The Need for a Leader

I had two recent conversations with administration at my school. One was during my annual appraisal. During out post-observation conference, my AP (assistant principal) mentioned that she felt I was nearing my peak. I know she meant this as a compliment, but it seemed funny to me that she said I was nearing the best. What seemed funny was that after two years, I had become the best teacher I could ever be and it would just be all down hill from here. Obviously this was not the point she was trying to convey, but it is what stuck with me. The second conversation was with the principal. She was talking to me about some ideas she has for the future and mentioned that she wanted me to lead some of it because she felt I was a blooming leader.

This got me thinking about how I improve my ability as a teacher. What resources do I utilize in improving my teaching skill? The main one I use is reading. I do a lot of reading about science teaching and what should and should not be done in science classroom instruction. Most of my profession reading is of research papers. Not the most exciting reading, but I found it very informing. The other resource is other teachers. I have one teacher at my school who I am fond of and admire his teaching. He teaches history and works with AP students while I teach science and work with regular students. However, I still often talk with him about teaching and have borrowed several of his strategies. Despite him being an award winning teacher (he was a finalist for state teacher of the year) he is looking at options outside of teaching. He has become frustrated with several things and while he wants to remain in education, wants to be out of the public school.

These two resources have not been enough. I want to continue to improve my trade but have not found a great resource for that yet. I would love to have a mentor who I could work with and learn from. My mentor teacher my first year was an English teacher. I learned a lot from him but feel I would benefit even more from a science mentor teacher. I feel I would have a great resource who I could discuss my ideas with. They would have the experience and knowledge to help me understand what I am doing wrong in my teaching and how I can improve.

There is a need for a leader. I want to be a follower, I just need someone to lead me.