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Lessons Learned from the Teacher Strike About Leadership

I am a first year administrator at a large, comprehensive high school in Denver. This week, our teachers went on strike, a strike that lasted 3 full days and ended early in the morning on the 4th day. This was the first strike in 25 years in Denver and came on the heels of the LAUSD strike and several other demonstrations across the country. Approximately 142 of our 145 teachers, nurses, and counselors participated in the strike. A strike is the type of school crisis that has the power to make or break new leaders. I had not yet felt my leadership or my commitment to education tested to such a degree. In the moments following my teachers return to the building, I began to reflect on this experience and what I have learned about leadership through it. Lesson One: A Culture of Predictability My principal made two commitments to the staff at the beginning of the year: to lead with purpose and to create a predictable school year to the extent possible. Clearly defined distributive
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6 Equity Principles for Schools

Principle #1: Attitudes and beliefs consciously and unconsciously drive our decisions. Believe that all students can learn and achieve at a high level. Believe that all teachers have an impact on student outcomes, not just those teaching state tested subjects. Persistence and perseverance are necessary for both teachers and students to move through difficult tasks and situations. Focus on fostering a love of learning, rather than a tolerance or endurance for schoolwork. Understand students’ core beliefs about school and learning. Recognize and combat student apathy. Recognize and find a work-around to negative student perceptions of rule-following and academic achievement. Seek to understand why disengaged students still come to school and why others don’t come to school. Principle #2: Relationships are everything. Build authentic trust and affirm students' value beyond pleasantries and kind words. Create welcoming school and classroom environments that provide
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Raise Your Hand: Identifying Unconscious Bias in Classroom Instruction

A while back, a Facebook memory popped up in my feed from 2011. It read: At the time, I was teaching Music at a Title I middle school with a population of mostly Latino and mostly poor students. Students at my school did not get to choose their electives classes (this is not common practice in suburb schools) and so I had to be creative with the curriculum in order to engage the students who did not want to sing and had zero interest in pursuing music outside of my class. I designed a series of rotating interdisciplinary units of study so that students who were placed in my classes multiple semesters would get a variety of relevant musical experiences, while also singing in an ensemble. One of those units focused on the music entrepreneur. It is perplexing that when we talk to students about future careers, it is almost always in the context of working for someone else. Of all my students who learned through this unit over multiple years, not one of them had been told they could
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Shout Out: What the Spirituals Project Choir Taught Me About Culturally Responsive Education

As a music teacher, we are ingrained to promote a specific kind of “audience etiquette”. In fact, the Colorado state standards explicitly call out audience etiquette at the middle and high school grade levels.  In the past, I was completely comfortable with the definition of audience etiquette as it pertained to silence, polite clapping, staying seated, and paying attention to the performer.   Last Fall, I joined The Spirituals Project Choir at the University of Denver. Our mission, in part, is to “preserve and revitalize the music and teachings of the sacred songs called Spirituals”.  Being a part of this choir is one of the best things I have done for myself both musically and spiritually.  It is comprised of mostly African American and Caucasian singers. For the first several months, I was the only Hispanic member.   A few months ago, our choir was asked to perform at New Hope Baptist Church as a recipient of the Choir of the Year award.  This was my first experience
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My Story of Persistence: How I Won the Miss Colorado Title Twice

Third grade was the first time my mother realized that I was an outspoken person and perhaps the first time I recognized my own cultural differences.  My family had recently moved to Colorado Springs from New Mexico after my father was relocated by the army.  About halfway during the school year, we were learning about Colorado history and my teacher was telling us about a landmark she called “May-suh Vur-dee” (spelled phonetically).  I interjected with a raised hand to correct her.  “Actually, it’s pronounced Mesa Verde ,” I announced. To which she replied, “No, it’s says right here in the book “may-suh vur-dee”.  Like a good student, I refrained from any further discussion. At the end of the lesson, my teacher asked the class “How has Colorado changed over the years?”  I was the first to raise my hand and I said “They used to call it Mesa Verde, and now they call it Maysuh Vurdee”.   I attended a private college-prep school on a full scholarship. Even then, it was cost prohib
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