What If We Were ALL Learners?

In The Innovator's Mindset, George Couros proposed several "What if" questions to help us reflect on a new vision for schools. One of the questions that resonated with me in a particularly strong way was, "What if schools operated as if we should all be 'learners,' as opposed to students being the only learners?"

I see why teachers would be uncomfortable being categorized as learners. After all, teachers did not go through years of school, earning multiple degrees, to be put back in the place of learners. They see themselves as professionals. How disconcerting to think their expertise is being called into question. So if we are going to reframe teachers as learners, we need to be clear about what they are supposed to know as well as what they are supposed to learn.

Teachers need to know the standards they are to teach and how to translate them into student-friendly language; who their students are as people and learners both in and out of the classroom including their strengths and weaknesses, their hobbies and experiences; which resources are available to them and their students for learning, creating, and sharing; how to teach students to ask questions and find problems to solve...the list goes on.

What teachers need to be open to learn is how people learn! With a constantly changing population of students who bring new interests and experiences with them to school, new technology and other resources being developed every day, access to information and communication at a scale and rate that grows exponentially each week, and scientists studying and revealing new information about the human brain and how it learns...the learning must continue for teachers. It can continue as long as teachers have an innovator's mindset and remain ready to learn and connected to the sources of information available to them.

"Learning is creation, not consumption." #IMMOOC Blog Post 2

In Part I of The Innovator's Mindset, one idea that really gave me pause for reflection was the quote from The Center for Accelerated Learning on pg. 55, "Learning is creation, not consumption." It made me think of a sixth question to add to the list of Critical Questions for the Innovative Educator:

What evidence of learning do we see in this student's creation?

For several years I have believed in the power of looking at student work in shifting a teacher's focus from what they are doing to what their students are doing. This shift is important because I have known many teachers who think only about what and how they are teaching, how their day is going, how hard they are working, how busy and stressed they are, how frustrating or amazing their students  can be. I have argued that looking at student work is what is needed to deepen PLC conversations and refocus teacher energy on the student experience. After all, it's the student learning that is the purpose of our work.

Now I feel the need to revise my mantra from "looking at student work" to "looking at student creations." In a creation, a teacher would see not just facts or algorithms regurgitated onto a page, instead she would see synthesis, prioritization, and communication about a topic or concept. This tells us so much more about a student's strengths and weaknesses, his "soft skills," his depth of understanding, and his ability to share it with others.

The painting shown above was created by my daughter for her high school art class. I am not an artist myself, but I can appreciate the skill, focus, persistence, planning, and time management that went into this creation, and I bet her teacher can see it too.

The Innovator's Mindset, The Imperative

"...in schools, where we focus on students as the future, growth can no longer be simply an option."

I'm not sure why many teachers resist change so much. Some of them will say they're too busy or they've seen ideas come and go. However if you truly look, step back and observe students in so many of our classrooms today, you will see a problem. That problem is disengagement. Whether teachers believe that students should be better disciplined or respectful because adults tell them to or not, our customers are not buying what we are selling, and if they weren't forced to be in their classrooms by law, many of them would be headed out the door. They don't see the relevance of what we teach, they don't enjoy the process through which we teach them, and they are not inspired by the audience from whom they receive feedback on their work.

When teachers see this disengagement day after day, how can they deny the problem? When more and more students are being placed in intervention groups for reading, math, and social/emotional/behavioral "issues," how can we continue with the status quo? When many students' main goal is to play the game of school so they can get out start their "real" lives, how can teachers refuse to reflect? The change in thinking about school proposed in The Innovator's Mindset and Launch are most definitely NOT change for change's sake. Instead it is change for our future's sake. 

"The question that must be asked every day is, 'What is best for this learner?'"

If teachers would shift their focus from what they are doing to what their students are doing, a new world would open up for them. Looking at student work needs to be an essential and consistent component of all conversations about school-PLC's, professional development, faculty meetings, RTI meetings, PPT's. A focus on what students are doing as evidenced by their work be it writing, art, a math test, blog, e-portfolio, etc., would allow teachers to discover what is best for each student. Then teachers could turn their attention to the best practice that would lead to each student's growth. 

This need for change in schools motivates me to do what I do as a leader in encouraging and supporting teachers' growth. Joining the #IMMOOC is an opportunity for me to take a risk, grow, learn, and change just as I am asking my teachers to do. 

I #loveteaching

     I #loveteaching because of the impact I get to make on our future. I believe all children come to kindergarten with enthusiasm, joy, and wonder about the world, even students whose traumatic lives make it difficult to express it. Teachers have the opportunity to further foster those traits in their students each and every day of each and every school year. Students who learn from these teachers will be creative, kind, and positive learners who will grow up to create the kind of world in which we all want to live. To be clear, when I say teachers, I mean to include all educators-principals, counselors, specialists, interventionists, para-educators-ALL educators. There are so few professions that get to say they play such an important role in the lives of others as well as the future of our society and the world.
     Don't get me wrong. What I'm talking about here is not easy. Teachers must juggle the restraints, demands, and requirements of their jobs with creating a culture of safety, acceptance, and challenge in their classrooms and schools. This can sometimes feel like an impossible task. However this is where every teacher can make a choice to persevere in the work they know is so critical despite the demands of their jobs. The key word here is choice.
     Teachers can choose to build relationships, to work hard, to respect all families, to improve their teaching, to challenge students where they are, to recognize all staff as playing essential roles, to enjoy teaching, and to be all in for education. I know I've made these choices, and it has paid off in the learning I see every day.

Core Values

Recently I have struggled with productivity. It seemed that my day-to-day management responsibilities had completely dominated my schedule leaving no time for the big picture work of fostering positive school climate and improving teaching and learning. This focus on management leaves me uninspired, yet I know how important it is and certainly must get done. Staff need to know who is covering lunch on an early dismissal day, students who misbehave on the bus need to be spoken to and their parents need to be called, and intervention meetings need to be scheduled. However if this is all I do, then I'm not truly helping to improve my school, which is always my goal.

Then I stumbled upon an organization that provided me with some guidance. It's called Asian Efficiency, and it was mentioned in a Tweet I read a few weeks ago. I followed the link and discovered a series of podcasts called The Productivity Show. Each week the podcast focuses on a different aspect of making your life better and more productive. I scrolled through the archived podcasts and discovered shows about core values, morning rituals, and getting to inbox zero, to name just a few. What I have realized is that reflecting on and writing down both my personal and professional core values as well as goals, is where I need to start in order to become more productive.

If I can clearly identify the core values upon which I operate, I can make better decisions about which activities are most inspiring for me. If I can also clearly identify my personal and professional goals, I can then prioritize which activities should get most of my time. Of course my management responsibilities will never go away, but perhaps I can get better at eliminating, automating, or delegating those tasks that fall low on my priority list. I've only just begun this process but I'm feeling more inspired already. Daily reflection on my core values and goals is helping me stay focused on the most important parts of my life and my job which deserve most of my time. Getting to inbox zero will be icing on the cake.

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.