Sarah’s Blog

When I was sitting in front of my computer thinking about “taking time for teacher leadership” it occurred to me that I have one luxury most teachers don’t have. Our preschool is closed to students on Friday. This allows me to attend a weekly program meeting, a directors meeting, conduct a two hour group training, and prepare my classroom for the next week. I truly don’t know if I would be a teacher leader without having Fridays for planning.

However, we are open year round. We do have one two week break over the December holiday and it’s shocking how much our children regress. I know this is a problem (though not as severe) at regular schools over the summer. I wonder, if all schools were open year round, would teachers have the planning time they needed? Would students retain more material so time could be spent learning new things?

One article I found was an interview of past “Teachers of the Year” discussing teacher leadership (Moller, Childs-Bowen & Scrivner, 2001). I found this report interesting and one thing these teacher leaders felt was important for teachers to have time to network and interact with other teachers. They also believed that all graduate students studying education should learn about teacher leadership and how to become a leader in our own schools. Why is it so important that the next generation of teachers become teacher leaders? Because “without teacher leadership, the classroom door closes, and the status quo remains” (Moller et al., 2001, p. 6).

Although I recently discovered that I have been using the wrong edition of our text book all semester and that my textbook only has six chapters I did find a section that discussed time in regards to teacher leadership. One thing that I found ironic is that scheduling is listed as a way to give more time to teachers (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 1996). At TSA, scheduling is a nightmare because we have to plan around the college schedules of 25 of our teachers. This can lead to teachers moving classrooms or even transferring to our inhome program. In a perfect world, we could place teachers where they excel not just where they were needed to fill a hole in the schedule.

Katzenmeyer, M., & Moller, G., (1996). Awakening the sleeping giant. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Moller, G., Childs-Bowen, D., & Scrivner, J. (2001). Teachers of the year speak out: Tapping into teacher leadership. Washington, DC: Southeastern Regional Vision for Education.

I loved reading about the benefits of teacher leadership and I feel that TSA is lucky to reap many of these benefits. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is watching students progress. As I stated in my Teacher Interview Report I think teacher efficacy is required to be successful in my field and at TSA it is easy to see what you have taught the children. Personally, I have felt that my teaching has had an enormous impact on my students. For example, one of my first students was nonverbal when he began at TSA. After three years of very hard work he entered a regular kindergarten class this fall and is indistinguishable from his peers. Talk about effective!

TSA is very sensitive to teacher attrition. Due to this, we are eager to promote teachers who are leaders hoping that they will be “revitalized through the challenge of leadership roles” (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 1996, p. 94). After these leaders are promoted to lead teacher they start training other staff. In doing so many lead teachers improve their own performance and serve as a model in the classroom. As a model they earn the respect of their coworkers and “capable teacher leaders can help less skillful teachers in the school improve their performance” (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 1996, p. 94).

I also enjoyed reading about the accomplishments of Moore, Boerst, Cone and Wolk. I feel that I use some of the same tactics to be a teacher leader. For example, Boerst’s district “provided funds to secure substitute teachers so that the teachers could observe in one another’s classroom” (Hatch, White, & Faigenbaum, 2005, p. 1009). At TSA, my fellow classroom coordinators and I sit in on each other’s classrooms once a week. This allows us to give feedback on what’s working well and what needs improvement. We also meet weekly with the directors and troubleshoot problems in each of the classrooms. Like Wolk, I also use videos of myself to train staff. For example, one of my staff members was having a hard time eliciting language in free play. I had her watch a video of me running free play and her rate of language elicited is much higher.

In contrast to Moore, Boerst, Cone, and Wolk, I do not have many connections with other teachers or behavior analysts. I would like to begin to network because this gives teachers “access to more resources and expertise that they can bring back to their school and share with others” (Hatch, White, & Faigenbaum, 2005, p. 1023). I also don’t downplay my accomplishments. Since I am so much younger than my colleagues I feel that my achievements justify why I have my job and they give me more confidence as a leader. I hope with time that both of these things will change.

Hatch, T., White, M.E., & Faigenbaum, D. (2005). Expertise, credibility, and influence: How teachers can influence policy, advance research, and improve performance. Teachers College Record , 107(5), 1004-1035.

Katzenmeyer, M., & Moller, G., (1996). Awakening the sleeping giant. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

At my preschool, we are lucky to have a very diverse staff. We have teachers of all ages. Some are in their first year of college and others are completing their PhD. In my classroom, most of the teachers are still in the “exploration stage” of their careers and have very different skills and talents. I think this diversity is very important to our students because it gives them exposure to more cultures, ideas and experiences. We strive to incorporate each teacher’s uniqueness into our teaching. For example, one of our teachers plays on an intramural soccer team so we chose her to shadow one of our students at soccer practice. Another teacher is majoring in painting and he always runs our art activities. Although neither of these teachers is our most skilled staff member, when they lead these activities the quality of their teaching dramatically improves. They get excited about teaching the children things they love and the children are drawn to the enthusiasm.

Another reason having an eclectic staff is important is because children with autism have an extremely hard time generalizing skills. When they are forced to learn from many different kinds of people, the likelihood that their skills will transfer to a kindergarten classroom increases.

One thing that makes me “unique” as a teacher at my preschool is that I have a brother with Down Syndrome. Growing up with Tim and other children with special needs is the reason I am in the field I am in. From a young age, I always wanted to be a voice for those who couldn’t communicate. I also use my personal experiences as a very frustrated, but patient little sister. Many of the siblings of my students also attend our preschool and I see so much of myself in them. I always make a point to give them some extra praise and attention and encourage them to express how they are feeling. One of my long-term goals is to start a sibling support group in the future.

I would like to become a teacher-leader by increasing my knowledge about education. I would like to learn effective practices for teaching both students and staff members. Hopefully, I will be able to model leadership skills in the classroom that the rest of my staff will adopt and use. Finally, upon completion of my Masters Degree, I will sit for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst exam.

 I am applying for a grant to start a garden with my classroom. I would appreciate any input…

1. Why do you want to garden with children at your school or daycare? (250 words maximum) I work in an inclusive preschool designed to educate children with autism side-by-side with their typically developing peers. The Doggie’s Den classroom has eight typically developing children and four children with autism. Although all of our children will learn from gardening, I think gardening will be especially beneficial for our children with autism. For example, the sensory aspects of gardening (the smell of the flowers, the texture of the soil, watching water being poured, etc.) would attract the children with autism. Our garden would also be a common interest for all children and we could use this to teach beginning conversation skills, work on sharing and demonstrate how each child can contribute in their own way. We are confident that pride in a finished product will motivate a number of our students to seek interaction and approval from their peers (“Look what I planted!”) and foster friendships among the students. These are all lessons which cannot be “taught” in the traditional sense, but must be applied in the context of daily life so that our students can generalize what they learn in the classroom to their surrounding environments.  Finally, our preschool is currently embarking upon NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) Accreditation and we are attempting to fulfill all necessary requirements. Many of the components TSA needs, such as teaching the difference between living and nonliving things, exploration of life cycles, and data collection can all be incorporated into our daily classroom routine through gardening.
   2. How do you plan to use the garden with the children? How will you tie it to your curriculum? (250 words maximum) Our classroom is based on incidental teaching which provides learning opportunities in the natural environment by using what the child is interested in. Classroom lessons consist of curriculum goals incidentally introduced into activities our students already find naturally rewarding and exciting.  Not only is this method of teaching enjoyable for the teachers and students alike, but it is also supported by research and data to be an extremely effective method by which to teach children with autism so that their skills generalize to new environments. Teachers follow the students’ interests and incorporate specific curriculum goals into the activities children naturally gravitate toward.  We think the garden will be highly motivating for our students and we will use it as a tool to teach about nature and plant life, in addition to contributing to independence and creative thinking abilities.  TSA already has a number of  curriculum plans in place that involve themes connected to nature and the environment, and the garden will be a place we can further introduce the children to information about numbers, seasons, temperature, time, environment, habitat, community roles, and responsibility.  Instead of just looking at pictures of plants we will be able to go outside and study them. An already established part of our daily routine is Circle Time where we gather for music, stories, and other activities.  Maintaining, tending, and documenting the growth of our garden will be a perfect addition to our Circle Time, in addition to numerous math, science, and sensory activities.
  3. How will you involve parents and volunteers in your program? What are your plans for sustaining your garden and gardening program? (250 words maximum) We have very active room mothers at our school and they will help us plan a planting party at the beginning of the summer. We intend to invite friends and family of the preschool as well as neighbors from our area. We hope that having this planting party will give our families an opportunity to interact and socialize while helping us dig, plant, and water. At the end of the summer we will have another party where the parents, friends and neighbors will be able to see how our garden has grown. Our students will also be able to show off their achievements and this should increase their sense of self-worth.  As for sustainability, we plan to make gardening a daily part of our Circle Time. The whole classroom will go outside as a group and after observing the changes in our garden we will all take care of it.  Also, each of our children is assigned a daily job and we will be adding plant watering as one of the jobs. 

For the last four years I have always considered a behavior analyst and never a teacher. However, in the last two weeks I have realized that I am both. The first literature I read in this program was about the REACH model and teacher-leaders.  After reading it, I thought of myself not only as a teacher, but as a teacher leader.

I loved this article and it helped me evaluate myself. My biggest strength is definitely risk-taking. “Risk takers have often been called ‘movers and shakers’ because of their responsiveness to problems and their willingness to participate in decision making, to ‘shake up’ the system, and to tackle the status quo.” This was my favorite part of the article. I believe it explains my professional success. I have always tackled problems head on and I believe that is why I am in my position at such a young age. I also believe I have a strong internal locus of control. This helps me stay motivated when one of my students is having problems.

A problem I have been having lately is that I don’t spend as much time with the kids as I would like. Half of my day is in the classroom but the other half is spent training staff, creating programs, setting goals and creating curriculum. I miss being in the classroom and I thought it was interesting that Katzenmeyer and Gayle (1996) said, “our definition of teacher leadership maintains that teachers stay in their classrooms if they choose.” I wish that my center was more accepting of the assumptions of teacher leadership.

I also love the idea of learning communities. I feel like a lot of the staff (myself included) can be extremely competitive as well as arrogant. Maybe it is a personality type that you need to have to be in this field but a lot of us seem to have problems admitting when we are worng and asking for help from others. If we became a learning community, everyone would have input and problems would be solved much more effectively.

Katzenmeyer, M., & Moller, G. (2001). Awakening the Sleeping Giant.