Building Teacher Leadership

I am still here! My first post was a month ago and I have been waiting to post until school started back up. Well...it has started and it has been fast and furious. Just the way I like it. We welcomed our fabulous teachers on August 10 and it was great to see their smiling faces. They worked so hard getting their rooms together and preparing for the new school year.



As you know I am very passionate about teaching and believe all administrators should continue to teach so we stay connected on what's going on in the classroom. I also believe that as an administrator it is important that we build leadership among our teachers. My  principal and I are giving our teachers more opportunities this year to do just that! The first set of teachers that led a professional development for our campus were Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Roberson. Their professional development was over Super Improver Boards and Practice Boards. Here is a GREAT post about the Super Improver board from 3rd Grade Thoughts.

Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Roberson did a fabulous job and we learned so much from their expertise. It is important to build leadership within our schools. These teachers are in the trenches every day and have valuable knowledge and expertise to share. Having teacher led professional development encourages collaboration not only with teachers but with the administrators as well.

As an assistant principal I learn so much from my teachers on how I can become a better teacher. I walked into a 1st grade classroom this week and saw the students paying the game below. They call it Wacka Word. The students LOVED the activity and so did I! This activity can be used for phonics, spelling, and so much more!



Seeing this activity and other great activities inspired me to do an Activity Trade-Show with our teachers. Basically, our teacher leaders will pick one of their favorite activities and will set up a table in the cafeteria. They will provide handouts to the teachers on the materials needed for the activity and the directions. As each teacher goes from table to table the teacher will demonstrate the activity in 5 minutes or less.  This event will take place October 10 so stay tuned! (I will be having a table set up too!)

I hope you are having a fantastic week. I am off to TEACH a first grade lesson!