Build Your Brand as a Teacher

Teachers build a reputation in school buildings.  Students, parents, administrators, and other teachers start to recognize and think of you for specific things that you bring to the table.    For great teachers, this is often the stuff that legends are made of.  As I’m sure many of you do, I have very vivid memories of this playing out in my progression through life as a student then as a teacher.  My middle school teacher was affectionately termed “Old Man Kramer” because he was full of wisdom and humor but someone you didn't want to cross.   In high school, I knew that I had to get Mrs. Roseborough for calculus because she was so good that she would pretty guarantee you a 4 or 5 on the AP test.  When I was teaching, I knew that Mr. Comeaux was the guy to go to for advice on how to establish a great discipline plan and Mr. Grady could help me get my content approach right.

These were all examples of brands that developed, both intentionally and unintentionally.  In our increasingly digital world, we now have more of an opportunity to be very intentional about how others view us both inside our current school building and the education world at large.  By creating a brand that represents the talent that you bring, you will have a better chance to both find and be found for opportunities.  Whether you are looking for a full time teaching job, moving into a leadership role In your building or applying for a teaching award, influencing your brand is important.

Here are few easy steps to do this:

Ask you colleagues how you are perceived:  This is a great place to start to get a sense of what kind of brand imagine you are currently conveying in your school.  A trusted colleague should be able to give you a great perspective on how people view you in the building. 

Identify you strengths: step back and think through the things that you really like doing in your classroom and where you are particularly effective.

Figure out how to showcase this to others: Once you have recognized your talent, you need to figure out how to convey your imagine.  If you are a great organizer and want to be considered for an open department head position, think about a project you can do for the leadership of the school that demonstrates this.  If you are looking for a new full time job and you are particularly good classroom manager, think about creating a sample teaching video or quick documented way to demonstrate your classroom management plan.

Utilize web tools: utilizing things like facebook, twitter, a blog, or creating a profile on Haystack EDU can be powerful tools to help demonstrate your talents to others.

Whether you are being intentional about or not, you have a brand as a teacher.  Take advantage of the opportunity to manage this whether you are looking to change schools and get a new job or you want to more influence in your school site.