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//13 Steps to Empowering Teachers// - Chapters 2 - 6

Better Late Than Nonviable Blog Entry # 3

This week, I took the opportunity to catch up on my reading in the common class text, 13 Steps to Teacher Empowerment by Steven Zemelman and Harry Ross. I had been falling behind; and it felt good to get to where the syllabus says I should be. An interesting situation occurred that made the reading feel less mandatory and more keenly focused on what I need to be thinking about at the present time. I experienced, first hand, what the book said in the foreword written by Stephanie Harvey. "I didn't come across a sentence that was not worth pondering for a moment or two or a concept that wasn't worthy of some deep thought. This book rocks!" As she suggested, I settled in "with a pen in hand so [I could] jot in the margins, mark important spots with sticky notes, and fill up the book with [my] own thoughts" (Zemelman viii). The book spoke to me; and the time I spent catching up on the reading this week will be multiplied as it transforms words on a page into serious shifts in my thinking about teaching and about myself as a leader in my school.

The first "Ah-ha moment" for me was the defining of leadership as small, manageable steps, intentional actions, that require nothing except a will to change and a commitment to be that change we wish to see. The book is laid out in a manner that builds on itself. A teacher leader must start with themselves before any change can occur outside of themselves. After we have our philosophies outlined and understood; then, we must get to know the students we are trying to teach. Who are these young humans? What makes them tick? The young people in our classrooms themselves provide the proving ground for what we believe as educators. It is only with their help, engagement and cooperation that we can do our jobs. The chapter on shadowing a student helped me see that I have lost my student perspective; and I need to seriously consider refocusing on what it is like to sit in the students' seats. Besides being too hard on my backside, I wonder if I were to shadow them, would I condemn my teaching practice as focused on my needs, goals and understanding of the subject matter. Would my students be able to tell an adult shadowing them the rationale to my lessons? Do they know why it is important to follow this proscribed list of steps in order to arrive at a state mandated learning outcome? This is something about which I need much reflection.

Another call to action came on page 76. Here I am, a passionate and somewhat effective English teacher, and I have been neglecting my own reflection. The suggestion of keeping a journal that focuses on my beliefs, practices and learning goals is a must. I am embarrassed to have neglected such a helpful reflection tool. I am also mortified as to what my students would say of my intellectual hypocrisy, as I daily extoll to them the virtues of written reflection as it pertains to the learning process and to the desired growth of a learner's mind. I am a student of how to become a better, more effective teacher leader in my school; and here I am avoiding the very tool I mandate the biweekly use of in my classes.

My eyes are beginning to open. I understand now where I must start. 13 Steps to Teacher Empowerment has given me a valuable glimpse into what I have always said I believe and what, when push came to shove, I had woefully neglected. I am thankful for the opportunity to read a book that is well-written, interesting, and keenly focused on the things I need to know now. It is eerily similar to the exchange on page 52. The cosmos was "waiting until [I] was ready to ask" before it could point me to the jumping off place.