Module 2-Sophie

An Effective Leader

Most effective leaders can come in all shapes and sizes, and the change they cause doesn’t always have to be positive to be effective. The effective leader that I will describe is a short older woman, she has been teaching for many, many years even though she didn’t go to school to be a teacher at first; teaching was sort of thrust onto her.

When I met her, she taught how she was taught, rote memorization and worksheets. She also taught with a firm hand, some would say that she bullied the students into submission, others would say that she had high expectations and demanded that the students lived up to them. I saw her as the kind of woman that got stuff done and as an intimidator. I knew right from the start that this woman was someone that I had to have on my side or she would persuade everyone to be against me just by saying it. When she was showing me around the school for the first time, she made the comment that “we let the principal think she is in charge, but we really run this place” and by “we” she meant she.  

I was one of the few lucky newbies that year. I slipped through the cracks and didn’t get much attention. I wasn’t her best friend but I didn’t do anything that could cause reason for her to turn on me. She was the kind of person that if she liked you, she would bend over backwards to do anything for you, but all it took was one thing, and you were on her “list” for the rest of her life. If you made it to the “list” there was no way you could ever get off of it and she would do everything in her power, passive aggressive or aggressive, to shove you out.

I saw her raise people up to their highest potential, praising them and pushing them to be better than their best. Encouraging them and forcing them to try again. I saw her comfort them in their failures and then push them to get back on the horse. It was like, if she believed in them, then they could do anything. She also loved them, and babied them, and took care of them like they were her own.

I also saw her tear people down and stomp on them, figuratively, until they felt like they were worthless. I saw her pull a kid out of the crowd for talking and yell at him in front of half of the school and embarrass him by making him stand in the corner. I heard her, through the walls of our rooms, belittle students for not understanding and ridicule them because they weren’t following along.

She would do this to grown adults and to the students, she didn’t discriminate.

If she believed in a cause or movement or change in the school, then she would push everyone in her click to do the same, no one dared speak up against her. Then her click would look down upon those who didn’t follow suit until they either left or changed with them. However, the exact same thing would happen if she didn’t believe in something. If she wasn’t on the bandwagon, you might as well forget it.

She did see the importance of technology even though she didn’t understand how to use all of it. She would do everything in her power to incorporate as much technology as she could as long as she didn’t look silly. She would have to learn how to do it all before trying to use it in the classroom. However, once that happened, then no one else in the building could justify not implementing the same technology. If she could do it, so could they.

Some parts of her leadership style were not that bad, however, the majority of her style was based off of intimidation and belittling. I do not think that her leadership was the best way to go about it.

My Leadership Skills Assessment mainly had three to four stars across the board, with a couple exceptions; the overall score was a 60. I was a little surprised at this because I didn’t think I was that great of a leader because I have tried to make some changes in the schools I have worked, and have been unsuccessful.

Personal Characteristics went as follows:

·         Self-Confidence: 3/10, 1 star

·         Positive Attitude and Outlook: 6/10, 3 stars

·         Emotional Intelligence: 6/10, 3 stars

·         Providing a Compelling Vision of the Future: 6/10, 3 stars

·         Motivating People to Deliver the Vision: 9/10, 5 stars

·         Being a Good Role Model: 8/10, 4 stars

·         Managing Performance Effectively: 7/10, 4 stars

·         Providing Support and Stimulation: 15/20, 4 stars

Apparently I need to work on my self-confidence. With me having depression and anxiety, I am constantly questioning myself and thinking that I’m not doing a good enough job (*see extra-long blog postings). I have been working on this and I am making progress. I did think that I would have gotten more than one star based on the progress I have made, but, oh well.

My strongest characteristic was motivating people. I guess I am good at getting people to embrace change and work together. I do believe that I am good at getting students to do these things; however, I don’t think I am any good at getting adults to do this. Most of my classroom settings have been group work and student centered. I just don’t feel comfortable doing those same things with adults (goes back to my self-confidence).

What kind of leader do you aspire to be?

I would love to be the one the boss turns to when they need to get a job done. I want to be trusted and respected. I would love to be someone that is a well known professor in technology education and integration at an ambitious university. I dream that I have written many books that are being used as education education textbooks. I dream of becoming a person that the school districts contact when they need PD on the subject. I dream that my books are bought by schools and the teachers are to read them and have kind of book club meetings about the topics brought up in them. 
My dreams are all well and good, and there is a slim chance that it might happen. More realistically, I will be the person that is a leader when I am asked or needed. I have learned that I don't have to be a leader all the time, some times I can be an awesome follower, the best follower that the leader has. As long as I am appreciated, respected and informed, I will be happy lending a hand whenever it is needed.

Summarize two of the Six Secrets of Change.

Fullan Change Secret #1: Love Your Employees. I love that this one is number one; I think it is the most important. The “love your employees” secret of change mainly says that the leaders should trust and support their teachers and staff unconditionally. The leaders should encourage all the faculty as they strive to achieve community, school, and personal goals.

Fullan Change Secret #5: Transparency Rules. I believe that the best professional development is right there in the halls of your own school. The “transparency rules” secret of change suggests that the teachers observe each other teach, learn from each other and share ideas, tricks, and tools…etc. with each other. However it shouldn’t stop with the teachers, the leaders should also observe and share their ideas, tricks, tools…etc.

What is your philosophy of how schools can/should use social media?

When it comes to blogs, Facebook, Twitter and so forth, I think they should be used in the classroom. If students are using them all the time outside the classroom, then why not use what they know to encourage them to learn and be active members of the learning environment? Blogs are a great way to keep the entire class, their parents and the community up-to-date with what is happening in your classroom, tests, homework, and activities. Facebook and Twitter are great tools to use outside the classroom for support and reminders. You can even create discussions and virtual classrooms so that even absent students aren’t really absent. Implementing tools like these can remove the need to make up snow days because students can just log onto their accounts and have class at home. This kind of integration also gets them ready for college classes.

I love the idea that my students can contact me whenever they need me. I have a second Facebook account that I created my first year of teaching. I didn’t feel comfortable with having students on my first account since I started it my first year of college, and while I have deleted and blocked many things over the years, I wasn’t 100% positive that it was all suitable for middle school children. Plus, while I was now mature and posting appropriate items, my friends might not be on the same level as I was, so I created a second account.

I used this account to connect not only with my students, but their parents and the community. I would remind them of an upcoming test, support them during their successes and their failures, and I would wish the school teams good luck at their next competition. With the private messaging, I was able to help students with their homework, study for a test, and help them work through a tough situation. I was there for them even when I wasn’t in the same county.

If the schools that I taught in would allow phones, I would use them as learning tools. I would have them text me their answers to the bell ringer and send them calendar reminders of upcoming activities. I would also do some research and find out other cool and inventive ways to use those tools to enhance my classroom.