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Strategies to become more emotional intelligent | Daniel Goleman | WOBI

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Being a great leader is all about having a genuine willingness and a true commitment to lead others to achieve a common vision and goals through positive influence. No leader can ever achieve anything great or long-lasting all alone. Teamwork goes hand in hand with leadership. Leadership is about people-and for people.

John C. Maxwell is widely considered to be one of the world's top leadership thinkers. I have compiled 44 of the best quotations from his books to inspire you to be a great leader, too.

1. "A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position." John C. Maxwell

2. "Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another." John C. Maxwell

3. "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." John C. Maxwell

4. "Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them." John C. Maxwell

5. "A leader who produces other leaders multiplies their influences." John C. Maxwell

6. "A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others. John C. Maxwell

7. "Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow." John C. Maxwell

8. "When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment." John C. Maxwell

9. "The leader's Attitude is like a thermostat for the place she works. If her attitude is good, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the environment is easy to work in. But if her attitude is bad, the temperature is insufferable." John C. Maxwell

10. "If you wouldn't follow yourself, why should anyone else?" John C. Maxwell

11. "Great leaders always seem to embody two seemingly disparate qualities. They are both highly visionary and highly practical." John C. Maxwell

12. "The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be." John C. Maxwell

13. "If you can't influence people, then they will not follow you. And if people won't follow, you are not a leader. That's the Law of Influence." John C. Maxwell

14. "Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. Leaders who are good navigators are capable of taking their people just about anywhere." John C. Maxwell

15. "If you are a leader, the true measure of your success is not getting people to work. It's not getting people to work hard. It is getting people to work hard together. That takes commitment." John C. Maxwell

16. "If you want to be a leader, the good news is that you can do it. Everyone has the potential, but it isn't accomplished overnight. It requires perseverance." John C. Maxwell

17. "If you really want to be an uncommon leader, you're going to have to find a way to get much of your vision seen, implemented, and added to by others." John C. Maxwell

18. "Managers work with processes-leaders work with people." John C. Maxwell

19. "Everything rises and falls on leadership." John C. Maxwell

20. "Good leaders know when to display emotions and when to delay them." John C. Maxwell

21. "Do you know the difference between leaders, followers, and losers? Leaders stretch with challenges. Followers struggle with challenges. Losers shrink from challenges." John C. Maxwell

22. "Most good leaders want the perspective of people they trust." John C. Maxwell

23. "To lead any way other than by example, we send a fuzzy picture of leadership to others. If we work on improving ourselves first and make that our primary mission, then others are more likely to follow." John C. Maxwell

24. "All true leaders have learned to say no to the good in order to say yes to the best." John C. Maxwell

25. "The best leaders are humble enough to realize their victories depend upon their people." John C. Maxwell

26. "Leaders see everything with a leadership bias. Their focus is on mobilizing people and leveraging resources to achieve their goals rather than on using their own individual efforts. Leaders who want to succeed maximize every asset and resource they have for the benefit of their organization. For that reason, they are continually aware of what they have at their disposal." John C. Maxwell

27. "It's not the position that makes the leader; it's the leader that makes the position." John C. Maxwell

28. "When leaders fail to empower others, it is usually due to three main reasons: 1. Desire for Job Security 2. Resistance to Change 3. Lack of Self-Worth." John C. Maxwell

29. "When people respect you as a person, they admire you. When they respect you as a friend, they love you. When they respect you as a leader, they follow you." John C. Maxwell

30. "Leadership has less to do with position than it does disposition." John C. Maxwell

31. "If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, no matter how much or how little natural leadership talent you possess, you need to become a serving leader." John C. Maxwell

32. "Success for the leader is a single victory. However, when the protg experiences success, it becomes a double win." John C. Maxwell

33. "The challenge of leadership is to create change and facilitate growth." John C. Maxwell

34. "The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve him but the number of people he serves." John C. Maxwell

35. "The rewards leaders give are counterbalanced by the results that their people give in return." John C. Maxwell

36. "The bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others." John C. Maxwell

37. "A leader with confidence is a leader who brings out positive changes in people." John C. Maxwell

38. "As a leader, you will never get ahead until your people are behind you." John C. Maxwell

39. "Leaders who are effective are leaders who are disciplined in their daily lives." John C. Maxwell

40. "There are five nonnegotiable characteristics that every effective leader must have: a sense of calling, an ability to communicate, creativity in problem solving, generosity, and consistency." John C. Maxwell

41. "A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others." John C. Maxwell

42. "The respect that leadership must have requires that one's ethics be without question. A leader not only stays above the line between right and wrong, he stays well clear of the 'gray areas.'" John C. Maxwell

43. "Your ultimate goal as a leader should be to work hard enough and strategically enough that you have more than enough to give and share with others." John C. Maxwell

44. "As a leader, you don't earn any points for failing in a noble cause. You don't get credit for being 'right' as you bring the organization to a halt. Your success is measured by your ability to actually take the people where they need to go. But you can do that only if the people first buy into you as a leader. That's the reality of the Law of Buy-In." John C. Maxwell

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44 Inspiring John C. Maxwell Quotes for Leadership Success

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Being a great leader is all about having a genuine willingness and a true commitment to lead others to achieve a common vision and goals through positive influence. No leader can ever achieve anything great or long-lasting all alone. Teamwork goes hand in hand with leadership. Leadership is about people-and for people.

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Lessons from Wakanda

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thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

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Leadership Lessons from the Black Panther

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Chadwick Boseman, in the role of T'Challa, King of Wakanda, is also the Black Panther. All three of his personas - the actor, the king, and the hero - can teach us valuable lessons about leadership. Whether it's humility, empathy, courage, or strength, every leader can learn a thing or two from the movie.

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I smelled smoke. With no hesitation, I pulled the nearest fire alarm. The fact that the windchill factor was 15 degrees below zero barely crossed my mind as 450 kids, directed by baffled teachers, streamed into the freezing winter cold.

The decision to yank that alarm was easy-emergencies demand action, and it was I who smelled the smoke. I did not need to ask advice, create a committee, or ask for consensus. But this occasion was an exception to the rule; these days, principals make very few decisions as lone rangers. Teachers have become decision makers too, and principals would be wise to involve them in every way possible in resolving the issues they face daily.

Support for granting teachers this power has been a long time coming. After all, hasn't it always been the responsibility of principals to make decisions? Haven't teachers been primarily responsible for cooperating and acting as "good team players"? We principals-sometimes in not-so-subtle ways-have tended to reward the good soldiers who support us and punish those who resist our ideas. And many teachers have felt comfortable in this role-after all, if a decision didn't work, they didn't have to worry because it wasn't their idea in the first place!

But now we're starting to operate according to the principle of subsidiarity -the idea that decisions are best made as close as possible to the point of implementation. Of course, to make such a concept work, we must ensure that it connects to the reality of the schoolhouse-which means that having systems in place is essential.

To share the decision-making process in this way, some schools create multiple committees of teachers who meet to wrestle with school issues. For example, at Valley High Elementary, any faculty concerns about communication generally go to the communication committee. This group ensures that teachers who attend conferences summarize their learning for colleagues; grapples with such concerns as creating a new parent conference system; and plans celebrations to mark such milestones as improvements in test scores.

The school's crisis team, which includes teachers, custodians, secretaries, the school nurse, and the principal, convenes monthly to simulate and respond to crisis situations. This group was tested recently when it learned a gunman was loose in the neighborhood. Team members locked down the building and met immediately, making quick decisions and promptly initiating a system of communication with both parents and teachers. The group's practice sessions had paid off.

Other committees include the safety committee, which meets with parents, crossing guards, bus drivers, and paraprofessionals and keeps an eye on school security and student safety; the budget committee, which approves staff development costs and monitors all expenditures; the parent advisory board, which reviews the progress of the school, offers advice, and on occasion challenges school leaders with difficult questions; and the staff development team, which recommends conferences and seminars that align with school improvement goals. All of these committees are valuable and necessary.

Some pitfalls do exist. Trusting teachers is tough-tougher than merely mouthing the "empowerment" cliché. It can be downright scary for principals to share power: It demands faith in teachers, an understanding of our own limitations, and a realization that in large part, our sense of "control" is mere fantasy. Taking responsibility for the consequences of our decisions is not easy-we all fear making mistakes-but for school leaders it can be even more difficult to give up that responsibility to others.

We need to keep in mind that it's OK not to be perfect. In my long career as principal of an elementary school, I learned to have confidence in teachers, and I strove to support their decisions. As principals, we must encourage risk taking and ensure we have a safety net for those times when committees don't make the best decisions. And these not-so-good decisions-in addition to the best ones-are, at least, learning experiences. When we work according to this philosophy, the idea of the "learning organization" becomes more than education jargon: It means we work together to plan, carry out, and assess the success of our decisions. And as a result, the next round of conversations and planning may be more enlightened.

Different decisions require different kinds of input and action. Some require individual action: The anguish I felt when dismissing a teacher was mine alone. And many cases demand immediate action. As a principal, I made individual, spontaneous decisions on discipline, parent, and personnel issues-and, of course, fire alarms. We need not call for consensus on indoor recess when it is pouring rain.

Other times, I needed a bit of advice. Hiring staff, although ultimately my decision, occurred only after teachers had interviewed, discussed, and recommended candidates. I often asked my secretary to listen to ideas and give me feedback. My PTA president edited my newsletters to save me from "edubabble." Our special education teacher acted as the informal staff ombudsman. When something was amiss, she came into my office, looked me straight in the eye, and gave me honest feedback.

Like democracy, such a system of decision making is not always efficient. Learning which decisions are "mine," which are "ours," and which are "theirs" is a process of trial and error. But by gathering the collective wisdom of staff members, this system ends up being more effective. After all, we entrust teachers each and every day with our kids-our most cherished responsibilities. We must also trust teachers to make the organizational decisions that affect their own lives and the lives of students.

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The Principal Connection / Sharing the Decisions - ASCD

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I smelled smoke. With no hesitation, I pulled the nearest fire alarm. The fact that the windchill factor was 15 degrees below zero barely crossed my mind as 450 kids, directed by baffled teachers, streamed into the freezing winter cold. The decision to yank that alarm was easy-emergencies demand action, and it was I who smelled the smoke.

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Online June 2014 | Volume 71
Making a Difference Pages 10-15

Naomi Thiers

Many young people are the first in their families to have an opportunity to get a college education. It's very powerful for a teacher to be open with a young person and say, "I made mistakes. I lived a tough life, but look where I am now. You can grow up and become even more than I am." Just living your life in such a way that students understand when you say, "You can be me because I was once you."
You grew up in tough circumstances. What did teachers say or do for you that helped you believe you could achieve whatever you wanted to?
It might have been more about what teachers didn't say to me. I don't remember many teachers allowing me to believe that I was gifted or that I had reached my potential. We're learning so much now about the growth mind-set and fixed mind-set, but 40 years ago, teachers I had in elementary, middle, and high school knew that if young people didn't understand that failure was part of becoming successful, they would become complacent.

I would often complain to my mother, "These teachers, they just push me, like I can never make them happy." Now I understand what it was: They wanted me to avoid that fixed mind-set.

Powerful educators like Marsha Pincus-my high school English teacher-and others taught me that I could make a difference. Marsha Pincus taught me to love Shakespeare and Chaucer. When she went out on maternity leave, the substitute was trying to teach a lesson on literature, and the students were giving the sub a tough time. So I said, "Can I help teach the lesson?" I loved literature so much that I wanted the teacher to get through this lesson.

I wrote Marsha Pincus a letter from college and told her that I'd enrolled in an advanced literature course. None of my friends wanted to take this course, but I was thinking Ms. Pincus would be upset with me if I didn't take it. She told me later that she kept that letter because up until that point, she never thought she was a good teacher. She was a young white teacher in a high school in a tough neighborhood who didn't really know if she was making a difference.

I'm the only one of my mother's eight children to graduate from college. Teachers would ask me why some of my older brothers and sisters weren't as successful in school. They'd say, "You have the ability to go on and do things in life and come back and make sure other families don't end up in the same situation."

I didn't realize it, but that was a call to become a teacher. My goal was to become a sportscaster, but getting that call to become a teacher was the most important moment in my life. Even in college, when I talked about wanting to be an attorney, a professor showed me data on the number of lawyers in the country. He said, "I want you to make a difference; think about becoming a teacher."

After I graduated from college, I was working for a sports cable channel. I went to a school to talk to students at career day, and they said to me," If you can come in and motivate us, how come you aren't a teacher?" Those young people were teaching me that I had become the kind of person that I complained about-someone who made it out of the community, was successful, but didn't come back to do anything to help change the community.

So I quit my TV job and got a certificate to teach. I spent the next 10 years working in a middle school in a very tough neighborhood. We lost almost 20 kids under the age of 18 to murder, many of them from our school. I said to myself, I've got to find a way to teach children that although they can choose the behavior, they cannot choose the consequences. That's why I started teaching students to play chess.
What skills do students get from learning chess? Is chess particularly helpful for kids from poor, urban neighborhoods?
Students who play chess are critical thinkers, problem solvers. It teaches you to think two, three, four moves ahead. Chess gives students the ability to make great decisions at crucial moments. A child who lives in a tough neighborhood has to make life-changing decisions every day in terms of what they do. They must always be aware of the friends they associate with or what streets to walk down at night, for example.

Learning chess can also give students intellectual capital. The students I taught to play chess started beating me, started beating the other teachers, and then all the kids wanted to play chess. They learned that smart is not something you are; it's something you can become.

Chess is very mathematical. In my first teaching job, with middle school students, I started using chess to teach mathematics. Now I have 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders writing their chess moves in algebraic notation. Those children are very good thinkers. If we want to be innovative, we need to make sure there's a chess program in every school in the world.
You've said discipline was the most important thing you taught. How can we provide discipline that makes a difference?
Discipline is a form of love. There are ways to discipline children with dignity that enable them to still feel good about themselves, to continue to be proud of their accomplishments, but also to understand that they've made a mistake and need to take responsibility.

Some students are not accustomed to discipline, so when you discipline them, they feel that's not the norm. Their reactions can be violent or disrespectful. But that's the only thing they know; their reaction is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. We have to be careful about how we deliver discipline because they may not be ready for it.

Once I had a student in my office with his mother. He was giving teachers problems, didn't want to do homework and those kinds of things. Clearly, he didn't show much respect in the way he was treating his mom, the way he was talking to her. I asked his mother if I could talk to the young man by himself.

I talked to him about my own life growing up with a single mom and how sometimes we can forget how lucky we are to have people in our lives. We get upset about the people who are not there. I could see this boy was upset that his father wasn't there for him-and later he confirmed that. I told him, "Think about the people who are there for you."

This was a kid who would play basketball with me and other teachers in the evening. If we had events on the weekend, we would invite him and help him get there. So I said, "I don't think it's fair that you treat your mom in that way and then we take you to these events and give you special treatment. Your parent is very important."

He was homeless, so I had to be very careful and loving about the way I presented it to him. But I knew this was going to be one of my only shots to send a message to this young man, because if it's his mom today, would it be his college professor soon, or someone who says, "Hey, you're going to lose your scholarship"? I didn't want him to become an adult-a professional-and then lose whatever he had because of the way he treated people.

And the young man responded to the call to be a better person. He became more respectful in school and at home. His mother saw tremendous change, even in the way he helped out with the family, being the oldest. He sort of became the father who wasn't there.

Many young people are being raised in an environment where there isn't structure. Students want structure, they want guidance, and they want you to be firm with them. They just don't know how to reach out for it. And they don't want the other young people to know they enjoy structure. Students never complain to me about the fact that there's too much structure in a class, but they'll come and say, "Oh, Principal, that class is out of control."
You're called a "turnaround principal" at Thomas Edison Charter School. What can a principal do to make a difference in a troubled school?
If you want to move a school in a different direction, first you have to change the culture of the school. And to change the culture, you have to be willing to accept the role as the prime facilitator of school culture. That means the relationships that you want teachers to develop with students need to be reflected in the relationships you develop with teachers. Treat those teachers with respect. Give them a leadership role in the school.

Second, the principal has to be passionate about his or her work and be able to ignite the building with excitement around education. And to make school fun. Two things you want students to experience every day in school are rigor and joy.

Third, administrators have to be excellent models of leadership. That's why I cover classes. When my math teacher went to Kuwait for two weeks, I taught the class. Those students could see that I valued their learning so much that I would spend time with them every day until that teacher returned.

Principals have to be smart enough to know that the people who are in the school are the exact people you need to get the job done. You don't need to go outside and look for experts; most schools have right within the building the people they need. When I go into a school to turn it around, I don't get rid of everybody because we have to respect the history in the school. We have to respect the legacy.

My mother taught me that arrogance is the Achilles heel of the school leader. She told me, if you want to be a successful principal, make sure you listen to the old ladies in the building, those teachers who've been there for principal after principal. They're teaching the children of the children they taught, and they know what it takes for schools to be successful. That has worked for me for 15 years!

It's important for students to be in a school where teachers are resilient. We often talk about resilient students, but we also need resilient teachers who are able to overcome obstacles early in their careers because many of their students will depend on them to be there for them, some of them for a lifetime.

I had a teacher in my office crying today because she got a phone call from a tough parent. I was trying to get the teacher to understand that the parent's frustration was about not finding successful ways to help her own child. But many times parents communicate that in a way that blames the teacher. Once the teacher understood where the parent's defensiveness was coming from, she could see it wasn't really about her ability as a teacher. It was about needing to find a way to help the parent as well.
You've sometimes given students material help. For instance, when a student's house burned down, you collected money so her family could stay in a hotel. What is the school's role when students face material deprivation?
The school belongs to the community. So whenever there's a family in need-whether there's a fire in the home or the family is homeless-the school has some responsibility. I'm very careful to say some responsibility because I don't want schools to think it's their job to take care of families. And I don't want families to believe it's the school's responsibility to do that; I don't want parents to move away from caring for their children. I've seen examples where the school offered so much support that we began to see family caregivers back away. We want to support families to support their children. But I believe we have a responsibility as citizens, as educators, to make sure that students' basic needs are met so they can come to school and be successful.

That young lady whose family I helped when their house burned down still contacts me today. She's graduated from college, she's a professional, and we have a bond because at a crucial point in her family's life, I took any resources I could find to help her family.

We must make sure that we're helping to develop the whole child. Academically things may be great, but what's going on outside school? What are your needs, and how can we connect you to services to help you become better equipped to succeed?
Students in difficult circumstances sometimes won't ask for help, or will even resist it. How can teachers reach out if a student seems resistant?
Many young people are very guarded about their emotions. They don't let you in right away. Many of them opened up to adults when they were younger, and the adults either took advantage of them emotionally or physically or just weren't there. So many young people have adults that come in and out of their lives that the teacher is the only person who's caring and offering healthy love-notice I said healthy love-consistently.

I tell teachers that persistence overcomes resistance. They'll complain that they're having a hard time getting to know a kid. I'll say, keep trying the key; one day you'll have the right key. Don't give up. I often suggest that teachers go to the neighborhood playground or the Laundromat-go to where those students are comfortable in their own communities. If it's not safe for them to go alone, I'll go with them. Students will often say, "Man, last night Principal Thomas-EL did a drive-by!"

As we keep persisting, there's a reverse influence in which students influence us in a very powerful way. They teach us to have humility; they teach us to really teach with care and passion and love because they choose to be with us. They make the choice to be under our influence.
What's the most important thing a teacher can do to convince a child, "I believe in you."
That's the crucial question every teacher will have to address at some point. The first thing a teacher must do is develop a relationship with that child so he or she understands that you will be there for him-no matter what, you'll be there tomorrow. That's why teacher retention is so important. Successful schools have teachers who are there every year, principals who are there every year. That doesn't mean 35 or 40 years, but you need to be there more than a year or two for young people to know that you will be part of their lives.

Make sure the student you're trying to reach has meaningful participation in school. Students need to feel they matter in the classroom. You can't allow a kid to hide. Even if you think he's going to answer the question wrong, still ask the question because struggling is learning.

Teachers need to share with students about their own lives. Many young people have this belief that teachers are born on some other planet, that we came down on a spaceship and never had to deal with any struggles. Children need to know that we're human beings and we have feelings. When they look at us, they should see themselves.

I have white teachers who will say, "How do I get a black kid or a Latino kid to understand that although I may not look like them, I'm here for them?" I say, "The only thing you need to do is tell that student, 'I will be here tomorrow-and although I may look different, my heart is the same and my heart is here to teach you.'"

Finally, it's more important for students to respect you than to like you. We all want students to like us, but students can like you and not do the work you assign. You want students to like being in your presence, but you should never sacrifice respect. It's difficult to teach anyone anything if they don't respect you or don't love you. I tell my teachers to adopt the philosophy that they love their students before they ever meet them. When you care about someone, you can teach them anything.

Salome Thomas-EL is principal of Thomas Edison Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware. Naomi Thiers is an associate editor at Educational Leadership.

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Making a Difference Every Day: A Conversation with Salome Thomas-EL

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Online June 2014 | Volume 71 Making a Difference Pages 10-15 Naomi Thiers Many young people are the first in their families to have an opportunity to get a college education. It's very powerful for a teacher to be open with a young person and say, "I made mistakes.

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Please [contact us](https://www.ted.com/contact) and let us know what happened.

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There are of ways to make sure your classroom is running as effectively as possible-from setting rules to establishing relationships with students. But if you're new to teaching-or could use a fresh start in your classroom-where do you start?

In your studies, you'll no doubt hear the name Robert Marzano. A leading educational researcher and authored or co-author of more than 40 books and 150 articles, Marzano has provided a model for teaching effectiveness that many educators refer to during their practice. His Marzano Research website outlines his strategies and gives teachers and administrators tools to help teachers become more effective. He also created an evaluation tool to measure the success of highly effective teachers.

Below, you'll find an overview of his teachings and how you can employ his strategies.

Ensuring success with Marzano's strategy

According to his research data, good, effective teachers:

Provide feedback.

Help students interact with new knowledge.

Provide students with simulations and low-stakes competition.

Engage with students, allowing them to talk about themselves and noticing when they aren't engaged.

Establish and maintain classroom rules.

Maintain relationships with students.

Communicate high expectations.

To elaborate: Marzano believes that teachers who set goals and check for understanding will be effective. Teachers should also give positive feedback for student progress. If students don't understand, a teacher should need to go back and re-teach certain concepts. He also suggests that teachers should help students interact with new information by chunking smaller sections and then checking for understanding, using media, making predictions, and responding in writing. The more engagement and ownership of the learning, the more students will retain.

Include simulation and games

Marzano teacher effectiveness also includes the use of games and simulations to encourage student interest. He believes students should be physically active, encounter friendly controversy, and relate content to their own lives. Establishing rules and procedures at the beginning of the year will create a classroom atmosphere that fosters learning, and of course, creating effective and appropriate relationships with students are also key to teacher effectiveness.

Communicating high expectations in this arena is another aspect of Marzano teacher effectiveness. Encouraging all students to participate in the simulation and games will help ensure everyone in the classroom is learning. And again, the more you can connect a lesson to real-world situations, the more effective the lesson will be. Teachers, he says, should also be aware of their own bias. First, identify students of whom you have low expectations. Next, identify those students with similarities. Third, identify different treatment for low-expectation students and finally, make a conscious decision to treat all students the same.

Classroom strategies and behaviors

One of Marzano's most important domains for teacher improvement is classroom strategies and behavior. Marzano believes that teachers need to choose areas of improvement throughout the year and administrators should be responsible for providing opportunities to observe effective strategies of other teachers. Administrators should then provide feedback and dialogue to teachers about how they can become more successful.

Marzano also includes several instructional strategies, including:

Identifying similarities and differences.

Summarizing and note taking.

Reinforcing effort and providing recognition.

Homework and practice.

Nonlinguistic representations.

Cooperative learning.

Setting objectives and providing feedback.

Generating and testing hypotheses.

Cues, questions and advance organizers.

Needless to say, both teachers and administrators can benefit from Marzano teaching strategies. You all have the same goal-to give your students the tools they need to be successful in the classroom and beyond.

Looking for other strategies to implement in your classroom? Other strategies of Marzano teacher effectiveness can be found in the book Effective Supervision: Supporting the Art and Science of Teaching

Learn More: Click to view related resources. Tags: Assessment Tools, Leadership and Administration

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Overview of Marzano's Model of Teaching Effectiveness

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There are of ways to make sure your classroom is running as effectively as possible-from setting rules to establishing relationships with students. But if you're new to teaching-or could use a fresh start in your classroom-where do you start? In your studies, you'll no doubt hear the name Robert Marzano.

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March 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 6
Getting Personalization Right Pages 28-33

Larry Ferlazzo

Researchers have identified four key elements that help develop this kind of student engagement (Ryan & Deci, 2000):

Autonomy is the amount of power students have to determine what they're doing and how they're doing it. Typically, the more autonomy students have, the higher their level of intrinsic motivation.

Competence, or self-efficacy, occurs when a student has the necessary skills to complete the assigned task successfully. "Growth mindset" notwithstanding, our students are not endowed with magical powers they can substitute for an adequate skill set. They won't be energized by banging their heads against a wall if they have no hope of breaking through.

Relatedness is created when students' actions result in developing closer relationships with those whom they like and/or respect. In the classroom context, this is often about achieving high-quality relationships with teachers, as well as connecting with their classmates.

Relevance means that students perceive the things we ask them to do as being in their own self-interest. Do the learning activities relate to topics that students are genuinely curious about? Do students believe that accomplishing the task or reaching the learning target will help them achieve a short-term or long-term goal?

Of course, in the real world, every lesson may not have a high concentration of all four of these elements. But speaking as a classroom teacher, I don't believe it's too much to expect that most of our lessons will have some degree of all of them.

When autonomy, self-efficacy, relatedness, and relevance are combined, they have a cumulative, synergistic effect. Students feel that they have (and in fact they do have) more power to proactively determine their life paths. This sense of agency, in turn, increases the likelihood that they will be able to transfer what they learn to other contexts-and will feel that at least some of the work they do in school matters outside the school walls.

As we strive to create personalized-learning environments for our students, it's essential that we keep these four elements of intrinsic motivation in mind. There are many ways in which we can capitalize on technology to weave engagement into our students' day-and there are also plenty of effective non-tech strategies. Let me describe a few strategies that I've found effective. Although I've applied these strategies with English language learners (ELLs), they can be equally useful for other students.

How to Promote Autonomy

Researchers have found that providing different kinds of choice in personalized learning encourages autonomy (Goodwin, 2010). Stefanou, Perencench, DeCinto, & Turner (2004) identify three kinds of choice: organizational (for example, giving students a role in creating class rules or establishing due dates for assignments); procedural (for example, giving students a choice of media to present their ideas or of topics to study); and cognitive (encouraging student ownership of learning by asking them to justify or argue for their point, generate their own solutions, evaluate their own or others' ideas, and so on).

Non-tech example: I've experienced firsthand how even simple procedural choice can turn student motivation around. In one class, I asked students to write a persuasive essay arguing which natural disaster we had studied would be the worst to experience. Most students quickly got busy making their case-but not John, who had his head down on his desk. He had not done much work that semester, and he told me he wasn't going to do this assignment either.

From previous conversations, I knew John was an avid football fan. So I suggested, "How about writing an essay trying to convince me which is the best team in the NFL?"

"I could do that?" he responded in amazement. I told him yes, provided he used the graphic organizer the rest of the class was using, which highlighted the important elements of a persuasive essay.

He worked intently for the remainder of the period. As he turned in his essay, he asked, "Can I write one on the best basketball team to make up for some of the work I missed?" "Of course," I answered. Coincidentally, the next week there was a teachers' meeting with his mother. She had tears in her eyes as she held up John's essay with the A it had earned. She told us it was the first essay John had ever completed.

Tech example: Every Monday, ELLs in my Beginners English class complete a form on which they can identify anything they want to learn during their allotted computer time, as long as it promotes their language development. Students might write, "Learn eight irregular verbs and how to use them," "Learn more about the history of Mexico-in English," "Earn 600 points in Duolingo," "Learn 20 words related to food," and so on. At the same time, they choose how their learning will be assessed on Friday-by taking a test, giving a class presentation, creating a poster, composing and performing a short play, or another idea they have. For the most part, students research their topics using the wide variety of resources posted on our class blog, but they are free to explore the Internet and choose other resources. According to some researchers, this kind of cognitive choice (in which students have wide latitude in determining both what they learn and how they're assessed) can promote the highest levels of self-motivation (Stefanou et al., 2004).

How to Promote Competence

We feel competent when we know we have the skills necessary to successfully accomplish a task. Competent learners have developed the ability to accurately assess their current capabilities and the belief that they can expand them through work and study.

Non-tech example: One approach that I've found particularly effective in helping students feel they can be successful is to develop their metacognitive strategies. Having students establish individual learning goals and then identify which learning strategies work best for them are just two ways teachers can connect personalized learning to metacognition.

For example, like most literacy teachers, I teach such reading strategies as summarization, asking questions, and seeking patterns. I also provide questions designed to promote reading comprehension and sentence stems to help students develop their responses. After my students become familiar with the wide variety of strategies available, I ask each student to choose and apply the specific strategies and questions he or she thinks will be most helpful as we're reading a text. As a result, both the level of engagement and, I believe, the overall caliber of thinking and writing have improved.

I regularly ask students to complete anonymous surveys. Because transfer of learning (applying a concept you learn in one place to a new environment) is so important in education, I often ask what, if anything, they learned in my class that they apply elsewhere. Since I began giving students more choice about what reading strategies they use in my classroom, the percentage of students who reply that they are using these strategies elsewhere has increased dramatically.

Tech example: Online tools can help students reinforce their sense of competence by promoting risk-taking. Making mistakes in grammar, articulating new knowledge, or experimenting with pronunciation feels less scary when we know that our missteps will remain a secret between us and our computer.

My student Chang was a newcomer from China whose English was progressing rapidly in reading, writing, and listening. He was shy, though, and was almost completely unwilling to speak in English. I introduced him to the website English Central, which shows engaging closed-captioned videos, asks users to repeat the audio, and then automatically assesses their pronunciation. Within weeks after he began regularly practicing both at school and at home, Chang's confidence and the quantity and quality of his English speaking had increased so much that, on occasion, I joked that I regretted showing him the site!

In fact, immediate feedback from a computer program can serve as a limited form of coaching-a crucial component of deliberate practice that supports mastery. There are plenty of free online tools that we can draw on to create a "choice menu" for students, giving them personal learning options for just about any subject imaginable (See "Online Tools for Personalized Learning: For ELLs and Others" on p. 33).

I'd offer one major caution about using technology to personalize learning and promote competence. Effective practice requires feedback and coaching. Such support might be adequately provided by a combination of feedback from the computer program and regular conversations between a student and teacher. But it also requires constant reflection by the learner on what he or she is doing right, could be doing better, and must do to improve enough to reach the next level.

Online tools seldom provide this reflective space, so we need to consider how we can make students' work on the computer more comparable to deliberate practice. With my Beginning English students, I provide a simple form that they can use, in combination with our one-on-one conversations, for goal-setting and reflection on their work online. It contains three questions:

(Before you log in) Today, I want to ___.

(At the end of class) Did I achieve my goal? (yes or no)

(At the end of class) These things helped me learn today, or didn't help me learn today: ___.

For example, after using the reflection form and thinking about additional questions we had discussed in class, Rodrigo realized that although he had enjoyed using a site filled with English-language-learning games the most, he had learned more when he used an independent reading tool that provided audio and visual support to help the learner access more complex text. His realization didn't mean that he never played the language games again, but he began spending more time-at home and at school-on the reading site to reach his goal of English proficiency.

How to Promote Relatedness

In the context of intrinsic motivation, relatedness is about human connections. How can personalized learning help students feel more connected with others and feel cared about by people whom they respect?

Non-tech example: To enhance teacher-student relationships, I often take 15 minutes during my free period to walk, listen, and talk with individual students about their goals and interests. Many independent student projects, purchases of specific high-interest books, and important referrals to our counselor have come out of these conversations.

To enhance student-to-student relationships, we have a peer-mentoring system that's especially effective for our 9th graders. Older trained student mentors meet weekly with their mentees to build relationships, discover problems (both at school and at home), and offer advice. The mentors regularly strategize with teachers on how they can be most helpful.

Tech example: I discovered one way of using technology to develop relatedness entirely by accident. Although our school is committed to welcoming newcomers, and we have many classes specifically geared to them, there is often one class period each day when it's difficult to place these beginning English students in a regular learning environment until their English improves at least slightly.

During that class period, they're often temporarily placed in an independent study skills class in my room, working on computers while I'm teaching a different class. There aren't enough computers in this space, so the new students use an extension for their headphones to share the devices. At first I thought they would find this frustrating, but in practice, I see them constantly pointing at the screen and discussing the learning exercises they are using.

I haven't subjected these impromptu learning sessions to rigorous scientific study, but initial assessment results suggest that students who share the computers improve more rapidly than those who use individual computers. In fact, even though we've increased the number of computers in my classroom, some students insist on sharing because, as one student told me, "We learn better by helping each other."

How to Promote Relevance

Relevance occurs when students view school work as interesting and useful for improving their present lives or achieving their hopes and dreams.

Non-tech example: One lesson I often use in many of my classes has a particular tie-in to personalized learning. Students interview family members and acquaintances, neighbors and classmates, to identify issues of community concern. Through these conversations and classroom discussions about what they learned in their interviews, students determine a priority issue that they can take action on themselves.

Over the years, classes have organized job training fairs, mounted public outreach campaigns during the SARS epidemic, and helped educate cautious community members about the U.S. census and the need for people to answer the census questionnaires-just to name a few projects. Through such projects, students can gain a broader understanding of what "personalized learning" means. They realize that many of their personal interests and needs affect other people and that they often need to work with others to achieve positive results.

Tech example: All of the tech "personalized learning" activities described for autonomy, competence and relatedness can also support relevance to student interests and goals. Using the resources shown in "Online Tools for Personalized Learning: For ELLs and Others" and similar resources, I'm easily able to make learning English more personally relevant to each of my ELLs. Whether a student is interested in the construction, medical, or cosmetology fields, or loves to play soccer or basketball, or wants to study for a driver's test, within minutes I can copy and paste accessible links to pages designed to teach English that contain content about those topics.

Which Kind of Experience?

A veteran educator once told me that a key question we teachers need to consider is which kind of experience we want to create for our students: a prepackaged, antiseptic tour, or an adventure-filled journey where they often take the path less traveled and can't wait to see what they'll find around the next bend.

A similar question faces advocates of personalized learning. Will students be presented with a confining list of options based on what a computer program determines they should be interested in and capable of doing? Or can we view personalized learning more broadly to include both tech and non-tech strategies that facilitate student agency and expand the universe of learning possibilities?

There are no magic bullets in education-or just about anywhere else. But if we keep in mind the four key elements required for developing intrinsic motivation-autonomy, competence, relatedness, and relevance-we might be surprised at how much personalized-learning magic can actually happen in our real-world classrooms.

Duolingo is probably the most popular language-learning online tool today. Many languages are available. (Free.)

USA Learns is an internationally used site for learning English. It is sponsored by the Sacramento County Office of Education. (Free.)

English Central lets users see videos, re-record the audio, and then assesses the accuracy of their pronunciation. (Many resources are free, although premium content is also available.)

Raz-Kids provides "talking books" at multiple levels that speak the text at the same time the words are highlighted. There's a wide range of fiction and expository text. ($90 annually for one classroom of students.)

ReadWorks has multiple texts with online assessments. (Free.)

Newsela provides several "levels" of the same newspaper articles, along with some online interactives. (Content is free, although there is a cost for creating a virtual classroom.)

Tween Tribune is from the Smithsonian and also offers several levels of the same newspaper article, along with quizzes. (Free.)

CommonLit provides thematic reading collections with writing prompts. The site is planning to expand substantially over the next year. (Free.)

iCivics provides many social studies-related games and online activities, including ones targeting primary sources. (Free.)

ScootPad has many online lessons on multiple subjects. (Free, but offers many additional premium features with a cost.)

References

Goodwin, B. (2010). Research says: Choice is a matter of degree. Educational Leadership, 68(1), 80-81.

Russell, B. (1975/2009). Censorship by progressives, October 11, 1934. In Mortals and others: American essays, 1931-1935 (pp. 317-318). London/New York: George Allen & Unwin/Routledge.

Ryan, R., L., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54-67.

Stefanou, C. R., Perencench, K. C., DeCinto, M., & Turner, J. C. (2004) Supporting autonomy in the classroom: Ways teachers can encourage student decision making and ownership. Educational Psychology, 39(2), 97-110.

Larry Ferlazzo teaches English, social studies, and International Baccalaureate classes at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California. His books include Building a Community of Self-Motivated Learners (Routledge, 2015) and Helping Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers to Classroom Challenges (Routledge, 2015). He writes columns for both The New York Times and Education Week. Follow him on Twitter.

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Student Engagement: Key to Personalized Learning

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March 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 6 Getting Personalization Right Pages 28-33 Larry Ferlazzo Researchers have identified four key elements that help develop this kind of student engagement (Ryan & Deci, 2000): Autonomy is the amount of power students have to determine what they're doing and how they're doing it.

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May 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 8
Lifting School Leaders Pages 10-14

Baruti K. Kafele

For the past year, I have been conducting a workshop with school leaders called "Is my school a better school because I lead it?" I typically have my audiences reflect on this question and prompt them to point to evidence that supports their contentions. Then I ask whether they feel their staff would have similar perceptions. I often have to force myself to leave this question at some point during the workshop because it alone can generate enough reaction and lively discussion to fill up an entire day.

That being said, it's a very difficult question to answer, and school leaders are initially hesitant to address it publicly. There's a vulnerability with this question. It takes courage and honesty to answer-both for leaders who feel that their school is, in fact, a better place because they lead it and for leaders who feel that their leadership is not the difference maker it should be. After I pose the question, I can tell that participants are engaged in deep reflection; it just takes time for them to open up and reveal their responses.

During a workshop I conducted in the Southeast, a principal shared with the group that he felt strongly his school was better off because of his leadership. He provided solid evidence, such as a dramatic increase in assessment scores and a significant improvement in the school's overall climate and culture. In contrast, at a school in the Midwest, one principal emotionally shared that she needed to do more and didn't feel that her leadership was making the impact it could. She said that the question was helpful because it provided her with a continual prompt for self-reflection.

So, I ask you, is your school a better school because you lead it? Are your students in a better position to succeed because you steer the ship? Will your teachers experience exponential professional growth because you lead them? The answers to these questions are related to your overall leadership effectiveness, including your leadership identity, mission, purpose, and vision. Let's explore each.

Leadership Identity

Think about professionals who wear a uniform for their work-firefighters, pilots, chefs, and athletes, for example. When we see these individuals out of uniform, we generally know nothing about what they do professionally or how effectively they do it. When they put on their uniforms, everything changes. We know what they do, which leads us to have expectations about how well they do their work. We expect the firefighter to extinguish fires, the pilot to fly the plane safely, the chef to prepare excellent food, and the athlete to compete to win. In other words, their uniforms give them a professional identity.

Although you likely don't wear a uniform as a principal, your leadership identity works in a similar way. First and foremost, principals must have a firm grasp of who they are as leaders before they walk into the school building each day. Away from school, you are who you are relative to your home life, family, friends, interests, and hobbies. These assets make up your personal identity. But your personal identity is not necessarily your leadership identity. It may inform your leadership identity to some extent, but it's not who you are as the leader of your school.

As you transition every morning from who you are at home to who you are at work, what exactly are you transforming into as your school's leader? What is your identity? What does your presence mean in the eyes of your students, staff, parents, and the community? When your students and staff see or think of you, what comes to mind? Does your leadership identity affect the climate, culture, and achievement in your school? Is how you see yourself consistent with how others view you?

These questions mattered to me when I led schools over the years. In my capacity as principal, I wore an assortment of hats, but at my core, I was a motivator. I saw inspiring and "firing up" my students and staff as my essence. It was my reputation and what my presence represented. I knew that many of my students came to school each day with challenging realities going on at home. I had to ensure that the day always started with an inspiring and empowering morning message to lay a solid foundation for the day by setting a positive tone. Going back to the central question at hand, I am well aware that my role as a motivator made a significant impact on who we were as a school and the results we achieved.

There is no right answer to these questions about identity. The important thing is that you explore them and gain clarity on your role. At a recent workshop with rural and urban principals, one principal determined that she was a nurturer. Nurturing her students was a priority for her, and she devoted a tremendous amount of energy to playing this role for every student in her elementary school. The principal hoped that every one of her 500 students saw her as a nurturer. She felt strongly that her leadership identity played a significant part in creating a positive, warm school climate and culture.

Leadership Mission

With all that is on your plate, what's the one thing you feel you must absolutely accomplish? What drives you above all else and keeps you up at night? What is your leadership mission?

My mission began as an undergraduate student when the plight of black male grade school students became an area of concern for me. I knew I wanted to influence this specific population, but I wasn't sure how to go about doing so. A couple of years later, I decided I would make that impact as a classroom teacher. I eventually became a 5th grade teacher in a predominately black school and focused on helping my boys make the transition from being young males to young men. I taught them the standards and criteria for earning the distinction of being called men.

Several years later, I became an assistant principal and subsequently a principal. Once again, I focused on the young men in my school. It became my mission to defy the stereotypes of black males from urban communities. I intentionally set out to show our young men that they were scholars in every sense of the word. They were what I was about and what drove me.

Do you have a leadership mission, and does it drive what you say and do? It's imperative that you make your mission clear and specific and that you "walk in it" daily. In a recent conversation, an urban principal in the Midwest told me that his mission was to prove that his inner-city, underserved students of color could achieve at the highest levels. He passionately explained to me that he would not allow poverty to be an excuse for himself, his students, his staff, or his students' parents. He was on a mission to show the world that despite poverty, his students were going to soar high.

Leadership Purpose

If your leadership mission is your "what" (as in, "What is your work about?"), then your leadership purpose is your "why" (as in, "Why do you do it?"). My mission was to improve outcomes for black males. Why did I want to do that? My purpose was to empower these young people. I saw what was happening to so many of them across the United States, including massive underachievement and high suspension, dropout, and incarceration rates. I was determined to be part of the solution. I wanted to present a different reality at my school-and I did because my leadership mission had a purpose behind it.

What is your purpose? Why specifically do you do this work? Why did you make the decision to lead a school? Like your mission, your "why" drives what you say and do daily. I don't have to tell you about the enormous challenges of this work, which can become very frustrating. Your purpose keeps you focused on the mission at hand.

An urban principal from the Northeast recently confessed to me that she had led her school for years devoid of a "why." She hadn't considered a "why" until she heard me speak about it in a workshop and decided to develop her leadership purpose. She explained that more than 75 percent of her students read below grade level by the time they reached 3rd grade. Her mission was to ensure that all of these students ended up reading at grade level. Her work was driven by a purpose: She knew that literacy skills have lifelong implications for her students. The principal told me emphatically that her work was much more than a job-it was her reason for walking into the building every morning. Consequently, data now show that her school is on its way to making her mission a reality.

Leadership Vision

Finally, what is your vision for your leadership and school? As a leader, how will your skills evolve? How will you improve and become more effective as a leader one year from today? What will this improvement look like? Your leadership vision is a crucial component of your overall effectiveness. As an example, my leadership vision was to improve in all aspects of school leadership, but particularly as an instructional leader. I knew that as I grew instructionally, both my staff and students would benefit.

It's equally essential to have a vision for your school. Where will your school be in five years as a result of your direction? Although your school's vision statement is important, that's not what I'm referring to here. I'm talking about your personal vision for your school. To what heights will it rise because you are at the helm? In what way will it distinguish itself from other schools?

The vision of the principal matters because before you can think realistically about what your school can accomplish, you must already have a vision for what it will accomplish. For instance, one principal I'm currently working with has a vision for all of her seniors to be accepted into four-year colleges. When she assumed the leadership of the school three years ago, only 42 percent of seniors were college bound, leading skeptics to call her vision unrealistic. Today, 77 percent of her students are headed to college-in large part because of her vision for the school.

Leading with Confidence

"Is my school a better school because I lead it?" It's my strong belief that to lead your school forward, you must consider this question daily. To answer this question affirmatively, you must be absolutely clear about who you are as the school leader, what your mission is, what purpose drives your work, and how you envision the future of your leadership and school. These characteristics determine who you are, what you're about, why you're about it, and where you are going. They serve as a mirror for why you do this work in the first place. You must lead your school with the confidence to say, "Yes, my school is, in fact, a better school because I lead it." And when you do, students win.

Baruti K. Kafele ( www.principalkafele.com) is an award-winning former urban principal in New Jersey and a current education consultant. He is also the author of several books, including The Teacher 50: Critical Questions for Inspiring Classroom Excellence (ASCD, 2016) and The Principal 50: Critical Leadership Questions for Inspiring Schoolwide Excellence (ASCD, 2015). Follow him on Twitter.

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Is Your School Better Because You Lead It?

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May 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 8 Lifting School Leaders Pages 10-14 Baruti K. Kafele For the past year, I have been conducting a workshop with school leaders called "Is my school a better school because I lead it?" I typically have my audiences reflect on this question and prompt them to point to evidence that supports their contentions.