California Career and Technical Education Standards

• ANR.FS.9.1 Understand the characteristics and benefits of teamwork, leadership, and citizen...

California Academic Content Standards (Reinforced)

• ELA.9-10.LS.C.1.1 Formulate judgments about the ideas under discussion and support those judgments...

• Leadership Brain Dump - Hooks / Set

  This gives you the chance to see what they already know about leadership- an engaging preassessment of sorts.

  Write the word "Leader" in big letters on your whiteboard. Give 1-2 minutes for students to brainstorm every associated idea that comes to mind when they see that word. Have them write them down a piece of scratch paper. At the end of the two minutes, have them write down their two best words on the board. You should have a collection of 30-60 words on the board.

  Have someone read off the words to the class.

  Transition with something like, "We all came into this class today having ideas about leadership. Our job this morning is to collectively discuss what leadership is and discover a common definition of the idea."
• Leader Gallery- Qualities of Leadership - Demo / Modeling

  Prior to class, print out- pictures of famous/influential leaders and tape them up in a gallery format around your room. Examples could include: Obama, GW Bush, Mother Teresa, Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Gandhi, Bill Gates, Oprah. Make sure to type their name up.

  Point the class's attention to the pictures. Lead a discussion about what each person's major accomplishments were just so everyone is on the same page. Also, bring up the point that each person has something in common- they were all leaders in their own right.

  Then, put 5 minutes on the clock. Have students go around the room and write around the pictures one word that describes each person. These adjectives should be about who that person was and what was it that made them so special.

  They need to write down one adjective per person. Go in a clockwise casual rotation like people do at art galleries.

  When they are done, have one person stand by each picture. That person will then report out on the adjectives chosen for their person.

  Then, lead a discussion about how those qualities made those people good/bad/successful  leaders.

  Then, lead a discussion about the qualities they find most admirable in leaders. Have the students create a "Top 5" list of the most admirable qualities of leaders that they hope to possess.
• Definition of Leadership - Demo / Modeling

  What did the famous people all have in common? They were all successful leaders.

  That's partially because each of them clearly understood what it meant to lead.

  On the board, scramble the word INFLUENCE (something like FLINENCUE) and have them unscramble the word to find the definition of leadership.

  Then, lead a discussion on what it means to "influence" people.
• Who Has Influenced Me? - Demo / Modeling

  Next, create a tone shift for them to start thinking about people who have influenced them.

  Have them write about the following prompts:

  1. Who are three people who have had a major influence on my life?

  2. What admirable leadership qualities did they possess?

  3. How did they influence me?

   

  Pair share with someone else in the class. If time permits and your class is comfortable enough, have them share with the entire class.
• Leadership Preview - Closure

  Celebrate their work by thanking them. Point them to the fact that each person has those qualities inside them it's all about choice. What will we choose? To ignore them or develop them?

  Upcoming classes will focus on the development of their "influence" and their leadership potential.