Last, I try to model techniques that can be used in the classroom that have worked for me and others who have shared ideas with me. Part of every presentation I give is a hands-on, 'let's do it like the kids' activity. Offering support to other teachers is a vital part of leadership, Scott believes. In order to attract and keep bright young teachers and to keep the more experienced ones going, teachers need to establish a network of support. They need to feel confident that they have that network of fellow workers who have shared the same experiences and can offer a new approach when they need one.
Teachers reaching out to teachers is an authentic way to achieve that support system.
Linking arms Common ground and support are also available through professional organizations within various subject areas. Virginia Beach Education Association member Paul Lankford, an English teacher at Green Run High School, serves as the executive secretary of the Virginia Association of Teachers of English and is a former committee chairman for the National Council of Teachers of English. Belonging to an affiliate organization gives a teacher a sense of connectedness that is bigger than one schedule, one school or one superintendent. Being actively involved with that organization over time can give every teacher a sense of validity and of individual and collective worth that no paycheck or annual evaluation has ever provided. Without professional involvement, Lankford says, the view from a teacher's classroom will always be limited.