Here are a few things that I can’t do without:

·      Structure (set the habits)- In a school and classroom, plan and organize appropriately.

·      Rigor- Push yourself and your team to be the best and always look to move from “good to great” while having high but clear and attainable expectations.

·      Respect (culture)- Have and demonstrate respect for everyone in the community and value their individuality (teacher-teacher as well as teacher-student which leads to student-student).

·      Collaboration and Teamwork- Be there for one another. Be a student and a teacher. Be willing to teach/coach and be willing to learn. Accept that you will be in and out of both of those roles your entire life. 

Ok, so after reading Greens sections on the various leadership styles, I found it to be kind of difficult to label my leadership skills. I was taking a look at the various quadrants to place myself in and I figured that I would just take it one quadrant of a time. First, looking at figure 2.1, Four Quadrants of Leadership, I would consider myself to be in the high structure/high consideration quadrant. When I think about structure, I consider the many times that I have helped my colleagues with lesson plans, field studies, cross content collaboration, classroom management, and more. When doing this, I try to make sure that everything is available for them, that everything in understandable. I then think about how I check in to either hold them accountable, in a non-threatening way, or offer a chance for them to try it out and give feedback that we can then discuss together. Another way that I feel that I help push my fellow teachers is by offering my hand in connecting reading and writing strategies into their classroom. I have to consider that not all teachers learn to teach reading and writing and that it seems to be what the students do in every class. I have often met with our principal to discuss ways in which I can assist them without overstepping and making them feel overwhelmed. When I think about High consideration, I think about a few of the areas that I had just mentioned. I try my best and believe that I am considered to be approachable. My fellow teachers do not hesitate to ask for assistance, which also tells me that they can trust me. I also feel that it is important to check in with them as a team before making any large decisions that may affect their teaching. I realize that I only touched on one of the quadrants, but I would also like to connect this to feeling as though I would fall in the High Task/High Relationship quadrant. I feel that I push my team to be the best that they can be, but I do this in a team fashion. One way in which I do this is by offering room for suggestions so that everyone is taking ownership. I often invite fellow teachers in to observe so that I can show them how I would approach the task, then meet with them in a debrief, and then on to planning and working with them before they try it on their own. I know that although I place my leadership style in these quadrants, I have lots of room to grow and I am still in the practicing stages of my leadership and understand that I may not always be doing as great as I think that I am. I believe that an important part of this though is to stay positive for myself and for my team. I also understand that this may not be what I do all of the time, but it is the path that I believe is most effective and want to practice.