Leadership Theme for 2012-2013 School Year

I had high hopes of being on some type of blogging schedule this summer, but it seems I just can't hold myself to it. Oh well! I am reading a great book called The Leader in Me. I'm sure many of you have read it or heard of it. The premise is how schools across the country have adapted Stephen Covey's 7 Habits as their school theme/culture. I love this quote;

"At my school we are all leaders. Leadership is doing the right thing even when no one is looking."

I think as teachers we all know how important it is to teach this lesson, but it's hard to find the time to work it in. What I love about the stories in The Leader in Me is that they show how schools have taken on a leadership theme rooted in the 7 Habits and Baldridge principles and used them to create a positive, win-win culture where students, teachers and administrators are all working together for the same cause. 

I sat in a meeting this past year where we were discussing our school's mission and vision statements. Honestly, I have never gotten too excited about working on mission and vision statements and wasn't too into it that day; however, after reading this book, I realized how central this work is. It creates the springboard for all change that will hopefully come in the future. However long it takes, change can only come when there is a clear goal in mind and EVERYONE knows it and is on board with it. I was impressed with how a small number of faculty at AB Combs Elementary in North Carolina got the rest of their colleagues on board by showing them how effective taking on a leadership culture could be. The Leader in Me is a hopeful account of how schools are creating change in a time where a lot of the stories about public education focus on the negative aspects and how it must change. This provides clear examples that change is possible. I highly recommend it if you haven't read Steven Covey's The Leader in Me already. 

With that said, I'm going to work on my Leadership Unit for the first 6 weeks of school. Since we spend the first 6 weeks establishing routines and procedures anyway, I'd like to kick it up a bit and incorporate in some leadership language and activities. I'm thinking of going with a Leadership theme for the 2012-2013 school year, but for now I'm going to focus on the first 6 weeks. 

Teachers, administrators, parents, community members all want the same thing..."for children to grow up to be responsible, caring, compassionate human beings who respect diversity and who know how to do the right thing when faced with difficult decisions." {Stephen Covey, The Leader in Me}