Introduction | 5 belief that the number-one factor in the success or failure of a school is the relationships of the adults in the building.
Part 4: Owning It in Your Community I devote part 4 (chapters 20–24) to the role that we play as public professionals, representing our schools, our students, and the whole convoluted concept of education. Teaching is not just what we do. Teaching is what we are. It doesn’t end when the last bell rings or when vacation starts. The time has come to own this role too. As a profession, we often feel under attack from lawmakers, parent groups, and the general public, so many of whom buy into the idea that our education system is failing and that the solution is to simply “fire all the bad teachers.” The strategies I offer in this part include how to positively represent our schools and our profession in the public eye, how to utilize various media to do so, and how to step up and become a teacher leader by sharing what you know, not just with colleagues at your school, but also at regional, state, and national conferences. When teachers lead, we elevate our profession, and everyone wins.
How to Use This Book This book is like the friend that you go to when you just need some straightforward answers. I mean for you to read it easily and efficiently, and I designed every strategy to be immediately implementable with little to no cost to you. You don’t need to read this book from cover to cover (though I hope you will!). You can leave this book near your desk or nightstand and pull it out to read just one section on an issue you’re dealing with at the moment or to get a little jolt of motivation on a hard day. I also hope you will consider reading it as a group with your school or district staff teams and work on the strategies together. In fact, that’s precisely why I included a section for reflection questions at the end of each chapter. Use these to reflect on your own teaching practices and stir the pot for discussion with your colleagues. In the end, use this book however it works for you, to inspire yourself to own it by owning your complex and expanding role in the most important profession during one of the most rapidly changing times in history. Let’s own it together and show the world that the future of education is brighter than some may think, with teachers like us taking the lead in our classrooms, our schools, and our communities.