TL;DR:
- Being a leader, even a reluctant one, provides you with opportunities to make a difference.
- You can achieve great things when you have a true partnership with your administration.
- If you are passionate about something and know it is best for the students, go for it.
The Reluctant Leader: First Things First
When I first joined Plano High School, I was confused about the role of a department PLC Leader in the building. I honestly had no idea what that meant.
I spent my whole career in a large suburban district where we had a department chair. The department chair was a part of the administration and usually only taught one, maybe two classes. They then spent the rest of their day on administrative tasks. A PLC Leader at Plano HS is a full-time teacher who is just part of the Building Leadership Team (BLT) whose main task is to organize and run PLC meetings. Additionally, I am the main communicator between the building admin and my department.
That wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to have more of an impact than just running meetings and writing emails.
I was always reluctant to become a leader, but if I was to be one, I wanted it to matter more than clerical tasks.
So when the Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction in our building sent out an email early on about revising the Curriculum Guide for the school so it could get board approved in November, I emailed him back right away. The email was full of excitement and hope. I was going to attempt to make a HUGE change at PHS that could impact future generations in a positive way.
But let’s rewind a bit…
When I first came to PHS, I found out the lowest math course we offered was Algebra 1. As the teacher with the majority of kids in this course (and the two co-taught sections), I quickly discovered that this was a really big problem. A pretty sizable number of students were struggling with pre-algebra concepts and thus had little to no chance of passing Algebra 1.
And…there was no place else to put them. They were stuck there…drowning.
This frustrated me. The district had embraced the framework and ideas of the Teach Better Team and brought in the team often for training and guidance. One of the main ideas of Teach Better was to “meet kids where they are at.” Yet, we didn’t offer a course before Algebra 1 that would do just that—meet them at their proximal zone of development. That seemed counterintuitive to everything I had learned in GRID training and made no sense to me.
I switched to GRID mid-year, which helped some, but not all.
In the end, some gaps are just too sizable to fill.
At one of our PLC meetings in my first year, one of our veteran teachers brought up the idea of a pre-algebra course for our struggling learners. It was immediately shot down by our Instructional Coach and PLC leader at the time. I didn’t fully understand why, but later found out it had been shut down by the district for years as an option. They didn’t want any courses that seemed “remedial” offered at the school.
So fast forward back to that email from my AP. I responded, “Hey B–, do you think we can talk about the potential of proposing a two-year Algebra 1 sequence? I did some research and found a course framework that maybe could help our struggling 9th graders.”
He immediately sent me a calendar invite for a meeting.
Let me tell you a little about B. He and I are a lot alike. We both started our careers in large suburban districts that were vastly different from Plano in terms of size and population. We both have a deep love of math and science. Oh, and we are the exact same age and have similar personalities. And we both truly, deeply, care about our students at Plano.
That meeting was probably the best meeting I have ever had in my career. He listened, got excited, and loved the idea I had for the two-year Algebra 1 sequence. He also shared some ideas he had that could help the kids as well. But then he got real.
“We can try, and I think it is a great idea…but this sort of move has been shot down a lot in the past. Don’t get your hopes up too high…ok?”
However, he immediately started collecting data from past students supporting this new course. I then put together the 2-year course framework. I also typed up a rationale for why we needed it that he could pitch to our Assistant Superintendent. And then he got ready to pitch it to our Assistant Superintendent—the first line of defense to getting this passed.
This was what a true partnership between a teacher and an administrator could accomplish. Putting our minds and hearts together to do what was best for kids. Click To TweetWhen he met with the Assistant Superintendent, she was convinced…but she hated the name.
The original name of the first course was “Foundations of Algebra.” This course would cover some crucial pre-algebra skills first semester that students need to master to be successful in Algebra 1. Then the 2nd semester would be the first three units of a traditional Algebra 1 course. We didn’t have a name for the second course yet that students would take as 10th graders. But that course would complete the rest of Algebra 1 standards and would include a unit on statistics, which we have never had time for in a traditional Algebra 1 course.
The name was rejected due to it sounding too remedial, and that definitely wouldn’t be approved by the board. So B and I met to brainstorm a bit before he met with her again. And we still didn’t decide on a name. So this resulted in a long night of texting back and forth more and more ideas (some were even goofy as the night went on) until we finally settled on two more names. It was crunch time, and this needed to be decided quickly.
He brought forth the names. Both of which were again rejected. So…it then became just Algebra 1A and Algebra 1B, which were rather boring, but they got the point across. This was a 2-year sequence so no one would be confused by the names.
And our Assistant Superintendent was now fully on board.
The name meant nothing to me. All that mattered was getting this course sequence passed by the board.
It was all about doing what was best for the kids. The rejection of our creative names was not important at all, and I was cautiously optimistic.
So the next big step was the first read of the Curriculum Guide for 2023-2024 at the next board meeting. If the board approved the first read, the chances were very high that it would be approved as a new course for next year.
So I asked B if he would like me there at that meeting, just in case any specific questions about course content were asked. I would be the best person to answer those questions and again increase our chances of this getting approved. I wanted this course so badly for our kids, I was willing to give up an evening at home to help make it happen.
He said, “Yes. If you can be there, that would be great!”
And onto my Google Calendar the board meeting went.
As the Monday of the next board meeting got closer, I became very nervous.
The consistent message I had been hearing since I first made this push with B kept returning to my head.
“The board has always voted against proposals similar to this in the past. Don’t get your hopes up.”
So I was already spinning the worst-case scenario in my head and making plans on how to revise our proposal to appease the board in future years. I have never been much of an optimist, so I was expecting the worst.
Monday finally came, and all day my mind was very much focused on what would happen that night. I made sure to dress nicely, and I drove to the elementary school where the meeting would take place.
In the lot, I sat in my car for a few minutes listening to a song to pump me up. My mindset needed to be positive before walking in.
I walked into the school gymnasium and signed in as a guest at the meeting. A lot of people were at this meeting, including a lot of the district administrators and many community members. I grabbed a copy of the agenda. I saw the Course Guide presentation by B would be happening after several other agenda items, including a presentation on reading scores by two of our elementary school principals, so it would be a while.
As I was sitting there, B came over and asked if there was anything I wanted to say to the board. I again reminded him that I was just there in case they had any questions specific to the content that he didn’t feel comfortable answering and that I had faith that he would do a great job presenting the new course to the board. He smiled and honestly looked a little nervous. I was very much happy I was not in his shoes that night. I am a teacher at heart and have no problem speaking to a group of teenagers, but adults who have the power to change our district for the better? That was frightening to me!
The meeting finally got called to order, and I anxiously sat and listened to the other agenda items.
The High School Course Guide portion of the agenda was finally next, and B was called forward to present.
B came to the front and all the nervousness I saw in his face before had disappeared. He was in the zone, and I again was glad I was not the one up there.
He started with the more minor changes to the Course Guide and explained those to the board. And I noticed he had purposely saved our new course for last. Probably because that one was the huge change, the largest hurdle to jump over, and the one that would have the most questions from the board.
When he got to the Algebra 1A/1B course sequence, I saw him take a deep breath and go on to explain the rationale, the data, and the overview of the 2-year sequence of Algebra 1 we would like to offer to some of our struggling freshmen in the future.
While he was talking, I didn’t watch him. I was instead observing the faces of the board members.
Most were nodding, but a few had concerned looks on their faces that made me very worried.
B did amazing at presenting the proposal, and now it was time for questions. My stomach lurched as the round of many questions started coming his way.
I don’t know why I was surprised. This was the warning everyone gave me. My pessimistic, anxious brain started to whirl.
Most questions were pretty straightforward and just asked for clarification on some things, and B answered those easily. Then the question I had feared would come up was asked.
“Why are so many kids coming into Algebra 1 unprepared? What is the middle school not doing to prepare them?”
Here we go…this is going to be the moment that would change all their minds.
B visibly paused. And then he answered in a way I know my anxious brain wouldn’t have been able to at that moment.
I was in awe of him when he then said, “This is not the fault of the middle school at all. If you look at the data, this trend has been happening for a long time since we first moved to only offering Algebra 1 as a starting point for freshmen and is happening everywhere that does the same thing. It isn’t a middle school lack of preparation problem at all. Some of these kids are coming to us at a 4th-grade level in math. This is a systemic problem that we are addressing to better meet the needs of our incoming freshmen going forward.”
A few more small questions popped up, and the Superintendent then thanked B for his presentation of the Course Guide. The vote could then commence on approving the first read of the Course Guide. If this were approved, it would be pretty much a rubber stamp at the next meeting to have the Course Guide officially approved.
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Impatiently I sat as the secretary took the roll for the votes.
As I listened to the barrage of “ayes” go around the table, my heart leaped with joy. And I was no longer shaking with anxiousness and dread but with happiness and joy.
This course could help so many kids have a more successful start to high school. It could help them be better prepared for high school math and more on track to graduate. I wanted to cry, but not from sadness. I was the happiest I had been in a very long time, and our hard work had actually paid off!
My phone buzzed and B, just two rows in front of me and to the left, had sent me a text.
“First step…done ✅.” And I smiled.
We had done what many had thought was impossible.
This was what a true partnership between a teacher and an administrator could accomplish. Putting our minds and hearts together to do what was best for kids. And I started to believe that really anything could be accomplished with a partnership like this.
One month later, the course was officially approved. And now, the work on creating the instructional materials and curriculum for these courses could finally begin.
This was my first big accomplishment as a reluctant leader, but we are only at the beginning. There was a lot more I wanted to change, and a lot of obstacles in the way. Reluctantly, I pushed forward and onto the next thing.
My work was nowhere near done and I was just getting started.
About Julie Saller
Julie is a math teacher who currently teaches at Plano HS in Plano, IL and is also the Math PLC Leader & Educators Rising Sponsor at the school. She is an advocate for public education & recruitment of quality professionals in the teaching profession. She uses the GRID method by Teach Better in her math classes & supports teachers in her building who are looking to try GRID in their classes.
