Thursday, February 23, 2012

Becoming a Teacher Leader

Being off from work this week for Mid-Winter Recess, there was no math team meeting to blog about.  However, in my SmartBrief weekly email newsletter, that I subscribe to, I did read two articles that I thought tied in nicely with my action research.  


In her article "5 Tell-Tale Signs You're Becoming a Teacher Leader," Ratzel (2012) describes five signs "that may signal that you're on the road to becoming a teacher leader."  Ratzel states that "If you find yourself yearning to take an idea beyond your classroom, you're probably ready to become a leader.  The first step might be as small as sharing a lesson plan with a colleague down the hall... Perhaps you will blog about how your students are using iPads to work on letter recognition, submit an article to your favorite professional journal, or share your knowledge in topic-focused Twitter chats. Or maybe your next step will be to help "unpack Common Core standards" for your department, or to offer to lead a workshop on bullying."


What have I been learning about collaboration?
My whole action research experience this year has been about what I am learning about collaborative professional development.  And since I started coming together regularly with my math colleagues at JBA this year, I have learned quite a lot.  We have shared lesson plans, discussed issues that are important to us and our teaching, and because of this action research, we have been doing math together.  On top of all that, I have been blogging about my whole experience on here, and reading about other fellow math leaders experiences this year on their blogs, and it's been great.  I honestly feel that we have become more than just a group of teachers, we have become a group of learners, and like Ratzel (2012) describes, I am finding myself "writing, advising, listening, collaborating, networking, seeking knowledge, and reflecting."  So collaborative professional development doesn't have to be this BIG thing that happens right away - it can start small.  It can start in a classroom, after school, once a week, with 3 or 4 math teachers coming together, simply, to do some math together.


Ratzel, M. (2012, February). 5 tell-tale signs you're becoming a teacher leader.  Education Week Teacher.  Retrieved February 21, 2012 from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/02/21/tln_ratzel_teacherleader.html?tkn=SRSF9cPYYaJGCZsKm5T6fgpOV0c30h32egnv&cmp=clp-edweek

3 comments:

  1. So, are you calling yourself a math leader? :)

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  2. Ah, so you’re calling yourself a math leader! How thrilling!

    And I love how you’ve integrated the literature—that’s how I want to revise the lit review for next year. An inspired blog, Anna! And can you also see how action research is not this big thing that is separate from your practice?

    Robin

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  3. It sounds like it has been a productive learning year! I think the quote was great - almost like you are diagnosing yourself as a math leader!

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