Students in the CAPS Teaching Careers program at Four Rivers Career Center participated in a program Leadership Training on Thursday, December 10.
Modeled to feel like a teacher professional development session, Leadership Day allowed the morning and afternoon session students to build their networking skills with other future educators.
There were guest speakers talking about different leadership styles and traits, and activities to help them build skills like prompt decision-making, effective communication, active listening, and goal setting and monitoring.
Upon completion of the training, cadets were awarded their badges that allow them to begin their field experience. In January, they will be assigned a mentor teacher and classroom and will have the opportunity to plan and lead virtual lessons with students.
The Teaching Careers program, instructed by Jenny Meers, is a one-year program designed to provide students with authentic teaching experiences while partnering with local schools to complete observation hours and assignments related to course work. The program is open to high school seniors.
Photos from the Teaching Careers Leadership Training are below. The concept behind the balloon activity is as follows:
The balloons were prepared in advance by writing a different business area or department or key responsibility that relates to the participants working environment on each balloon.
Each student on each team in their circle was tasked to keep their balloon floating in the air in front of them and keep them from falling on the floor.
Once the activity started, Meers called out for individual participants from each team to leave the circle and it was the task of the remaining team members to take over that team member’s balloon and keep it from touching the floor.
The remaining team members in each circle had to keep all of balloons in the air, including the balloons of those leaving the circle.
Extra balloons were added to each group after individuals left during the activity.
Discussing points from the activity were:
* What changes did each team make to compensate when members were called out of the circle?
* How was teamwork important to keep all balloons in the air?
* How important is teamwork in keeping all functions of the operation working? (all balloons in the air)
* How did team members feel after adding the complication of additional balloons and what steps were taken to overcome it.
The activity was used to stress and demonstrate that everyone’s role is important, but the most important role of each one is to ensure the team’s success, even if it means picking up the work of others.
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