This week we have the pleasure of hearing from Molly Lauer. Molly is an incredible 9th grade earth science teacher in Washington, DC. She also serves as an Instructional Lead Teacher at her school, which means she leads her fellow science teachers through professional development and coaching. As you can tell from her reflections below, Molly is a great leader because she works hard to both push and inspire her colleagues to achieve their own goals.
I love being a teacher leader because I enjoy helping teachers cast dreams about what their classroom and their school could be and then helping them actualize them. The demands of teachers are many and great and it’s important for all of us to pause to remember, amidst the struggle, the importance of what we do and how we can be continually refining our craft. I am fortunate in that I have the opportunity to do that with other teachers. Leaders of any kind get to inspire people to greatness. In being a teacher leader, I can both empathize with the struggles of teaching and yet challenge my colleagues to achieve greatness. It’s important for schools to build teacher leaders so that teachers both feel like they have someone “in their corner” and are supported in their work and are pushed to continually grow to a vision of excellence they aspire to. Although it’s a delicate balance of encouragement and pressing others towards their vision, the power of being a teacher leader continues to energize me.
Thanks for sharing, Molly!