Building Capacity Within Those We Serve

When one thinks of leadership in a school, they usually associate the term with a person that possesses a position of power. True, someone like a principal of a school is a leader with a title. They are responsible for those they supervise, carrying out the mission of the organization, motivating the troops, and creating a shared vision and culture for the school. If they are really great, they also find time to work as an instructional coach and make those they serve around them better. But with principals being as busy as they are today, if they aren't finding the time to build capacity in those they serve then who is inspiring educators to model a growth mindset consistently?

In my opinion, one of the biggest areas lacking in teacher professional development is teachers having someone act as a coach or mentor to improve them as educators. Professional development is powerful when educators seek it out on social media or it is done correctly within the limited time given during a school year, but learning is a continuous process in order for it to be effective. So if principals aren't able to find the time to work closer with their teachers, then who should?

If one looks close enough around a school, leaders are everywhere and they come in all forms! "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader." -John Quincy Adams. We need lead teachers, department chairs, curriculum directors, tech coaches, and those who are pioneering to help all educators grow in our buildings. It is a shared experience! When everyone in an organization is learning and growing together, there is no limit to what schools can do for kids.

Here are a few ways everyone can help each other build capacity within a building and be better for the children we serve:

1.  Make sure that everyone understands the POWER of Twitter. There are still a ton of educators who don't know what a Twitter chat is and how impactful they can be. Not to mention there are hundreds of them throughout the week and weekends. Also, schools should have a hashtag where all educators in that building can share and collaborate. Wouldn't it be neat instead of a faculty meeting from 3 till 4 it was done in a chat format? Imagine how much learning could and would happen!
2. Build more time into schedules that forces educators to share with others. Often, we get so locked into our own classrooms that we have no clue what is going on great in others rooms. Sharing is caring! Educators should to go visit five other teachers throughout the school year and discus/reflect on it. Also, don't be scared to ask each other what amazing things you are doing in your classrooms and share.
3. Conduct peer evaluations. For those that are tenured, evaluations happen once every three years. If we want to help each other become better teachers, why not evaluate and give feedback to each other in a positive format? If my department is five people, we all take turns going into each other's classrooms and evaluate our strengths and things we could improve.
4. Create a book study group where educators in your school pick a book each month, read it and discuss it. Or, have a bi-weekly tech/hot education topic meet-up somewhere off campus. It is healthy to get together with your peers and discuss ideas in a fun way. 
5. Reinforce the positives. They are so many positives happening within our school that they sometimes get overlooked by the negatives. Whenever and whereveer, share the positives because they make us proud to work in education and want to keep bettering ourselves for our students. We all have something to be grateful for during the good and bad times!

Have something to add? Please comment below or share. Remember, the more we help each other become better educators, the more powerful our instruction becomes for those we serve!

Boogie Into Failure & Risk-Taking

As I sat reading a book at the beach while on vacation, I looked up to see one of the most natural things in the world; kids playing, failing, and learning from each other. In-front of me formed a natural tide pool from the ocean and kids from the surrounding area began to flock to it with excitement and enthusiasm. Before you knew it, there were fifteen or so kids diving into the small pool, splashing around, and trying to zip their boogie boards across the water like a sled in the snow.

The first couple of kids who tried to slide across the water standing-up fell off of their board onto their butt and failed. Even when they "failed," they laughed, shook it off, and tried again without feeling sorry for themselves. The "innovators/leaders" set the example while the other kids learned from them, saw it was "fun to fail and try," thus creating an environment of ingenuity and innovation to figure out the best ways to slide across the water without falling off the board.

Watching this take place got me thinking about some important questions we need to ask ourselves in education...

As educators, where do we encourage our learners to fail in order to learn? Is this built into our lessons and curriculum? Do we challenge them to solve problems or spoon feed them everything?

Do students learn from play or is that taken from them by the time they get to middle school? Kids, no matter what age, need to play and find joy in their learning in order to get the most out of school.

Administrators, are you leading like an innovator with a growth mindset? Are you taking risks and demonstrating to your staff that it is OK to try new things, fail, and grow from them? In schools, just like in many organizations, the 80/20 rule applies. 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. My point being that most educators are the kids on the sidelines of the pool wanting to watch and learn from the 20% of leaders and innovators. When the 80% sees something that works from the 20%, often they are willing to give it a try and learn.

Whether you are an educator or administrator, I challenge you to answer and reflect on these questions before the start of the school year. Your students and teachers deserve leaders who model innovation, creativity, and risk-taking. Boogie into the school year with a fresh and open mind!

Don't Let Summer Crush You!

Summertime is here for educators which brings much joy and happiness after a long and challenging school year. For some, it's a time to slow things down, relax, hang with friends, go on vacation, and reflect. Others take up unique jobs and accomplish things they weren't able to during the busy school year. So many options yet how many of us get caught in the "lazy trap?" We tell ourselves that we worked hard all year so we don't have to do anything "too strenuous" this summer. This sounds nice in theory and at the end of the year when we are tired, but summer can crush us as educators if we aren't meticulous about how we choose to grow as people and professionals during the sunny months. 

Now, I am not saying that you don't deserve to sleep in, go on vacations, play with your kids, etc. These are the fruits of our labor throughout the year. My point is that humans weren't meant to be stagnant and sit around for two and a half months. Happiness in our lives does not come from binging Netflix for three days, scrolling through social media non-stop, and floating at the pool for more than a week. It comes from the pain we endure, risks we take, and challenges we accomplish. Weird I know, but when we look back on our lives, it will be things we endured and accomplished that meant the most to us, not the things that require little mental and physical strain.

My challenge to you is this; DON'T GET CRUSHED BY SUMMER! Life is a balancing act. If the pendulum swings too far one way, it is not good for our health. Sit by the pool but read a challenging book. Watch Netflix but take-up a new hobby. Look at social media once a day but write during the times you would normally browse. Sleep in a little but meditate when your up. Go on vacation but stay-up with current best practices in your content area. Hang out with friends but always look for ways to build new relationships. Go shopping but learn a new skill.

So, when you look back on summer in September, hopefully, you have more to talk about when asked the question, "How was your summer?" other than "it was good, yours?" Always challenge the status quo and never stop innovating and growing.