Fabricar humanidad, by José

Humanity has a long the years evolved through a process called evolution. Humans are the specie that seems to have evolved into a more complex specie, in comparison with other animal in the world. But as Savater says we are the only specie which need to live a process to become humans, he thinks that we are born as a being lack of humanity and that to reach the name of humans we need to be in touch with society which helps us to reborn as useful human beings of the society.

Savater gives the example of children who had to grow up with animals, who we not able to develop inner characteristics that we as humans beings share, because of the lack of humans and the society itself to teach a language, a culture, a proper way to see the world as a community. Based on this example, Savater concludes that we are the only animals which are born twice, first as animals and second as humans. In this way, education has a very important role in the society as a factory of humans, where we learn not only knowledge, but also where we socialize with others and learn polite ways to use in the society.

We are also required to acquire the necessary abilities to govern others as active participants of a society where inevitable we will have to govern and be governed, to persuade and to recognize when we have to be persuaded by other’s ideas; because finally, ideas are those we must debate, and let the best ones succeed.

Analysis of “Fabricar humanidad”: Shary

Savater, in this article, highlighted the importance of teaching humans to develop that humanity. He believes that teaching is a lot more than the passing on of knowledge and I agree with him. Teaching has a key role in a person’s life. It is during our school years that we find our friends, learn, grow, develop… Today school has an even bigger role with the amount of time kids spend there, the “parent-role” teachers have gained, and, of course the wide variety of extra curricular activities. Understanding and communication are two of the abilities we need more to be good humans. Through good communication and the understanding of others’ needs and feelings we can develop as human beings.
We must never forget that we need each other; we are not alone in this planet. It is necessary to keep always in mind that our feelings play a major role in our lives: learning about emotional intelligence can help us.
Teachers should be aware that they are teaching more than content; we are helping kids become humans. That is the reason why teaching values is so significant. We are spectators as well as performers in the creation of a new person and we must not take this task lightly.
As Savater wrote, “All democratic teaching is teaching of princes,” thus teaching should be considered highly important: we make society what it is. Forming the future rulers of our society is our main priority; and, if we want to have good, kind, just… rulers we have to teach our students to be that kind of people from the very beginning. We work for the sovereigns of our world!

What makes a teacher effective? by Jorge and Shary

As students we know perfectly well what we do not want in a teacher, we have criticized endlessly those teachers who were hypocrites or those who had no passion in what they were trying to teach us. We have a clear idea on what kind of teacher we want to be, we have set our minds to follow the examples of the good teachers we had. As teacher that’s a question we ask ourselves every time we start a school year, a course, a new level… because we want to be good teachers.
The desire to be a good teacher is a good start. Some skills can make our life as teacher a lot less complicated and a lot more enjoyable, by developing them you can not only help yourself but also your students.
Firstly you must work on your decision making. Secondly, you need to have the right attitude. Thirdly, you need to have knowledge on very specific areas. Finally you need to develop teaching skills.
Decision making- Teachers have to make decisions all the time. The decisions can be related to the planning, implementing or evaluating phases. When planning the teacher needs to decide not only on the contents he/she wants the students to work on but also on the strategies and activities he/she will use to teach those contents. His/her decision should answer the questions what, how, when and why. The implementing phase occurs when the teacher is actually teaching and here he/she will have to decide on how to attack the problems that come up during the lesson. Knowing the students, their learning styles, their backgrounds, preferences… comes in handy during this stage. The final phase, evaluating, requires the teacher to decide on the way he/she will measure the success of the activity and whether or not her objectives were met.
Attitude- A teacher’s personality is also very important; students show more interest and better results when they feel they can trust their teacher and when the teacher is nice and respectful. The teacher’s attitude can change the environment in the class, there are four categories he/she needs to work on: attitude toward self, toward children and their relationship, toward peers and parents, and toward the subject he/she teaches. It is crucial that the teacher knows and understands him/herself in order to be able to identify and understand other people’s emotions and actions. Another aspect teachers need to remember is the influence their actions have on the students (especially kids and teens), it is key that the teacher watches his/her behavior and treats students equally and with respect. A good teacher is a real person with good and bad days but is also someone who values his/her students and shows empathy and understanding. The teacher’s attitude toward peers and parents is also crucial, it is necessary that the teacher sees them as collaborators rather than obstacles, only then he/she can benefit and work well in his/her workplace. The attitude toward the subject the teacher is facilitating should be of passion, enthusiasm; the teacher should love, or at least like the subject to transmit this enthusiasm to the students.
Knowledge- Three kinds of knowledge are required from the teacher: knowledge on the subject, knowledge on human behavior and theoretical knowledge. It is more than obvious that the teacher needs to know as much as possible on the subject he/she teaches, but that is not all, they also need to know the methods to teach the contents, understand the curriculum and know about what is expected from his/her students. It is also needed from the teacher to know how people work, learn and interact. Sometimes students need professional help; the teacher needs to be constantly monitoring students to find out what they are requiring or lacking.
In order to become an effective teacher it is important to master some skills. The skills that have been chosen as essential are: asking questions, reinforcing certain kinds of behavior, diagnosing student needs and difficulties, keeping students involved, being able to recognize when students are paying attention, using technology, making learning meaningful and assessing that learning. The previous skills need to be practiced to the point that they become automatic to the teacher. Later on the teacher can focus on communicating to students by their behavior, on not interfering with the flow of the class and not slowing down the pace of the lesson. This can be reached by establishing clearly defined rules and routines (the more involved the students are the better), ensuring that students are committed to the rules and demands, and by involving the families
Remember that just as the girl in the case study (Carol Landis) a new teacher is bombarded with doubts, questions, insecurity and lack of confidence. No matter how many A’s or how many years if college one has gone through the real learning comes when we are faced with reality and have to put into practice all the acquired knowledge. The problem is that no one told us what to do if a student falls for you or if another student has a serious problem with authority and it’s in these moments when we could use a hand.

Personal analysis and application of two strategies-Shary

Strategy 2: Identify and Create Opportunities
Strategy 7: Support Teacher Leaders
These two strategies can be very helpful to enhance teacher leadership. In the article it is shown how teacher who want to improve are always in the lookout for this opportunities, and how by demonstrating they are capable and receiving their authorities’ support they can reach their goals.
From my personal experience I can say that both have helped me grow as a teacher. I think that when things are not happening you should make them happen and that’s the reason I think strategy two applies to my personality.
Where I work we have the freedom to talk to our coordinator about problematic areas and she is always encouraging us to look for ways to solve those problems and to improve as teachers. I used strategy two when I saw that we had nine units to evaluate in two exams. It was causing many problems, some teachers split it five and four units, others in four and five units; there were many topics for students to study and we never agreed on a date to have the exams. I thought it would be better if we had three exams, each containing three units; I discussed it with my coordinator and she said I could try. After two or three semesters we saw good results and it was implemented for all our groups. She was happy with my work and trusted me with another task: Conversation club (strategy 7). Last semester I found another opportunity to use my leadership skills, I have talked to my coordinator and she has given me the support to work on that area. I am very glad I can count with my superiors to do this and I am paying attention to find and create more opportunities.

Reflection on “Enhancing Teacher Leadership” by Jorge and Shary

The article tells us the experience Betsy Henry had when she implemented a program to enhance leadership in her school. It all started with her concern on the curriculum she was using and the involvement teachers had in the classroom at her school. Henry’s school was looking for ways to improve in order to have better prepared and more competitive students. She was appointed a new position in which she would work with teachers on their leadership skills. Henry accepted the job even though she did not want to have an administrative charge because she believed it would benefit her students.
Henry came across some obstacles that show us that often we can encounter the difficulties she faced when we want to make things better in our school. Some of those obstacles can be that colleagues might not want to work extra or be interested in learning new techniques. They might feel jealous of the person in charge’s new title, position, benefits… or might not want to recognize that teacher as an authority. In Henry’s experience they did not want to make changes and said they would just do what was required by the principal. We think it is very sad that your own colleagues are the ones that make it harder for you. More shockingly was finding out that your bosses (principal, coordinator, etc.), the ones that are there to support you and help you through the process, are precisely the ones that do not back you up. We also learned that if we want to change things in our workplaces we may find trouble juggling our time with classes, projects, research and personal life
However hard it may be the benefits are far more than the difficulties thus making the effort worthwhile. The most important benefit to us as teachers is the improvement of our teaching quality and our students’ learning. We can make it happen by helping each other, mentoring new teachers and participating in the use of new methods, techniques and activities. Senior teachers can help the new ones by sharing experiences, monitoring and evaluating. If teachers put their energy into it students benefit too. Another benefit the article mentions that we consider relevant is that it can provide opportunities for professional growth; nowadays we need to keep updating and learning and implementing this kind of programs can be one way to do it. When you are involved actively and see the good results you obtain self-esteem and that motivates you to do even better. Not only teachers and students can benefit but also the principal. It is mainly because the load of work and responsibility can be shared between all the involved ones, then the principal can work on other areas of the school. This leads us to another benefit, which is the creation of a more democratic school environment; since teachers and authorities are sharing responsibilities each member has a say making it more democratic and more beneficial to all. One last benefit is seen in the education reforms, they can be tested, modified and certified by the whole school, giving more realistic results and showing whether or not they work or if they might need to be disqualified. One big problem that comes with school reforms is that a lot of teachers do not know how to implement them. Here we can have the help of more experienced teachers and with constant feedback we can ensure it is working.
The article gives us a list of tips that can help to enhance teacher leadership.
To us valuing and respecting the role and work of teacher leaders is perhaps the most imperative. People respond well when they are valued, and teachers need to feel that what they are doing is important to the rest of the staff. Not giving the credit to the work and efforts made by teacher leaders can cause division in the group and lack of participation in the future. Providing affirmation for teachers’ leadership tasks will help keep teachers’ spirits high. If teachers want to be better and are motivated they will work harder because they will know that they are going on the right track.
Technical support for teacher leaders is basic in order to do things right. It is a good idea to embrace change and take risks but only if it is data-driven and research-based, you do not want to experiment with your whole school because you are dealing with people and the consequences can be dramatic.
It is not easy for everybody to work in team so it would be good for the whole team’s advantage to promote and facilitate collaboration. Placing teachers in isolated rather than in collaborative situations will not help anyone, teachers working alone can feel left out and unappreciated. Make the environment as relaxed and comfortable to all as possible. You can also get some awesome results if you empower your teachers in their leadership tasks, meaning you give your full support and encourage them to take the lead in their tasks; limiting power from teachers who are involved in decision making (especially those with experience, knowledge, and expertise) can do more damage than good. As we mentioned before involving the faculty in decision making can give great outcomes to the whole school.

Enhancing teacher leadership by Abi and Vale team

Most of us know that it does not matter when, how or who, big changes start with an innovative person´s idea and it is thanks to sharing that those dreams can come true, that is the reason why, it is so important that us as future teachers learn the value and importance of sharing with our school colleagues.
It is easy to dream but not to put it into practice, because the way of greatness will always be interrupted by all kinds of obstacles which in many times can be stronger and therefore will discourage those who want to change for the better. Some of these barriers can be our own colleagues, the time and place where these changes are taking place or even the school’s principal. Aspects like fear of failure, laziness (because it is easier to do the same one has been doing for years) not want more responsibilities. Envy, disrespect and refusal to change or try different strategies and methodologies are the main reason for them not to let you try your ideas. As a result, we will feel that there is no reason to continue but, to give up is exactly what we should not do, instead, we should fight for our dream and show them all the benefits this new teaching model, strategy, etc. can bring to us (as teachers) and to our students.

Tips
It sounds easy to say, could be difficult to do, so, we need to work hard to convince the school members to trust in the dream and to motivate them to bring new ideas. Some ways to do this, promote cooperation between the school colleagues and create a good school environment are: let the teacher do their job; respect them, give them the chance to make important decisions and ask them for advice; take their opinions into account. Always be collaborative and supportive to the teachers, focus on the tasks in a small proportions, try not to take them as a whole, visualize teachers in an individualize situations; not as a whole, recognize the others teachers’ leadership, to identify and create opportunities for teachers to get involved as leaders and follow the dream, identify the barriers that can give us headache and also find them solutions, give the teachers the opportunity to improve their leadership through courses, show them the advantages to work in groups and to share teaching experiences, support the other teachers´ ideas (according to the kind of idea he/she is proposing) and leadership and distribute the leadership tasks in groups instead of individually.
Although it is not an easy work, is not impossible to achieve it. At the end, it will always be for the best of our students and us. Keep in mind that we are the change; we are the present and the future in education. Do not keep your ideas only to yourself: share them, try them, make them real, this only with the purpose of giving something special to the students, the community and the world.
Benefits
if the teacher leadership factor is taken seriously into your school, the results are going to be shown immediately in a positive way: the teachers will improve their quality, as well as students, many teachers will have the desire to work on your school because they will be rewarded, motivated in all of their accomplishments and the ones that are already working for you will be happy doing their jobs.
Strategies
There are some strategies that can help teacher leadership grow and establish itself and they are as follows: recognize the importance of teachers, identify and create opportunities, establish professional development programs, identify barriers, improve development programs, build professional learning communities, support teaching leaders, promote principal support, encourage the development of teacher leaders, encourage positive faculty relationship, recognize teacher leaders, utilize external professional networks, recruit qualified and effective teacher leaders, distribute leadership tasks, enhance the professionalism of teaching and teachers and promote union support of teachers as leaders. Taking into consideration these aspects of leadership, the teachers would be able to feel supported and at the same time required to do a professional job and the result will be to have formers of better people in this world.
Conclusion
Do not forget that we are what we want to be, we are…, we are… everything we are able to imagine. Successful leaders had very clear goal, and even when they failed more than once in their lives, they got up and tried again. Mediocre teachers, on the other hand, have not failed because they have always been behind the battle line, scared of the change and the confrontation. So, if our wish is to become teachers with real leadership, we must try again and again, keep fighting and never give up. Remember, it is better to dye doing things and not to dye regretting about the fact that you never tried out your ideas.

What makes a teacher effective? by Abisai & Valentina team

We know a teachers’ work is not an easy task. To do a great job there are many vital factors we need to take into account. Among them all, we focused this writing on four: decision making, attitudes, skills and theoretical knowledge.
Decision making
Given the fact that teachers will face many troubles in the learning and teaching process, they need to become good decision makers and problem solvers.
We can identify three stages in which teachers need to make important decisions: planning. Implementing and evaluating.
In the planning process, teachers must decide exactly what is it they want their students to learn; not only choosing a topic and let it be so general. In the implementing step, teachers have to decide when and how to intervene with the students and finally, in the evaluating step, teachers should examine what they did and the effects their decisions had.
Attitudes
These are described as predispositions to act in a positive or negative way toward persons, ideas or events. They are divided into attitudes towards self, towards children, towards peers and parents and towards the subject matter.
Attitude toward self- this category has to be the first one, because teachers have to know about themselves before thinking about others. They need to understand that as human beings, they have necessities, but also errors as well as their students, and not stop there; they need to find solutions to these weaknesses. This understanding on one´s needs can be accomplished through books, participant observation, sessions by trained leaders and counseling sessions.
After having worked on themselves, teachers can now move on to the next step that involves attitudes toward children. This is a very complicated area where teachers have to work a lot, since it covers all negative attitudes toward particular pupils, ethnics, socioeconomic groups, children with disabilities, children with strong leadership, stereotypes, self-fulfilling prophecies etc.
The third one has to do with the relationship that teachers have with other peers. Factors like authority, collaboration, competition, cooperation and acceptance are the reasons why many teachers have problems. In order not be involved in such situations, teachers need to worry about doing their job in the best way they can and not to be the most popular one or unique.
The last type of attitudes involves the attitudes toward the subject matter in which teachers have to feel enthusiastic about what they teach. It is known that as soon as teachers enter the classroom, students immediately notice how they are feeling and adopt the same attitude toward learning, which is the reason why enthusiasm is one of the key ingredients to success. If a teacher likes what he is doing, he will transmit interest to his students; on the other hand, if the teacher just wants to do his job and get out as fast as he can from the classroom, students will feel bored and uninterested.
Theoretical Knowledge
This a necessary factor that all effective teachers need, because it helps teachers to understand why students act the way they do and not like most teacher who just draw on common beliefs that many times turn out to be wrong and unsupported.
Talking about the subject, teachers should have a clear vision about the special area they are going to teach (discipline, curriculum and pedagogical content) to be supported and have a clear direction in their teaching job.
Skills needed for effective teachers
Teachers are expected to own certain skills. Examples of such skills are: class management, to be a good observer, creative, the ability to recognize problems and to give those solutions too, ask different types of questions, diagnose students’ needs, keep students interested, use technological equipment, assess students’ learning, relate learning to experiences and many more.
Conclusion
If you are interested in becoming an effective teacher, you should pay attention to special aspects that include working with your students, attitudes with all that are around you, learning about you subject , and being an excellent decision maker. Good luck with that!!

School of rock by Pedro Ayuso

Leadership activity based on the movie “School of Rock”

According to you how did the following aspects affect the teacher’s leadership?
Ethics
Mr. S hasn`t ethics because he pretended to be someone else instead of being himself.
Knowledge

He wasn`t prepared to teach he doesn’t possess the neither skills nor the knowledge to be a teacher.
Kids’ Interests

He prepared the kids and he elevated the self esteem by talking to them and be part of the band.
Enthusiasm

He was enthusiastic on what he was doing because he loves music and he really enjoys all related with rock music and bands.
Dressing code and presentation

The students really take care about the teacher’s appearance and behavior. They identified all his characteristics.
Attitudes toward subject, peers, authorities, parents and students

Sometimes he was sarcastic and disrespectful with his peers and authorities but he took advantage of everything in order to get his objective.
Self-esteem
The students’ self esteem was elevated by the teacher. He was good because he identified all the kids’ problems and managed to cheer them up.
Use of skills
He used the skills he had in music to motivated them and catch their interest. They formed a really cool rock band.

Discuss with a partner.
Share with the class.

ANALYZING LEADERSHIP: ‘OVER THE HEDGE’ by Pedro Ayuso

ANALYZING LEADERSHIP: ‘OVER THE HEDGE’

I. According to each character, write what kind of leadership do they have and their characteristics.

Character
Kind of Leadership
Characteristics

RJ

-Charismatic

-Transactional

He is very charismatic, cool, extroverted, risk taker, innovator, and posses most of the traits of a leader.
He is good convincing people and he easily makes new friends because of his personality. All those aspects influence a lot and make him a good leader.

Verne

-Organized

-Responsible

He is very organized and he planned everything in advance. It helps him a lot because it’s always good to have a plan. He tries to convince people by giving them reasons of why to make a choice. His first aim is the benefit of the group.

Reading Of "Fabricar Humanidad" By Fer

Lectura del artículo de Fernando Savater “Fabricar Humanidad”
I like very much this article. It shows how people have to be involved with other people to be sociable. I personally think that as teacher we do not only teacher a subject but also values, experiences, skills, tips for living and many other things that we have lived, for those kids who will be the future of our planet. The future fathers and mother, the future presidents,, governors, and mayor. The next people who will be living the earth and threatening the other like they were threaten.
Unfortunately we are not educating our children the way we must. They are learning thing that an ideological world is try to reach but forgetting about what we are, humans beings, wit the capacity of feeling and being felt, harming and being harmed , love and being loved by others. We are forgetting basic thing because we are considered humans, feelings. Kids are learning to be more like robot than being people caring of each others as one specie. There is a reason why some scientist people say that we are the only specie who exterminates amongst themselves.
It is very sad, but it is true, we are racist and we discriminate other sometimes for shallow thing such as money, belongings and material stuff which are not vital for life. If we really want to change this world we have to start , once for all, of thinking that we need each other as one as the same way we all need our members of our body, and more deeply, as our soul to be alive.
Jorge Castañeda

Personal strategies *Valentina Torres Conrado*

Personal strategies
Strategy 4: Identify Barriers, resource 22: Knocking Down Barriers to Leadership Success
Given my personality which is extroverted, open minded, confident, responsible and organized, I personally think that this strategy is one of my strengths, because I have been teaching for some time and I have faced all of these obstacles successfully.
Beginning with the area of full time, I have been in the position in which I had a lot of responsibilities to do and little or no time was given to the leadership. Thanks to my responsibility, I had been able to organize all the tasks and give the leadership a meaningful time.
Talking about colleagues and taking into consideration that I am very extroverted, I have also feel the pressure and envy of come co workers who make all that is possible for them to annoy me.
In the standardized area, I have always been asked to create my own exams, so I have not faced any problems there.
Strategy 15: Distribute Leadership Tasks
In this area, I have seen how some of my principals do not want to delegate other tasks to other workers, they just do it all by themselves. In my case, I like to do some tasks, but I always enjoy working with others and therefore, the task is easier to carry.

What makes a teacher effective by Pedro Ayuso

WHAT MAKES A TEACHER EFFECTIVE?Decision MakingMaking decisions has taken an important part of the teacher role when teaching. In order to be a good one, the teacher not only needs to have the theoretical knowledge but also the one with the subject, certain skills and attitudes in the classroom so that he or she maximize the student learning.Something important we must be aware of when teaching is the so-called reflective teaching. Feedback is not only for students but also for ourselves as teachers because just of this way we can realize of our weaknesses and strengths teaching to improve it in the future.Something that happens many times is that teachers reach a zone called “zone of comfort”, which means that when a teacher reaches certain experience of teaching, they feel comfortable and forget about up to date, information of the subject , topics, strategies for teaching and so on. It is very important to know not just what went well in our teaching but also what could be improved. We have to be very careful of this because society always changes, and adapting material, techniques and other aspect of teaching are our responsibility as facilitator of knowledge.The aspects to consider when giving a lesson must be based on who, what, how am I going to teach and why. Once analyzed, we will have a strong base of a lesson plan for our students and surely guaranteed a good enough teaching.On the other hand, most of people believe in that our attitude it is crucial for a successful teaching. If teachers are warmth, empathic, sensitive, etc. the teaching would be more likely to be successful.The Teacher’s Attitude toward Peers and ParentsMuch of what we have mentioned about teachers’ attitudes toward themselves and toward children also applies to their attitudes toward peers and parents. Some attitudes enhance a teacher’s effectiveness, and others detract it. Authority and collaboration, teachers may find it hard themselves while dealing with people who outrank them in position or prestige. If teachers can assume a role of collaboration with those in authority, seeing themselves as part of a valuable partnership in the enterprise of education, they may be able to overcome any predisposition to hostility or any anxiety unwarranted by reality.When talking about competition and cooperation, some teachers develop a strong drive to compete with other teachers for recognition from both authority figures and students. They try to be the most popular teachers. As a result of this attitude, they sometimes cut themselves off from much needed help and severely limit their ability to be of help to others.In superiority and acceptance, one attitude never fails to cause trouble for teachers is a feeling of superiority to other teachers or parents of students. They may feel intellectually superior to colleagues or socially superior to students’ parents, or in some cases of both. They have little tolerance for people who differ from them in values, cultural background, or economic status, and as result, they treat others with disdain and contempt rather than patience and respect.Effective teachers are those who work well with colleagues and parents to empower children to achieve and show attitudes of acceptance. They need to be real or genuine, value other persons as worthy in their own right, and show empathy. In that way they will be better persons in and outside the classroom, and they will influence in students thinking in a good way.What Teaching Skills are Required of an Effective Teacher?Furthermore, another important topic to talk about is what teaching skills are required of an effective teacher? Well, they are different and what teachers should take into account is that students vary in backgrounds and in educational experiences. Besides, there are nine categories about teaching behaviors presented that help us to distinguish the effective teaching.Classroom ManagementThere was a research project carried out by Jacob Kounin which brought interesting results. He discovered that effective managers kept students involved in academic tasks minimized the frequency with which students became disruptive, and resolved minor disruptions before they escalated into major ones. This contribution is very important because it is giving us some key strategies that we as teachers can use in our classrooms and that can help us to encourage and to guide our students to learn and to be independent in their learning process.From this research, we can take three basic concepts that might help us in our teacher role:Establish clearly defined rules and routinesEnsure students’ compliance with rules and demandsInvolve familiesQuestioning SkillsMost of teachers tend to ask questions that require analysis of information from students. As a result, they just answer in a simple way and most of the times their responses are memorized facts.On the other hand, effective questioning strategies engage students in verbal discourse and promote genuine learning. This means that teachers should have an objective or goal in mind to be focused on and to carry out a good lesson, but they have to let students know the utility of that specific topic, otherwise students will not see the purpose and they will not be motivated. That is why establishing an objective plays an essential role when planning a lesson.

Fabricar humanidad *Valentina Torres Conrado

Fabricar humanidad (Fernando Savater)
Personal analysis
Unlike other professions, us as future teachers, will be working with other humans, and it is a must that we pay especial attention to humanity, which complements us as beings. Without this faculty, we are not complete and it is only when a human is exposed to the other people that humanity starts developing in his inside. We can not have humanity by ourselves alone, we always need others.
As humans, we are different, even though, we have many similarities and thanks to those is that we can communicate, interact and live together in the same place.
But humanity is not the only fact that we need to take into consideration, also persuasion is necessary and the formation of leaders, because it is in ours hands that all the people who are going to be the future of the world become great humans.
Also, we need to learn that opinions are to be questioned and not because we change our minds, it means that we are ignorant or weak, on the contrary, it reflects how intelligent we are and that we are humans that can make mistakes and can be wrong.
In conclusion, if we learn to interact with others, convince, learn how to form leaders and let others teach us, we can achieve great things, beginning with our own lives and therefore with our students.

Strategies by Pedro Ayuso

Strategies
Identify Barriers
“Teacher leaders need support to overcome stubborn barriers created by the norms of school culture—autonomy, egalitarianism, and deference to seniority.”
Identifying barriers is very important in the teaching-learning process, because is the first step in this complex process, I identify myself with this strategy maybe because I think is important to prioritize and this is related with identifying the barriers. Once as teachers we had identified the barriers we can put hands on and manage to overcome and go ahead. For that we need all the knowledge we had acquired, in the school, in our experience and so on. It is important to ask for opinions to our colleagues, because they can see the same situation in a very different way than us.
Recognize the Importance of Teacher Leaders
This is the most important for me, because is the beginning of all. Recognition of the importance of teacher leaders plays a vital role in the development of schools as a community, when teachers are motivated they become dramatically better in and outside the classroom because the job of the teacher goes beyond the classroom. Great teachers inspire and motivate students. I identify too much with this strategy, because I want to be a leader and being an efficient leader implies this kind of recognition and motivation within my colleagues.
Pedro Ayuso Vera

Enhancing teacher leadership.

Enhancing teacher leadership
Enhancing teacher leadership can help schools and districts reach the following goals:
Improve teacher quality, this means that, teacher expertise is at the foundation for increasing teacher quality and advancements in the teaching-learning process; this expertise becomes more available, when accomplished teachers model instructional practices, encourage sharing of best practices, mentor new teachers, and collaborate with teaching colleagues. Teacher leaders’ expertise about teaching and learning is needed to lead instructional improvement and increase teacher quality. This is the first aspect in which the school as a community takes advantage and improve as a system within all its elements: Teachers, students, authorities, researchers and administrators.
One way a principal can improve teacher quality is to support staff development needs. Teacher leaders can help principals support professional development by identifying teacher development needs, offering professional learning experience, developing and delivering opportunities, and evaluating the outcomes of staff development.
Improve student learning, maybe this factor is the most important, the improvement of student learning requires every leader in the school to focus on that outcome. Once the leader had focused on the outcome he designs a way and the use of strategies to reach it. Teachers who model learning for students can help to create a community of learners. Teacher leadership leads to teacher growth and learning, and when teachers learn, their students learn.
Ensure that education reform efforts work, the influence of teacher leadership is important to education reform. Teacher leaders can help to guide fellow teachers as well as the school at large toward higher standards of achievement and individual responsibility for school reform. Reform possibilities are responsibility of teachers; they are on the front lines and know the classroom issues, because they interact directly with the students, they know the culture of the school, and the types of support they need to do their jobs.
Recruit, retain, motivate, and reward accomplished teachers, one major reason for the new interest in teacher leadership is the desire to recruit, retain, motivate, and reward accomplished teachers. Acknowledging their expertise and contributions and providing opportunities for growth and influence can support these objectives. This feedback plays an important role in the process, the teachers feel motivated and this recognition sometimes is vital. Teachers want to work in schools that are designed for them to be successful and in which they have influence on key decisions that affect instruction and student success.
Provide opportunities for professional growth, a clear effect of teacher leadership are the growth and learning for the teachers themselves. When teachers pursue leadership opportunities, their lives are enriched and energized, and their knowledge and skills in teaching increase dramatically, leading to increased confidence and a stronger commitment to teaching. Professional growth also occurs as the result of collaboration with peers, assisting other teachers, working with administrators, and being exposed to new ideas.

Extend principal capacity, teacher leadership provides the additional person power needed to run the organizational operations of the school, which are too complex for principals to run alone. Indeed, teacher leaders are a source of reliable, useful, and professional help for the principal. Teacher leaders are able to assume some of the principal’s many responsibilities, including those of instructional leader.

Create a more democratic school environment, when teacher leaders take on important school wide responsibilities and are centrally involved in school decision making, they are able to transform their school into a democracy. Students benefit from observing and experiencing democratic, participatory forms of government. They also benefit from higher teacher morale because their teachers are involved in democratic decision making and school leadership.









Pedro Ayuso Vera

Personal Analysis of Strategies By Fer

Analyzing two strategies
The two strategies I chose were Recognizing Teacher leaders and Identify Barriers. For me it is very important not only leaders and apply their job on a project but also recognize and appreciate it. Saying thanks and rewarding its effort would motivate them to continue working on their goals more convinced to what they are doing. When you thank people for what they do well something, usually make them feel motivated. Verbal support many times is more meaningful than giving prize and also put people away from the idea of giving up a project. I have learnt that when someone says:”keep working on”, “well done”, makes me fell satisfied.
On the other hand identifying obstacles for reaching what you want it is the best way for creating solutions. People find difficult to think of creating solutions to problems. They usually get shocked. Having skills for dealing with society, a community or any authority can make the difference for dying or living forever. Observing those barriers which discourage our leadership as teacher will provide a possible solutions, for example, time. The most common trouble teachers have to face when leading a classroom to have a successful learning is time. Lack of time can make us put off topics or even go ahead with the activities and lose some points of the curricula’s school. Planning is one of my strengths and by doing this you could gain more time for other matters at the school.
Jorge Castañeda.

What Makes a Teacher Effective? By Fer

WHAT MAKES A TEACHER EFFECTIVE?
Decision Making
Making decisions has taken an important part of the teacher role when teaching. In order to be a good one, the teacher not only needs to have the theoretical knowledge but also the one with the subject, certain skills and attitudes in the classroom so that he or she maximize the student learning.
Something important we must be aware of when teaching is the so-called reflective teaching. Feedback is not only for students but also for ourselves as teachers because just of this way we can realize of our weaknesses and strengths teaching to improve it in the future.
Something that happens many times is that teachers reach a zone called “zone of comfort”, which means that when a teacher reaches certain experience of teaching, they feel comfortable and forget about up to date, information of the subject , topics, strategies for teaching and so on. It is very important to know not just what went well in our teaching but also what could be improved. We have to be very careful of this because society always changes, and adapting material, techniques and other aspect of teaching are our responsibility as facilitator of knowledge.
The aspects to consider when giving a lesson must be based on who, what, how am I going to teach and why. Once analyzed, we will have a strong base of a lesson plan for our students and surely guaranteed a good enough teaching.
On the other hand, most of people believe in that our attitude it is crucial for a successful teaching. If teachers are warmth, empathic, sensitive, etc. the teaching would be more likely to be successful.
The Teacher’s Attitude toward Peers and Parents
Much of what we have mentioned about teachers’ attitudes toward themselves and toward children also applies to their attitudes toward peers and parents. Some attitudes enhance a teacher’s effectiveness, and others detract it.
Authority and collaboration, teachers may find it hard themselves while dealing with people who outrank them in position or prestige. If teachers can assume a role of collaboration with those in authority, seeing themselves as part of a valuable partnership in the enterprise of education, they may be able to overcome any predisposition to hostility or any anxiety unwarranted by reality.
When talking about competition and cooperation, some teachers develop a strong drive to compete with other teachers for recognition from both authority figures and students. They try to be the most popular teachers. As a result of this attitude, they sometimes cut themselves off from much needed help and severely limit their ability to be of help to others.
In superiority and acceptance, one attitude never fails to cause trouble for teachers is a feeling of superiority to other teachers or parents of students. They may feel intellectually superior to colleagues or socially superior to students’ parents, or in some cases of both. They have little tolerance for people who differ from them in values, cultural background, or economic status, and as result, they treat others with disdain and contempt rather than patience and respect.
Effective teachers are those who work well with colleagues and parents to empower children to achieve and show attitudes of acceptance. They need to be real or genuine, value other persons as worthy in their own right, and show empathy. In that way they will be better persons in and outside the classroom, and they will influence in students thinking in a good way.
What Teaching Skills are Required of an Effective Teacher?
Furthermore, another important topic to talk about is what teaching skills are required of an effective teacher? Well, they are different and what teachers should take into account is that students vary in backgrounds and in educational experiences. Besides, there are nine categories about teaching behaviors presented that help us to distinguish the effective teaching.
Classroom Management
There was a research project carried out by Jacob Kounin which brought interesting results. He discovered that effective managers kept students involved in academic tasks minimized the frequency with which students became disruptive, and resolved minor disruptions before they escalated into major ones. This contribution is very important because it is giving us some key strategies that we as teachers can use in our classrooms and that can help us to encourage and to guide our students to learn and to be independent in their learning process.
From this research, we can take three basic concepts that might help us in our teacher role:
Establish clearly defined rules and routines
Ensure students’ compliance with rules and demands
Involve families
Questioning Skills
Most of teachers tend to ask questions that require analysis of information from students. As a result, they just answer in a simple way and most of the times their responses are memorized facts.
On the other hand, effective questioning strategies engage students in verbal discourse and promote genuine learning. This means that teachers should have an objective or goal in mind to be focused on and to carry out a good lesson, but they have to let students know the utility of that specific topic, otherwise students will not see the purpose and they will not be motivated. That is why establishing an objective plays an essential role when planning a lesson.

Enhancing Teacher Leadership By Fer & Monik

ENHANCING TEACHER LEADERSHIP
To start, we considered relevant to mention the following phrase: “Teachers are leaders when they function in professional communities to affect students’ learning; contribute to school improvement; inspire excellence in practice; and empower stakeholders to participate in educational improvements” (Childs-Bowen, Moller, and Scrivner, 2000 p.28).
As it is indicated above, teacher leaders have many characteristics and functions that distinguish them from the others. They are creative and they are always looking for new ways to solve a problem, but the most important thing is that their main purpose is to affect students’ learning, so that they can use different and effective study strategies and they really learn from that. As a result, students see them as models to follow, because their teachers will have inspired them to do what seemed to be impossible: that they like learning, or even studying.
Another important point about teacher leaders is that they have lots of ideas to share. This makes that they can propose school improvements and they can sometimes carry them out.
All of this sounds marvelous, but sometimes it is not as easy at it seems. As teachers, we can make an effort in order to get our objectives and to become teacher leaders. So, there are many tips to encourage teacher leadership, but we just included some of them that we considered as the most relevant:
Value and respect the role and work of teacher leaders
Promote and facilitate collaboration
Involve faculty in decision making
There are many strategies that can be used for enhancing teacher leadership at schools. So, we mention below each strategy and what they are referring to.
Strategy 1: Recognize the Importance of Teacher Leaders. It is about how teacher leaders can affect a way big of teaching, not just in the school but outside too.
Strategy 2: Identify and Create Opportunities for Leaders. The different levels and types of leadership we can find at school. The role of the teacher at certain level and how the principal can create those places for leaders.
Strategy 3: Establish Professional Development Programs. How teachers can get involved in those programs which develop and improve professionalism, specifically for those who check programs.
Strategy 4: Identify Barriers. It mentions some strategies or tips to get over those problems which impede progress of leadership at schools. (Colleagues, time, norms, etc.)
Strategy 5: Improve Development Programs. It says that members at school must be the responsible for those contributions to improve the different curricula. Give training to those who teach
Strategy 6: Build Professional Learning Communities. It refers to strategies used by those leaders in charge to promote cohesion between the staff and communities for learning professional practice.
Strategy 7: Support Teacher Leaders. To give all what it is necessary to the teachers who are willing to work for the improvement of their school.
Strategy 8: Promote Principal Support .To acknowledge their purpose to the principal in order to get his/her support for the main objective.
Strategy 9: Encourage the Development of Teacher Leaders. One way to reach this is by culturing schools with new points of view of leadership. Making a committee of people responsible for letting know the principal those benefits of leadership in the school. Create a good environment making this possible.
Strategy 10: Encourage Positive Faculty Relationships. Making a good environment to allow all the members express their ideas with respect and consideration.
Strategy 11: Recognize Teacher Leaders. Appreciating their effort for their contributions not just by giving them those prizes but also by telling them what worked well.
Strategy 12: Utilize External Professional Teacher Networks. Encouraging teachers to work with peers through platforms, websites, etc, to acquire new knowledge by those who have the skills.
Strategy 13: Recruit Qualified and Effective Teacher Leaders. It has to do with standards for those teachers who want to get prepared for teaching.
Strategy 14: Include Information about Teacher Leaders. To give all the necessary information to acknowledge to the principal what they are willing to obtain once finished the course in order to get the principal`s support.
Strategy 15: Distribute Leadership Tasks. Dividing responsibilities among all the members of a committee (team leadership) in charge of improving the quality of the school. Distributing and reassigning leadership roles.
Strategy 16: Enhance the Professionalism of Teaching and Teachers. Creating learning communities, preparing qualified teachers and rewarding them for those goals obtained.
Strategy 17: Promote Union Support of Teachers as Leader. Making national committees which promote and provide professional development in those schools which need it.
Everything we have analyzed so far has to be taken into account when enhancing teacher leadership. All of them are useful somehow, however we know that many of them are difficult to accomplish.
A leader can be born and leadership can be learnt by practicing these different skills. Not many are able to be a leader. Nevertheless, we can become a person who leads people to success. Students are these people in our concern as teachers and everything they acquire from us will make the difference between having learnt a subject matter or to having gained experiences for life.

Valentina Torres & Abisai Mena *Enhancing teacher leadership

Enhancing teacher leadership

Most of us know that it does not matter when, how or who; big changes always start with an innovative person´s idea and it is thanks to sharing that those dreams can come true, that is the reason why, it is so important that us, as future teachers, learn the value and importance of sharing our ideas with our school colleagues.
It is easy to dream about doing great things, but not to put it into practice, because in this way, there will always be all kinds of obstacles which in many times can be stronger and therefore will discourage those who want to change for the better. Some examples of these barriers can be our own colleagues, the time, also the place where these changes are taking place or even the school’s principal. Aspects like fear of failure, laziness (because it is easier to do the same one has been doing for years) avoiding more responsibilities, envy, disrespect to authorities that are not the principal of the school and refusal to change or try different strategies and methodologies. As a result of these threats, we will feel that there is no reason to continue but, to give up is exactly what we should not do, instead, we should fight for our dreams and show our colleagues all the benefits this new teaching model, methodology, strategy, etc. can bring to us as teachers and to our students.

Tips
It may sound easy to say it, but not to do, it, so, we need to work hard to convince the school members to trust in the dream and to motivate them to bring new ideas. Some ways to promote cooperation between the school colleagues and create a good school environment are: let the teacher do their job; respect them, give them the chance to make important decisions and ask them for advice; take their opinions into account. Always be collaborative and supportive to the teachers, focus on the tasks in a small proportions, try not to take them as a whole; visualize teachers in an individualize situations; not as a whole, recognize the others teachers’ leadership, to identify and create opportunities for teachers to get involved as leaders and follow the dream, identify the barriers that can give us a lot of headaches and also find solutions to them; give the teachers the opportunity to improve their leadership through courses, show them the advantages to work in groups and to share teaching experiences, support the other teachers´ ideas and distribute the leadership tasks in groups instead of in an individual way.
Although it is not an easy work, is not impossible to achieve it. At the end, it will always be for the bennefit of our students and for us. Keep in mind that we are the change; we are the present and the future in education. Do not keep your ideas only to yourself: share them, try them, and make them real, this only with the purpose of giving something special to the students, the community and the world.

Benefits
If the teacher leadership factor is taken seriously into your school, the results are going to be shown immediately in a positive way: the teachers will improve their quality, as well as students, many teachers will have the desire to work on your school because they will be rewarded, motivated in all of their accomplishments and the ones that are already working for you will be happy doing their jobs.

Strategies
There are some strategies that can help teacher leadership grow and establish itself and they are as follows: recognize the importance of teachers, identify and create opportunities, establish professional development programs, identify barriers, improve development programs, build professional learning communities, support teaching leaders, promote principal support, encourage the development of teacher leaders, encourage positive faculty relationship, recognize teacher leaders, utilize external professional networks, recruit qualified and effective teacher leaders, distribute leadership tasks, enhance the professionalism of teaching and teachers and promote union support of teachers as leaders. Taking into consideration these aspects of leadership, the teachers would be able to feel supported and at the same time required to do a professional job and the result will be to have formers of better people in this world.

Conclusion
Do not forget that we are what we want to be, we are…, we are… everything we are able to imagine. Successful leaders had very clear goals, and even when they failed more than once in their lives, they got up and tried again. Mediocre teachers, on the other hand, have not failed because they do not try and they have always been behind the battle line, scared of the change and the confrontation. So, if our wish is to become teachers with real leadership, we must try again and again, keep fighting and never give up. Remember, it is better to dye doing things and not to dye regretting about the fact that you never tried out your ideas.

Valentina Torres and Abisai Mena *What makes a teacher effective?

What makes a teacher effective?
We know a teachers’ work is not an easy task. To do a great job there are many vital factors we need to take into account. Among them all, we focused this writing on four: decision making, attitudes, skills and theoretical knowledge.
Decision making
Given the fact that teachers will face many troubles in the learning and teaching process, they need to become good decision makers and problem solvers.
We can identify three stages in which teachers need to make important decisions: planning. Implementing and evaluating.
In the planning process, teachers must decide exactly what is it they want their students to learn; not only choosing a topic and let it be so general. In the implementing step, teachers have to decide when and how to intervene with the students and finally, in the evaluating step, teachers should examine what they did and the effects their decisions had.
Attitudes
These are described as predispositions to act in a positive or negative way toward persons, ideas or events. They are divided into attitudes towards self, towards children, towards peers and parents and towards the subject matter.
Attitude toward self- this category has to be the first one, because teachers have to know about themselves before thinking about others. They need to understand that as human beings, they have necessities, but also errors as well as their students, and not stop there; they need to find solutions to these weaknesses. This understanding on one´s needs can be accomplished through books, participant observation, sessions by trained leaders and counseling sessions.
After having worked on themselves, teachers can now move on to the next step that involves attitudes toward children. This is a very complicated area where teachers have to work a lot, since it covers all negative attitudes toward particular pupils, ethnics, socioeconomic groups, children with disabilities, children with strong leadership, stereotypes, self-fulfilling prophecies etc.
The third one has to do with the relationship that teachers have with other peers. Factors like authority, collaboration, competition, cooperation and acceptance are the reasons why many teachers have problems. In order not be involved in such situations, teachers need to worry about doing their job in the best way they can and not to be the most popular one or unique.
The last type of attitudes involves the attitudes toward the subject matter in which teachers have to feel enthusiastic about what they teach. It is known that as soon as teachers enter the classroom, students immediately notice how they are feeling and adopt the same attitude toward learning, which is the reason why enthusiasm is one of the key ingredients to success. If a teacher likes what he is doing, he will transmit interest to his students; on the other hand, if the teacher just wants to do his job and get out as fast as he can from the classroom, students will feel bored and uninterested.
Theoretical Knowledge
This a necessary factor that all effective teachers need, because it helps teachers to understand why students act the way they do and not like most teacher who just draw on common beliefs that many times turn out to be wrong and unsupported.
Talking about the subject, teachers should have a clear vision about the special area they are going to teach (discipline, curriculum and pedagogical content) to be supported and have a clear direction in their teaching job.
Skills needed for effective teachers
Teachers are expected to own certain skills. Examples of such skills are: class management, to be a good observer, creative, the ability to recognize problems and to give those solutions too, ask different types of questions, diagnose students’ needs, keep students interested, use technological equipment, assess students’ learning, relate learning to experiences and many more.
Conclusion
If you are interested in becoming an effective teacher, you should pay attention to special aspects that include working with your students, attitudes with all that are around you, learning about you subject , and being an excellent decision maker. Good luck with that!!

Leadership Quiz

Leadership Potential
74
You possess many of the personality traits of a leader. Research has shown that people who possess certain characteristics are more likely to emerge as leaders and experience greater success in such positions. A person who is naturally inclined to take charge is outgoing, enjoys interacting with others and is easy to get along with. He or she is also open-minded and able to adjust to different circumstances as well as accommodate others. In addition, a good leader follows rules, believes in him or herself, is organized and responsible, and also possesses significant emotional stability, which means that he or she is resilient and optimistic even in the face of difficult situations.

Reflection: Leadership Potential
Through the course we have done a lot of reflection and analyze related to what mean to be a leader, the characteristics that are part of a leader and the importance of a leader in the different organizations; in this part we have done a quiz where we have seen our potential as leaders. I am agree with the results of the quiz because I have characteristics of a leader as the result has showed a leader is someone who possess an open mind and like to be around people; I consider that I have characteristics of a leader and I’m writing these because through my life I had experiences where I was able to organize the people around me and motivated them to accomplish a specific goal. Being a leader is something that I personally consider important and vital to do a job and for us as teachers we need to behave and act as leaders because we have the responsibility to teach not only a specific subject but also we are teaching different aspects of the life. The quiz help me to see that everybody have at least some characteristics of a leader because as we have seen in the course before we can lead others, we have to be able to lead ourselves, knowing what we what and where we are going, a leader needs to have vision and trust in their objectives and believe in their own goals. I consider that I have this quality and I always try to remind and motivate myself to be a better person, student and in the future a better teacher; another quality that I consider I have as a leader is that I try always to get well with the people where I have to work and understand their feelings and respect their different personalities. As the result of the quiz has showed a leader needs to adapt to different situations and context. Finally I try to be respectful with my partners when I’m working in a group because sometimes is very difficult to start a group work because their exist different ideas and personalities that we need to consider and in this kind of situations I always do my best to listen the ideas of the whole group and I try to establish specific objectives and motivate my partners to reach our final goal. Be a leader is part of being a teacher and general speaking be a leader is part of being an excellent person.
Abelardo Velasco

Chicken Run Analyze

Chicken Run: Leadership Analysis.
Chicken Run is a movie that tells us the story of a group of chickens that are trap in a farm where their days are count, because the owners are going to kill them in order to open a new business of chicken pies. This horrible scene is where our characters are living and in order to survive they will have to find their strength and will to live, of course in this story in order to have success they will need a leader. From this point is where this good movie show us the importance of being a leader and how the performance of a leader can help others to become better and help them to reach a goal. Something important of this course is to understand the role of a leader, know the different characteristics that have a leader and the different types of leader that are; I consider that this movie help us to analyze and understand the concept of leader and show us how a leader can change a situation that looks “impossible” to reach.
During the film I was able to see specific characteristics that a leader have and how they work together to motivate the people around them and help them to reach a goal. In this case Chicken Run shows us how the teamwork is vital for a leader if he/she wants to success, they way the chicken worked together to built the plane is the perfect example of teamwork. The strength that the chicken Ginger shows to overcome the different problems and also the strength that shows Rocky to accept his mistakes and help the chickens in the end are the examples of the strength and will that a leader need if they want to succeed. The good example of Ginger is the way of how a leader must show a example to their “subordinates” and how the good examples can help to improve the work environment and motivate the people around the leader. Responsibility is an important part of being a leader and in the movie is show when Rocky returns to help Ginger and save the others chickens. Finally the Quick thinking that every leader needs is show when Rocky think a plant to save Ginger or when Ginger decides to built a plane in order to solve the problems. As we can see this five characteristics or traits are vital for a leader if they want to help the orders to reach their potential and to be able to reach a goal; but what kind of leader exist in this movie? Well this question gives us three answers of the different leaders that I could watch in the movie. The first one is the one that describes the “Behavioral Theory”, because I consider that Ginger or Rocky where “people” that with the time obtain the aptitudes and attitudes to become leaders this can be explain for their background where they could see the different injustices that where make to their partners, the wish to have freedom and finally the will to do something about it and change their reality. This characteristic is the long range perspective of the leader that helps them to different perspectives that not everybody can have. Another type of leader that appear is the leader explain in the “Fiedler Contingency Model” because Rocky one of the main characters and someone who become a leader for the group was made leader for the situation; because he didn’t chose to be there and become the “last hope” of the chickens he was there be “accident” and the situation make him to become a leader; we can see this when he return to save Ginger and make a plan to destroy the pie machine with the help of the other chickens; maybe he wasn’t a leader and the beginning but we can said without doubt that he become an important part of the group after different problems and situations that occurred during the movie and which put him in the role of a leader. Finally I will also say that other type of leader we were able to see was the “Charismatic Leadership”, because Rocky show from the beginning self-confidence and a behavior out of the ordinary; through the movie we could see how their strong values and convictions force him to articulate the vision of escape and finally he was perceived as a change agent. The same situation applies to Ginger because she was self-confident, she had strong convictions about her vision of escape, she posses a vision of a better place for her partners, she was able to articulate their vision, she behave out of the ordinary, was a change agent and has environmental sensitivity.
To conclude this movie help me to understand in a better way the concept of a leader and let me to analyze a situation where the importance of one help to change the destiny of many people.
Abelardo Velasco

The teacher as a leader

The teacher as a leader
No singles principle is more valid or durable than the maxim “student learning, depends first, last and always on the quality of the teachers.” Experts may disagree about how highly to value the size of a class or school, how the system functions, or whether it is adequately funded, but nobody’s list of education’s priorities fails to place teacher quality at or very near the top. There are myths about teachers: The main paths to leadership teachers who were interested have been, becoming an administrator or hooking up with activist-type teacher movements, and becoming involved in local union affairs. Teacher leadership is not about “teacher power.” It is about mobilizing then still largely and sometimes hidden attributes of teachers to strengthen student performance and working toward real collaboration. Teachers must be essential part of that leadership. Leader teachers can create the professional community so the teaching-learning process will be exploited, they can create a school environment where each student is known and treated as an individual, those are some of the characteristics required to achieve the program aims in a satisfactory way.
Teacher leadership is no fantasy. The case is too strong that it is becoming an increasingly visible presence in the schools. We need to remember that the work of a teacher goes beyond the classroom and they can contribute in too many ways on students’ performance and development, in and outside the classroom. It is very important that teachers are well prepared so they can do a good job as decision makers and the most important as good leaders.

Questionnaire of leadership

Leadership Questionnaire’s Report
What is leadership? Leadership is getting other people to follow you towards a common goal, bringing out the best in the people around you, and helping people find a greater meaning in the everyday tasks they are asked to perform. A person who possesses the ability to lead is a great asset to any organization, group, or department.
To be an effective leader takes vision, flexibility, knowledge, communication, and hard work, among many other things. Those who have the desire and the determination to sharpen their wits, hone their skills, and accentuate their virtues can pull away and deftly lead a group to success.
Snapshot Report
Leadership Potential
69
You possess many of the personality traits of a leader. Research has shown that people who possess certain characteristics are more likely to emerge as leaders and experience greater success in such positions. A person who is naturally inclined to take charge is outgoing, enjoys interacting with others and is easy to get along with. He or she is also open-minded and able to adjust to different circumstances as well as accommodate others. In addition, a good leader follows rules, believes in him or herself, is organized and responsible, and also possesses significant emotional stability, which means that he or she is resilient and optimistic even in the face of difficult situations.




After reading my results, I can say that the test was a bit complicated but very interested There were some situations I have never faced before however I managed to answer all the questions in the most honestly way. I agree with the result, I have some traits of a leader but I lack of some others. I easily interact with people and I am open-minded and I’m easy to adapt. I follow rules most of the time. But I easily get discouraged or dismotivated. I easily get motivated, and when things go wrong I feel bad and powerless. I am good working under pressure, but sometimes I don’t prioritize and I’m a bit disorganized but I always ensure to complete the tasks and to complete the work.

Analyzing the film "chicken run"

Analyzing the film “Chicken run”
This film shows different styles of leadership, as well as too many characteristics and traits of a leader. The situations that the chickens were living made them think that, that lifestyle was not good enough for them so they decided to escape. That is a reason that made them think, a hen, Ginger became a leader and she compromised to lead them to the freedom.
Because of an accident, Rocky, a typical macho rooster, finished at the farm, he is very charismatic and he convinces and motivates the chickens just by the way he talks and behaves. We can say that Rocky is a charismatic leader. Ginger is a hen that is very perseverant, patient, influences in other hen’s behavior and so on. She is a behavioral and a transactional leader, because she motivates and influences on others’ behavior by giving them a kind of and exchange, for example she asks them to make an effort and follow the instructions in order to run away of that farm the praise or the benefit would be that they don’t need to lay eggs anymore and they will be free.
The mice have a great influence in all this process and they are really helpful for the chickens, they exchange useful tools by eggs, so Rocky says-I need a wheel, pedals…etc- so if you get that for me I will give you two eggs- so they are a kind of support for the chickens.
The chickens were motivated to escape because something strange and mysterious was happening in the farm, strange boxes, and strange equipment were being brought to the farm. So Ginger and Rocky discovered that what Mrs. Tweedy really wanted to do is to kill all the chickens and make chicken pies with them. This situation motivated them to escape as soon as possible and before they finished being a pie.
They got organized by two leaders, Rocky and Ginger, they divided the job, so each one of them had a specific task to accomplish. For example one for the engineering and all that stuff, the grandpa for piloting the airplane and so on.
Ginger had the best emotional intelligence, she was supervising and monitoring all the job and in case that the other chickens needed help she would help them and try to overcome all the obstacles together, one strategy that she used is the speech and phrases that motivates the other chickens. That is a very useful strategy to motivate others. On the other hand Rocky is very charismatic and he helped the team in many ways.
The communication is an indispensable factor, a good communication is vital for accomplishing the goals, they had an appropriate communication in spite that in some situations they lost the control and acted without think it before, but at the end they got communicated and they made a powerful team. They discovered that work in teams is better, they were stronger and tut the most important they were motivated by a good leader: Ginger, she convinced them that together they could do anything they wanted; nobody and nothing would be an obstacle again.
Ginger took the decision and made them take a place in the plan. All of them were competitive. The group was formed by Ginger and the Grandpa, the Grandpa was the most congruent with his personal values, maybe because he joined the army in his adolescence.
At the end they managed to escape, Ginger was a good leader they accomplished what they wanted, with the help and effort of each one, at the end they became a team leaded by a good and trusty leader.














Pedro Ayuso Vera

What makes a teacher effective? Report by Fer, Pedro and Moni

WHAT MAKES A TEACHER EFFECTIVE?
Decision Making
Making decisions has taken an important part of the teacher role when teaching. In order to be a good one, the teacher not only needs to have the theoretical knowledge but also the one with the subject, certain skills and attitudes in the classroom so that he or she maximize the student learning.
Something important we must be aware of when teaching is the so-called reflective teaching. Feedback is not only for students but also for ourselves as teachers because just of this way we can realize of our weaknesses and strengths teaching to improve it in the future.
Something that happens many times is that teachers reach a zone called “zone of comfort”, which means that when a teacher reaches certain experience of teaching, they feel comfortable and forget about up to date, information of the subject , topics, strategies for teaching and so on. It is very important to know not just what went well in our teaching but also what could be improved. We have to be very careful of this because society always changes, and adapting material, techniques and other aspect of teaching are our responsibility as facilitator of knowledge.
The aspects to consider when giving a lesson must be based on who, what, how am I going to teach and why. Once analyzed, we will have a strong base of a lesson plan for our students and surely guaranteed a good enough teaching.
On the other hand, most of people believe in that our attitude it is crucial for a successful teaching. If teachers are warmth, empathic, sensitive, etc. the teaching would be more likely to be successful.
The Teacher’s Attitude toward Peers and Parents
Much of what we have mentioned about teachers’ attitudes toward themselves and toward children also applies to their attitudes toward peers and parents. Some attitudes enhance a teacher’s effectiveness, and others detract it.
Authority and collaboration, teachers may find it hard themselves while dealing with people who outrank them in position or prestige. If teachers can assume a role of collaboration with those in authority, seeing themselves as part of a valuable partnership in the enterprise of education, they may be able to overcome any predisposition to hostility or any anxiety unwarranted by reality.
When talking about competition and cooperation, some teachers develop a strong drive to compete with other teachers for recognition from both authority figures and students. They try to be the most popular teachers. As a result of this attitude, they sometimes cut themselves off from much needed help and severely limit their ability to be of help to others.
In superiority and acceptance, one attitude never fails to cause trouble for teachers is a feeling of superiority to other teachers or parents of students. They may feel intellectually superior to colleagues or socially superior to students’ parents, or in some cases of both. They have little tolerance for people who differ from them in values, cultural background, or economic status, and as result, they treat others with disdain and contempt rather than patience and respect.
Effective teachers are those who work well with colleagues and parents to empower children to achieve and show attitudes of acceptance. They need to be real or genuine, value other persons as worthy in their own right, and show empathy. In that way they will be better persons in and outside the classroom, and they will influence in students thinking in a good way.
What Teaching Skills are Required of an Effective Teacher?
Furthermore, another important topic to talk about is what teaching skills are required of an effective teacher? Well, they are different and what teachers should take into account is that students vary in backgrounds and in educational experiences. Besides, there are nine categories about teaching behaviors presented that help us to distinguish the effective teaching.
Classroom Management
There was a research project carried out by Jacob Kounin which brought interesting results. He discovered that effective managers kept students involved in academic tasks, minimized the frequency with which students became disruptive, and resolved minor disruptions before they escalated into major ones. This contribution is very important because it is giving us some key strategies that we as teachers can use in our classrooms and that can help us to encourage and to guide our students to learn and to be independent in their learning process.
From this research, we can take three basic concepts that might help us in our teacher role:
- Establish clearly defined rules and routines
- Ensure students’ compliance with rules and demands
- Involve families
Questioning Skills
Most of teachers tend to ask questions that require analysis of information from students. As a result, they just answer in a simple way and most of the times their responses are memorized facts.
On the other hand, effective questioning strategies engage students in verbal discourse and promote genuine learning. This means that teachers should have an objective or goal in mind to be focused on and to carry out a good lesson, but they have to let students know the utility of that specific topic, otherwise students will not see the purpose and they will not be motivated. That is why establishing an objective plays an essential role when planning a lesson.