Guest Blogger

On Being a Teacher-Leader

When asked to provide some insight into living the life of both a teacher and an administrator, this is what my colleague and mentor, Anna “Mrs.” Brink, had to say.  Thank you for sharing your experiences.  Readers, read all the way to the bottom for 10 great pieces of advice and reflection.

Leading and Learning

My educational journey began in 2003 when I took a job in an affluent, highly successful school district in the state.  I had finished my student teaching in a high school and never in a million years dreamed that I would begin my professional career in middle school.  I was offered a job teaching seventh grade World Geography. I gladly accepted because it meant that I was able to move away from my small hometown to begin my life close to home—but not too close.  From the moment when I started thinking about what my life would hold, I knew it would involve being an active member in the educational field.  After all, I had grown up with a mother who was an assistant principal, principal, and an assistant superintendent.  She was, and continues to be, my inspiration in how I approach education, and as I would learn, how I approach leadership in the school environment.  

I happily taught World Geography (which transitioned to World History) for three years and worked on my masters degree in school administration.  I assumed that I would teach for five or so years and then begin looking for an administrative job.  As fate would have it, midway through my third year of teaching, a job opening was posted at my school for an Administrative Assistant.  Having nothing to lose, I applied for the position, but I was up against a former assistant principal at that very school, making the situation awkward.  The principal, being new to the school a year, chose to take a chance on a 25-year-old who had only been in the classroom three years and looked around the age of 18.  Needless to say, many of the veteran teacher-leaders in the school were very skeptical and very vocal about his decision.  I knew I had a great deal to prove as an educator and a leader.  

After two years as an administrative assistant doing the job of a grade-level assistant principal, I was promoted to Assistant Principal of Administration and put in charge of a grade level and the facilities of a school that had a student population of 1100.  While being in the classroom was a wonderful experience for me, I always viewed it as a “stepping stone” to other opportunities in the field of education.  Little did I know that the best leading and learning experience was yet to come… and completely unexpected.  

After my husband and I moved back to my hometown after our son was born, I looked for an administrative job.  After all, I had proven myself to be a good leader and manager and was on the fast track at a young age.  A job came open in the school district where I grew up, but it was not what I thought I should be doing.  This job was a sixth and seventh grade social studies teaching position at a school in a lower income area (one that I had attended myself) with a reputation that was less than stellar in the community.  Being the ever-confident leader, when the superintendent asked me if I could handle going back to the classroom, I gave him a resounding “yes sir.”  

That began the most valuable journey I have been on thus far in education.  After being out of the classroom for three years (only having been there three years to begin with), I felt as though teaching was a cinch, nothing to it.  Boy was I put in my place – the second day of school!  I had a classroom of seventh graders who would not listen to a thing I wanted to say and wanted to see how far they could push me.  Was this what it was really going to be like?  I did not remember it being that taxing and difficult.  That was the afternoon that I realized that I took for granted the teachers in my building and how much they have to endure everyday to educate children.  From that moment on, it was very clear that I was going to have to work harder than I had ever worked to be successful.  Failure was not an option.  I will openly admit that I struggled the first year with the routine, the paperwork, the grading, and the daily goings-on of a middle school classroom.  For a long time, I felt as though I was wasting my skills until I realized that I could still very much use my leadership knowledge and skills to help improve not only my classroom and my school, but ultimately my professional self.  I began looking for ways in which to make learning meaningful and interactive, ways to make students accountable for their learning, and ways to make social studies stand out to the students and to the school as an important subject—worthy of learning even though it is not always taken seriously.  I worked with my principal on areas in which I could contribute to the school environment with my experience in administration, and then I began to focus on what I could do in my classroom to be a leader for my students.  

I will never say that these last two years in the classroom (and possibly future years as the educational job field is very uncertain) have been the easiest I have had.  As a matter of fact, they have been the most difficult.  I truly try to learn from my mistakes, as well as my experiences.  I am confident that the last two years back in the classroom have given me a better appreciation for what teachers face inside and outside of the classroom.  It is a daily battle and a daily journey to touch the lives of our students.  And what is the hardest sometimes is not the children that I interact with on a daily basis – it’s the lack of understanding and appreciation that teachers get from people in leadership roles in the state and nation.  How are we, as a nation, ever to keep up with the rest of the world if we cannot support the individuals that are teaching our future generations?  How are we supposed to teach them to be good citizens by decreasing the amount of time we teach them about social studies and the world around them?  How do we expect teachers to feel valued if we pay them minimum (or below) and do not give them a standard of living increase?  I read an article recently in the Opinion Pages of the New York Times entitled, “The High Cost of Low Teachers Salaries” by Dave Eggers and Ninive Clements Calegari where they commented that an average teacher’s salary “is on par with that of a toll taker or bartender.”  The article goes on to cite that “in the next 10 years, over half of the nation’s nearly 3.2 million public school teachers will become eligible for retirement.” 

How can we, as educators, in all positions better prepared our young teachers and recruit the best possible teachers for our children?  There are several obvious answers with money, job security, etc., but I think it needs to be taken a step further.  We all need to become leaders – in our schools, in our communities, and in our state.  I have more respect for what teachers do everyday now than I have ever had in my life.  As a former leader and as a continuing teacher-leader, it is important for us all to show respect for one another and support for what we do on a daily basis.  I hope to return to administration sooner rather than later, but I will let God choose my path and do the best I can wherever I am.  However, I know that I have learned more about being a leader by taking a step back and seeing it from the teacher’s chair again (yes, the plastic, non-rolling, non-supportive chair that I had to give up at the beginning of the year in two of my four classes because I had 31 students in the class).  Here are some of the clear educational lessons that I will take with me whenever I leave the classroom again:

1. Communication is the most important aspect of a functioning team.
2. Clear goals, decided on as a school team, are of vital importance to a well-rounded and successful school.
3. Consistency makes the world (at least the middle school world) go round.
4. Students can reach high expectations if they know what is expected of them and then you actually expect them to do it EVERY day.
5. Teachers should be trusted to do their job unless they give you a reason otherwise to think that they cannot be.
6. Leaders in the school should be visible and active participants in the school. 
7. Be PROactive, not REactive. 
8. Smile and greet each other every day – you never know whose day you might brighten.
9. Communicate with parents – even if it is hard to get in touch with them.  It is worth the effort.
10. Listen to your faculty and staff – they have good ideas and you might be able to prevent some “parking lot meetings” before they occur!