Running head: LEAD REFLECTION

Lead Reflection Deanna Clark Loyola Marymount University

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The belief that education must provide students with more than a standardsdriven curriculum inspires teachers to develop leadership qualities in students progress through school. The ability to be a leader will carry with a person throughout his or her education, into the working world, allowing each person to be a productive and positive member of society. In order to form leaders, teachers must teach explicit leadership skills, create a culture of leadership throughout the classroom, and provide chances for all students to engage in real leadership roles. In order to become leaders who choose to and are capable of making a difference in their communities, students must be taught specific skills that allow them to be successful in roles that they pursue. They should learn appropriate ways to interact with various audiences, and should be taught manners and public speaking skills. My students have had much practice giving oral presentations in front of their classmates, and even in front of the school. Before presenting, we took notes on certain characteristics of good public speaking, and compared qualities that capture attention to those that disengage an audience. My students have learned how their body language, tone of voice, and word choice can influence relationships with others, and they even practice good handshakes. While these skills are of minimal importance in becoming authentic leaders, they help to build the culture of leadership that I wish to create by providing the students with confidence and several tools for success. While foundational skills are important, true leadership will arise when students are inherently taught responsibility, activism, and their call to service towards others. Covey (2008) theorizes that by teaching students 7 specific leadership habits, that they will innately develop leadership skills. These 7 Habits

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include being proactive, having a plan, working first and playing after, thinking of ways that everyone can win, listening before speaking, finding ways to all work together, and finding balance among lifes activities. While Coveys 7 Habits are part of a structured vision, his principles can be easily incorporated into any classroom. My students are informally encouraged to do these things as they interact throughout the day, and the classroom reward system is used to recognize these behaviors. For example, students who are proactive in various situations move their clips up on our chart. We also do activities throughout the year that work with goal setting, monitoring goals, and acknowledging success. One example of this is that students set goals for their multiplication timed tests, and independently decide when they are ready to take tests and move forward on facts. Woodland and Parsons (2013) explain that, The essence of 21st-centrury leadership development is being in influence versus being in control Creating contexts in which [students] feel a profound impulse to dialogue regarding common cause enables students to experience the dynamics of leadership development firsthand. This dialogue is an essential part of my classroom as the teacher facilitates student-discussions that aim to create a better space for all. Students are expected to remedy conflicts that arise by problem solving in small group or whole class discussions. Students also have class jobs, which places our classroom wellbeing on them. Students represent their class in throughout the school as well, by making announcements at assemblies and taking care of younger students at weekly masses. Students learn personal responsibility and learn to use this responsibility to care for others.

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References Covey, S. R. (2008). The leader in me. New York, NY: FranklinCovey Co. Woodland, C., & Parsons, M.H. (2013). A new leadership paradigm for the 21st century. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2013 (162). Retrieved from http://electra.lmu.edu:4727/ehost/detail?vid=9&sid=2a61899f-05f0-4b238e00-ca93a0e18257%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4105&bdata=JmxvZ2luLm FzcCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=eft&AN= 90180374