My Students As Potential Leaders Adapted From Developing the Leaders Around You by John Maxwell

Developing Students’ Potential Appreciate them for who they are. Believe that they CAN do their very best. Praise their accomplishments. Accept your personal responsibility to them as their leader. A class cannot increase its productivity. STUDENTS CAN.

Developing Students is the Teacher’s Most Important Task Depreciation Systems and programs become dated Buildings deteriorate Materials wear out Classrooms scar with age Furniture breaks Appreciation Students grow Students learn They develop Become effective learners when their teacher understands their potential value

What Are Your Goals? Is your goal to draw a following that results in a crowd? Is your goal to develop leaders who become a movement? Think of the students in your classroom. Are you developing them? Do you have a plan for their development? Are they growing and changing for the better?

is Directly Related to Student Potential Growth Potential is Directly Related to Student Potential Grow a Student, Grow the School What are your goals for your students? It is the teacher’s responsibility to train the students and help them make the necessary changes to reach the stated goals.

You, as Teacher, are the Leader of Your Classroom. Concentrate on Your Students Become Supportive Make Your Students Strong Make Your Plans Effective Listen to Constructive Criticism Learn From Your Mistakes and Teach Your Students to do Likewise Tell Your Students What They Need to Hear Teach Them Well

THINK LIKE THE LEADER YOU ARE Share With Others , Share the Load People who share a common direction and sense of community get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on one another’s thrust. If we as people have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation and so will those who are headed the same way we are. It pays to take turns doing hard jobs. What do we say when we honk from behind? If we have the sense of a goose we will stand by each other like those who fly together.

It Takes a Teacher To Know a Student, to Grow a Student, and Show a Student. Teachers who mentor their students multiply their effectiveness. They help students gain a deep understanding of goals and objectives. Students learn the art of setting priorities and establishing parameters. By instilling faith in the students that they can learn, students become inspired and develop skills they don’t know they possess.

Developed Students Expand and Enhance the Future of the School The difference between a good school and a great school are the teachers as they inspire students to reach their potential. A school must organize around what it is trying to accomplish, not around what is already being done. Most people produce only when they feel like it. Teachers, as leaders, produce even when they don’t feel like it.

Create a Climate For Student Growth and Development Those who believe in students’ ability do more than stimulate them--they create atmospheres in which it becomes easier for students to succeed. Teachers must : Encourage Plan for Success MODEL BE ACTIVE GENERATE ACTIVITY THAT IS PRODUCTIVE AND MEANINGFUL Create a Climate in Which Students Will Thrive

Teachers cannot overlook the importance of momentum: With Momentum: Teachers look better than they really are. With Momentum: Students increase their performance. Without Momentum: Teachers look worse than they actually are. Without Momentum: Students decrease their performance. Momentum is the greatest of all change agents. Over 90 percent of the successful changes instituted in organizations have been the result of creating momentum before asking people to change.

One extra degree, an increase of less than one half of one percent, can make the difference between a pot of languishing liquid and a bubbling caldron of power. One degree can create a full head of steam--enough power to move a train weighing tons. That one degree is usually momentum. The right atmosphere allows students to bloom and grow. That is why the class atmosphere needs to be valued and developed before the students ever step foot in the door.

Teachers must model the behaviors they desire in their students. Example is not the main thing in influencing others…it is the only thing.” Albert Schweitzer Students emulate what they see modeled. Positive models--positive students Negative models--negative students The teacher’s goals become the students’ goals. When students follow us, they can only go as far as we go. If our growth stops, our ability to lead will stop. Neither personality nor methodology can substitute for our own personal growth.

Find the one thing that you believe is each of your students’ greatest asset, and then give 100 percent encouragement in that area. Focusing on a student’s strengths promotes: Positive Growth Determination Confidence Enthusiasm Success

Great Teachers Know the Desires of the Students They Teach People often associate great achievement with a number of things: luck, circumstance, or natural talent. A study by Benjamin Bloom reports conclusively that drive, determination, and desire, not great natural talent, leads to extraordinary success of individuals. Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH We must look at the students around us and ask, “What does this student need to learn and grow?” EXPOSE YOUR STUDENTS TO SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY LEADERS Provide a secure environment where students are free to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes. PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH THE TOOLS FOR LEARNING Spend time with your students individually

VISION GIVES DIRECTION RELIES ON PEOPLE MUST BE MODELED IS CAUGHT BEFORE IT CAN BE TAUGHT

GREAT STUDENTS PAY THE PRICE THAT CREATES A Teacher Can Plan Now and Reap the Benefits or Wonder Later Why Students Are Not Being Successful

You must examine yourself, ask yourself the hard questions, and then determine to do the right thing regardless of atmosphere or mood. There are few ideal and leisurely settings for the disciplines of student growth. Most of the significant things done in the world were done by persons who were either too busy or too sick to do them.

QUESTIONS TO ASK CONCERNING GROWTH 1. Do I have a plan for my students’ growth? 2. Am I the leader of that plan? 3. Am I willing to change to keep growing? 4. Am I willing to accept constructive criticism? 5. Is my life an example for my students to follow? 6. Am I willing to pay the price to become a great teacher? 7. Will I implement suggested strategies? A lack of commitment on the part of a teacher makes it difficult for students to be developed. If you as a teacher have not made this commitment, your future is limited, and you will never become a great teacher..

Now Is the Time to CHANGE

If you are the head of a department in your school, now is the time to make positive changes. Do as many things as your school will allow to create a positive climate for your students. If you are a classroom teacher, now is the time to make positive changes in your classroom. Do as many things as your school will allow to create a positive climate for your students. If you are the principal, now is the time to make positive changes in your school.

Example is not the main thing in influencing others…it is the only thing.” Albert Schweitzer