Whether they know it or not, I believe all teachers are leaders. I think it is impossible to have a job in which you are required to work with over a hundred children on a daily basis without being a leader. However, leadership can take many different forms.
In my first year at T.L. Weston, the school lacked structure and leadership . There were lots of fights, constant class disruptions, and there was no consistent discipline system. Teachers had the option of assigning students to and holding their own after school detention. This created a lot of extra work for teachers, so most of the teachers tried other forms of discipline. In my opinion, teachers should always have the best interests of the students at heart. Being liked by the students is often very different from doing what is best for the students. I believed it was in the best interests of my students to hold them accountable for their actions in my classroom even if the school did not have the resources for an effective discipline system. I communicated with parents on almost a daily basis and chose to hold after school detention in the hopes that the students would learn to take responsibility for their own time and education. I issued numerous detentions each day in addition to making the parent phone call to schedule it. |
After switching to North Panola for my second year, one of my main goals was to inspire a curiosity in science among the students. Science is such a fun, hands-on subject, and I believed the students needed to experience science outside of a classroom. In the second semester, I took the initiative of planning a field trip for my Geology students at Tishomingo State Park. I contacted an Ole Miss geology professor and scheduled guest speakers for the classroom as well as information on the fieldwork performed by the college students at Tishomingo. For many students, this was their first time observing and understanding geological structures, and for many others, it was their first time visiting a state park. I hope the field trip exposed the students to new things and encouraged them to think about science as more than just a subject in school.
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