Helping PreService Teachers Become Effective Teacher Leaders Dr

Helping Pre-Service Teachers Become Effective Teacher Leaders Dr. Nathan Bond Associate Professor Texas State University San Marcos, Texas With Significant Contributions From Dr. Catherine Pangan Assistant Professor Butler University Indianapolis, Indiana Ms. Angela Lupton Assistant Dean Butler University Indianapolis, Indiana © 2015 Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education

Welcome Directions: Take three minutes and briefly introduce yourself to the colleagues sitting on your right and your left. Share: • Name • University • Major • Interesting fact about yourself

Let’s thank the following people YOU • Being an engaged KDP member • Caring about your professional growth as an educator • Wanting to develop your leadership skills so that you can make an even more positive difference in your students and your school KDP Faculty Counselors • Caring and doing what it takes to help you to become an effective teacher KDP Headquarters Staff • Envisioning this important workshop • Sponsoring this important workshop Local KDP Chapter and University • Hosting today’s event

Setting the Stage for Your Learning: Housekeeping Tasks Schedule • 3 -hour session this morning with break • 90 -minute lunch • 3 -hour session this afternoon with break Restroom Breaks • Please take care of yourself. If you need an extra restroom break during the session, quietly slip out of the room. Refreshments • Please feel free to enjoy refreshments during the workshop. Eat and drink quietly so that you do not disturb others. Technology Use • Please silence cell phones, laptops, i. Pads, and other electronic devices. A participant manual has been provided so that you can take notes. We want you to be physically and cognitively present during the workshop so that you and your colleagues will gain the most from the workshop. Feel free to check your technology during the formal breaks and lunch. Questions • Please raise your hand if you have questions during the workshop. We welcome your thoughts and ideas. Side Conversations • Please refrain from holding side conversations. The workshop is designed to be very mentally and physically interactive. You will have many opportunities to talk and move.

Objectives This 6 -hour workshop is divided into four parts. You will learn: Part 1: Am I a leader? • Analyze your own leadership abilities Part 2: What is leadership? • Explain the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that leaders possess • Acquire useful leadership skills LUNCH Part 3: What is teacher leadership? • Explain teacher leadership and its rationale • Analyze some ways that teachers can lead Part 4: How can I become a more effective leader in my KDP chapter and classroom? • Develop a short- and long-term personal action plan for leadership

Part 1: Am I a Leader?

You and Leadership Directions: • Spend 5 minutes writing answers to the following questions in your participant manual. There are no right or wrong answers. You will eventually share your answers with colleagues at your table after we complete two upcoming activities. 1. What do you already know about leadership? 2. Have you previously served as a leader? Describe the experience. 3. What do you already know about teacher leadership? 4. What questions do you have about leadership and/or teacher leadership? 5. What do you hope to learn during today’s workshop?

Teacher Leadership Skill: Networking Background • Effective teacher leaders actively build professional relationships with people from all walks of life. They develop these relationships by utilizing a skill called networking. Thought Questions • Directions: Spend 3 minutes writing answers to the following questions in your manual. 1. Do you consider yourself to be a reserved person or an outgoing person? Why do you characterize yourself this way? 2. How do you build relationships with others? What specifically do you do? Reading Assignment • Read the passage on networking. • As you read the passage, place a check mark next to the information that speaks to you, write comments that come to mind while reading the passage, or write questions that come to mind. • Be prepared to share your thoughts with your table mates.

Activity: Practicing Your Networking Skills as a Leader Directions: • 1. Create a 2 -minute introductory speech that you can give a person whom you’ve just met. Some scholars call this an “elevator speech. ” An elevator speech is information that you give in the amount of time that it takes an elevator to move from one floor to the next. • 2. When and why might you as a leader or teacher leader give an elevator speech? • 3. When given the signal, stand up and give your elevator speech to a person at your table whom you don’t know very well.

Let’s Debrief 1. What worked and didn’t work with this activity? 2. Did the other person say something that you thought was effective and that you might incorporate into your own elevator speech? 3. In general, what do you think of networking? 4. Why is it important for leaders and teacher leaders to network? • Take a few moments and journal in your manual. What are some “take-aways” from this experience that you will use with your KDP chapter or other group, in your classroom, and in situations where you are serving as a teacher leader?

Teacher Leadership Skill: Teambuilding Background • Effective teacher leaders work with groups of people to accomplish goals. In order for the team to perform at its best, the members must work as a cohesive unit. Teacher leaders take active steps to build a team. Thought Questions • Directions: Spend 3 minutes writing answers to the following questions in your manual. 1. Describe an experience when you worked on a team. 2. What are some characteristics of a functioning team? Of a dysfunctional team? 3. When might you as a KDP chapter leader or a teacher leader work as a team? Reading Assignment • Read the passage on teambuilding. • As you read the passage, place a check mark next to the information that speaks to you, write comments that come to mind while reading the passage, or write questions that come to mind. • Be prepared to share your thoughts with your table mates.

Activity: Practicing Your Teambuilding Skills as a Leader Directions 1. This activity is called the “Name Dance. ” 2. Stand in a circle with the people sitting at your table. 3. Think of a body part, such as head, shoulder, elbow, knee, foot, finger, etc. 4. Move that body part in a creative way as you say your name. • For example, “My name is Nathan. ” (I raise my hand above my head when I say my name. ) 5. Ask everyone in the circle to repeat the name and the movement. 6. Go to the next person and repeat the steps above. The person states the first name, repeats the first movement, and then states his/her name and performs his/her movement. 7. Continue around the circle repeating previous names with movements and adding your own name and movement. Suggestions and Variations • Try to establish a rhythm. • Variations: • If time permits, go around the circle without saying names (movements only) • If time permits, add music.

Let’s Debrief 1. What worked and didn’t work with this activity? 2. What are some other strategies or activities for building teams with other people? 3. In general, what do you think of teambuilding? 4. Why is it important for leaders and teacher leaders to build teams? • Take a few moments and journal in your manual. What are some “take-aways” from this experience that you will use with your KDP chapter or other group, in your classroom, and in situations where you are serving as a teacher leader?

You and Leadership Directions Hopefully, you feel more comfortable with the people sitting next to you. Share with one colleague the information that you wrote previously in your manual. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What do you already know about leadership? Have you previously served as a leader? Describe the experience. What do you already know about teacher leadership? What questions do you have about leadership and/or teacher leadership? What do you hope to learn during today’s workshop?

Part 2: What is Leadership?

What are your leadership strengths? Part 1: Your Leadership Self-Assessment • Complete this self-assessment assuming that you are a KDP chapter officer or an active member. If not, how would you act? • Don’t think too deeply about your answers. Give your knee-jerk response. Part 2: Analyze Your Leadership Strengths • Turn to the next page and follow the directions to determine your leadership strengths. • If you finish quickly, please begin reading in your manual the information about the six approaches to studying and developing leaders.

Six Approaches to Studying and Developing Leaders 1. Trait Approach • “Leaders are born or possess certain psychological and physical attributes and traits. ” • Intelligence, confidence, social skills, communication skills, administrative skills, enthusiasm, honesty, forward-thinking, inspiration, ability to learn from errors, willingness to change, and emotional intelligence. 2. Functional Approach • “Leaders perform essential functions, tasks, or processes that help an organization or team to achieve goals. ” • Set agendas, record accomplishments, determine meeting schedules, distribute information, propose ideas, seek information and opinions, give information, evaluate ideas, maintain harmonious climate, listen and respond to others, mediate conflict, and seek compromise. 3. Styles Approach • “Leaders use one of three styles when attempting to accomplish the work of the team. ” • Authoritarian (makes all decisions; gives orders and controls others in a dictatorial way) • Democratic (discusses decisions with group, and the group decides by consensus) • Laissez-faire (gives minimal directions for decisions; take a hands-off, laid-back approach to influencing others)

Six Approaches to Studying and Developing Leaders 4. Situation Approach • “Leaders act in an interactive way depending on the situation. ” • The leader emerges quickly when an emergency or crisis arises. 5. Transformational Approach • “Leaders influence people to see the future in new ways. ” • Helps the group to see the many possibilities; challenges people’s existing thinking; builds a shared vision; challenges existing ways of thinking; and acts as systems thinkers acknowledging the interconnectedness of people, plans, resources, inputs, and outputs. 6. Servant Leader Approach • “Leaders explicitly view themselves as being of service to the group or team. ” • Acts altruistically and sacrifices for others; serves as an emotional healer by listening, supporting, and empathizing; acts wisely by thinking about the present and the future; persuades by using logic to convince others; and acts a good steward who wants to leave the organization in better shape than before he/she found it.

What is leadership? Kouzes and Posner’s Leadership Model Dr. James Kouzes Dr. Barry Posner Professors at Santa Clara University in California Studied leadership for 30 years Collected data from 200, 000 surveys Focused on ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things in everyday organizations • “Leadership development is self-development over time. ” • •

Kouzes and Posner’s Leadership Model 1. Challenge the process • Search for opportunities • Experiment or take risks 2. Inspire a shared vision • Envision the future • Enlist the support of others 3. Enable others to act • Foster collaboration • Strengthen others 4. Model the way • Set an example • Plan small wins 5. Encourage the heart • Recognize contributions • Celebrate accomplishments

What dispositions do leaders possess? Asset-Based Thinking About Leadership • Enjoy this children’s book by Jeff Mack. • Consider how the book relates to leadership.

Let’s Debrief: Discussion Questions 1. Do you relate more to the asset-based rabbit in your daily life or the deficit-based mouse? Explain your reasoning. 2. In what circumstances do you switch between both? 3. What leaders, peers, or colleagues who come to mind are naturally more like the rabbit? What specific qualities do you admire about how they work or interact? • Asset-Based thinking is a little like the rabbit – it is a habit of mind that focuses on opportunities rather than problems, and strengths rather than weaknesses, and reframes issues into solutions. It is NOT about sticking your head in the sand ignoring the issue, but seeing different possibilities of the situation and moving forward.

Video: Asset-Based Thinking • Shawn Achor is a Positive Psychologist at Harvard University who authored the book The Happiness Advantage. The book explains the importance of focusing on positivity. • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=TBRy 3 Qr. RGFI Let’s Debrief Directions: Discuss these questions with colleagues at your table. 1. In what ways does this video make you think differently about the possibilities in your KDP chapter or other group, your classroom, or your school community as a leader? 2. What part of the video “stuck out” to you?

Game: Effective Leaders Turn Deficit-Based Into Asset-Based Thinking • Your brain is “hard wired” for deficit-based thinking for survival. • Kathy Cramer states, “When you decrease your focus on what is wrong (deficitbased thinking) and increase your focus on what is right (asset-based thinking), you build enthusiasm and energy, strengthen relationships, and move people and productivity to the next level. ” This ultimately leads to powerful leadership capabilities. Directions for the Game 1. In pairs, each person will receive a set of five deficit-based cards with deficit-based phrases that could be found either in schools or in everyday life. Turn the game cards face down. 2. When your partner flips over the card, you should reframe the phrase to create an asset-based solution. For example: • “I can’t do that” becomes “I’ll look for another way. ” • “ Can you believe that kid? ” becomes “I’m going to believe in that kid. ” • “This is so difficult and stressful” becomes “Hey! I’m up for the challenge. ”

Let’s Debrief 1. Thinking about your own contexts, what personal deficitbased phrases come up in your own life that you would like help reframing? 2. What worked and didn’t work with this information? 3. What can you do to maintain an asset-based thinking disposition as a leader and teacher leader? 4. Why is it important for leaders and teacher leaders to maintain an asset-based thinking disposition? • Take a few moments and journal in your manual. What are some “take-aways” from this experience that you will use with your KDP chapter or other group, in your classroom, and in situations where you are serving as a teacher leader?

Leadership Task During Your 90 -Minute Lunch • Directions: Spend time networking with people whom you don’t know. As you talk, find common interests and goals.

Part 3: What is Teacher Leadership?

Teacher Leadership Skill: Facilitating Discussions Background • Effective teacher leaders facilitate discussions when teams work together. In order to have a productive discussion, teacher leaders follow certain guidelines. Thought Questions • Directions: Spend 3 minutes writing answers to the following questions in your manual. 1. Describe a class discussion in which you have participated. 2. What are some characteristics of a good discussion? A bad discussion? 3. When might you as a KDP chapter leader or a teacher leader facilitate a discussion? Reading Assignment • Read the passage on facilitating discussions. • As you read the passage, place a check mark next to the information that speaks to you, write comments that come to mind while reading the passage, or write questions that come to mind. • Be prepared to share your thoughts with your table mates.

Teacher Leadership Skill: Consensus Background • Effective teacher leaders work with colleagues to make decisions. There at least three ways that decisions can be reached. A leader may unilaterally make the decision. A second option is for the group to vote, with the majority winning. A third option is for the group to reach consensus. Scholars believe that a consensus decision-making process is the best. Thought Questions • Directions: Spend 3 minutes writing answers to the following questions in your manual. 1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of the three decision-making approaches? 2. When is it appropriate to utilize each approach? Reading Assignment • Read the passage on consensus. • As you read the passage, place a check mark next to the information that speaks to you, write comments that come to mind while reading the passage, or write questions that come to mind. • Be prepared to share your thoughts with your table mates.

Triad Reading Activity The purpose of this activity is for you to discover on your own what is teacher leadership and what are the various aspects of teacher leadership. You also will practice the teacher leadership skills of facilitating a discussion and reaching consensus. Directions 1. Get together with two other people at your table. 2. Read silently for approximately 10 minutes one article on teacher leadership in your manual. There are three articles on teacher leadership in your manual. Each person will read a different article. 3. Notate your article as you read. You may want to: • Underline, highlight, or check information that speaks to you. • Jot down in the margin a short phrase that reminds you of a previous personal experience. • Write the question if you find the information puzzling or perplexing.

Triad Reading Activity (Continued) When given the signal by the workshop facilitator, stand up. 4. Choose one person in the triad to facilitate your small-group discussion. 5. Share individually the information in your article with your partners. 6. Follow the lead of the small-group facilitator and reach consensus on what is teacher leadership and what are some key aspects of teacher leadership. Ask one person to scribe the group’s comments.

Take a short 10 -minute break

How do scholars define teacher leadership? Dr. Ann Lieberman from Stanford University is the leading authority on teacher leadership. Dr. Lieberman is a Kappa Delta Pi Laureate. A Laureate is honored as one of the 60 most famous and influential living educators in the world. Two basic types of teacher leaders A. Formal • Official title and compensated with salary or lighter teaching loads • Examples: Department chairs and instructional coaches B. Informal • Recognized by fellow teachers as leaders • Teachers who volunteer and accept additional responsibilities

How do scholars define teacher leadership? Dr. Charlotte Danielson is a consultant who has written a book on teacher leadership. 1. Demonstrates excellence in teaching 2. Remains a classroom teacher and assumes responsibilities beyond the classroom 3. Possesses specialized or advanced knowledge and skills 4. Uses the knowledge and skills to influence others (students, teachers, or community) 5. Remains focused on student learning but also focuses on organizational capacity, professionalism, and instructional improvement 6. Takes the initiative and actively works for positive change 7. Motivates self and others

How do scholars define teacher leadership? www. teacherleaderstandards. org Teacher leaders … 1. Foster a collaborative culture to support educator development and student learning 2. Access and use research to improve practice and student learning 3. Promote professional learning for continuous improvement 4. Facilitate improvements in instruction and student learning 5. Promote the use of assessments and data for school and district improvement 6. Improve outreach and collaboration with families and community 7. Advocate for student learning and the profession

Why should teachers lead? • Schools are complex, and administrators can’t do it all by themselves. Administrators need teachers to help lead the school (Ballek, O’Rourke, Provenzano, & Bellamy, 2005). • Theory of Distributed Leadership posits that groups are more effective when people share leadership responsibilities and utilize their individual expertise (Wells, 2012). • “None of us is as smart as all of us” (Blanchard, Bowles, Carew, & Paris-Carew, 2001). • “Teachers are the most important players in the pursuit of continued excellence in a school” (Searby & Shaddix, 2008). • We all have different types of expertise. Teachers are experts of their content areas and their children, and administrators are experts at running a school (Danielson, 2007). • Teachers, the school is yours!! What legacy are you creating at your school? (Barth, 2001).

How can I serve as a teacher leader? Select three items on this list that you see yourself doing as a beginning teacher leader. Be prepared to explain your decisions. 1. 2. 3. 4. Develop your teaching skills and reputation as an effective teacher Develop positive professional relationships with colleagues, staff, and administrators Talk to your administrator about ways you might lead Maintain your membership in professional organizations to remain current in the field of education 5. Work closely with your mentor and be a good mentee 6. Be a good follower in a group 7. Lead alone 8. Join a professional learning community (PLC) or a teacher study group 9. Share willingly instructional materials and teaching practices with colleagues 10. Conduct action research on your own teaching 11. Work with another teacher to write a grant 12. Advocate at the district, state, or national level for education 13. Serve on a school or district committee (awards, budget, discipline, hiring, leadership, scholarship, textbook)

Part 4: How can I become a more effective leader in my KDP chapter and classroom?

What are your short- and long-term goals related to teacher leadership? Directions: Write answers to these questions in your manual. 1. How can you use the leadership information that you learned today immediately in your KDP chapter or other group? 2. How can you use the leadership information that you learned today immediately in the classroom as a teacher? 3. What personal goal can you set and complete as a teacher leader during this academic year? 4. What personal goal can you set and complete as a teacher leader during the next two years?

Your Chapter Planning Together Directions: 1. Get together with the members and faculty counselors from your institution. If you came on your own, please feel free to join another group. 2. Share the ideas that you’ve written today in your manual. 3. Set some concrete short- and long-term goals that you can reach during the next few months.

Activity: Tennis Balls

Let’s Debrief 1. 2. 3. 4. What worked and didn’t work with this activity? What type of feedback was most helpful? Why? In general, what do you think of feedback? Why is it important for leaders and teacher leaders to give positive and negative feedback? • Take a few moments and journal in your manual. What are some “take-aways” from this experience that you will use with your KDP chapter or other group, in your classroom, and in situations where you are serving as a teacher leader?

Teacher Leadership Skill: Feedback Background • Effective teacher leaders give feedback to others as a way to accelerate learning and improve performance. Thought Questions • Directions: Spend 3 minutes writing answers to the following questions in your manual. 1. What do you already know about giving and receiving feedback? 2. Giving positive feedback is often easy. What are some tactful ways to give negative feedback? Reading Assignment • Read the passage on giving and receiving feedback. • As you read the passage, place a check mark next to the information that speaks to you, write comments that come to mind while reading the passage, or write questions that come to mind. • Be prepared to share your thoughts with your table mates.

• Please complete the written evaluation form and put it on the back table as you leave. • Your positive and negative feedback will help us to improve future Kappa Delta Pi i. Lead Workshops for Teacher Leaders.

Helping Pre-Service Teachers to Become Effective Teacher Leaders