Lead

As an educator, I never would have imagined just how important building students’ leadership skills would be until I entered the classroom. After working with predominantly at-risk youths who have been kicked out of their home-school because of either behavioral problems or attendance issues, it became evident to me that many of these students were here not because they were unable to do the work but because of the lack of quality leaders available to them. While I can’t produce leaders out of thin air for these students to look up to, I can help build on their leadership skills. As a result, I have spent the majority of my classroom time focusing on creating leaders in the classroom and in the community. The students have taken to this approach very well and I have seen amazing transformations.

Where did I learn how to build leaders? Well, I didn’t take a special class in leadership. I believe that much of the leadership development I use in my classroom comes from what I have seen modeled in my classes at LMU. The School of Education has implemented “being the change they would like to see happen.” Classes are more student-driven and provide ample opportunity for peer mentoring. The focus of each course has not been as much about content recollection as it has been about personal mastery. To achieve such mastery, professors challenge you to become decision makers, critical thinkers and to self-assessors. Most importantly, LMU challenges students to take their profession into their own hands.

I have incorporated all of these elements into my classroom practice. My students are challenged to take their education into their own hands by being responsible for their personal portfolios. Students have every opportunity to revise their work through critical thinking until it meets a mastery level that myself and they are satisfied with. They become the decision makers over the content they wish to study or must make-up for credit recovery purposes. Finally, at the end of each assignment, they must self-assess by telling me what they did well and what they wish to improve upon for next time. This also includes an action-plan for future assignments. Mastered skills are recognized and the student is then called upon to mentor other students who are challenged in that area. Overall, I have seen amazing transformations in my leaders both in their academic performance and their self-perception.