Page+1+(Our+List)

//Jana (2/19): I am in agreement with the list. I have started adding some of our reference points for why we feel traits should be where they are. I changed the color to red so it would stand out and tried to find both personal accounts and quotes form our discussion this week to support what we said. I only did 4 in case this was not the direction anyone wanted to take with this. Let me know what you think and if you think something needs to be changed. :)// Renee: I think that sounds great! Renee: As we come to an agreement on our list I figured we could bold them. Jen: Thank you for creating the four pages, it makes it a lot easier to work with. I liked the approach that you started Jana so I tried to continue that same frame of thought/quotes in a couple of the skills. Feel free to change anything that seems out of place or does not fit well. I am also wondering if we should begin our list with an opening paragraph saying something to the effect that all the skills are important for leadership to have etc. Sara (2/21) This is looking great. Do we want Lambert quotes for each trait, or just a few? I'll work on some reference points for 5, 7 and 12.

1, **Listening:** We felt that listening was very the most important skill in leadership because it is a base skill that the others are built upon. Our text says, "The purpose of dialogue is understanding:when we truly listen and build on each other's ideas, we construct meaning and knowledge together." (Lambert, 2003, p.26)

2. **Empowering others** I f they empower others, they can use the strengths and weakness of others and do not need to be great at everything if they are willing to delegate "Team members get to know one another's strengths and needs and accept the different members have different perspectives, interests, and strengths" (Lambert, 2003,p.26). 

3. **Decision Making:** S ometimes a staff has many ideas, all with valid points, and in order to move on someone must make a decision. An effective leader needs to make those from time to time just to keep the ball rolling. A good leader will estabilish decision rules as stated in Lambert "Clarify decision rules with the staff ahead of time. Include rules about which decisions are consulting or consensus decisions, which are for the faculty to make, which are for the principal to make alone, and which are made elsewhere." (p.49)

4. **Being a visionary:**  It is important to gain other people’s ideas and show they are important and you value their input. It is also important to set goals for the group.  5. **Problem Solving When working with a group of people on a task, problems are going to occur. It is important to be able to work through those differences and come up with solutions. After meeting the first 4 tasks on our list this will be much easier to do. **

6. **Managing Conflict**: We felt that managing conflict belonged in the first half of the leadership skills because it is an area that is utilitzed often. Conflict arises often and quickly among teachers and good leadership must manage problems so they do not become out of control and create a rift throughout the staff. As Lambert (2003) stated, "Personal conflicts are not allowed to simmer. Team members employ a conflict resolution process-whereby they listen to each position, seek common ground, and identify strategies to address the problem" (p. 26).

7. **Presenting Information** Many times leaders are asked to present information outside of their team. In many districts this happens at board meetings, principal meetings, curriculum meetings and budget meetings. A leader that cannot present information well and is not articulate in advocating for their school's needs could lose out on valueable recources, including funding and staff, if they are not proficient at presenting information.

8.**Positive Reinforcement**: As a staff member (Jennifer) who works under a command-and-control principal, positive reinforcement is not often heard. An occassional "Nice work" or "Good Job" would be great to hear, but a teacher can get by without the compliments. As a group we see the value of having this attribute as part of you leadership abilities; however, we feel that it belongs in the bottom half of the list because although it is important, positive reinforcement can be recieved through other sources such as fellow teachers or your students.

9. **Mentoring**: As a mentor to a new teacher this year and a mentee during my first year, I (Jana) have seen how vital the mentoring process is to a new teacher's success. The teacher I am mentoring is not new to the district but is new to our school and even a move within the district has mean a lot of changes an routines and expectations for him. Our text talks about mentoring and refers to it as "enculturation" which I think is a perfect term for what is neccessary to survive in a new school setting. The text says, "But enculturation can also mean helping new teachers and principals to hit the road running, welcoming them to the staff from the very beginning, and encouraging them to become part of a strong learning community." (Lambert, 2003, 38)

10. **Coaching**: We put coaching near the bottom of this list, not because it is not important, but because it is often an overlooked area for the principal to lead. Often a district will hire others to take over the role of a coach. This coach is then give much of the responsibility instead of requiring it from the principal. It is also hard for a principal to maintain adequate coaching practices because they require quite a bit of time and commitment invested in the teacher. This type of commitment often cannot be given by the leadership because of the strains of their schedule. "Coaching stems from the same principles as dialogue, but entails an even more personal approach, since it usually occurs one on one....very little attention has been given to //leadership// coaching, in which questions are meant to expand the respondent's focus from being a reflective practitioner to being a leader" (Lambert, 2003, pg. 34).

11.**Facilitating Meetings**: a leader empowers other and teams establish ground rules (norms) to follow during their meetings, how important is facilitate meetings for the leader to do if these routines are established? If others are putting in their effort no one would have to facililitate.  12. **Creativity:** While we felt that being creative was part of an effective leader, we did put it last on our list. One of the reasons we felt it could go last was because of the efforts of empowering others (listed number 2). A good leader will know strengths and weaknesses of the group and they can tap into this knowledge to find the creative members on a team when it is necessary. Therefore recognizing other's creativity and utilizing it is more important than needing to be creative yourself.