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Leadership Today
Your beliefs do not make you a better person, your behavior does. This statements rings true on so many occasions, but none more than education. Education and school have always been the central point, hub if you will, of our communities. Traditionally, schools have always been relied on for instilling wisdom and knowledge for our present and current generations, but more so for the connections they create among the community. Teachers were always looked upon and respected for their work they do with their students as they were responsible for making an effort to connect with parents and families to bring them in on the learning process. They developed intelligence, but more so, they developed good people. It truly takes a village to take on such a responsibility as these traditions remain true today.
As an educational leader, it is my belief that bringing a community together to share the leadership in many different aspects is essential. In many professional reads, you will see gurus like Todd Whitaker, Robert Marzano, and Simon Sinek mention in their own words, “leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” Within the school community, it all starts at the top in working with others to develop their leadership in every position and level. To do so, you focus on an individual’s strengths through strength-based inquiry. This shows that you value their expertise first, which builds trust, and establishes a relationship. This is vital to the morale of an organization. Only then, you can look to help people develop in other areas. Establishing these relationships helps to push everyone, including yourself, be better every day. When this belief is held and acted upon, it eventually translates down to students in the classroom. Effective teachers are effective leaders and will model this same approach you have with their students. Building leadership in all areas will help us be more successful within our vision of putting students first and make our world a better place.
With this focus on developing leadership, schools will be more successful in navigating our ever-changing world, and more importantly, lead change. Our society is constantly changing. Schools must adapt to best serve our students for their future and their present. It is the schools and leaders that are willing to adapt and learn from the changes now who will be the ones most likely to be successful in the future. We see these changes in our world every single day. We see different jobs popping up, others disappearing, beliefs and morals transitioning to new times, and more people utilizing technology as an essential component of life. We must look to develop students who are not only ready for these changes, but other changes to come. To do so, it involves promoting that leadership within our educators by instilling upon them the desire to develop and further the organization. Instilling this mindset, gives a share of ownership to all which promotes better systems that focus on student achievement through all hands, and minds, on deck. We must look and build on what has worked, what is working, and what will work as we move forward with our systems currently in place.
One of the biggest changes our world is seeing is this idea of everything in our environment becoming transparent. As a school leader, I have the benefit of becoming better in all aspects of education by visiting classrooms and seeing what effective teachers are doing. Teachers do not always have the same opportunity because of the way the system is set. However, nowadays because of the newest technology like Twitter and professional websites, or blogs, we can now open up our classrooms to other educators within our schools, our state, and our world. This worldwide collaboration helps us focus on what is most important, and that is what is best for our students. Now, more than ever with our very connected society, we cannot only look out for our own students, but must look out for others from around the world. We must create a culture of sharing within our community that allows us to learn from others around the globe and within our own community. There are so many valuable resources in our world that we must tap. We must bring in as many as we can to continuously learn and grow; to better our world.
In addition, we must have a purpose within our systems. This includes parents, who are a great resource that is often underutilized within our own communities. 20 years ago, it was common for students to go home and be asked the question, “what did you learn today?’, and respond with, “nothing.” Today, we can no longer have this happen in order to keep up with our world. We must open our doors to our schools and classrooms through as many avenues as possible, including through technology. We have the opportunity to make a huge positive impact on so many children and their families. We can have parents actively involved in the process of learning which will lead to a higher chance of opportunity for success of all students. As many teachers would say, there are never enough hands and minds in education. The more we can involve parents in the learning process at home, the more likely students will be successful, not only in school, but in life to come. Community is essential as it is the heartbeat of the education system.
In conclusion, I believe in building relationships, developing leaders, and focusing on our schools as the central point of our community. With this beliefs, we are more likely to create an environment where our students are building their today, and their tomorrow. With our rapidly changing world, we will continue to look at what has worked before while looking to develop our future. In doing so, our community is more likely to be able to come together to create the schools our kids need. In return, we will be making our global community a better place for future generations to come.
Teaching Today
Teaching is a profession that is more about building everlasting relationships than it is about collecting a salary. My name is Robert Cawson and I am a fifth grade teacher at Glencairn Elementary for East Lansing Public Schools. I have held typical teaching responsibilities on top of seeking outside professional development, leading a school’s Safety Patrol Program, studied Public Administration, and represented districts as an ELA Leader. I hold a positive leadership role within the building because I feel responsible for maintaining and encouraging constant positive communication among colleagues, students and the community. Some of my essential and specific responsibilities include planning, evaluating student growth, and communicating professional development experiences. I continue to work hard to increase my knowledge on how to improve student learning and growth and will continue to communicate my knowledge to others to improve the learning community of Glencairn Elementary and East Lansing Public Schools.
Prior to my current employment, I taught for four years in the Swartz Creek Community School District. I spent two years of my career in a first grade classroom and the following two years in a fourth grade classroom. Even before that, I served as a lead Child Care Assistant for Fenton Public Schools. I remained within the Fenton School district for over 5 years. During this time, I worked within the district’s summer camp program promoting literacy and science to the students. I worked diligently within the districts after school care program at Tomek Eastern Elementary during the actual school year. It was here when I became the lead assistant as I was recognized as a leader amongst the staff for promoting such passion for student growth and learning. I acknowledge that if it was not for my time spent within the Fenton Public School system, I would not be where I am today.
I earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education degree from the University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, Michigan with minor concentrations in social studies, language arts and integrated science. I have also recently completed my Masters in Public Administration there.
I believe education should focus on the whole child, rather than just the content, or the teacher. Learning is active, not always passive. Therefore, students should test ideas through active experimentation. Students should be encouraged to problem solve and critically think by making meaning through his or her individual experiences. Essentially, I want my students to learn by “doing”. It will be my duty to provide them with the classroom experiences that encourage critical thinking and problem solving. Stemming from that, I will guide my lessons based on student interests and questions to encourage student learning and growth. This student first mindset will give my students ownership within the curriculum. This means teaching should be student-centered, not teacher-centered. By emphasizing student-centered learning, we will better maximize all of our students’ potential and further their academic achievement.
Teachers should not only teach students the basic academics, but teach them how to be leaders and respected citizens of our future. Teachers can promote this through shared decision making, planning with students, as well as teaching student-selected topics. More accountability can also be placed on the students’ shoulders for their academic learning and behavior. I will promote the idea of graphing student progress, both academically and socially. By emphasizing the idea of leadership, we will be leading our students to becoming responsible, productive and participating members of society.
It is my desire as an educator to help students meet their fullest potential by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invites sharing of ideas. I will strive to build strong relationships by getting to know each of them personally, while allowing them to do the same with each other. I will be sure to encourage all students to express themselves within class meetings and other means. I believe children have greater respect for their teachers, their peers, and the lessons presented when they feel safe and sure of what is expected of them. I will also figure out what type of learners my students are, so my teaching can be tailored towards their needs. I will be sure to tweak my teaching to fit around their interests and emphasize topics that are relevant to their own life. Thus, my students will not dread coming to my class, but instead will look forward to what they may experience. I will always work to inspire and motivate my students through means of active learning. Active learning will keep my students involved in the learning process, helping them to feel apart of the classroom experience and build a culture of learning.
My role will be to guide student learning by providing access to means of information and not simply acting as the primary source. This will promote the idea of discovery. Through discovery, students learn to find answers to their own questions. This will help students construct knowledge by learning within authentic situations. Providing students access to hands-on activities and allowing adequate time and space to use materials that reinforce the lesson being studied, creates an opportunity for individual discovery and construction of knowledge to occur.
I also believe it is critical that I take part as an active leader, both within the classroom and the community. By doing so, I will display the willingness to take initiative and solve problems when I encounter them. I will not shy away from any situation, but rather address the situation with good judgment. I will seek to find an answer, even when there doesn’t seem to be any. Essentially, it is important to realize that there is never a situation too big or too small to take care of. I want my students to recognize my part in the classroom and be able to approach me whenever in need. The same is true for the stakeholders in the community. It is my duty to help them in any way morally possible.
Overall, I want my students to leave my class in better shape than what they entered. I want to share my passion for continued learning and personal growth and instill a love of learning within them. I would do anything in order to help my students succeed as citizens of tomorrow. Finally, I will remain a compassionate and dedicated individual who is excited to work with children everyday. I will always be sensitive to my students needs and strive to be the best teacher that I can be.
As an educational leader, it is my belief that bringing a community together to share the leadership in many different aspects is essential. In many professional reads, you will see gurus like Todd Whitaker, Robert Marzano, and Simon Sinek mention in their own words, “leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” Within the school community, it all starts at the top in working with others to develop their leadership in every position and level. To do so, you focus on an individual’s strengths through strength-based inquiry. This shows that you value their expertise first, which builds trust, and establishes a relationship. This is vital to the morale of an organization. Only then, you can look to help people develop in other areas. Establishing these relationships helps to push everyone, including yourself, be better every day. When this belief is held and acted upon, it eventually translates down to students in the classroom. Effective teachers are effective leaders and will model this same approach you have with their students. Building leadership in all areas will help us be more successful within our vision of putting students first and make our world a better place.
With this focus on developing leadership, schools will be more successful in navigating our ever-changing world, and more importantly, lead change. Our society is constantly changing. Schools must adapt to best serve our students for their future and their present. It is the schools and leaders that are willing to adapt and learn from the changes now who will be the ones most likely to be successful in the future. We see these changes in our world every single day. We see different jobs popping up, others disappearing, beliefs and morals transitioning to new times, and more people utilizing technology as an essential component of life. We must look to develop students who are not only ready for these changes, but other changes to come. To do so, it involves promoting that leadership within our educators by instilling upon them the desire to develop and further the organization. Instilling this mindset, gives a share of ownership to all which promotes better systems that focus on student achievement through all hands, and minds, on deck. We must look and build on what has worked, what is working, and what will work as we move forward with our systems currently in place.
One of the biggest changes our world is seeing is this idea of everything in our environment becoming transparent. As a school leader, I have the benefit of becoming better in all aspects of education by visiting classrooms and seeing what effective teachers are doing. Teachers do not always have the same opportunity because of the way the system is set. However, nowadays because of the newest technology like Twitter and professional websites, or blogs, we can now open up our classrooms to other educators within our schools, our state, and our world. This worldwide collaboration helps us focus on what is most important, and that is what is best for our students. Now, more than ever with our very connected society, we cannot only look out for our own students, but must look out for others from around the world. We must create a culture of sharing within our community that allows us to learn from others around the globe and within our own community. There are so many valuable resources in our world that we must tap. We must bring in as many as we can to continuously learn and grow; to better our world.
In addition, we must have a purpose within our systems. This includes parents, who are a great resource that is often underutilized within our own communities. 20 years ago, it was common for students to go home and be asked the question, “what did you learn today?’, and respond with, “nothing.” Today, we can no longer have this happen in order to keep up with our world. We must open our doors to our schools and classrooms through as many avenues as possible, including through technology. We have the opportunity to make a huge positive impact on so many children and their families. We can have parents actively involved in the process of learning which will lead to a higher chance of opportunity for success of all students. As many teachers would say, there are never enough hands and minds in education. The more we can involve parents in the learning process at home, the more likely students will be successful, not only in school, but in life to come. Community is essential as it is the heartbeat of the education system.
In conclusion, I believe in building relationships, developing leaders, and focusing on our schools as the central point of our community. With this beliefs, we are more likely to create an environment where our students are building their today, and their tomorrow. With our rapidly changing world, we will continue to look at what has worked before while looking to develop our future. In doing so, our community is more likely to be able to come together to create the schools our kids need. In return, we will be making our global community a better place for future generations to come.
Teaching Today
Teaching is a profession that is more about building everlasting relationships than it is about collecting a salary. My name is Robert Cawson and I am a fifth grade teacher at Glencairn Elementary for East Lansing Public Schools. I have held typical teaching responsibilities on top of seeking outside professional development, leading a school’s Safety Patrol Program, studied Public Administration, and represented districts as an ELA Leader. I hold a positive leadership role within the building because I feel responsible for maintaining and encouraging constant positive communication among colleagues, students and the community. Some of my essential and specific responsibilities include planning, evaluating student growth, and communicating professional development experiences. I continue to work hard to increase my knowledge on how to improve student learning and growth and will continue to communicate my knowledge to others to improve the learning community of Glencairn Elementary and East Lansing Public Schools.
Prior to my current employment, I taught for four years in the Swartz Creek Community School District. I spent two years of my career in a first grade classroom and the following two years in a fourth grade classroom. Even before that, I served as a lead Child Care Assistant for Fenton Public Schools. I remained within the Fenton School district for over 5 years. During this time, I worked within the district’s summer camp program promoting literacy and science to the students. I worked diligently within the districts after school care program at Tomek Eastern Elementary during the actual school year. It was here when I became the lead assistant as I was recognized as a leader amongst the staff for promoting such passion for student growth and learning. I acknowledge that if it was not for my time spent within the Fenton Public School system, I would not be where I am today.
I earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education degree from the University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, Michigan with minor concentrations in social studies, language arts and integrated science. I have also recently completed my Masters in Public Administration there.
I believe education should focus on the whole child, rather than just the content, or the teacher. Learning is active, not always passive. Therefore, students should test ideas through active experimentation. Students should be encouraged to problem solve and critically think by making meaning through his or her individual experiences. Essentially, I want my students to learn by “doing”. It will be my duty to provide them with the classroom experiences that encourage critical thinking and problem solving. Stemming from that, I will guide my lessons based on student interests and questions to encourage student learning and growth. This student first mindset will give my students ownership within the curriculum. This means teaching should be student-centered, not teacher-centered. By emphasizing student-centered learning, we will better maximize all of our students’ potential and further their academic achievement.
Teachers should not only teach students the basic academics, but teach them how to be leaders and respected citizens of our future. Teachers can promote this through shared decision making, planning with students, as well as teaching student-selected topics. More accountability can also be placed on the students’ shoulders for their academic learning and behavior. I will promote the idea of graphing student progress, both academically and socially. By emphasizing the idea of leadership, we will be leading our students to becoming responsible, productive and participating members of society.
It is my desire as an educator to help students meet their fullest potential by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invites sharing of ideas. I will strive to build strong relationships by getting to know each of them personally, while allowing them to do the same with each other. I will be sure to encourage all students to express themselves within class meetings and other means. I believe children have greater respect for their teachers, their peers, and the lessons presented when they feel safe and sure of what is expected of them. I will also figure out what type of learners my students are, so my teaching can be tailored towards their needs. I will be sure to tweak my teaching to fit around their interests and emphasize topics that are relevant to their own life. Thus, my students will not dread coming to my class, but instead will look forward to what they may experience. I will always work to inspire and motivate my students through means of active learning. Active learning will keep my students involved in the learning process, helping them to feel apart of the classroom experience and build a culture of learning.
My role will be to guide student learning by providing access to means of information and not simply acting as the primary source. This will promote the idea of discovery. Through discovery, students learn to find answers to their own questions. This will help students construct knowledge by learning within authentic situations. Providing students access to hands-on activities and allowing adequate time and space to use materials that reinforce the lesson being studied, creates an opportunity for individual discovery and construction of knowledge to occur.
I also believe it is critical that I take part as an active leader, both within the classroom and the community. By doing so, I will display the willingness to take initiative and solve problems when I encounter them. I will not shy away from any situation, but rather address the situation with good judgment. I will seek to find an answer, even when there doesn’t seem to be any. Essentially, it is important to realize that there is never a situation too big or too small to take care of. I want my students to recognize my part in the classroom and be able to approach me whenever in need. The same is true for the stakeholders in the community. It is my duty to help them in any way morally possible.
Overall, I want my students to leave my class in better shape than what they entered. I want to share my passion for continued learning and personal growth and instill a love of learning within them. I would do anything in order to help my students succeed as citizens of tomorrow. Finally, I will remain a compassionate and dedicated individual who is excited to work with children everyday. I will always be sensitive to my students needs and strive to be the best teacher that I can be.