Being Somebody

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that
Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realied that
Everybody wouldn't do it.
!t ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what
Anybody could have done
"y #rst instinct is to always be a Somebody. !$ ! see a need, !'m
already hal$ way there to attac%ing it be$ore giving it too much thought
and that has been both bene#cial and problematic in my li$e. !
de#nitely get a lot done, but sometimes the cost and the sacri#ces are
too great. As ! mature, cough, cough, ! am #nding that ! have to
identi$y and then respect my own limits, physically, socially, and
temporally.
As part o$ my graduate program ! wrote an action research paper
studying the perceptions o$ incoming $reshmen be$ore and a$ter the
transition. !t was a very insight$ul e&perience and ! still use some o$ the
data ! gathered to shape my procedures and instruction. 'r. "elody
(ei$el )erner, E"*'s own Senior Associate A' $or Administration was
my pro$essor and she suggested ! get it published, so ! submitted it to
some journal and received some really doable $eedbac%.
*n$ortunately, that was + years ago which was a rather hectic time in
my li$e considering three days a$ter ! had my now + year old, blac%
mold was discovered in our house, and we all ,my husband, our dog,
and our - year old, + year old, and newborn sons. moved into a hotel
$or - months. /rom there my li$e just went $urther and $urther away
$rom that poor binder that sits on a shel$ in my bac%room, so ! would
love the opportunity to do some more Big ( research, and eventually
ta%e it all the way.
0ris said that it was important to have a real world, burning
1uestion to drive the Big ( type research, and ! have a great topic !
could cra$t a 1uestion out o$. !'ve already started doing the reading on
the achievement gap between males and $emales in literacy, and !
have more titles on my To (ead Shel$. ! thin% the 2uys )rite 3roject
could be a great $ocus group $or research, and ! love the direct
applicability o$ my #ndings to my actual li$e with my %ids and my
actual %ids at home. ! want to empower more boys to have voices in
our English classes.
!n addition, our administration is very data driven and being able
to bring speci#c, valid research and conclusions based on our %ids
would be so power$ul. )or%ing with the Teacher as (esearch group
would help me to ma%e the research valid and also %eep me motivated
to $ollow through, even i$ it was just co4ee with 0ris once a month or
so. *sing the Teacher (esearcher role as a power source, ! could
potentially pilot a 2uy )rite English elective and get more support $or
an a$terschool 2uy )rite 3roject. !n addition, just by studying boys as
writers, ! let them %now that what they do really matters.
! love how 5essica mentioned that a trial run could actually shape
the real (esearch because ! thin% that would be best $or my #rst $oray
into being a Teacher as (esearcher. ! could get the a$ter school group
going this year and then have some methods ready $or the ne&t year
to do some power$ul (esearch.
My leadership goal is to explore doing Research
based on getting boys more engaged in writing in
school to lessen the achievement gap. I will do this by
contacting Kris to hear if she thinks this is group
worthy level of investment or more of a cofee once a
month kind of thing.
6ast year my principal said that he was as%ing $or Title 7 $unds to
create a 6iteracy 8oach $or our school $ocusing on (eading
Apprenticeship and the implementation o$ literature circles. Two
summers ago ! spent almost three wee%s o$ my own time attending the
6eadership in (eading Apprenticeship training, and have lead or co9
lead district wide 3' repeatedly since then. !'ve wor%ed closely with
our high school (A coordinator and $eel that ! have credibility with our
sta4. ! would love to be that coach, and attending this !nstitute has
$urther solidi#ed that goal. !'m hoping it will also give me some pull
with administration and $urther post their con#dence that ! am the
right person $or this job.
Although we're using the term :coach,: this sounds much more
li%e the Teacher as 8onsultant rather than the role o$ coach that 5ulia
described, which ma%es sense because "itra mentioned the role o$
coaching embedded in being a consultant. ! would love to be the
person that gets to attend all the 3' and bring it bac% to our sta4. !n
$act, last year, ! went to a con$erence on )ednesday, tal%ed to my
principal, and lead Thursday's 3'. ! regularly send my principal
dismissed noti#cations about relevant con$erences and seminars. ;ow
awesome would it be to continue being a student, learning how to be a
better teacher, and truly bring that bac% to my school< ! can't even get
my head around how power$ul it would be $or our whole sta4 to be
pulling the same wagon e1uipped with the same toolbo&.
! could de#nitely share presentations $rom 3' they send me to,
but ! thin% the real $un would come in developing my own research
based demonstrations to #t the speci#c needs o$ my audience. ! do
that $or my students all the time, but ! am o$ten overwhelmed, and
burdened, by the seemingly endless grading and such. ! have been
per$ectly happy to be in the classroom, but this past year and a hal$ or
so, !'ve de#nitely $elt pulled in other directions. The idea o$ being a
consultant, using the %nowledge ! gain reading all the boo%s on my 3'
)ish 6ist, and ma%ing our school wor% together more cohesively may
be the reason !'m a teacher.
My leadership goal in terms of being a coach is to get
some kind of certifcation so my principal will see that I
am defnitely the most ualifed person for the position.
My leadership goal in terms of being a consultant is to
continue researching and potentially develop a new
demonstration to ft the needs of our district.
I would also like to present something relevant at a
!aturday !eminar.
It would be a dream to actually go out into a school and be
a consultant for "M#$.
There is an important job to be done and ! can't wait to help ma%e
it happen so that everybody can see that nobody needs to be angry,
anybody can ma%e a di4erence, and somebody is going to better o4
because o$ it.