Teacher Leadership Mini-Series: F.E.E.D the Teacher Leader in You! Part #2: Engagement

Greetings everyone and welcome to my blog this week! I'm so glad you're here for our mini-series leading up to a great event at the end of the month: the KDP, Delta Rho Teacher Leadership Development Summit on 2/24/24. It is a free virtual summit open to all educators everywhere! Please visit my social media for information, or reach out to me! Our theme this year is “Leaders are hungry... F.E.E.D the teacher leader in you!” Each week we will break down F.E.E.D and get excited to hear our amazing presenters and keynote speakers that will give us the fuel we need to confidently lead in our classrooms, schools, and beyond!

Last week we talked about “F”- foundations. Discovering our own definition for teacher leadership is the foundation for growing as a teacher leader, and embracing the role. Foundational skills also include knowing yourself as a leader, and believing you are one. Self-reflection, networking and professional learning are great ways to establish your foundation to starting your leadership journey.

This week let’s move to “E”- Engagement. This is important for teachers of all levels of experience to feel fully engaged with their work and purpose. Feeling as though you belong and have professional goals that allow you to grow for yourself and your students raises your energy, which then has a positive impact on your teaching. It's a cycle that consistently gives on all levels. Engagement is all about what you make of it! There’s no right or wrong way to define it, as long as you feel fulfilled by what you're partaking in.

There are many different ways to stay engaged with our profession that can highlight our interests and passion projects. Taking the time to find others who have the same interests is key. Start by looking on social media for groups and organizations that steer learning in the areas you're most interested in. Don't be afraid to take the first steps in asking a question, sharing a piece of advice, or answering someone's question. Even if you're a pre-service or early career educator, you must embrace the mindset you have something to contribute... because you do! Staying engaged can mean keeping up with the latest research and sharing articles with others. Perhaps you want to be the leader of a book club or podcast study for your grade level or department team. For seasoned teachers, sharing your experiences with pre-service or early career educators is a great way to feel connected and truly engage with others and yourself as a teacher. When we focus on these areas, we find ourselves naturally falling into a leadership role for others, and learning how to grow into this role further. It may not appear this way at first because we are focused on what we are doing and sharing what we care about. Valorie Burton suggests this as a mindset for the Five Questions Every Resilient Leader Asks themselves. In my opinion, when we alter our thinking to "I'm serving others" and not "How am I as a leader right now?" that’s when we can call ourselves a leader! A leader remains focused on serving others, accomplishing a task, and making a difference... in other words, leaders engage with their work from all angles.

People often ask me how I keep up my enthusiasm for teaching and stay engaged. I make it a point to take time to focus on what it is I love about teaching and learning. It's not selfish to focus on what you love learning about. It's our own learning passions that we engage with that come off the best in our teaching practice. Sharing my personal experiences in the classroom as well as opportunities for professional learning are what helps me to feel motivated and stay engaged with the profession. I also recognize that I’m continuing my own personal growth journey and have learned from my mistakes. Engagement is not just about what we do within the profession, but our own moments where we reflect and are mindful of our practice and experiences. I feel that in order to truly be present and engage with others, we must first engage with ourselves as teachers and lifelong learners...

I hope to see you all at our Teacher Leadership Development Summit on February 24th to learn more about the foundations of teacher leadership and expand what being a teacher leader means to you!

Final Thoughts: Keep thinking about what areas you wish to learn more about and grow in. Keep finding ways to increase your engagement in your work. Keep in mind being engaged is what you make of it, and sharing your enthusiasm with others will be contagious! Finally, keep focusing on your growth as a teacher leader- you are worth it, and you are a leader!