I believe that our teachers are of the most important leaders in our schools—not the principals, heads of school, department chairs, deans, . . .
As a member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) Experienced Teachers Institute staff, I had the privilege of working with 36 experienced teachers at the annual 3-day residential workshop. Here are the slides of my leadership presentation to them:
"In any culture, the development of self-control is crucial. This ability, which depends on the prefrontal cortex, provides the basis for mental flexibility, social skills and discipline. It predicts success in education, career and marriage. Indeed, childhood self-control is twice as important as intelligence in predicting academic achievement." Read more from this excellent NYTimes article, "Building Self-Control, The American Way."
During my years of teaching algebra to middle schoolers, I was often asked, "Why do we have to learn algebra?" Knowing that it is the perfect subject to help students work their way from the concrete to the abstract, I would respond with, "It's a way to help you think differently than you do now."