A New Approach

My focus students are still having trouble understanding what leadership is and acts of leadership, so I've decided to take a new approach. Here's something I came up with for them...I also want to incorporate lyrics, quotes, and music to try to get them more involved and connected to what we talk about.

Enjoy!

What[a1]  is leadership?

Leadership is when a person uses the help and support of others in order to accomplish a common goal.

Example:

·        Problem: You and your friends are struggling with remembering the different types of governments that we talked about in class.

·        Leader Solution: You exercise your leadership skills and organize a study group.

·        Moral of the Story: The common goal is to better understand the types of government, so by getting your friends together to form a study group, you are getting their help and support in order to fix the problem.

·        What is your own example about what leadership?[a2] 

What is an act of leadership?

An act of leadership can be anything that helps you get the support from others and/or acts of leadership help you practice actions that strengthen you as a leader.

Acts of leadership are about building a relationship with others and creating an environment of respect. We are focusing on 4 categories of leadership acts: parents/guardians, teachers, peers, and community members.

Example:

·        Problem: Your neighbor across the street is too old and isn’t about to clean up their front yard, especially when it comes to shoveling the snow during the winter months.

·        Leader Solution: You go talk to your neighbor and offer to help clean her yard. You set up a day and time to clean her yard. You respect the agreement and show up on those days to help her out.

·        Moral of the Story: You recognized that your neighbor needed help and you took it upon yourself to do something about it. This act of leadership helped you practice the importance of helping those in need and in turn you did service for your community[a3] . By respecting your agreement of the days that she needed help, you strengthen your skills of accountability and responsibility[a4] .

Quotes for Leadership Log:[a5] 

“I set goals, take control, drink out my own bottle
I make mistakes but learn from every one
And when it's said and done
I bet this brother be a better one
If I upset you don’t stress
Never forget, that God isn't finished with me yet.”

- Tupac Shakur

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”

-          Benjamin Spock

 “In the end we are all separate: our stories, no matter how similar, come to a fork and diverge. We are drawn to each other because of our similarities, but it is our differences we must learn to respect.”

- Author Unknown

“The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.”

- Benjamin Franklin

*Note: Find 2 quotes on your own and come with them to next week’s session.*

Refer to quotes page...

What are your goals for this year that you will take control of?

*Remember these are your goals, you are responsible for them. You are the one that will reach them with hard work. Yes, it can be hard, but you have the power to learn from your mistakes. And now, this is your time to become a great leader.

What are things that you sometimes have trusting yourself with in class?

*Remember the agreement we came up with during our first session. We promise to create a safe and open environment to share our thoughts and ideas, so please feel free and safe to share what you are thinking.

How do you deal with someone that is different? What are your strengths? In what ways can you improve?

I know trust is a difficult subject for us to talk about, but what does this quote mean to you? If you could change anything about it, what would you change and why?

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 [a1]Do reading exercise where you read a section and when you pause, the student reads the word.

 [a2]This can be their act of leadership of the day that they record

 [a3]How do you think this was a service to your entire community?

 [a4]What does accountability and responsibility mean to you?

 [a5]For students to cut out and tape to log, they should highlight words that speak out to them, have deep meaning.