Teacher Leader

My blog deleted itself! So frustrating... blog 2....

Katzenmeyer and Moller define teacher leaders as those who “lead within and beyond the classroom; identify with and contribute to a community of teacher learners and leaders; influence others toward improved educational practice; and accept responsibility for achieving the outcomes of their leadership.” Being a teacher leader means many things. It is important to be dedicated in your students. It also is important for teacher leaders to not want to move up the job chain. Teachers leaders value the time that they spend with their students, and would not trade that for moving up the administration ladder. Furthermore, teacher leaders are dedicated in and out of the classroom. They are involved with leadership roles outside of the classroom, yet are also leaders inside the classroom, always trying to provoke more understanding and learning from their students. Also, it is important that teacher leaders associate with other teachers, adult colleagues their own age. Also teacher leaders must be able to influence others. Be it students, colleagues, or people in the community, teacher leaders are charismatic and are able to lead others to greatness as well.

Furthermore, being a teacher leader, one needs to be principled, honest, fair, and ethical. They must be respected by their peers, and care about their students. They must be organized. They also must be perceptive, empathetic, and altruistic. They must be sensitive to students needs, be able to assist them, and put the student before themselves. They also should be available to be reached, and full of resources. Moreover, it is important for teacher leaders to be forward thinkers and global. It is important that these teachers are planning for the future, and thinking on a macro level. This teacher must also be decisive and willing to take action when necessary. And moreover, they should be knowledgeable in their content area.

I know I want to be a teacher leader. Throughout my life, I have loved being able to help and lead others. I have always thrived in a leadership role, captain of soccer and volleyball team, taking charge of service projects, and holding office positions in clubs. It is important for teachers to take charge and become these teacher leaders. If more teachers dedicated as much effort and time to the students as some, the education system would be completely different. I strive to have all the qualities a teacher leader has. I know that I want to make a huge difference in students lives, because, hey isn't that part of the reason we went into this profession? I don't want to be the teacher that sits there and allows others to take the reign, or not at all! I want to make sure to help make changes in the system.

By becoming these teacher leaders, how can we get teachers that are not as willing to put in the time and effort to put more of an effort in? Or are these older teachers too comfortable in their ways? Can we help shape them into teacher leaders, or is the effort futile at this point?

www.aassa.com/Leaders.pdf
www.aea8.k12.ia.us/.../Teacher_Leader_Qualities_F1C6A23422538.pdf