Because I am a connected educator, I am a better educator. I am active on Twitter for professional use, I listen to educator-produced podcasts, I read professional books or listen to them on Audible, and I read education blogs. These experiences not only enrich my professional practice, they also give me total control over my professional development. I can learn about the topics that are relevant to me, from educators I respect, and at a time that fits my busy life. Often these experiences have an indirect impact on my work in that I might be introduced to a new idea that I continue to research or I may read a post that reinforces the work that I am already doing, helping to build my confidence in the decisions I am making. Other times the impact is immediate.

Recently I was listening to AJ Juliani’s podcast, Scratch Your Itch, on my way to work where I was facilitating a professional development session for teachers. Juliani’s topic for that podcast was the power of storytelling. He said: Our brains pay special attention to stories, engaging more areas of the mind then when we hear or see facts. And when we learn a good story, our brains synthesize the neurochemical oxytocin. This helps us feel others’ emotions and empathize with them.

As I listened to Juliani talk, I was nodding my head as I drove. I have always had emotional responses to stories. They help me visualize, connect, imagine, empathize, and more. Incorporating more storytelling in my interactions with students, staff, and families seemed like a move toward being a more effective communicator. I realized that an opportunity to try this new idea presented itself that very morning at a professional development workshop for my staff.

I opened the session by announcing to the teachers in attendance that I had a story to tell. I described how one day that week I was in the computer lab helping a second grade class get started on their mid-year benchmark tests. I told the group that, as I walked around, making sure that all students were successfully working, I noticed that some students had single sentence with a fill-in- the-blank questions while others had longer, multi-paragraph questions. When I mentioned this to the teacher, she told me she had let the students know to expect tougher questions the more they answered correctly. She told them to just keep trying their best.

The teacher and I happened to be standing behind a young student who often struggled with reading. He receives special education services and has IEP goals for reading. As we stood there, watching his computer screen, a new question popped up...it was a multi-paragraph question. This young student whipped his head around to grin at his teacher. The pride on his face was apparent and contagious. He was truly seeing this testing session as an opportunity to show what he knew and greeted the challenge of a tough question eagerly.

I thanked the teachers in the workshop for their work to make mid-year benchmark testing as positive an experience as possible for their students, for framing testing as an opportunity for students to show how their hard work this year has paid off so far, and to help students set goals for improvement. The focus on my words was intense. More than ever before, I knew I had gotten the teachers’ attention with my story. They were able to catch a glimmer of the message I had been sharing for months about creating a positive testing environment for students and helping them set goals around their performance as a step toward improving results. They were connecting to my message.

I am so grateful that I clicked AJ Juliani’s podcast that morning. His words, like those of so many other amazing and forward thinking educators that I have the opportunity to learn from, are most definitely a large part of the success that I have experienced in my career. As a lifelong learner, I will continue to benefit from being a connected educator.

All You Need is Love

Well, not quite, but almost. Love is a requirement, a foundation, the place from which we start when we form a community, especially a learning community.

As a leader I would start by letting each and every staff member and student know that they are loved, automatically, without having to earn it first. This is because in order for me to do the job I need to do, need to start with love for the people with whom and for whom I work.

Love is a scary word for many people. It's too intimate, too mushy, too touchy-feely, too insincere. But I don't think anything short of love will do the job. If a community accepts me, asks me to join, and most importantly asks me to lead, I'm going to love each and every member of that community.

That love will help me find the energy, the compassion, the perseverance I will need to help every person grow. Wherever they are, each teacher, each staff member, each student can grow and learn and improve, and they will do that best when they are loved.

This does not mean I will have less love for my family and friends. This does not mean I will have no other life outside of my job. On the contrary, if I also love myself, I must make time for me. Self-love includes taking time for yourself, doing the things you love, and staying connected to the very people who make your life worth living. But it does mean I will work hard, I will spend extra time, I will keep learning and growing myself.

At the center of it all is our students. Every adult needs to feel the same love I do for our students. For us to work as hard as we need to work, to recover from setbacks, to get past the overwhelmed feeling we all have sometimes, to care most about the kids who are hardest to care about, there must be love. Once the foundation is there, the community that is built can support each member on his or her learning journey.

I'm a Believer!

In chapter one of Katie Martin's new book, Learner Centered Innovation, the author presents a graphic depicting "The Evolving Role of the Educator." Of course this role is multi-faceted and represents a Co-Designer of Powerful Learning, Partner in Learning, Community Developer, and Connector & Activator. To this list of descriptors, I might add: Believer.

Today's educator must be fueled by the belief that we can do better for our students. This belief will motivate us to persevere past the challenges and constraints to innovation that the structure of school often presents. There are some important ways educators can hold on to this belief that have worked for me as I have evolved.

Take Opportunities
When an opportunity for learning presents itself, take hold. For me, an opportunity came up several years into teaching 5th grade in a small elementary school in northwest Connecticut. The Head Teacher retired, and we needed someone to step up. Even though I was worried about the work and responsibility I was taking on in addition to the large job of being the only 5th grade teacher in a K-5 setting, I knew I had something to offer my school community. I took it on with a colleague in a different grade, and we learned a lot and gained valuable experience in our leadership roles. This change led to more opportunities as a Tech Champion, a Lead Teacher in a new district, and now to Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Innovation in an even different district.

Develop a Personal Learning Network
Reach out to your colleagues close by and also your colleagues far away. Social media has given us access to the expertise and experience that abounds among educators. For me, when I became a Tech Champion for my school, one of the first professional development opportunities that was offered was a trip to FETC. I cannot describe the world that opened up for me as I moved from session to session, listening to and learning from THE experts in the field of technology in education. My students were about to go one-to-one with Chromebooks, and I came back from Orlando ready to start. While at FETC, I joined Twitter at the recommendation of one of the presenters. I quickly found educators to follow and Twitter chats to join. When you find your people, the learning and motivation never end.

Be A Leader
Trust your ideas. Share them with your colleagues near and far. For me, as I stepped into leadership roles, I had the chance to impact the structure of school in new and exciting ways. I could plan professional development, suggest changes to the schedule, introduce new courses for students, examine homework practices, survey staff, students, and parents on school climate and then do something about the results. All of this took courage. I trusted myself to do what was right for students, ALWAYS. I made decisions and recommendations based on that value. More importantly, I believed we could do better for our students in school.

The opportunities that opened up for me, the PLN that I created, and the risks I took as a leader were all fueled by that belief.

Courage from Within

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it's the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 

'I will try again tomorrow.'"        

                                                                                         Mary Anne Radmacher

It does take courage to try again tomorrow. No matter your current family, work, social, or financial situation, there is stress, frustration, and disappointment in life. If these are the emotions that many of us face each day, then courage is exactly what we need in order to try again.

People get their courage from different places, their families, friends, careers, pets, community, work, past experiences, future plans, and more. Most of all courage comes from deep inside. From the place where there is no more indecision, no more worrying about what people think, no more making everyone happy. It comes from your core, your values, your beliefs about yourself, the world, and what's right. In this place, you are not afraid, you are only you.

"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are."    e.e. cummings

One Word for 2017: Courage

In 2016 my one word was grace. As with most things, I spent a great deal of time researching its meaning and what others had written about this word. I decided it was a word I would strive toward in my interactions both personally and professionally. For the first few months of 2016, it remained a focus, and then life took over. My husband's new business, my daughters' sports and school schedules, grocery shopping, you know.

When choosing the one word that would guide me in 2017, I had many choices. I listed them and thought about each, but I kept coming back to courage. I started Googling images for some of the top choices. I came across a poster of a quote by Ernest Hemingway. It said, "Courage is grace under pressure." It felt like a sign. Courage was an extension of grace according to Hemingway, and who was I to argue? The decision was made.

Within a day or two of making my final choice, I had another sign. In searching through Susannah Conway's website for her 2016/2017 reflection and goal-setting workbook, I stumbled upon a blog post she had written a few years ago. It was an interview she had conducted with Brene Brown. The introduction described Brown as a researcher-storyteller and mentioned her work with vulnerability, shame, and courage. As soon as I saw the word again, I knew it was meant to be.

I ended up buying Brown's 2012 book, Daring Greatly. I've only just begun reading it, but the intended audience includes parents and educators who have the opportunity to help young people understand and defy our current culture of scarcity in which shame controls actions and vulnerability is seen as weakness. Brown argues that vulnerability takes courage and since it is the core of all emotion, being vulnerable makes life worth living.

I hope this year, I have the courage to be my vulnerable self.