Leadership
Missional Thinking
My experience, thus far, in the MSUrban Stem Fellowship program has been such and eye opening one, that I have begun to think about my plans goals for educating the student I will teach. In the near future, I would like to begin by taking the curriculum that I have use in my classroom for two years and align it to science. I would like to sit down with the science teacher and go over the science standards and see just where math can be applied to the science they are learning and then turn this marriage into a project. The project would focus both math/science skills and problem solving. I am not sure what this will look like in the classroom setting, however I believe teaching student in this manner will yield a greater sense of confidence in the student’s ability to learn and to problem solve. So moving forward, starting the next school year, I will have in place math/science project based learning units that will teach, challenge, and motivate my student to learn, discover and succeed.
Looking beyond my classroom, I can see myself in a position where I can help others to make the connections and realizations that I have made around student learning through discovery. I would like to have a program that provides support to teachers as they begin to see the importance of incorporating STEM in the classroom no matter what subject. As a teacher, aligning my math content across other content areas has been very difficult and I want to master this task and share the skill and knowledge with other teacher as the continue to educate students.
Looking beyond my classroom, I can see myself in a position where I can help others to make the connections and realizations that I have made around student learning through discovery. I would like to have a program that provides support to teachers as they begin to see the importance of incorporating STEM in the classroom no matter what subject. As a teacher, aligning my math content across other content areas has been very difficult and I want to master this task and share the skill and knowledge with other teacher as the continue to educate students.
Where I Am NOW?
I Am Still Learning!!!
In the Room Activity
Leadership is the ability to inspire those around you to work together towards a common goal. To stay calm and be willing to lead by example and set the tone for success.
Rocking The Boat:
- Task Zero, Review:
As an educator, I find this book to be empowering. Meyerson provides a roadmap for how to bring about change, diversity, and gender equity in different environments.
Task One, How am I different?
Debra Meyerson identifies three kinds of people who bring about change.
- Those who have different social identities and see those differences as merely cultural and not a basis for exclusion
- Those who have not cultural but philosophical differences, which conflict with the prevailing values, beliefs, and agendas operating in their organizations.
- Those who have different social identities from the majority and sees those differences as setting them apart and excluding them from the mainstream.
To begin with, I work in a system who spouts the mantra “No Child Left Behind” yet, kindergarten is not mandatory. How can a child not be left behind when their counterparts are starting formal education one or two years ahead of them. In addition, if a parent doesn’t bring a child to school until they are starting 2nd grade it’s okay. Again, I say how is this child not left behind. The first 4 years of education are the most important. This is when students learn majority of the words they will need to read, the fundamental math skills and social skills. When kindergarten isn’t mandated and children can start school at 7 years old for the first time the state is leaving many children behind.
Task Two, Becoming a Tempered Radical:
As I analyze the tempered radical spectrum, I realize that I have moved around on the spectrum. Early in my career, I would say that I resisted quietly and stayed true to myself. I set through many meeting with administrator, coordinators, and colleagues and listened to them tell me what works best in my classroom. They would say their ideas were best practices and were best for my students and that I needed to begin utilizing them now. After many of these meetings, I would go back to class, close my do and use what worked for my class and file the rest away until I needed it.
Now, I would say that I am leveraging small wins. After being moved from 2nd grade to a 4th/5th grade split, we were having problems with order in the halls. Students were walking all over the hall and very disorderly. I began insisting that my class walks up the hall on the right side of the all at all times. As a result others noticed the order and calmness of the hall and now the entire school follows this process when traveling down the hallways. A small step for me, a huge step for the school.
Task Three, Facing Challenges:
There are four levels of challenges discussed in the book:
- Toll of Ambivalence
- Incremental lures of co-optation
- Damage to Reputation
- Frustration and Burnout
As I look at each of these challenges, I ask myself which one best describes the challenges that I face. Frustration and Burnout seems to jump out at me as the biggest challenge I face on the daily bases. Each year, I stand in front of student and parent and pledge to teach my classes with high quality lesson and interesting projects. Then get a classroom full of students who don’t get support with homework at home. Parent that blame me when their child is failing even though I offer tutoring from 7:45 to 8:30 Monday thru Thursday and 3:45 to 4:15. It seems to me that parents don’t require their students to take their education seriously. They don’t complete classwork, won’t do homework and will not study for test. I find myself repeating myself about the importance of education, I am frustrated and burning out.
