# data[].attributes.headline
Resource #1: GTL Center - Leadership Toolkit 2.0 (PDF)

# data[].attributes.subject
Resource #1: GTL Center - Leadership Toolkit 2.0 (PDF)

# data[].attributes.body
This website is created by Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL), and they have a Leadership Toolkit linked on the homepage. The Toolkit is a downloadable PDF and on page 12 begins a list of strategies and items that teachers and administrators may use to increase teacher leadership in schools. Page A-1 also begins a collection of resources including leader profiles and different roles a teacher leader can hold complete with examples, links, and assessment tools. While the PDF document is long, it has a lot of helpful information and a wide variety of resources for all types of people and grade levels. It discusses the traditional ways that teachers can get involved in leadership roles, but as we have learned in this class, there is so much more that teachers can do to influence their colleagues and support the best interests of their students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0: Strategies to Build, Support, and Sustain Teacher Leadership Opportunities

School systems-and the challenges they face-are often complex and diverse; effectively addressing these challenges may require a leadership approach that moves beyond traditional teacher and administrator roles. Teacher leadership is one strategy many states and districts are pursuing to facilitate meaningful change and support better outcomes for their students.

To support these efforts, the Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0 includes a synthesis of research on teacher leadership, current examples, and useful tools for designing, implementing, and supporting teacher leadership initiatives. Toolkit 2.0 builds on previous work by our partner, Leading Educators and includes 10 supporting resources exploring key aspects of teacher leadership initiatives at the national, state, and local levels. States and districts can use the toolkit to drive planning and decision-making and to build knowledge with stakeholders and colleagues.
Download the Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0 (PDF) Download the 10 Toolkit Resources (Combined PDF)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Center on Great Teachers & Leaders - at American Institutes for Research

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The GTL Center is dedicated to advancing state efforts to grow, respect, and retain great teachers and leaders for all students. Our mission is to foster the capacity of vibrant networks of practitioners, researchers, innovators, and experts to build and sustain a seamless system of support for great teachers and leaders for every school in every state in the nation.

# data[].attributes.headline
Resource #2: NCSS - Framework for Teacher Leadership

# data[].attributes.subject
Resource #2: NCSS - Framework for Teacher Leadership

# data[].attributes.body
NCSS is the National Council for the Social Studies, and it is the professional organization that governs my content area. NCSS releases lots of current pedagogical approaches and research, and this page contains a link to a PDF that describes their 5 Part Framework for promoting leadership in schools. It is called 'Degrees of Freedom' and describes Reflection, Connection, Creating, Equipping, and letting the vision of the group naturally come into being.

I also want to add in this page from NCSS, which was not quite long enough to need an entire post, but is worth mentioning.

https://www.socialstudies.org/expectations-ncss-leadership

It lists out expectations for NCSS board members at all of their meetings, but I think they can be applied to PLCs or classroom interactions in general. Numbers 6-7 are great examples: We will base our decisions on factual information and logical analysis. We will use time efficiently as we work collaboratively to resolve issues. I think they are great mantras for every leader to keep in mind.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Key strategies outlined in this article describe how educators can foster democratic schools that honor individual freedom and civic responsibility without turning the asylum over to the inmates.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Degrees of Freedom: A Five-Part Framework for School Leadership

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Key strategies outlined in this article describe how educators can foster democratic schools that honor individual freedom and civic responsibility without turning the asylum over to the inmates.

# data[].attributes.headline
Resource #3: True Education Partnerships - 20+ of the Best Online Teacher Communities

# data[].attributes.subject
Resource #3: True Education Partnerships - 20+ of the Best Online Teacher Communities

# data[].attributes.body
Many teachers report that they do not feel supported within their schools or notice that some of their colleagues do not have the same values. Since collaboration is such an important part of teacher leadership, this website has compiled a list of 20+ online teacher communities on Twitter and Facebook that could be a great source of support for a teacher feeling isolated.

The Twitter groups are mostly hashtags that help teachers find like minded individuals, and the Facebook groups are traditional groups that teachers can join to compile resources and trade ideas. In our modern and evolving world, online communities may be what someone needs to kickstart their leadership journey.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Since the announcement of school closures across the UK, teachers and students have been forced to transition to largely a home learning setup (with some teachers attending school on a rota to support the children of key workers).

The new teaching and learning structure has resulted in schools adapting a whole new way of learning, with many teachers even having to home school their own children whilst teaching their students from afar. Without the usual social contact that teaching brings, it's easy for teachers to feel lonely and isolated at this time, not to mention stressed and frustrated.

We've put together the best online teacher communities across Twitter and Facebook, where teachers can join in conversation, receive help from others and share valuable resources and information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
20+ of the Best Online Teacher Communities | True Education Partnerships

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Since the announcement of school closures across the UK, teachers and students have been forced to transition to largely a home learning setup (with some teachers attending school on a rota to support the children of key workers).

# data[].attributes.headline
Resource #4: TedxTalk: A Teacher's Lesson on Leadership

# data[].attributes.subject
Resource #4: TedxTalk: A Teacher's Lesson on Leadership

# data[].attributes.body
I love TedTalks because I can listen to them like short podcast snippets, and this one was one I enjoyed listening to. In the video, Beth Wolfe touches on 2 things I thought were particularly impactful while also being related to our class readings and discussions.

#1 - You don't need a title to be a leader, and a title doesn't make you a leader. Your attitude, actions, personality, etc. make you a leader, and it does not matter if admin do not recognize/share power.

#2 - Leadership is not as complex as some might think. This rings true, because as practitioners in our field, we know how to be a leader and do the right thing for kids and for our colleagues. Honing the skill is the tricky part, but it's never too late to start.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Teacher’s Lesson on Leadership | Beth Wolfe | TEDxMarshallUniversity

# data[].attributes.body
This article from Edutopia goes into strategies for effective PLCs, and it connects back to our Module 1 Readings discussing teacher collaboration as it relates to leadership. If we can focus our PLC time on a common goal and allow space for innovation, all participants and all of our students benefit.

The article also mentions how ensuring all voices are heard is important, and that is especially so for newer teachers. New teachers may not feel confident sharing their ideas among veterans, but a new perspective can be incredibly helpful when it comes to lesson and material innovation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If managed well, these teams can help teachers innovate in the classroom and improve student outcomes.

Bob Daemmrich / Alamy Stock Photo

Many teachers work to guide students to take academic risks that will help them learn. Can schools apply that idea to teacher learning as well?

The answer may be found in the collaboration achieved in professional learning communities (PLCs). PLCs-which harness "an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve"-are a common and proven practice to promote teacher collaboration that increases student achievement.

However, it is possible to fall into collaborative work that stifles innovation. This can happen, for example, if PLCs focus too heavily on common assessments and a common understanding of what students are learning, leading to common everything-students getting the same lesson plan in each class. I've heard administrators use the term "common experience" when setting expectations for teaching and learning. That strikes me as going too far.

Although this is grounded in wanting to ensure student success through consistency, it can stifle innovation, and one of the purposes of a PLC is to try out new strategies. The PLC is designed for teacher learning, and thus the team must balance risk taking and teacher autonomy with shared expectations for student learning. It's important that teachers in a team have that clear understanding of purpose so that everyone feels safe to take risks.

A learning team constantly engages in a cycle of learning: analyzing data, setting goals, and learning individually and collaboratively, as well as implementing and adjusting practices to meet the needs of all learners. This process allows teachers to try new teaching practices and discover what's working and what isn't.

Determining Common Learning and Assessments

In PLCs, the fundamental questions teachers explore are: "What do we want students to learn?" and "How will we know if they have learned it?" These questions are foundational to any PLC, as they require teachers to come to a common understanding of the learning as well as common assessments that check for understanding.

PLC make this happen by prioritizing standards using specific criteria and then unpacking those standards, analyzing the nouns and verbs in the standards to understand which skills and concepts students will need to learn in order to be successful. Teachers identify what is hard to teach and what is hard to learn in the standards so that they can anticipate interventions and extensions.

It's important to note that parts of this process call for tight alignment between teachers and don't allow for the creativity and autonomy teachers may be used to. In order to achieve success for students, we do need some common practices. However, by agreeing as a team on what should be tightly aligned, we can set the stage for teacher autonomy and exploration of the art of teaching and instructional practice.

Making Space for Innovation

A PLC is constantly trying out new strategies to improve student learning, so individuals within the team must be given space to innovate. This is where the PLC should be only loosely aligned.

Teachers can never know what teaching works best for their students unless they are given the freedom to try out new strategies. PLCs can make this happen by having teachers collect evidence from common assessments and using data protocols to determine which strategies were most effective.

Ensuring That Teams Work Effectively

Sam Kaner coined the term Groan Zone to describe the space between a problem being posed and a solution being reached, and he described the divergent and convergent thinking that occurs there. Sometimes teachers in a PLC are afraid to engage in conflict or explore different ideas, worrying that even productive conflict signals that one is "not a team player." Conversely, teachers may feel pressured to get work done and feel they don't have time to spend in conflict.

But productive conflict can allow us to build better ideas and stronger teams, and PLCs should embrace productive conflict and create a space for it in order to innovate. PLCs can make this happen with clear norms as well as protocols to ensure that all voices are heard and that it is safe to engage in this conflict. It's also helpful to make sure the projected outcome of a meeting is clear: Are we "generating ideas" or "making a decision"? This clarity can make space for open conversation.

PLCs need strong facilitators in order to engage in conversations that promote learning, risk taking, and innovation. However, the facilitators or leaders of those teams may be torn between advocating for ideas and managing the complex process of moving the team forward. This can lead to situations where team members have a facilitator who is strongly advocating for an idea rather than allowing for all voices to be heard, and team members may not feel safe to speak up or take risks. If facilitators need to advocate, they should select someone else to facilitate, in order to continue to balance advocacy for new ideas against team consensus and integration.

I recommend clear decision-making process like the Gradients of Agreement structure, which allows for decision making that honors the Groan Zone and divergent thinking while still moving toward convergent thinking and consensus decision-making.

PLCs are the lifeblood of innovation and risk taking in school. When structured well, they can be teams that constantly learn together and work to discover what is best for students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If managed well, these teams can help teachers innovate in the classroom and improve student outcomes.