleagues for my students' benefit. The media specialist at my school has a lot of expertise of the new web 2.0 tools that are being constantly being created for student use. If I communicate with my colleagues and share ideas with them in our meetings and staff development sessions, we all grow as teachers. This is what it means to be a teacher leader in the classroom because the main objective is to give our students the tools necessary to learn and become productive citizens.
Excerpt Findings from Self-Reflecting as a Teacher Leader: ECI 508: Teacher Leadership Reflection:
These teachers were so respected in the school because they always left their door open and were approachable to everyone: teachers, principals, students, even maintenance workers. It was refreshing to know that I could go to these teachers when I needed something in the school. They were always there to help. But could I say the same about myself? I could not. During the school day I would shut my door on the rest of the school and just teach my students. By doing this, I was teaching in isolation and in a way I was also shutting out my students from authentic experiences that I could collaborate with other teachers to teach. Katzenmeyer and Moller put it plain as day, “Teacher leaders are approachable and influence primarily through their relationships” (pg. 9).
Here I am, currently enrolled in graduate school, learning all of these new, innovative web 2.0 activities to engage students and not sharing a bit of my knowledge. It was not because I was selfish, but because I didn’t realize the impact I could have on my colleagues and students. This is the moment I realized it was time to take the initiative and begin to act like a confident teacher leader. The next department meeting I had the chance to share some of the web 2.0 activities with my colleagues who were excited about the opportunities that I was giving my students in the classroom. A teacher who I shared an unpleasant relationship with at times was open to learning these new writing techniques by coming to my room before school. She was eager to learn and even gave me an idea how to utilize the tool in my room for another skill. As I move forward, my door will be open to my colleagues when it comes to building these quality relationships so we can all become better teachers. I have planned to teach the class Wordle and Glogster during the next early release day and feel better about my position in the school as an approachable teacher leader.
From taking the course ECI:508 Teachers as Leaders one of the key concepts discussed throughout the semester is how it is important as the teacher leader to communicate openly with my colleagues for my students' benefit. The media specialist at my school has a lot of expertise of the new web 2.0 tools that are being constantly being created for student use. If I communicate with my colleagues and share ideas with them in our meetings and staff development sessions, we all grow as teachers. This is what it means to be a teacher leader in the classroom because the main objective is to give our students the tools necessary to learn and become productive citizens.
Excerpt Findings from Self-Reflecting as a Teacher Leader: ECI 508: Teacher Leadership Reflection:
These teachers were so respected in the school because they always left their door open and were approachable to everyone: teachers, principals, students, even maintenance workers. It was refreshing to know that I could go to these teachers when I needed something in the school. They were always there to help. But could I say the same about myself? I could not. During the school day I would shut my door on the rest of the school and just teach my students. By doing this, I was teaching in isolation and in a way I was also shutting out my students from authentic experiences that I could collaborate with other teachers to teach. Katzenmeyer and Moller put it plain as day, “Teacher leaders are approachable and influence primarily through their relationships” (pg. 9).
Here I am, currently enrolled in graduate school, learning all of these new, innovative web 2.0 activities to engage students and not sharing a bit of my knowledge. It was not because I was selfish, but because I didn’t realize the impact I could have on my colleagues and students. This is the moment I realized it was time to take the initiative and begin to act like a confident teacher leader. The next department meeting I had the chance to share some of the web 2.0 activities with my colleagues who were excited about the opportunities that I was giving my students in the classroom. A teacher who I shared an unpleasant relationship with at times was open to learning these new writing techniques by coming to my room before school. She was eager to learn and even gave me an idea how to utilize the tool in my room for another skill. As I move forward, my door will be open to my colleagues when it comes to building these quality relationships so we can all become better teachers. I have planned to teach the class Wordle and Glogster during the next early release day and feel better about my position in the school as an approachable teacher leader.