Support: I’ve presented new information about studies I’ve conducted during department meetings. 

 
Being a leader in my school in community is something that I am constantly working on. I believe teacher leadership requires support from various aspects of the school. Danielson, Zander & Zander, and Lieberman & Miller discuss the need for teacher leadership and how taking initiative and reaching for goals beyond the classroom (to enhance the classroom) not only have a positive effect on student learning, but also a positive effect on school environment and community. In Why Teacher Leadership, and Why Now? Lieberman and Miller (2004) write, “When teachers view their work as taking place both within and beyond their own classroom, they participate in an authentic professional community” (p.11). Lieberman and Miller (2004) further add, “a move from concerns about my students in my classroom to our students in our school” (p.11) show a shift toward great responsibility and accountability. Danielson (2006) echoes this by discussing how administrators play a significant role in teacher leadership. In order for the mindset to shift from “my” to “ours” there needs to be communication and understanding from both administrator and teacher and in doing so, the school community benefits as a whole; teachers are able to maintain some autonomy and exercise leadership, and administrators are able to meet the demands of the district and state by leaving some responsibility to the teachers. Therefore, in my school, I am encouraged by administrations to share new information with my colleagues. I have had various opportunities to do so and have included a short PowerPoint presentation I shared with my department on new teaching models and which model works best in the classroom and why. I received great feedback from my peers. 

 

 

Support: original and revised Teaching Philosophy and discussion of similarities and differences

 

My Teaching Philosophy has remained the same at its core and that is to help students achieve success. I became a teacher because I like to help others and I want to help them be the best they can. Therefore, I have a revised teaching philosophy that includes a few more aspects of the profession, yet it is still about helping students strive for greatness.

 

 

Support: I have lessons that are differentiated for the needs of my students. 

 

In the short five years that I have been teaching, I do not remember a time where I did not differentiate my instruction in some way. Realistically, there is no way that I could not differentiate. I have always had students of varying readiness levels and students who learn through different methods, so I have always differentiated my lessons to meet the needs of my students. For example, in my British Literature class I have students who are more “advanced” than others and I pair those students up with struggling students when I assign peer-editing assignments. I also “float around the classroom” as mentioned in the video Respectful Tasks, so that I may check on my students and redirect groups if need be. In addition, I try to incorporate “stations” into my units of study. During our unit on 1984, I had students rotate between five stations where they had to either draw a poster with party slogans from the book, rewrite a news article like the main character does, write out 15 new Newspeak words as used in the novel, spy on members of the class and write down their findings, and lastly, write a biography of a made up war hero like the main character does. The purpose of these stations is to get the students engaged in various activities with different goals. Therefore, because I, “recognize that not all students are at the same readiness level, or learn at the same pace or in the same way” I differentiate my instruction (Heacox, 2009, p. 6). Differentiation is essential to the teaching profession and teachers should always work to gauge how well their students understand the material and what changes can be made if necessary.

 

 

Support: Students work in groups to create their own projects and rubrics showing leadership and initiative. 

 

In my classroom, I like to give my students opportunities to grow, learn and be creative. I want them to feel like they are in control and that they can go beyond the texts that we read. Therefore, I have included an example of student work. Students created their own movie trailers for the story of Oedipus and they wrote a letter to a famous director asking that person to back up their movie. Students had an opportunity to lead their own learning and be creative. As Nitko and Brookhart (2011) state, the “focus of your teaching should be on student achievement as well as on the learning process” (p. 19).

  

 

Support: Flipped Classroom works for my students’ learning. 

 

For my artifact I have included a like to Khan Academy that my students use. I like to use the Flipped Classroom approach sometimes and allow my students to be active in their own learning. The Khan Academy offers many great lectures and tools for teachers. I have used the few videos on Grammar that fit into my curriculum and they are quite enjoyable and I use them as part of my instruction. As noted in the blog post, Tyranny of the Textbook “Content in a quality curriculum is more thorough and deeper. Instead of mentioning topics, concepts in history, math, or science are developed and explored” and the Khan Academy videos help to explore deeper on curriculum topics.

 

 

Support: I have included differentiated and creative examples of students’ work. 

 

As noted before, differentiate is essential to the classroom. Teachers must differentiate because it makes a significant difference in student learning. As noted by Anderman & Anderman (2014), "Through daily interactions with students, [teachers] influence students’ beliefs about their own abilities, their attitudes toward certain subject areas, their immediate and long-term goals, their beliefs about the causes of their successes and failures, and their reasons for ultimately choosing to do their academic work” (p. 2). Therefore, since teachers have such a profound impact, it is essential that teachers vary their lessons and activities. I have included an example of a sonnet activity that students completed in groups.

Support:

Students Peer-Edit essays and give each other feedback. 

 

I believe it is important for students to be able to peer-edit each other's work. I have included a copy of one of my students' peer-edit checklist. Students work on these as they grade each other's papers. It helps them take the role of teacher and see how their peers write. By having students peer-edit, I am, "creating knowledge in learning environments supported by active learning, reflective learning, creation of authentic tasks, contextual learning and collaborative learning” (Keengwe & Onchwari, 2009, p. 2). Students are engaged in active learning because they are doing as opposed to waiting on the teacher to do all the work.

 

Support: My colleagues and I participated in PLCs on new teaching philosophies and studies and have shared with staff. 

 

For this claim, I have included a PowerPoint that I presented to my colleagues about changes that I would make to our school's late policy. In my school we are encouraged to present new ideas or even discuss grievances. Therefore, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the late policy. I have included my presentation and my survey results. I believe it is important for teachers to share new ideas and participate in their learning communities. Zander and Zander have an excellent quote, “I am now able to use the possibility that my every act can affect the world to communicate with people in such a way so that a wave of inspiration and happiness can flow throughout the world” (2000, pg.9-10). Essentially, it is important to be a part of the bigger picture and share things with others in any way we can and inspire others.

 

Support: I have included modified and differentiated lesson plans and activities. 

I believe a school community works best when educators are collaborating and discussing new ways to help students improve. This is especially true for teachers that team teach. I have a few classes every year where I work with an in-class support special education teacher. Together we work to differentiate and modify lessons to meet the needs of our students. Together we know which students perform better than others on assessments, and we ask the important questions mentioned by Heacox (2009), “who needs more support in reading?” and “who prefers to work alone?” and “who needs frequent recognition of work well done to build his or her self-confidence in doing quality work?” (Heacox, 2009, p. 20). Together we work to answer these questions.

 

Support: I have applied what I have learned about differentiation and have modified lessons and have shared with colleagues. 

 

I readily share my lesson plans with my colleagues and we are constantly collaborating and sharing ideas with one another during prep periods. However, there are teachers that feel that they cannot differentiate for various reasons, some of which Tomlinson & Imbeau mention like that their classes are too small, they have to work with a specific textbook, or they’re worried about parent backlash (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010, p. 138). I try to encourage all of my coworkers to differentiate and we help one another overcome obstacles. I have included examples of Differentiated lessons that I have shared with colleagues. I believe it is important to do so and to always be sharing ideas and contributing to the school community. 

 

Support: Collaborative Final Exams that I have modified and done with colleagues. 

 

In my school, teachers that teach the same grade level are required to work together to make one final exam for all students. It is essential that we work together as professionals to develop curriculum and skills based final exams to challenge our students. I have worked closely with colleagues of my grade level and together we have made the final exam for our students. This works even though we all have different teaching styles because, "The quality of teaching is the most important factor that influences student learning” (Danielson, 2006, p.97). Therefore, if we are all quality teachers, then our students should be able to learn. I have included an excerpt from our grade 11 final exam.

 

Support: I work to include new teaching models and share such information with colleagues. 

I have included a unit on the play Macbeth using Brain Based Strategies. It is important to take into consideration the new literature on education that is out there and apply it to my teaching and instruction. I believe brain based strategies work to help students truly understand the curriculum and materials presented.  As Jenson (2005) explains, “All students will have some prior knowledge, even if it’s just random or unconscious learning” (p. 45). Therefore, brain based strategies are effective because they tap into students' prior-knowledge.

 

Support: Technology plays a big role in differentiation in the modern classroom. 

 
I have worked with other teachers to create digital assessments and activities as opposed to paper. In doing so, I was able to share with colleagues new ways to create faster and more varied assignments. My students prefer to use technology and since they have their own devices, it is fairly easy to incorporate into the classroom. I have included a screenshot of one of my digital assessments. Digital assessments and activities also allow prompt feedback and “Prompt feedback at this time is essential to prevent them [students] from getting too off course” (Jenson, 2005, p. 55).

 

Support: I have learned about best teaching approaches through the MAT program. 

I have included my Capstone B paper where I conducted a long research project about student learning. In this paper, I wrote my results about students using graphic organizers and how it affects their learning. I shared this information with my fellow teachers and was even commended by administration. As Sagor notes, “We all gain more, learn more, and are more professionally satisfied when we work with others” (2014, p.26).     

 

 

Danielson, C. (2006). Teacher leadership that strengthens professional practice. 

Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

 

Heacox, D. (2009). Making differentiation a habit: How to ensure success in academically diverse classrooms. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub.

 

Jensen, E. (2005). Brain-Based Learning Strategies. In Florida Education Association. 

 

Keengwe, J., & Onchwari, G. (2009). Technology and early childhood education: A technology integration professional development for practicing teachers. Early Childhood Education Journal 

 

Lieberman, A & Miller, L. (2004). Teacher Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 

Nitko, A. & Brookhart, S. (2011). Educational Assessment of Students. Boston, MA: Pearson.

 

Sagor, R. (2014). How to conduct collaborative Action Research. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

 

Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing a differentiated classroom.

Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

 

Zander, B. & Zander, R.S. (2000). The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. Being a Contribution. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Press.