I've got an interesting speech to give this week. I'm talking about what exactly teacher leadership means to a group of teachers in my district who just earned certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
In it, I begin a list of things that I would consider to be examples of "teacher leadership." My goal is to provide concrete definitions of teacher leadership for teachers and principals to refer to. Read through my speech and see if you can add some more specific roles that teacher leaders fill in the comment section:
First, whenever I speak to a group of teachers like this, I like to be completely sure that I'm actually speaking to National Board Certified teachers. Call it my own little "letter of verification." So I'm going to share a collection of statements with you, and I want you to raise your hands each time you hear one that resonates with you.
Let's start simply: Raise your hand if you thought the little blue box that landed on your doorstep last fall looked pretty harmless when it first arrived. Now raise your hand if your mind changed round about December when your spouse and children were distant memories and your computer had replaced your best friends.
Yup. National Board Certified Teachers.
Now raise your hand if the term 'assessment center' still gives you nightmares. Me too! Raise your hand if you ever cursed the margin and font size rules of the Board, just knowing that if you had a little more space you would be SURE to certify. Raise your hand if you ever panicked after sealing one of your entries in those seemingly indestructible plastic baggies because you weren't sure that you put the right entry in the bag.
Those guys are National Board Certified!
