Teachers Leading By Example

By Sam on February 2, 2010

When I was a captain on the various hockey teams I have played for, I always tried to lead by example. I found that it was easiest for me to go out and play the game in such a way that spoke for my leadership. I wasn’t particularly comfortable getting up in front of the guys and talking for any amount of time. I preferred to let my effort and “game” speak for me.

As I’ve gotten older I have become much more comfortable leading in a more vocal manner. I think anybody that has been a teacher or gone through teacher preparation courses will attest to the fact that you quickly become very comfortable with talking to groups of people. However, my preferred leadership style is to lead by example. When you are playing a sport, it’s easy to lead by example. You just go out there and work harder than everybody else and never give up. However, what does it mean to lead by example when you are a teacher? What can I do in the classroom to be a leader for my students without actually saying anything to them?

1. Have excellent work habits: Being on time for class and treating instructional time as sacred are two actions that seem to speak the loudest. If I can show my students that I respect their time enough not to waste it with useless work, I can hold them to the same level of respect as well. Also, returning homework and papers promptly with helpful feedback is another way I can demonstrate what their work habits should be like.

2. Be prepared: By being well prepared for class I can show my students that I care enough about my responsibility as a teacher and them as students to put in the effort before I even get to class. For me, this means making sure that my classroom materials are ready ahead of time, look professional, and are not solely supplied by the textbook. If a student can come to class and tell that I have put in a significant amount of time splicing together several different clips into one coherent 3 minute video instead of fast-forwarding and changing tapes for each individual clip, I think they are left with a much more positive impression. If I have ensured that my Power Point presentation is well-formatted, easy to read, and logical I have shown that I respect my students enough to care about the ease of reading my material.

3. Follow-up when I say I will: This will show my students the importance of being reliable and trustworthy. If somebody asks a question in class and I don’t know it and promise to look it up for them later, I need to make sure I do that and come back with an answer. I can’t expect the student to remind me or ask about it again; it should only take one question and I should return with an answer. This also includes things such as remembering details about my students to the point where I can ask them specific questions about their life. Taking the time to follow-up on something they have told me shows the importance of respect.

4. Promote learning for the sake of learning: In my classrooms I hope to promote learning, of any subject or topic, at all times. I am a very curious individual and I love many subjects other than social studies. I will not shy away from discussing other topics in class (without wasting too much time, of course) if a student shows interest in it. If I’m actually a good social studies teacher, I should probably be able to find a way to relate it to my discipline anyway.

5. Exhibiting critical thinking skills in class: If there is one skill that I hope my students enhance by spending time in my classroom it is the ability to think critically. I can explain what this means and provide terminology until my face turns blue, but unless I actively live what I preach it will mean nothing. I think this will consist of me asking students to elaborate on their answers as much as possible, challenging correct and wrong answers alike, and asking critical questions about the trustworthiness of sources. Also, if I can model how to poke holes in faulty logic (especially if it is the accepted logic), I think that will provide a very good example for my students.

Leading by example means practicing what you preach. That is not always the easiest thing to do but I think some of the best leaders in the world make use of this strategy. Anybody can talk but it takes a dedicated individual to back up their talk with action.

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Being A Less Helpful Social Studies Teacher

By Sam on January 28, 2010

Blogger Dan Meyer (dy/dan) is one of the first teachers I started to read regularly in the “edublogger” community. I am inspired by the way he is always trying to make the way he teaches math more effective. One of his biggest contributions to my own thought is the idea of “being less helpful.” For Dan, this is about taking everyday situations that are not inherently mathematical and using them in his classroom. He references textbook questions that try to take everyday situations (like a ski lift going up a mountain) but ruin them by immediately asking mathematical questions and laying a mathematical framework over the original scenario. Dan argues that if he can be less helpful to his students and let them wrestle with the scenario and come up with their own questions (even if they aren’t the tidy ones his textbook wants to provide) he is doing much more for their problem-solving and real world development. I am 100% behind the idea– but I’m not a math teacher.

However, I think this principle can be applied to social studies as well. What can social studies teachers do to “be less helpful?” I think it might begin with the willingness to ask open ended questions that don’t necessarily have a right or wrong answer. Forming these questions and then allowing students the latitude to research and develop their own ideas (while logically supporting them) can be a useful way to break them of the habit of regurgitating what they hear in class. Provide the conceptual knowledge and basic information in class and then ask students to rearrange that information in a unique way.

I think being less helpful also lies in the way I, as a teacher, respond to answers given in class. Dan talks about this in his talk; about how the “wrong answer face” and “right answer face” I give students needs to be the same. If I challenge every answer the same way, regardless of it’s accuracy, I can help students develop the habit of supporting their answers with logic and research. Tied to this idea is asking questions that challenge accepted answers. Getting students to question what they thought they knew might also be an accurate way of making myself less useful and them better students.

Most assuredly, I know what NOT “being less helpful” is about. It is not giving students questions, a textbook, and a class period of free time. That is nothing more than cruel babysitting and while technically not helpful, not the kind of “not helpful” I’m looking for.

Veteran social studies teachers, what do you think you can do to be “less helpful” to your students? Is it even worth doing?

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The Power of Biography

By Sam on January 26, 2010

I’ve always been saddened by the bad rap that history gets from most students. I was always a part of the rare few that thoroughly enjoyed all of my history classes. Now, as a social studies teacher, I cannot afford to just be merely saddened by this phenomenon, I must do something to help reverse it.

A good starting point would probably be trying to understand why it is that I enjoy the subject. First and definitely foremost, I see this discipline as a nearly infinite number of personal biographies that interact with each other to form our history. History is nothing more than the amalgamation of personal biographies. When you break it down like this, the focus becomes on people, not dates or places. In my opinion, people’s stories are much more interesting and captivating than the dry facts that many history classes are built around.

The historical figures that live large in our textbooks and lessons were humans just like you, me and our students. They may have lived in a different time period but they experienced the same emotions and concerns that many of us face on a daily basis. I think the more that we can stress the humanity of these historic people the more we can help our students relate.

Reading a series of biographies on Theodore Roosevelt is what got me thinking about this topic a little bit more deeply. I’m not sure how a student could not find this person absolutely fascinating if they were forced to grapple with Teddy at some sort of personal level. I know that most students would balk at having to read a biography as an assignment, let alone in their own free-time, but there must be some way as teachers that we can help bring these people alive in our classrooms.

History is written through the lives of incredibly interesting people who did incredible things. They had very real and familiar emotions, desires, vices, and motivations that are not foreign to our students, regardless of the era in which they lived. It is absurd to me that a discipline built by incredible individuals has the reputation of dry facts and rote memorization. What can we do as a profession to bring the power of biography alive?

What have you done to bring the power of biography alive in your classroom? What individuals have you focused on as you do so?

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GTD in the Classroom

By Sam on January 19, 2010

In the past couple years I can compliment one author with almost single-handedly helping me become the organized and (relatively) productive person that I am today. Anybody who has spent more than an hour on the internet is probably familiar with the Getting Things Done system developed and written by David Allen. In a nutshell, it is a personal management system devised to help people organize and maintain their lives. Allen’s main point is that our brains are great for thinking creatively and solving problems, not remembering things. The basis of his system is that once you have stored your commitments (projects) and to-do’s (next actions) in a trusted system (key word: trusted) then your brain is suddenly free to stop trying to remember things and focus on solving problems. As you can imagine, he goes into much more detail and complexity, but this is the basic gist of the system.

My proposal is that students be required to learn a system similar to this while they are in high school. I think it is absurd that we espouse the need to prepare students for the “real-world” yet many (if not most) graduate high school with no idea about how to keep themselves organized. Sure, many students figure out systems that work for them during high school, but this seems like a large and important enough problem that students should not be left to their own devices. I’m not proposing that high schools across the country become “indoctrination centers” for the GTD philosophy– I really don’t care what brand of management system they want to teach. Heck, I’d be fine with students developing their own systems if they can justify why they are doing what they are and can prove that it works for them.

The main argument against this, I’m sure, is the lack of time throughout the school day to dedicate time to something like this. With the emphasis on standardized testing within the core subjects I can understand that there is very little time left for anything “extra.” However, I know that some high schools have “study hall” periods. Where I went to high school, freshmen were required to take an Academic Center (AC) period in which they were placed in a classroom with a mentor teacher that would provide help with homework. After the freshman year, students were no longer required to take an AC, but it was highly recommended. I see no reason why mentor teachers couldn’t spend two days a week teaching the basics of a personal management system while allowing the remaining three days to be used on homework. Obviously, the mentor teachers would have to be trained in whatever system they would be teaching. Not only would this benefit the students and prepare them for a life outside the classroom, but from what I can tell, many teachers could benefit from some kind of organizational system in their own professional lives.

There are other options for introducing this concept to student including semester long elective courses or perhaps piggy-backing onto other classes (home economics?). I just believe that being able to keep oneself organized and productive is such a crucial part of being a good student and a high-functioning adult that I think it’s about time the public school system provide some guidance and leadership.

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What Role Should Professional Blogs Have in a Resume?

By Sam on January 12, 2010

What role should a professional blog have in a teaching resume?

I have never seen this question addressed. I ask because I am fairly proud of the reflection and musing I do at this blog. It helps me work through professional problems and questions while being able to get feedback from veteran teachers. I think it helps show my reflective nature and my drive to be a great teacher. I write about this stuff because I care about it. I use my real name on this blog because I’m not prepared to write anything that I don’t honestly believe or am ready to defend.

However, despite all the positive things this blog says about me as an individual (I think), I don’t currently have it listed anywhere on my resume. I don’t know where I should put it if I did. I’m also afraid that administrators may see the word “blog” on my resume and jump to conclusions about my professionalism. I’m not sure how it would be viewed by somebody reviewing my resume. Would they actually take the time to browse through my site?

I think I’m leaning toward the side of throwing it in there and seeing what comes of it. As long as listing it won’t hurt me, it shouldn’t take more than a line or two in my resume and if they do actually take the time to read some of the articles I have written, I can’t help but think it would help me. I try to be as professional and honest as possible in everything I write for this blog. I guess the main problem would be if an administrator were to read something that they disagree with in terms of teaching philosophy or how I have conducted myself. Honestly, I think that any administrator worth their salt would overlook possible differences in teaching style or philosophy if they realized that I write about this stuff because I want to be better at it. I want to get feedback and I want to improve every time I step foot in the classroom. Writing and reflecting about my experiences on this blog is my outlet for my own professional development. Shouldn’t that commitment and dedication to my craft show up somewhere in my resume?

What do you think? Should I include a link to my blog in my resume?

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