https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea What are the eight qualities of successful school leaders? en-us 2021-07-03 18:36:55 UTC 2025-11-23 16:52:15 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639546579 I have had the chance to train students for four consecutive years to participate in the national Yale Hindi Debate competition which required almost two months of preparation. It was my job to keep the students motivated till the end and perform at a level that they deliver a winning speech. ]]> 2021-07-07 01:39:38 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639546579 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639566153  "Taking all the students along" has been my passion and an integral part of my teaching philosophy. Before I came to U.S., I used to teach at an elementary school in India. There were a couple of kids in the school who misbehaved, wouldn't listen to any teachers and performed poorly in their classes. I wasn't ready to leave them behind. So I went and talked to them, started giving them positive attention in class and making them feel an important part of the class. The transformation that I and all the other teachers saw in those students was unbelievable. I have applied the same philosophy in my Hindi classes at the university level in the U.S.,  paying attention to students who need it the most. The result was that all the students, the exceptional and the struggling ones were willing to put in time to learn Hindi and pleasantly admitted that Hindi class is their favorite class.  ]]> 2021-07-07 01:50:20 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639566153 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639588147 In 2019, I chaperoned a group of students to Yale University to participate in the debate competition. It was an eventful trip which was no short of being called "The Jinxed Trip". One of the participants was not allowed on the plane due to the limited capacity of the plane to take the passengers due to bad weather at the destination. All of us had to get off that flight, but our luggage went in the flight. I persevered through the situation with patience and ended up convincing the airlines to provide a hotel for us, rented a car in the morning and drove the participants to New Haven from Philadelphia and got them to the venue two hours prior to the event. ]]> 2021-07-07 02:03:22 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639588147 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639613916 Since I started teaching Hindi, I have tried to avail every opportunity that came my way for my professional development; whether it was the STARTALK Training at NYU or attending the conferences, presenting at the conferences, attending the LCTLs consortium for teacher development, , learning from colleagues and observing their classes. I have integrated what I learnt from these sources in my curriculum to make my teaching more effective. ]]> 2021-07-07 02:19:05 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639613916 bsr307 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639937959 Moving to Northern California, provided me an opportunity to combine two of my favorite tasks Girl Scouts and Hindi teaching into one. This High school girls scout troop is the outcome of my passion for women empowerment, language teaching and community service. ]]> 2021-07-07 06:04:01 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639937959 bsr307 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639946495 Project based language learning are an excellent way to get involved with community and its leaders and engage them in your language teaching and learning. Several opportunities are created through these PBLL tasks where my Hindi students build essential 21st century skills like collaboration, communication and creativity along with Hindi language proficiency and use it towards performance in real world tasks.










]]> 2021-07-07 06:11:18 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639946495 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639972681 Visionaries tend to study the past, stay informed about the present, in order to pave the future. They take into consideration the mistakes of others and seek to improve those they lead into the future. ]]> 2021-07-07 06:34:17 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1639972681 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640063879 At UTEP, my band director once told the band leadership that being a leader was not about making decisions that will make everyone happy. In fact, at times, leaders have to be courageous and go with their gut feeling. That, at times, means going with the decision that is the least liked and thus they are not liked for it. However, it may turn out to be the best decision if the leader made it based on unselfish reasons. ]]> 2021-07-07 07:56:01 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640063879 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640067640 I recall preparing for a presentation for a state conference and researching the concept of cultural humility. Throughout my studies, cultural competence was the norm. The reason I place this blub here is because we aught to have the passion to teach ALL of our students and the passion to learn from ALL of our students, regardless of whom they are and where they come from; what their proficiency is or what their ultimate goals in life are. ]]> 2021-07-07 08:00:22 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640067640 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640070015 During a leadership workshop for the band leadership at UTEP, we were humbled by what was told to us during an exercise. One of our drummers was taken to the front of the room and told to put his right arm straight forward. The guest speaker was going to push down on his arm and he was to resist with all his strength. He tried to keep it up, but the guest was able to push it down with ease. The guest then asked the audience - full of section leaders, staff, drum majors, and such - to cheer him on. The guest tried to push down his arm and encountered some resistance this second time around. He then turned to us and stated... "your band will not get far if this is the amount of effort that you will give. You are doing what is comfortable for you. (turning to our director) I hope that this is not the best that this group can do." As leaders, we are team builders. We are the example to follow. We are the ones that fuel our staff, our students, our team, our community. ]]> 2021-07-07 08:03:05 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640070015 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640075180 You will often hear me tell my students and my son the following. There are three types of individuals. There are smart, intelligent, and wise individuals. The smart individual knows things. The intelligent individual knows things and can utilize that knowledge. The wise individual knows things, can utilize that knowledge, AND learns from his mistakes and the mistakes of others. ]]> 2021-07-07 08:08:48 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640075180 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640077656 To quote the 90's British rock band Chumbawamba, "I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never going to keep me down." A good leader may get beat up here and there possibly due to a decision that didn't fare to well or by making the unpopular decision. Nonetheless, he/she must pick themselves up, dust it off, and keep trucking. ]]> 2021-07-07 08:11:35 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640077656 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640083428 Some of the best teachers I know returned to their alma matter to teach. They returned and have stayed at their alma matter for years. I recall having a conversation with my best friend, a middle school band director, and being told a myriad of things that would fall under this category. He mentioned how much he enjoyed talking to me because it was fun hearing different takes on the issues he faces on a daily basis. He always listens to my advice, even if it isn't the best or goes against what he believes is right. Nonetheless, he listens. When I talk about my students, he envisions how what I'm doing can help his students and his community. Lastly, he speaks so highly of his community and truly loves working there. His numbers are great, even "post" COVID-19. His band program is the only one in the district that has grown during the pandemic - and he works in an underserved, poor community. When asked what he was doing to get his numbers to where they are, he replied, "I know my community. I have STAYED at my school and have build relationships with families. People know me and trust me with their children." That's a leader! ]]> 2021-07-07 08:17:30 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640083428 sanamjouejati https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640610672 In showing commitment to my students: Every time I'm in class teaching, I keep in mind that there is a chance for a new beginning and  I'll never know when the right moment is happening to reach out to each one of the students and make a difference. It happened many times, and every time I'm surprised and happy to do so. It is interesting that making a difference takes a simple thing to do: one time, agreeing with a student on moving her chair to another side of the classroom made a huge difference in her focusing on the material and, eventually, significantly improving her grade. 

]]> 2021-07-07 16:36:39 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640610672 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640663946 2021-07-07 17:24:04 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640663946 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664017 in one school I took 5 years to convince the administration to adopt a slightly different approach in teaching world languages.]]> 2021-07-07 17:24:08 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664017 bsr307 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664485 Biggest challenge is various technology platforms don't support Hindi, which is a great opportunity for Hindi pedagogy experts to work on it. 
Google tools of education is an excellent example. ]]> 2021-07-07 17:24:34 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664485 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664668 I love what I do and I respect people who work with me. I'm aware that we're different and we have to show patience.]]> 2021-07-07 17:24:44 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664668 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664814 I watched my principal rebound, regroup, recoup--all year long.Every time we were on course, the DO or the union or the CDC or the county would throw her a curveball. She just bent like bamboo and kept going, with aplomb. We did not always agree with her, but we got through. I commend her courage and flexibility.

]]> 2021-07-07 17:24:50 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664814 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664859 2021-07-07 17:24:51 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640664859 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640667078 It is important to see each and every team member as a whole person and give them the space to be that whole person at work and in their work.

]]> 2021-07-07 17:26:51 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1640667078 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1641863713 Mamta Tripathi
In order to encourage older heritage  learners (Grades 9-12) to continue learning Hindi, I started a Seal of Biliteracy program. This generated a lot of interest in the targeted age group and enrollment also grew rapidly. I wanted them to be rewarded for their hard work, the academic benefit - earning the State Seal of Biliteracy - was a good way to hook them. ]]> 2021-07-08 12:50:58 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1641863713 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1642226754 -Mamta]]> 2021-07-08 17:47:39 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1642226754 https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1642922598 2021-07-09 04:51:13 UTC https://padlet.com/tonitheisen/9zodb15dywao32ea/wish/1642922598