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.