Running Head: TEACHER LEADER 1

Growing Into a Teacher Leader

Dina Damus

University of Florida

November 9, 2011

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Rational

“What if I am boring?”

“How can I engage the audience?”

“I do not want to say the wrong thing.”

“I am use to leading children; however, how will I lead adults?”

With my heart racing, these were just some of my initial thoughts and fears when I

was chosen to lead the Teachers Fellows program. The Teacher Fellows program is a

partnered initiative through the University of Florida and Ready School Miami; whose

goal is to support and improve teacher development, their practices and students’

knowledge. My role as a Teacher Fellows facilitator is to guide my colleagues to develop

a “wondering” and utilize data driven approaches to modify their practices and students

learning. I have decided to use the Teacher Fellows program as an artifact to exhibit my

acquisition of the Teacher Leader component of the Teacher Leadership for School

Improvement (TLSI) Program. This artifact was chosen because “leadership” is one of

my weakest skills. As an introverted person standing in front of a crowd and attempting

to lead them is frighten. Nonetheless, I am always up for a challenge. I wanted to

confront this fear head on. This artifact will not only allow me to become a leader but

also provide opportunities to collaborate with colleagues.

As a novice facilitator the fears are slowly subsiding and a teacher leader is

beginning to emerge. I am learning that a teacher leader is not simply standing in front of

a group of other teachers and dishing out information. I now know that teacher leaders

are “Teachers who are leaders lead within and beyond the classroom, identify with and

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contribute to a community of teacher learners and leaders, and influence others toward

improved educational practice” (Kelly, 2011, pg.16). I am gradually becoming

comfortable in the leadership role. Linking theories that were taught at the Ready School

Miami Professional Learning Community, Teacher Facilitators Training, and The

Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research has made the process a lot smoother.

“When given opportunities to lead, teachers can influence school reform efforts.

Waking this sleeping giant of teacher leadership has unlimited potential in making a real

difference in the pace and depth of school change” (Katzenmeyer and Moller, 2001, pg.

102). I hope at the end of this journey the sleeping giant of teacher leadership within me

will lead to a significant change in my practice, those of my colleagues, and an overall

improvement in our school.

Summary and Evidences

- Evidence 1- Journal/Summary

Day 1

- Noooo . . . I have been chosen to lead the Teacher Fellows Program at my school.

Why me? I wish they could have chosen someone else to do the program. With all

the workload I have at work and in school, I really do not need another thing to

do. How will I lead other teacher to do anything when I am not a leader? For

someone have recommend me to facilitate the Teacher Fellows program, they

must have felt that I was “competent, creditable, and approachable;” which are

adjectives used to describe potential teacher leaders (Katzenmeyer and Moller,

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2001, pg. 14). I hope after embarking on this expedition, I can prove that person

to be right.

Day 2 Teacher Fellow Facilitator Orientation September 22, 2011

- Today, I attended the Teacher Fellows Facilitator training at United Way building.

It was nice meeting others students who were part of the TSLI program at UF. It

was even nicer to see that many of the partakers had already facilitated the

program at their school. They spent time sharing past experiences and outcomes

after conducting the program at their school site. My favorite part of the entire

meeting is when we got in a circle and discussed our fears. It seems, as though I

was the only one who was completely petrified at the thought of leading a group.

Many felt they were either comfortable or close to comfortable with the idea. A

few of the participants comforted me by telling there was really no need to panic,

because I would be working along my colleagues who I work, communicate, and

collaborate with everyday, echoing York-Barr and Duke (2004), “Teacher

leadership is practiced through a variety of formal and informal positions, roles,

and channel of communication in the daily work of school” (pg.263). Many of the

participants also offered their assistances if I needed advice through the process.

With the information given during the training and the comfort I have gained, as

ammunition, I think I am ready to fight this fear. Next step is preparing for the

recruiting presentation.

Day 3- Recruiting Session October 12, 2011

- I didn’t really get any sleep last night. I was so nervous about my recruiting

presentation to the staff, today. I created a PowerPoint presentation to make the

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process a lot smoother. Prior to the meeting, I walked around relentlessly, in order

to calm my nerve; it did not work. When I was given the floor to speak, the

computer would not open the file and I became even more nervous. “What would

I say if the information is not in front of me,” I thought to myself. Once I finally

got the PowerPoint to work, I began telling the staff what the Teacher Fellows

Program is about. You can hear my voice trembling. As I went on, slide-by-slide,

the trembling in my voice subsided. At the end of the slide show I chose three

colleagues who participated in the program last year to give their personal

testimony about their experience and what they learned. I think this was necessary

in order to add a personal connection and minimize my colleague apprehension

towards the Teacher Fellows Program. When it was all over I wanted to jump

through roof and yell, “It is finally over.” At the end of the meeting no one signed

up, hopefully they will. All in all the first step of this journey was not so bad.

Now onto the next step, planning for the orientation session.

- Teacher Fellow Recruiting PowerPoint (Double click on the image below to view the slideshow.)

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Day 4- Orientation Session October 19, 2011

- Ah. . . the teacher leadership role is beginning to unveil. I conducted the Teacher

Fellows orientation yesterday in my class. At first I was a bit frighten that no one

would show up. For the first 20 minutes, I only had one person in my room;

thankfully 5 others showed up. Once the meetings began my anxiety went out the

door. I had the participant start off with a pre-survey questionnaire; which

consisted of 5 simple questions related to what is the Teacher Fellows program,

teacher inquiry, the use of data and how to share newly gained knowledge. This

pre-survey will be compared to a post survey given during the final session on

May 2, to show how members’ knowledge regarding inquiry, data, and

collaboration has evolved. The next stage is to do is Session I of the Teacher

Fellow Program, where we begin developing our wondering.

- Evidence 2- Orientation Agenda and Pre-Survey Questions

- Agenda

Santa Clara ElementaryTeacher Fellows Program

Orientation AgendaOctober 19, 2011

I. Welcoming and RefreshmentsII. Overview of the Teacher Fellows ProgramIII. Contract AgreementIV. Handout-Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research Book V. Text-Base Protocol-Chapter 1VI. Teacher Fellow Session 6 Dates:

A. November 2B. December 7

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C. February 1D. March 7E. April 11F. May 2

VII. PD Portal Registration

- Pre-Survey Questions

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Day 5- Session 1 November 2, 2011

- Today was our first session for the Teacher Fellows Program. I decided to have a

tea party as an icebreaker. I placed various comments related to “Inquiry” on a

cutout of a teacup. Each participant read their quotes and shared their thoughts

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with a partner then as a whole group. We also did a journal-writing prompt which

participant reflected on the following prompt. “One word that describes how I feel

about conducting my own personal inquiry into my teaching practice this school

year is . . .” (Dana and Yendol-Hoppey, 2009). My favorite activity was “Four

Corners.” Within this activity, I went from being a teacher to becoming a true

facilitator. I read a few quotes related to collaboration and the participants had to

decide which of the four corners (Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly

Disagree) describe how they felt. Here I was really able to see how the fellows

members interacted. I took a back seat and allowed the member to engage with

each other either agree or disagree with each other. According to Spillane,

Halverson, and Diamond (2004), “rather than seeing leadership practices as solely

a function of an individual’s ability, skill, charisma, and/or cognition, it is best

understood as a practice distributed over leaders, followers, and their situation”

(pg.18). I think this activity was a fitting example of leadership distributed

between the facilitator and members. According the reflections I received at the

end Four Corners activity seems to be the participants’ favorite. In order to be a

good teacher leader one must make their fellow teachers comfortable by being

readily available to assist and guide (York-Barr and Duke, 2004, p.284). In order

to acquire that role my next step will be planning for session 3 and creating an

open door policy where participants are free to ask questions and seek guidance

when creating their “wondering.” The “wondering” participants develop will be

added later into this artifact and will be compared to members final paper, to

show their growth within the program.

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- Evidence 3- Session I Agenda, Video Clips, and Reflections

- Agenda

Santa Clara ElementaryTeacher Fellows Program

Session I AgendaNovember 2

I. Welcome and Sign-InII. Tea Party- Teacher Inquiry DefinedIII. Journal Writing Prompt IV. The Great Wondering Brainstorm- Finding a wonderingV. Four Corners-To Collaborate or No CollaborateVI. Preparation for Session 2:

a. Review professional literature related to your inquiry topicb. Read Chapter 4-Developing a Research Planc. Decide how you will implement your plan and what type of data you

will useVII. Reflections

Teacher Fellow Session 6 Dates:a. November 2b. December 7c. February 1d. March 7e. April 11f. May 2

- Video (Session 1, Session 3, and Session 6 will be video taped to show my growth as a teacher leader.) (Double click on the images below to watch video clips.)

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(Sorry battery died on the phone during the Four Corners activity.)

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- Reflections from participants(Shows what participants learned, liked, wished, wondered and still needs to know about the Teacher Fellows Program)(Session 1, Session 3, and Session 6 reflections will be gathered to show my growth as a teacher leader and students understanding of the program.)

Reflections and Next Step

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Reflection and Next Step

Just as a child must take it’s first steps before it can walk and subsequently run, I

have taken the initial steps to becoming a teacher leader. At this point, I have undertaken

the task of recruiting and guiding members into developing their inquiry. However, I

cannot start running or consider myself a true Teacher Leader until I have acquired a few

more steps; which includes guiding participants to gathering data, putting their plan into

action, and sharing their findings. Within the next couple of months, I will continue to

take the necessary steps toward guiding participants to display their findings and

ultimately their growth during the annual Ready Schools Miami Showcase.

Ultimately a Teacher Leader is someone who “influences” those around them to

bring about change in students, parents, fellow teachers, administrators, and the

community, both formally and informally. I hope at the end of this journey I can be the

spark that ignites a change that makes a lasting impact. In going forward, I would like to

see the members who participated in the Teacher Fellows Program continue to participate

in years to come, continue the ongoing collaboration, use knowledge they gained to

influence the teaching practice of other educators, and/or even becoming facilitators

themselves. As for myself, I would like to continue taking the steps to becoming an

effective teacher leader, collaborating, continue to inspire professional growth of my

colleagues, and taking on more leadership roles in my class, school, and the community.

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ReferenceDana, N. and Yendole-Hoppey, D. (2009). Facilitator’s Guide: The Reflective

Educators Guide to Classroom Research. Thousand Oak, California: Corwin Press. Katzenmeye, M and Moller, G. (2001). Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers

Develop as Leaders. Thousand Oak, California: Corwin Press.

Kelley, D. (2011) Teacher's and Teacher Leaders' Perceptions of the Formal Role ofTeacher Leadership. Educational Policy Studies Dissertations.

Spillane, J.P., Halverson, R., & Diamond, J.B. (2004). Towards a Theory of Leadership Practice: A Distributed Perspective. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 36(1), 3-34.

York- Barr, J. &‐ Duke, K. (2004). What Do We Know About Teacher Leadership?Findings From Two Decades of Scholarship. Review of Educational Research, 74(3), 255- 316.‐

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