Teacher Leadership and The Thanksgiving Table: Stop Jockeying for an Invitation to THEIR Table and Invite People to OURS

By Heather Kangas
ASCD Teacher Impact Grant Awardee
Oshkosh Area School District

Ahhh, Thanksgiving dinner. Each year, millions of Americans travel at least 50 miles to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. This year, AAA predicts 48.7 million Americans will be on the road or in the air to reach their Thanksgiving destination. Why do we travel? We travel to sit around a table and share a meal with people who are important to us while celebrating all that for which we are thankful. Now, this vision is idyllic, but the reality is that our experiences at the table may be anything but. Most of us have stories and memories of holiday meals gone awry. Hollywood has capitalized on the drama occurring at the holiday dinner table - to both dramatic and comedic effect. Conversely, many of us have happy memories we cherish of important and meaningful holiday meals. The overall effect of the shared holiday meal is driven by who is (and is not) seated at the table. There are layers of relationships and often a shared history of the people seated at the table, and the more people present, the more deeply layered the relationships - all of which affect the dynamics of the group within the context of the meal.

When we are invited to someone else’s table, that person is in control of the context - who is present at the table and what the guests may bring to share. Some people exert more control over the event than others. Take, for instance, this unintentionally humorous Thanksgiving letter from a woman identified only as Marney which has been circulating around the internet for years. Marney seems to be a woman very much in control over the context at her Thanksgiving table. For many teachers who aspire to be leaders in their buildings and districts, their experience is often like that of Marney’s guests - IF they get an invitation to the table, they have limited control over the context in the form of what they may bring to the table.

Last week I had the privilege off attending a convening of the awardees of the Teacher Impact Grant at the US Department of Education in Washington DC. One of the speakers was Tami Fitzgerald, NBCT, who is the Director of Outreach and Engagement for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Her message focused on teacher leadership, which included emphasizing the idea that teachers know their contexts and what is best for kids. Another speaker, Maddie Fennell, NBCT, Nebraska elementary teacher and teacher fellow for the NEA, had an additional message about context. She argued that context is the lens through which we view the world, and some people do not realize they can change the context. Taken together, the message is that teacher leaders know their context and kids best, and when we can bring others to our context, we can influence their perspective.

As teacher leaders who may be frustrated by the difficulty of even getting an invitation to the table, let alone the limitations placed on us once we get there, it is time for us to take control of the context. We do this by inviting others to our own table, where we decide who gets an invitation and what we ask them to bring. It is important to be thoughtful when creating a guest list. Just as we could not imagine Thanksgiving without inviting our parents and grandparents, as teacher leaders we should not plan an event without inviting our administration. That invitation may only be for one member of the administration team to start, or for the entire team. Of course we will want to surround ourselves with like-minded friends and allies - colleagues who share our vision and instructional coaches who will support our efforts. The final category is one which is sometimes overlooked or intentionally left out - the antagonist. The antagonist is important to include at our table because he or she will ask questions or offer counter ideas which will serve as creative abrasion to push thinking among the group. We should be wise in the selection of the antagonist, as inviting someone who argues only for argument’s sake or who is steeped in toxicity and negativity will not be productive. Instead, we should find someone who will force us to examine our vision from every angle.

Heinen and Global Academy Students in Quito, Ecuador 

Kathy Heinen is a teacher leader who exemplifies the change that can happen when teachers invite others to the table. Heinen is a Spanish teacher and department chair for the Oshkosh Area School District in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Based on her experiences abroad, Heinen had a vision to create a program which prepares students for their roles as emerging global citizens. She developed her vision into a plan and invited teachers, administrators, and the school board to her table. The Academy for Global Studies (otherwise known as Global Academy), which operates at Oshkosh West High School, is now in its third year of preparing global citizens. Global Academy students experience interdisciplinary learning with an emphasis on inquiry. They have many opportunities as students of the Global Academy, including traveling internationally and earning the Wisconsin Global Education Certificate. Heinen is a powerful example of the teacher leader as change agent.

Heinen and Global Academy Students in Chicago, Illinois

One of the most compelling ways to get support for our vision as teacher leaders is to get people to share our perspective. When we own the table, we create the context which shapes the perspective of those seated at the table. When we own the table, we control who gets invited, what we prepare to share with our guests, and what we ask our guests to bring. When we own the table, we are more likely to achieve our vision.

Is Instructional “Leadership” Perpetuating the Teaching Crisis?

By Kristi Levy

ASCD TIG Grantee

Oshkosh Area School District

Teachers -- our profession is in crisis. If you aren’t sure you agree, you need only look at recent studies and data that show a variety of frightening trends. When state legislatures around the country took aim at educators, they may as well have fired their political missiles directly into students’ classrooms. In the Learning Policy Institute’s recent study, A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the U.S., released in Sept. 2016, the non-profit shared some sobering news for educators and policymakers. Currently, the profession is facing the first MAJOR shortage since the early 1990s and when looking at the data, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Consider this:

• Between 2009-2014 there was a 35% decline in teacher preparation programs nationwide.

• In 2015 the United States was 60,000 teachers short of filling all classroom openings. This trend is projected to increase with data indicating over 100,000 unfilled teaching positions by 2018.
• Surveyed teachers who left the profession in 2015 indicated numerous reasons for attrition, including:
• 59% left to have more influence over workplace policies and practices
• 57% left to have more autonomy and control over their own work
• Between 19%-30% leave within the first 5 years due to lack of high quality mentoring

Dr. John King meets with teachers to discuss the importance of teacher leadership

This week I had the honor of joining fellow educators and ASCD Teacher Impact Grantees (TIG) for a convening in Washington D.C. Our convening consisted of a day of professional learning at the Department of Education and culminated with Secretary Dr. John King’s monthly Tea with Teachers. It was one of the most impactful experiences of my career, but what stuck with me most were not the words of Dr. King. It was the words of my fellow educators who came from all parts of our nation to be a voice for the importance of teacher leadership.

During the day, I was unsurprised by how many educators recognize the debilitating implications of policies and budget cuts enacted by their state governments. But, what was surprising is that they pointed to more insidious practices causing teachers to leave the profession and the fox is inside the hen house. What stands in the way of teacher leadership is often Leadership, with a capital L. The data doesn’t lie -- many teachers leave the profession because they don’t feel like their voice matters. And yet, over and over again, teachers shared stories of their desire to lead the profession, only to be told “Your practices are exceptional, but not the focus of a district initiative” or, “We love what you’re working on; can we put it in the newsletter at the end of the month?” While these phrases are very different, the outcome is the same and the message to us is the same -- “Don’t worry teachers, we’ve got this.”  

In a political climate where teachers are being devalued and driven from the profession, school leaders need to be the counterbalance. When we lose teacher voice, we not only lose teachers, we lose the best part of our profession. Excellence in the profession can be found in every school building in every district, but too often schools are not working to amplify it. At best school leaders recognize it, but an acknowledgment does nothing to amplify practice. The focus of our professional growth needs to be on what teaching excellence looks like in the classroom, not what teaching excellence sounds like in professional development. And school “Leadership” needs to turn into school “Growership.”  There is a distinct need for district’s to have a vision for learning and align offerings with that overall vision. However, maintaining district vision and elevating teacher voice are not mutually exclusive practices.

Every district has teachers DOING the work that aligns with their vision and Growership involves finding them and elevating their practice to serve as a beacon for their colleagues. I work with so many colleagues who are doing to work of our district vision. We are a standards based learning district and we have Will Brydon who is helping 9th grade students learn to unpack the standards so they can better inform their own learning. We believe in formative assessments that drive instruction and we have Alex Griffith and Malary Hill who are not only using formative assessment to create learning paths for students, but are helping students to engage in the purpose of the formative process. And, there are so many more teachers like this -- exceptional teachers working toward our district vision for learning.  I also have the fortune of knowing school leaders who engage in Growership, like Matt Mineau who engages teachers in his building in teams designed to be educational think tanks for research and development. And Erin Kohl who has formed both staff and student cabinets to engage teachers and students in the vision for learning. Examples like these are how our profession, not only survives the current crisis, but thrives.

At the end of our Tea with Teachers, Secretary King told us the story of a few donors who were skeptical about investing directly in teachers the way Teacher Impact Grants do. He said they feared the grants would start 20 campfires that never had a chance to ignite a forest fire of change. He asked us how he should respond to their concern and my answer to him was simple -- Almost every single teacher I work beside would crawl through broken glass if they knew it would help a kid and teachers believe in what we can see and we believe in each other. Teachers have all of the desire necessary to create a forest fire. Educators account for 4.2 million tweets per day! Factor in other sharing outlets and there is no doubt that teachers are hungry to learn from one another, but we need the fuel grants like this can provide directly to teachers and we need our school Leaders to become Growers. Thank you, Dr. King, for believing in Growership.

Teachers, Leave Your Comfort Zones

The Adventure Begins

As we begin our journey in Adventures in Modern Learning, we want to share our musing about adventure and how it plays a vital role in the evolution of teaching and learning. We are instructional coaches by title, but we very much identify as adventure guides helping teachers and learners to navigate the shift toward student-driven learning. As you follow our journeys and share in our adventures, please feel encouraged to share your own stories of adventure (or misadventure) in student-driven learning.

Adventure is a Process

Let’s be honest, teachers are planners. When we plan our family vacations, we don’t take a single step out the door without reservations in hand, a route calculated and every conceivable item we may need. In our professional adventures, we take the same time and care in our planning. Learning objectives are determined, and activities are designed to help students meet the goals. But, what if we dared to think of a classroom where students were the adventurers, striking out into the unknown with their goals and plans firmly in hand? What is possible if we pass the baton to our learners and bring their learning to the forefront and their unique talents and needs directed their path? Follow us here as we aim to answer these questions and so many more. So, in the spirit of adventure, join us as we begin our adventures (and misadventures) in student-driven learning!

Step 1: Leaving comfort zone

Let’s begin with the obvious: routine and predictability are the antithesis of adventure. Is there a place for routine and predictability? Yes, of course there is -- we like to know where our coffee is coming from every day. But, it is not the stuff of adventure. If routine is where we feel safe and confident, then adventure is where we feel frightened, but also alive and renewed. The first step to our adventure, any adventure, is to leave the comfort zone, and, the more successful you feel in the “comfort zone” the more difficult it is to leave.

Routine and predictability are the antithesis of adventure. Is there a place for routine and predictability? Yes, of course there is -- we like to know where our coffee is coming from every day. But, it is not the stuff of adventure. If routine is where we feel safe and confident, then adventure is where we feel frightened, but also alive and renewed.

Step 2: Select the destination

Even the most enthusiastic adventurers rarely set out without a destination. Leaving your comfort zone with a plan in place can be terrifying, but leaving without a plan is akin to jumping without a parachute. You might survive it, but as your adventure guides, we frown on it. For our work toward student-driven learning, a framework for Personalized Learning became our evident destination. Our community was asking for more attention to the needs of individual learners and our teachers were asking for more autonomy to meet student needs. Personalized Learning emerged as our call to adventure.

Step 3: Determine Your Path

We quickly decided the path to bringing Personalized Learning to our building was to offer professional learning opportunities to teachers. As coaches, we were able to provide different types of learning based on our teachers’ interests and needs. Our feeling was that a grassroots effort to bring about instructional change would make for a much smoother road to our destination.

Step 4: A Call for Travelers

Traveling is more fun when you can share the experience with other people who want to reach the same destination. Once we shared our destination and offered to travel the path with any interested teachers, we found a small, but enthusiastic, group of travelers. The unique skills sets and perspectives they have brought to our work has made our cohort invaluable!

Step 5: Buy Some Travel Insurance

Risk is inherent to traveling the unknown, so prudent travelers plan for the unexpected and purchase travel insurance. Our insurance came in the form of creating a supportive network of building and central office administrators. This insurance provides a safety net for us and our teachers as we take the risk of striking out into the unknown.

Step 6: Plan, Plan, Plan but Be Comfortable With the Unknown

Planning provides a certain amount of comfort and security, but the reality of traveling a path for the first time is that planning for every eventuality is impossible. Moving beyond acceptance to being comfortable with the uncertainty of the unknown makes for the kind of adventure you want to tell your friends and family about instead of your therapist. There are times we all falter, but relying on fellow travelers along the way helps to counteract the stress of unexpected turns and obstacles on the path.

Step 7: Strike Out

And, so here we are. The arrangements have been made, the planning has been done and it is time to strike out -- into the unknown! What awaits us is an adventure -- rife with excitement and fear, incredible achievements and deflating failure. But, ultimately, a better world awaits. Join Us!

We look forward to sharing our story and all of the trials and tribulations of our journey into student-driven learning. We hope to connect with and learn from our readers and, ultimately, we hope to become a little more comfortable with a lot more risk. After all, who among us wouldn’t put it all on the line for our kids?

May you have many adventures,

Kristi Levy & Heather Kangas

   

Kristi Levy - @KristiLevy                    Heather Kangas - @kangas_oasd
Instructional Technology                           Curriculum & Assessment
Oshkosh Area School District                   Oshkosh Area School District

Is Implementing New Strategies with Students Like Entering the Shark Tank?

Will Brydon - @WillBrydon
Academy for Global Studies
Oshkosh Area School District

Entering the Shark Tank

Sometimes, starting a new school year feels like entering The Shark Tank to me, where instead of pitching my product ideas to a panel of business megastars (the sharks), I am pitching my educational philosophy to students (perhaps not as terrifying as sharks but perfectly capable of biting back!). It can be nerve wracking when you start out, but, after my work over the summer, I could not wait to get going in my class and introduce my students to the concept of Personalized Learning. Most of my summer had been spent thinking about my strategies to employ this teaching method, designing instructional units, and constructing materials to use throughout the year. I was more than ready to move out of the realm of the hypothetical and into actual implementation! Cut to the second week of school, where I have already espoused my philosophy on education to the students and introduced them, at least initially, to Personalized Learning. The next step was to call on an authority with much more credibility than myself to continue to build the case for this learning style. Naturally, I turned to the well-known educational thinker Sir Ken Robinson and his TEDtalk “Do schools kill creativity?” My students watched politely as I played the video, reciting the words I had heard him say about 20 times before in previous viewings, but it wasn’t eliciting the reaction I was expecting in my students. That moment was when I realized Personalized Learning with my students would not be a top-down initiative forced on them from me - so what next?

Going Back to the Drawing Board

Looking back on that experience now, the discouragement and disappointment I felt should have been expected. Here I was standing on my soap box speaking about the benefits of Personalized Learning and its background, which must have sounded like the same white noise they are always accustomed to hearing in school. Another mandate, another “start of the year” activity, another cog in the machine that is school / education. I most certainly was not going for that effect, but I am sure at least some my students had that perception. So I thought about what I wanted to accomplish over the course of the year: intrinsic motivation, ownership of learning, excitement in the classroom, a hunger for knowledge, and students designing their own units to hit my target standards, among others. This reflection led me to the conclusion that I couldn’t sell my students (the sharks) on Personalized Learning; rather, they needed to demand it.

"I thought about what I wanted to accomplish over the course of the year: intrinsic motivation, ownership of learning, excitement in the classroom, a hunger for knowledge, and students designing their own units to hit my target standards, among others. This reflection led me to the conclusion that I couldn’t sell my students (the sharks) on Personalized Learning; rather, they needed to demand it."

A New Pitch

The following week, I returned to the tank of my classroom with a new approach in mind. We viewed a few of the Sir Ken Robinson clips again, but this viewing came with a discussion that pushed the students towards self-reflection. I posed the question: “do you feel like school is killing your creativity?” and got a variety of responses, mostly focused on the aspects of school they did not like. So I probed deeper and countered with, “ok, so if school has so many negatives, what motivates you to do well?” At this point, the conversation really got going, and my students provided a myriad of responses ranging from familial pressure to competition with peers to getting As to going to a top university. What broke my heart, though, was that no student mentioned they were motivated in school because they love to learn, so that is what I told them.

Flip the Script

Our conversations continued in small groups where eventually many students reached the conclusion that their motivation hinged on their interest and level of enjoyment, which makes sense, if you think about it. All humans are naturally drawn to their interest; this theory isn’t anything new, but I had to make my students see the connection between Personalized Learning and bringing their passions into the classroom before I could fully develop the strategy. In the midst of these conversations, our first content unit was well underway as well, which focused on Spectacle and the essential question of “why does inequality exist among humans and with what consequences?” This unit was my first opportunity to allow the students to see how their interests could directly impact their learning in my class, so I let their discussions run the wide spectrum of responses that the unit’s essential question encompasses. It was interesting to see what kinds of inequality the students focused on and what consequences they found in both the novel and their contemporary society. Their interest drove me towards the design of their first unit assessment - a major inversion of the normal planning structure where assessment informs instruction.

Push the Prototype

Now that my sharks had swarmed to the chum of this unit’s materials, the time had come to move them through the first unit assessment. From a teaching standpoint, in past years, my goal was to have my students produce one coherent, analytical, argumentative paragraph, and this goal did not change from year to year. However, this time around, I changed the unit assessment (which can be seen here) to be open-ended enough for the students to bring their interests into their writing. I did not mandate how they chose to answer the question, I did not dictate what outside source they needed to include, and I did not force them to try to guess what I wanted to hear as the teacher in their analysis. The results were stunning.

Analyze the Feedback

I was floored by the wide variety of ways my students chose to frame their work, as evidenced by their topic sentences. Here are just a few examples:

“The many different types of inequality that exist today are due to ethnocentrism, which causes a harder lifestyle for the victims and creates a larger gap between everyone in the world.”

“Inequality exists because people feel insecure or nervous, and they feel that they have to put others down in order to feel better than themselves, which leads to the consequences that people feel left out.”

“Inequality exist among humans because people have different perspectives on what is right from wrong and when a mass amount of people agree on where people should be placed, stereotypes are formed, bringing society down by causing riots, increased crime rates, and more poverty.”

These samples were chosen at random from my students, but they highlight the wide variety of responses I received that were supported by sources as diverse as podcasts, magazine article, op-ed pieces, TEDtalks, etc. When I asked my students to reflect on how they felt during the process, their honesty was also an encouraging sign. Some recognized that the open-endedness made them uncomfortable, some admitted to being stuck without knowing where to start, and some said they liked the opportunity to pick what they wrote about. All in all, a vast majority said they liked the process overall and got more comfortable as the work time progressed, and I made sure to comment back that they are only just beginning this journey. I am sure this next unit will bring about new challenges and comments from the students, but as long as they continue to display that internal desire to learn in ways that suit them best, then Personalized Learning will continue to gain a foothold in my classroom. They may not have bought the whole pitch, but at least they’re listening and intrigued.

I Was Never a Leader -- Until I realized I Was...

                                                     We Can ALL be Leaders

Alex Griffith
HS English Teacher
Oshkosh Area School District

I was never a leader — not even close. I never once imagined I possessed the ability to be seen as a leader. For most of my life, I was a steadfast member of the follower party. I grew up as the quintessential shy middle schooler, unsure of my place in this world. Friends did not flock to me. Teachers did not remember me. In high school, I sat in the back of class, answering an occasional question when the silence of a disengaged classroom became too uncomfortable. I avoided drawing too much attention towards me, finding comfort in being the third or fourth person to make a move. I liked being a follower. It was familiar; it was easy. It was what I had always known and how everyone around me defined me. If someone told me at 16 that I would lead children through their learning journey at 26, I would have laughed in their face.

I remember my first day teaching at high school English very clearly, the kind of day you can vividly hear the clicks of high heels echoing down the halls, feel the warm breeze enter through the slightly cracked window of classroom E27 — the kind of day where the emotions you felt then remain palpable each time you recall the memory.

I was timid and intimidated as a new teacher. I had entered a very grounded department that was noted for leadership time and time again; I mean, I had heard repeatedly in my interview that the English department was respected and admired for standing out amongst the crowd — something that remains true to this day. At that point in my life, I constantly avoided rocking the metaphorical boat, and I fully intended to proceed in such a fashion on my latest venture: shaping the minds of our youth. I didn’t plan on asking questions. I planned to teach the curriculum I was given in the way I was told to teach it. I needed to play it safe — because again, safe is comfortable. Safe and comfortable is the follower’s mantra.

"For most of my life, I was a steadfast member of the follower party. I grew up as the quintessential shy middle schooler, unsure of my place in this world. Friends did not flock to me. Teachers did not remember me... I liked being a follower. It was familiar; it was easy."

However, easy and comfortable does not make a life fulfilling. We only unlock our potential when we step outside of the boxes that restrict our identity and limit our ability to choose who we want to be.

I knew that the material I was teaching did not resonate with my students. The texts were too challenging, the stories too distant from the lives and interests of my students. We continuously marched through assessment after assessment with little time to achieve proficiency and mastery of skills essential for lifelong success. I knew that many of my students were being left behind while simultaneously, other students were being significantly restricted by the diverse skill levels of students in the class. But we had deadlines to meet and assessments to complete. I truly cared about the well-being of my students, but my actions as a teacher did not reflect my sentiments. By the end of my first year as a high school educator, I emphatically told all of my loved ones I was changing career paths. I was a broken mess. Twenty-three out of fifty-six sophomores I had been entrusted to teach failed my class. And I had let them fail by keeping my mouth shut. I knew in my heart what I was doing in my own classroom was negatively impacting student learning. I knew I was teaching in a manner that did not fit who I wanted to be, in a way that did not model the innate potential I wanted to help my students discover. I let my fear overpower what I knew was right. For the first time in my life, status quo did not bring me satisfaction. Comfortable and easy began to infuriate me.

I did not quit teaching, but I as that first summer came to a close, I approached my job with dread and resentment. I became bitter about my career choice, entirely confident that I had chosen the wrong career path. I was too young to be this jaded. I had tried to make some changes to the curriculum I was teaching, but my autonomy was still restricted, and my fear of rocking the boat still present. However, each day I fought incessant disengagement, my anger and frustration grew stronger. I needed to understand why students were so disengaged.

And then, one evening, this whirlwind of realization hit me out of nowhere, particularly on one afternoon which had reduced me to hopeless tears. (And to be clear, I am talking full on mascara running, grab your Kleenexes crying). I loved kids. Kids were and still remain the reason I chose to become a teacher. I wanted to help kids see how much they matter in this world. But again, I continued to fail them. More than half a class of missing homework. Fewer and fewer raised hands each day. Common texts. Common activities. Common pacing. Common assessments. Common prompts — -I was forcing these students to be common despite full awareness that kids are NEVER common.

The beauty in humanity rests in the diversity each human brings to the table. True leaders recognize the strength in numbers, the strength and beauty in these multiple perspectives that compose our world. Of course making a single experience the only possible experience in the classroom fosters disengagement. I had been trying to solve the problems of an entire educational infrastructure independently, and not once had I thought to rely on the diverse perspectives present in my classroom everyday. Evolving the way we “do” learning needed to change, and this change would only begin by asking for help from my students. Kids needed to be empowered to take back their learning, to make their learning meet their needs, passions, and interests. Kids needed an environment that helped them grow as individual learners. In a profession where we help to foster and shape one of the most fundamental elements of human existence, instilling and satiating curiosity there should not be a shortage of teachers. There should not be a multitude of under-performing students. We should not live in a world where we use prison analogies to refer to school. Learning should be beautiful; kids and teachers should be invested. The current state of our educational system simply did not make sense.

I walked into class the next morning, feeling vulnerable. I sat down on the table at the front of my room with my head in my hands. I confided in my students that I did not know what to do anymore. I told them that I felt like giving up. I told them that I felt like I was failing them. I told them that I needed their help. And so, I continued with a question that changed everything: Why do you hate school?

I can assure you, I felt scared. I was afraid the kids would not be receptive. I was afraid my coworkers would mutiny against my demand for change. I was afraid I would lose my job. I was afraid that by telling my kids I did not have the answers, I would lose their respect and trust.

However, the response of my students reflected the complete opposite. In that moment, my students and I formed an unshakeable solidarity. By allowing them to see that I was human and see that I truly valued their role in their education, I connected with my students in a way that enabled us to begin having authentic conversations about the missing pieces in their schooling. I gave my students a voice in their learning, and that was the beginning of a beautiful journey.

I significantly altered existing units and assessments to reflect the needs of my learners and allow for a more individualized curriculum. I maintained the rigor of the assessments, but did my best to create assessments that incorporated student voice, choice, and pacing. Yes, students need to be able to display a set of common skills, but their experience doing so should not be common. For this specific population, the ability to be heard and the recognition of their value goes a long way in the classroom. Being transparent with students, helped them to see why their success in school mattered and also motivated them to strive for more. I became a leader by asking for help. My students became leaders in their moment of raw honesty.

That semester, not a single sophomore failed our class.

Leadership snuck up on me, subtly, when I became angry, when my feelings of passion overwhelmed the mundanity of daily life. When I could no longer put up with the status quo, my voice strengthened. I became a leader when I found my purpose: fix this broken system we call education in America. Find something worth leading for, and I assure you, the task of leadership will not be a daunting weight upon your shoulders, but rather, a welcome calm, a feeling that you have finally found the missing piece to make your life complete.

Leadership is more than simply being the center. It is more than directing people. Leadership is a willingness to be vulnerable, to share your story and voice to help others. We need to show kids that they all have the ability to be leaders through example — by offering continuous moments of voice and choice in school, by stopping for a minute amidst the chaos to truly listen to what each of our kids has to say, to listen to what our teachers need. We need to empower the potential leaders inside each member of our school community.

To step into the shoes of leadership, teachers and students need support. They need to know their vulnerability in taking risks will be commended, because fear combats leadership, and the fear of what happens when one fails without support, toxic.

The world needs more people to recognize themselves as leaders.

One powerful leader creates a culture shift, their influence rippling out. One powerful leader in a school impacts the lives of students, fellow staff members, administration, districts. One powerful leader forces people to think, to step outside of their boxes of easy, comfortable, and safe, and begin to ask themselves: What if?

What if we all chose to be leaders? Now that would be an educational game changer.

Are You Leading and Allowing or Are You Personalizing?

Will Brydon - @WillBrydon
Academy for Global Studies
Oshkosh Area School District

From Dipping to Diving

As class continues towards the first holiday break of the school year, I like to find time to reflect back on my students’ progress and evaluate where they are at in their learning journeys. So far, two units have been completed, each with the students having more scaffolded control of what is going on in the classroom. However, I can sense that below the surface of the classroom is a strong desire to jump further into personalized learning. It is time to move from talking about it and dipping our feet into a headfirst dive!

From Leader to Guide

However, when envisioning a different structure to a unit and a classroom, one must also re-envision his or her role in the classroom. For me, that encompassed looking at the two previous units of the year and how I functioned in the classroom. That reflection led me to the conclusion that, for the most part, I had been leading the class and allowing them options for voice, choice, and pacing. The key word there is “allowing,” since I want their desire to learn in this manner to come from inside themselves, not because I am channeling them towards this style of learning. In short, I needed to become less of a class leader and more of a class guide. The difference can be simply stated in my classroom. I need to have my students select their own unit, interact with their choice of curated materials, and create their own end product, and I will be there for them to guide their learning directions rather than dictate it. A guide is someone who keeps the students from straying too far off the beaten path into dangerous areas; whereas a leader is someone who tells the students where they are going, which way they are going to get there, and how long it will take. I think this distinction will make all the difference.

A Personalized Shakespeare

So, I now understood what needed to happen to see the changes I wanted to see in the classroom, but I still needed to design a structure that would permit me to guide the students. Our next unit focused on Shakespeare and his work The Tempest, which would be a completely new topic to a majority of my students. However, I did not see this lack of knowledge as a negative, as some might with no prior knowledge to activate. Instead, I saw this unit as the perfect one to try out my new system. At the onset of the unit, which is where I am right now, I outlined 9 different units that students to self-select to join that would frame their work with The Tempest. I also made sure to stress that students could also come up with their own unit ideas and work with me to design their own experience. The students will be making this unit choice based on their viewing of The Tempest film and their reading of Act I, which I plan to do as a full group. The students have been dipping their toes into this unit, but the time to fully dive in will really occur once we finish Act I as a class.

The Next Step

The framework for this new style of unit has been set, and the students are split between excitement and nervous apprehension. They aren’t sure exactly what to expect, and I am the first one to tell them that I share these emotions with them. I don’t know how it will look guiding students through potentially 9 (or more!) different units while simultaneously facilitating student growth in content knowledge and ELA skills, but I have come to embrace that fact. I need to grow with the students in order to give this process the best chance of working. Over the next week as we move through the first Act, students will gather has much information about Shakespeare and The Tempest to make an informed unit selection to work towards their original, completely self-designed project, and I will be gathering as much information as possible on my students to make myself into an informed guide. I need to understand where each student is going, how they want to get there, and how long they plan on taking in on this trip in order to be the best guide possible. Personalized learning is a path that goes between the teacher and the students, and I think this unit has made that path more clear. I am excited to see where we all end up!