How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader Chapter Summaries 2-6

How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader

Reflections

Chapter 2: Strategic Leadership September 10, 2009

This was a very interesting chapter. Currently, I interview potential staff for behavior therapist positions. Often, the candidates are students from UNO studying Psychology, Education or Speech Pathology. The interview strategies listed for conducting the interview, were very helpful and I feel that I can implement many of them immediately. Each child that I work with has a team of 3-4 therapists that deliver the intervention services. Often times, the staff hired have not had a great deal of clinical experiences, but by reading their CVs some stand out more than others as potential leaders. That being said, sometimes I am surprised that those I may have pre-determined as the leader is not, and someone with a less impressive CV comes forward and takes on that role. So, leadership potential is now a part of my interview criteria. I am eager to learn more about developing my own leadership abilities and more importantly, how to mentor the leadership qualities within my staff.

Chapter 3: Interpersonal Leadership September 10, 2009

I found this chapter to be immensely applicable to my current position and challenges that I am facing. The ability to effectively impact colleagues relies so much on the ability to communicate across so many levels. My current position requires me to work as a support person to the classroom teacher as a non-district professional. Sometimes this is a welcoming role and other times it is quite challenging. I have learned that my verbal and nonverbal communication skills are extremely important. I was pleased to see that strategies that I am currently using were addressed and recommended, but also learned some new strategies that I am eager to implement.

Strategies that I have found to be effective:

1. When in a meeting, begin by asking for feedback from all attending regarding the issues at hand. The comments should be free of feedback and allow all participants the opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences with the group. The open forum removes any possible intimidation that might be present.
2. Highlight/review recommendations and/or procedures that were decided upon at the last meeting and update/modify if needed. I have found that by reviewing this information it allows for more consistency and follow through with recommendations. In addition, staff members are eager to share their successes as well as receive feedback regarding areas of concern.
3. Phrasing comments in the positive and using more questions. For me, saying “did you try the ideas I suggested regarding reinforcement strategies?” was less successful than asking, “How did the new reinforcement strategies work in your classroom?” I have really found that by asking questions rather than making statements allows the participants to feel more included a part of the process.  Also, by asking questions I can better determine if we are on the same page!
4. Lastly, I found the section: Holding Meetings/time management, to be extremely helpful. A few key points that I am going to implement: setting a time limit for the items on my agenda and having someone else monitor the time, minutes: I have found that some take notes and others do not. The minutes will allow dissemination of information after the meeting to all who participated, and the information will be consistent. Finally, establishing a consistent time and meeting place.

Chapter 4: Adaptive Leadership September 15, 2009

Well, my current position, as I have mentioned in previous posts has been a challenging one. This chapter was so insightful for so many reasons. I would like to share the challenges that I have faced, the “aha” moments that I have identified and what I need to change to become a more proficient teacher leader.

My position is to provide ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) services to children of military families with a diagnosis of Autism, or other spectrum disorders. These services are provided through TriCare/TriWest: Autism Demonstration Project and can be delivered in a variety of settings based on the needs of the children. All of the children on my caseload are school-aged, and therefore the goal was to extend services into the school setting as “extra” services.

My role has been to identify deficit skill areas across all developmental areas, including behaviors, that are preventing the children from learning from the natural environment, and then provide instruction to the children utilizing the principles of applied behavior analysis.

For my clients, the summer was spent working with each child 1:1, for 20-30 hours per week. Two to three therapists per child. Services were delivered in the home setting, school 1:1 setting and summer Kid’s Time settings.

As the fall approached we began to review how our services would fit into the school setting. Here is where things may have been “pushed off track.” As time has gone by and I have been continuously reviewing all that has transpired, I have come to the following conclusions:

1. Communication is key to all success.
2. Things are not always as they appear.
3. Sometimes people have to make decisions that potentially, given the choice, they would not make.
4. Achieving your goal; fighting for your cause, may in the end not work out as planned.

So, to further explain. The transition with one particular child has not gone as smoothly as planned. From the beginning, it has been difficult to feel as though the administrative person has been supportive our services. My initial analysis of her behavior was vague and I assumed that she must feel threatened by our presence, does not agree with what we are recommending, and/or feels as though she does not have control. After reading this chapter, it reminded me of several things that I had failed to take into consideration, and in hindsight could have greatly improved the transition process.

1. Communication is key to all success: I could have been more proactive in my communication regarding our intent, services, scheduling and outcomes. And, how could our services merge with district services.
2. Things are not always as they appear: As an administrator she has a responsibility to her superiors, her staff and her building. Thus, her decisions and feedback were complicated and I’m sure effected by mandates from other sources.  So, my initial analysis was incorrect because I did not have all the facts: which I realize, I or any other person is not always entitled too. Could there have been more communication from the administrator to briefly explain any obstacles?
3. Sometimes people have to make decisions that if given the choice, they may not make: This is a good person who does have the child’s best interest as heart, but as with any program there are limitations, guidelines, recommendations and so forth that must be upheld.
4. Fighting so passionately for your cause, may backfire: I can honestly say that this experience has been so enlightening. I am passionate about my work and advocating for kids. What I realized is that so are so many other people, and given the chance will demonstrate what they are capable of.

Now, the situation has had many challenges, but it has also had great achievements. The child is doing exceptionally well, the teacher has been supportive of the collaborative efforts, the para professionals are demonstrating competency in new methods of reinforcement and teaching strategies and most importantly everyone is seeing positive growth from the child.

I feel that every opportunity of success and failure is a learning opportunity. Learning is on going and I do not feel that we ever “know it all.” I look forward to working with other professionals, learning from them, sharing my knowledge and continuing to apply all that I am learning to become an effective teacher leader.

Chapter 5 Motivational Leadership : September , 23, 2009

I really enjoyed this chapter because the ideas were all so motivating; even just reading them!

Although I am not an employee of a school district, I have had the pleasure of working with some really terrific teachers and administrators. Some of the ideas suggested I have witnessed and at the time, thought, “wow, that is a terrific idea.” In particular, the walk through as an alternative to a sit down observation. I observed a principal doing this on two occasions in the same classroom. It was a first year teacher and when she was finished, she left a note on his desk. Now, I never read the note, but knowing this principal, I’m sure it was very positive! I was thinking at the time how non-threatening that was for this new teacher and how incredibly proactive! When it comes time for the first sit down observation by the principal for this first year fellow, he will be less intimidated by her presence.

Just last week, I was having a discussion with a teacher and we were unsure as to how to proceed regarding a sensitive issue. She said to me, “go talk with the principal, she is so understanding and I always go to her for brainstorming ideas.” Now, at the time I just took her advice and the meeting was successful. This principal listened to my concerns and provided me with several options to consider. After reading this chapter I realized how much trust this teacher has in her principal to suggest that I (a non-district person), go to her for support.

I am a firm believer in collaboration. In the chapter it states that collaboration and cooperation is critical for success. I believe that it is important to seek out the knowledge of others for subjects areas that are challenging to us, as well as to gain increased knowledge from others in our areas of specialty. By doing so, we allow ourselves to reach new highs and the benefits to our students is unmeasurable.

Some people find collaboration threatening and/or intimidating. If we can begin exploring each other’s interest areas and finding out that we have things in common we allow ourselves to establish new relationships. Once the relationships are established and trust is earned, then collaboration can begin.

When I first began working with the teacher’s this fall, it was challenging. In retrospect, it was because the collaboration process began prior to trust being established with each teacher. I was entering their domain and although I tried very hard to respect their positions and classrooms, the trust relationship had not been established. Because I have been fortunate to work with some really great people, we have been successful building the relationship and collaborating simultaneously.

Staff development is great. Some people really like to attend conferences, some like to read research articles, some like to volunteer in career related activities. Whatever it is, I think it is great when teachers have the opportunity to share what they have learned with others. I love the idea of having small informal staff development workshops. This allow those who are interested to attend without putting pressure on those who are not interested.

I am planning to start a book club with my staff. It is going to be very similar to what we are doing in class with this book. As a group we will pick out the target book and each week, at our team meetings, one person will report/share on their assigned chapter. The presentation can be done however they would like: power point, handouts, coloring worksheets…I just want the staff to feel that they are learning new information without feeling over-loaded.

Strengthening morale is so important for an effective team. All members deserve to be recognize for things done well. When my staff feel good about what they are doing there is increased motivation to achieve personal goals as well as goals of the team and students that we serve. I really enjoyed reading all of the suggestions for recognizing teachers and ways to reach out, and hope to implement them into my teams.

Chapter 6: Instructional Leadership: October 10, 2009

“Student achievement begins and ends with the quality of the teacher, the instructional program, and its leadership.” Without quality instruction and support from those in leadership positions, optimal success of students will be difficult to achieve.

The instructional leadership of the classroom teacher is vital to the success of her students. Implementing curriculum from a book is just not enough. There is so much more: getting to know your students individual strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, rate of learning, assessment styles, application of skills learned, generalization of skills to real life in a variety of settings, and the list goes on and on.

My position as a program supervisor requires that I develop short term objectives with daily mastery criterion for each student. Each therapist working 1:1 with a student is focused on meeting each criterion per day. It is my job to ensure that each short term objective written meets the individual ability levels of each student. Although the topic of instruction may be the same for the students, the teaching steps, strategies, and mastery criterion may be very different. Children learn so differently that it is crucial that my curriculum be focused on the learning style strengths of each student.

Because I am a special education teacher my teaching strategies are different than those of a general education teacher. I have the opportunity to work one on one with my students or in very small groups. However, the instructional leadership qualities identified in this chapter still apply.  Often, my students have a scattering of skills across all development areas. It is important that the foundation of a skill be solid before moving to more abstract and/or complicated skills. A great person once told me, “if you don’t have a strong basement in your house, all that you build on top will be in jeopardy.” I think this really emphasizes the importance of mapping the curriculum, and allowing students the time needed to master a skill before moving on to a new skill. I think it is important to assess their skills, review the data, make modifications if needed, and re-teach until the skill is mastered.

Assessments for learning vs. assessments of learning: use the assessment data to guide teaching progression, modify teaching strategies and report student performance as learning is occurring.

How do we achieve student success? I believe by creating student motivation: provide reinforcement opportunities. Delivering reinforcement for ‘good’ behavior is so much more difficult for us as teachers, than delivering redirects for undesired behavior: why? Implementing incentives and opportunities to earn reinforcement increases student success, builds community in the classroom, and helps teach student accountability.

Children thrive on positive reinforcement. Reinforcement can be as subtle as a wink, thumbs up, smile, nod of the head, or as intrusive as a ‘shout out,’ tangible, gold star and so forth. When I train my staff on positive reinforcement we focus on 4:1. This means that for every one redirect (negative consequence) their goal should be to deliver 4 opportunities of reinforcement before the next redirect is given. This can often times be challenging, but it awakens our awareness to reinforcement.

I have tried to implement this into my personal life with my kids and husband, it is sometimes difficult to achieve. It does however, make me more aware of how often I attend to the positive vs. the negative and therefore, asking myself: am I creating opportunities for success?  Try it. See if you can implement this into your classroom or personal lives, evaluate your success and the outcome it has…I think you’ll be amazed and pleased with your success.

Schools have so much to offer to students. Providing students with access to outside assistance to help in the mastery of learning objectives is important. I believe that a good teacher leader is one who can accept that she needs help from others to help her student/s meet their potential. It is a sign of strength and self-confidence when people ask for help, not weakness.

Advertisement

---