Every business requires some form of investment and enough customers to whom its output can be sold on a consistent basis in order to make a profit.
Youth is a funny thing. No matter how many mentors you have, classes you take, or books you read, you always think you know better. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about business or simply life in general, the young are genetically programmed to reject the wisdom of their elders. It’s only when you accumulate enough life experience and begin to become an elder yourself that you begin to realize that much……
Consistently revising and improving education for everyone is a journey, not just a goal. With things as vital as great teaching and effective learning, teachers and students can benefit from a positive mindset of constant growth and development. According to Folwell Dunbar, the founder of Fire Up Learning, there’s a whole list of things we can start doing anytime to see immediate results in improving education.
In the Edutopia article 50 Little Things Teachers, Parents, and Others Can Do to Improve Education, Folwell lists 50 things we can practice to begin improving education right now. It’s the little things, he says, that make all the difference.
“While big, bold initiatives sound good, look pretty (cost a lot), and usually grab all the press, it’s the unheralded acts that, in the end, deliver results …”
It’s true; the little things make a big difference over time. The small steps we take today can have a huge impact tomorrow. Learn more about the small things (and some bigger things) Folwell suggests for improving education in his full article on Edutopia.
Which things from Folwell’s list are you using in your practices? Which ones would you like to try? What do you think might be missing from the list? Share it with us below.
There’s nothing like a terrific platform for improving education in practice, and that’s what Wabisabi is all about. We’ve built an app and accompanying resources designed to make any teacher and student fall in love with learning again and again.
Wabisabi’s prime features include real-time reporting against standards, media-rich learner portfolios, a vibrant collaborative experience, quality lesson plans from teachers all over the world, and much more. Get started with it below and see the possibilities for yourself.
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When it comes to classroom productivity, the ideal classroom is a happy one. It means students are creating solutions and projects that have meaning and purpose. They gladly take initiatives and assume responsible ownership of class time. Above all, it means students are loving their learning.
Achieving high levels of classroom productivity means making sure students are interested and invested in tasks that develop higher-order thinking and problem-solving abilities. Not only are they involved in constructive pursuits and being given mindful assessments, they are learning independence and accountability and having a blast doing it. Now that’s learning with a purpose.
The joy a teacher gets from knowing students look forward to coming to class is indescribable. It’s one of those things you have to experience to understand. The good news is every teacher can have that feeling. These classroom productivity tips are applicable to many classroom environments. Hopefully, they help you in yours.
It’s easy to confuse productivity with speed of output. That’s not the essence of being productive. We can complete 100 trivial tasks in a day and say we were productive, but is that really true? What do we have to show at the end of the day? What have we done besides waste time on unimportant matters? Can we say “I really accomplished something today” and mean it?
Productivity isn’t about “getting stuff done.” It’s about getting stuff done with purpose.
You can always tell the level of interest students have. It can be used to help you measure productivity levels:
These are all traits of a productive classroom. Granted, there’s no specific formula for higher productivity. You can, however, use critical observation to decide what approach you could use
Everyone deserves the chance to learn in a supportive environment. This applies to both intellectual and emotional classroom elements. Any classroom should make every student feel welcome. Maybe this means a time for peer-to-peer orientation. You can give students time to get to know each other and connect personally.
It could also mean creating a class mission statement of some kind. The focus of this would be things like:
Begin learning adventures with the notion that learning is meant to be enjoyable. Part of this is creating a comfortable and supportive classroom. Anything that impacts a student positively in your classroom will help boost their productivity. Take some pointers from Brian Van Dyck, a middle school teacher in Santa Cruz.
Students are no different from anyone else. They like to know their opinions count for something. Letting students weigh in on how to use their class time can be valuable to fostering a productivity mindset. Don’t worry, this approach doesn’t mean they’ll waste time without supervision. You can do this while still keeping the structured direction central to any classroom. Open with questions geared toward productivity with breathing room:
Open with questions geared toward productivity with breathing room:
Obviously, you as the teacher have the final say. That said, some heartfelt answers from students can help you choose how best to spend the class time.
As the work begins or continues, keep them thinking. Our modern students love to be challenged. Keep them guessing and thinking by asking about their projects. Show an interest in what they’re doing.
From time to time, students will struggle and this will happen on many different levels. When it does, they’ll need support and encouragement. They’ll get stuck, and that will give rise to technical questions, concerns, and doubts. They’ll feel pressure to keep up with their classmates. They’ll feel inadequacy, confusion, and frustration. They’ll feel like what they’ve done has been a waste. They’ll feel these things and a lot more.
Students are no different from anyone else. They like to know their opinions count for something.
Sometimes they’ll look for every reason to quit when they know they should go on. It will feel to them like the world is ending. It can happen with schoolwork and with personal matters. Eventually, it will likely all find its way into the classroom environment. Fortunately, that’s the heart of change.
With an open mind and the right words, you can turn that all around. Never be far away, because you’re still the best guide students have in their school experiences.
This is a hallmark of the modern student. They are natural-born collaborators and love working in groups. The secret to successful collaboration is when students are drawing on their individual strengths. They then find ways to harmonize those strengths in a group setting. A group work aspect to any classroom almost always means good things in terms of classroom productivity.
Every teacher knows that too many distractions in class can be harmful. Distractions, however, can be beneficial depending on the type. If they’re scheduled in the process, it’s even better. In this sense, they become more like rejuvenators and focus-sharpeners.
Here are some examples of beneficial distractions in class:
Here are some more great “distraction” ideas from Dr. Lori Desautels.
Self- and peer-assessment support comes from both students and teachers. Encouraging reflection and self-assessment adds a powerful dimension to learning. It reduces a teacher’s workload and lets students effectively demonstrate understanding. Students are honest in their assessment of their performance and that of their peers.
With this kind of assessment, students’ insights and observations are valued. It helps them understand the process of their own learning. It also reinforces the importance of collaboration.
Reflective practice is something both students and teachers should engage in. It lets you consider your actions and reflect on decisions. It solidifies learning concepts. It also helps you consider and plan future processes and actions.
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If you believe your school district or college is discriminating against students on the basis of sex, race, or disability, you’re entitled to file a complaint with the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Sexual harassment and assault are also grounds for complaints. The office is supposed to investigate fully and, if necessary, recommend corrective action to right any wrongs.
But ProPublica reports that the Department of Education is now dismissing far more cases without taking action under Betsy DeVos than it did under her predecessors. To go along with their report, they have published a tool that lets you look up your school district or college to see how many investigations have been opened in the last few years, and how they were resolved.
The data doesn’t break out individual schools, so New York City’s entire school district shows up as one entry with hundreds of cases. But if you look up a smaller district, or a college, the data becomes more meaningful—two cases at in one Pennsylvania district I checked. Six at the University of Pittsburgh, but 15 at that same university’s medical school, which is listed separately.
For the full details on what the cases are about, you’ll have to check local news or other sources; ProPublica only provides dates and some very basic information on the type of complaint and the nature of the resolution. But it’s worth checking to see what’s happening at your district that you might not have known about.
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Nearly a cliché after two decades of development, it is clear that the internet has profoundly changed the ways in which we read, write, communicate, and learn. Given these sweeping changes, one significant conversation centers on the use of internet-enabled devices as they relate to school policy, teaching practices, and the well-being of children.
Current conversations about screen time often reduce the discussion to a simplistic debate: How much time should youth spend on devices? Although many scholars argue that web-based inquiry, multimodal creation, and communication of ideas in web-based environments support the development of fundamental skills of digital literacy, conversations about screen time in education, medicine, and mass media focus predominantly on the time youth spend on devices. These discussions overlook fundamentally important questions about what youth are learning by using digital devices, with whom, and for what purposes.
Although research over the last two decades has shown that reading and writing in digital spaces requires complex skills, literacy development is often not addressed in conversations about screen time. Instead, articles focus on the damage that screens may cause to developing brains.
For example, in a Psychology Today article, Victoria Dunckley opens with the claim, “Addiction aside, a much broader concern that begs awareness is the risk that screen time is creating subtle damage even in children with ‘regular’ exposure, considering that the average child clocks in more than seven hours a day.” This article cites information from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2010 report.
Although all the data she presents are from studies of internet- and video game-addicted youth, she encourages parents to “arm yourself with the truth about the potential damage screen time is capable of imparting—particularly in a young, still-developing brain.”
To address these concerns, a nonprofit organization, Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development helped prepare a special report for the Pediatrics journal. The supplement is the result of a collaboration of more than 130 recognized experts in the field from a diverse background of disciplines, institutions and perspectives organized into 22 workgroups. Research spanning the fields of psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, pediatrics, sociology, anthropology, communications, education, law, public health, and public policy informed this work. You can read more about the key findings and takeaways, as well as frequently asked questions here.
As part of this supplement, I worked with Kristen Turner, Tessa Jolls, Michelle Hagerman, Troy Hicks, Bobbie Eisenstock, and Kristine Pytash on a piece titled “Developing Digital and Media Literacies in Children and Adolescents.” In our article, we talk about the tension that exists as digital and media literacy are essential to participation in society. We make recommendations for research and policy priorities as we ask questions about the ability of individuals to have access to information at their fingertips at all times.
Specifically, we ask, What specific competencies must young citizens acquirein this global culture and economy? We examine how these competencies might influence pedagogy. Additionally, we consider how student knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors may have changed. Finally, we present guidance on the best ways to assess students’ digital and media literacy.
We believe these questions underscore what parents, educators, health professionals, and community leaders need to know to ensure that youth become digitally and media literate. Experimental and pilot programs in the digital and media literacy fields are yielding insights, but gaps in understanding and lack of support for research and development continue to impede growth in these areas.
Learning environments no longer depend on seat time in factory-like school settings. Learning happens anywhere, anytime, and productivity in the workplace depends on digital and media literacy. To create the human capital necessary for success and sustainability in a technology-driven world, we must invest in the literacy practices of our youth.
Soon after our article was released in the Pediatrics supplement, many of the authors began to examine our own relationships and practices as they relate to the topic of screen time. We examined this from our roles as educator, as researcher, as parent, as friend, and as neighbor. Those who are parents considered the role of screen time in our relationships with our children.
We considered the times we were asked by family members questions about how much screen time is safe for children. We considered the times we questioned whether or not time spent coding online counted as screen time, and whether it more “valuable” than simply watching YouTube videos. We considered the times we were asked by family and friends about the appropriate age for children to own their first mobile device. Across all the questions, in all of these contexts, we were left dumbfounded. As the “experts” in these spaces, we knew what the research suggested, but many times it looked different in our own practices and relationships.
These questions and inconsistencies led a group of scholars to begin reaching out to other educators, researchers, developers, and parents to see if they also had many of the same questions and concerns that we did. They promptly indicated that they too had the same struggles and recognized that there was little to no comprehensive research on the topic.
There seemed to be a lot of hysteria from various news and media sources as parents and educators were left afraid about the overall impact of screens on youth. Finally, there was little to no discussion happening across different spaces to allow people to ask questions, have discussions with experts in the field, and inform their practices.
Together with Kristin Turner, I have started a research project, titled “Beyond the ‘Screentime’ Debate: Developing Digital and Media Literacies with Youth and Teens,” This project builds on work done by the Digital and Media Literacies workgroup of the Children and Screens Institute to address these challenges and create a discussion space to unite the varied perspectives that are impacted by these questions.
This research project seeks to explore and redefine the definition of screen time, to connect it with digital literacy skills and dispositions, and to explore complex, dynamic, creative digital learning as antidote to the atrophy we all fear.
Our main focus in this research project is to create dialogue across spaces to help examine and unpack the questions in this debate. We want to know you define screen time and what it looks like in your lives. We want to know more about some of the challenges and opportunities you face with the use of screens.
Finally, we would like to know about any tips, tricks, or habits you utilize in relation to screens in your role as an educator, parent, employee, or human being. This research project refocuses the screen time debate by asking: What digital and media competencies must young citizens acquire? How do these competencies affect school policy and pedagogy? How are students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors transformed by engaging with various forms of media?
Anyone can get involved in this research project by joining the open public forums on our website. We’re using FlipGrid for this open research project, and you can go directly to the topics at flipgrid.com/screentime. The password to get in and get involved is “Screentime.” The topics and questions on FlipGrid are the same ones that are on our website. Our goal is to provide a space for all individuals to discuss the future of our youth, and the role of screen time in those futures. We look forward to having you join this screen time discussion.
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It’s the end of the school year and I’m sitting with a young principal I coach who has deep expertise, heart, and know-how. Suddenly, she breaks down sobbing. “I’m miserable in this job,” she says. “I want to stay the course, but I don’t know how to get my head above water. I just don’t feel any joy in this work.”
When we live in constant stress, our brains start to downshift. According to scholars Geoffrey Caine and Renate Nummela Caine, downshifting is a psychophysiological response to threat that results in a sense of helplessness or fatigue. A downshifted person has a nagging sense of fear or anxiety and begins to lose the ability to feel excitement or pleasure.
The good news is that we can upshift our brains by actively infusing joy into our work life. Joyful experiences—even brief ones—flood the brain with chemicals like dopamine and serotonin that overwhelm our primitive stress responses. So how can we find more joy?
Since my conversation with the principal, I’ve been practicing and modeling the reclamation of joy. Here are eight ways you can join me.
1. Get outside during the school day. Hold a collaboration meeting, coaching session, or class outdoors to shift the group energy. So many of us spend our days locked inside the school building—stepping outside for a five-minute walk or simply to feel the breeze or sun on our face can change our perception and our brain chemistry. Even a small dose of movement can release endorphins and provide a much-needed brain break.
Recently, I met an Oakland principal and her leadership team at a nearby lake to open their back-to-school meeting. The principal led three rounds of a community circle: “Share your favorite summer moment,” “share something we don’t know about you,” and “share an artifact that tells a story about your journey as a leader.” Afterward she randomly assigned partners for a lakeside walk and talk, inviting everyone to reflect on the legacy they want to leave behind. It was simple, mobile, and powerful.
2. Bring music. If your classroom or staff room feels solemn, enliven it with your favorite music. Better yet, invite students or colleagues to share their favorite song or artist on a rotating basis. Music releases positive neurotransmitters, calms the brain’s high-alert settings, and can build cultural proficiency as community members share their musical interests.
3. Model micro-affirmations. Researcher Mary Rowe defines micro‐affirmations as “tiny acts of opening doors to opportunity, gestures of inclusion and caring, and graceful acts of listening.” Micro‐affirmations can take many forms, such as offering a hug to someone experiencing a setback, giving a colleague some positive feedback, or facilitating an appreciations ritual that invites people to publicly celebrate one another.
4. Start class or professional development with a guided visualization. If people seem stuck in a downshifted state, help them access joy by leading a guided visualization. Ask participants to close their eyes or focus on a soft gazing point—not letting their eyes wander—and settle comfortably in their chairs. Then lead them to slow their breathing down and imagine a moment or place that brought them joy. Invite them to explore the colors, thoughts, and feelings that come up when they think of this place. Afterward, ask people to share how the experience felt and how they can bring those feelings into the school day.
5. Cancel a staff meeting. This might be my favorite joy hack, and it was my first piece of advice to that sobbing principal. Everyone’s feeling burned out? Don’t let your task list trump the reclamation of joy. Cancel a staff meeting and give the time back to teachers.
You might plan an alternative, just-for-fun activity like a hike or happy hour, but make it optional for folks who really just need a break.
6. Write a card to someone who’s had your back. It feels great to appreciate others. Think about a colleague in any capacity at your school who holds you up in ways big or small. This could be another teacher, the custodian who cleans your room, or the person who ensures that you’re paid each month. Write that person a card and tell them what you appreciate about them.
7. Practice three to five minutes of mindfulness. Consider starting your day with a few minutes of mindfulness. Just close your eyes, slow down your breathing, and notice the rise and fall of your chest, the sounds that typically act as background noise, the sensation of your heartbeat, your meandering thoughts.
8. Keep a joy journal. I often ask my own children, who are 9 and 12, “What brought you joy today?” Ask yourself that question at the end of each day, taking time to jot down your reflections in a journal. Writing is a form of story editing, as explained in the wonderful book Redirect by psychologist Timothy Wilson. When we take time to write or rewrite the stories we carry about our work life, we can change negative narratives into hopeful ones, and reconnect with our sources of joy and energy.
As you prepare to go back to school, remember that learning should be a joyful enterprise. Look for opportunities to laugh, breathe, and smile as an educator, and you’ll find your energy is contagious.
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5 Ways To Engage Reluctant Learners contributed by Kristina J. Doubet, Ph.D and Jessica A. Hockett, Ph.D. We’ve all been there. Slumped bodies, rolled eyes, defiant words, and off-task behaviors announce (not-so-subtly) that instruction isn’t “working.” So what can teachers do to encourage participation and task completion when students are reluctant to participate or complete..Read more…
Source: 5 Ways To Engage Reluctant Learners – by Kristina J. Doubet | Online Marketing Tools
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In Future Driven, David Geurin describes how to conquer the status quo, create authentic learning, and help your students thrive in an unpredictable world.He shares how to simultaneously be more committed to your mission while being more flexible with your methods. You’ll discover strategies to help students learn transferable skills.And you’ll find ways to inspire creative, adaptable learning.Ultimately, you’ll invest in tomorrow by helping your students become world changers today.Future Driven is a passionate, compelling forecast that urges all educators to engage smartly with what is coming. Teaching learners in this era of knowledge abundance requires teachers to take risks and for leaders to embrace change.A future focus, combined with action today, will ensure students are prepared for whatever they face. We need to have a long-term perspective and so do our students.Read more…
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If you’ve read the SnapApp blog (or any marketing publication recently, for that matter) you’ve probably seen the increased importance of sales and marketing alignment. Buyers are increasingly demanding a world where marketing and sales is seamless – there is no handoff, it’s simply one engine that fuels your customer journey.
By gating all our assets we’ve basically created a dynamic that forces buyers away from our website and content. Buyers today prefer to do their own due diligence before offering up an email address that basically guarantees them the sales call or email that follows.
Audience’s increased preference to engage on their own terms and in a personalized manner has left marketing looking to adapt experiences while sales spends hours and energy crafting hyper-personalized, unique email messages to stand out from the competition. Finding the right balance of quality vs quantity of sales follow up isn’t easy, and has resulted in increased automation and hopeless attempts at humor to simply get any response. See:
Be sure to check out our video: What B2B Buyers Hate Most About Sales
Clearly what we’re doing isn’t working – on the marketing or sales side. So what do we do?
At SnapApp we might be a little bit biased, but we believe that interactive content is more than a shiny new piece of content that simply is cooler than a white paper.
Interactive experiences can also drive meaningful sales and marketing alignment by collecting critical qualifying information on your prospects before by some minor miracle they find themselves on a discovery meeting after a cold call.
By putting control back in the hands of your buyers you can improve engagements and uncover the challenges truly facing your prospects, helping get back to what they really want… value.
Let’s explore how interactive content can transform your marketing and sales alignment drive real results.
By now you’d probably heard of interactive content but what is it really and why do it? Let me start with a quick pitch (I know, I’m sorry, but I’m in sales and we all knew this was coming.)
Interactive content is a better way to educate, entertain, and engage your audience. It’s anything that requires the participants’ active engagement — more than simply reading or watching. In return for that engagement, participants receive real-time, hyper-relevant results they care about.
Last August we partnered with Heinz Marketing to research generational buying differences. Our biggest takeaway: it is clear buyers are tired of the standard marketing and sales playbook.
And that means our “best practices” aren’t the best practices when buyer journey’s have chanced so drastically.
(source)
In today’s world where marketing has to own more of the buyer journey like you can see above, the same level of qualification of prospects needs to be done in the middle of the funnel, but your prospects aren’t willing to do it with your sales team.
Using interactive content throughout your buyer journey means that you’re constantly asking questions and learning more about your prospects, which means that when the time finally comes for them to have a conversation with sales, your team is prepared.
Interactive can help provide value and context to prospect outreach. Instead of a generic marketing message; “Thanks for downloading, be sure to also check out our blog” or, even worse, a sales follow up “I wanted to touch base with you regarding your form submission on our site. Can you give me some details of what you’re looking for so I can get you to the right place?” interactive will help you have a digital conversation without scaring off your prospects.
Sending generic marketing messages after a content download? Replace it with a CTA driving an interactive assessment asking them how they want to engage going forward.
Sending form submits right to sales? No problem, the answers and interactive insights captured can provide the context we lack today when attempting to personalize the message.
With this approach you’ll immediately showcase you’re listening, understanding their needs, and most importantly, you’ll be treating the prospect like a human – not a name on a list.
This will even help sales prioritize the best leads and help marketing understand what’s driving bottom line results. As an individual contributor myself I can attest to the fact that at times, with one quick glance, I’ll determine if a lead should be prioritized or put on the back burner. Sales people are busy too and with revenue as the ultimate objective you better believe your sales team is investing time in proven areas more than others.
This results in leads falling through the cracks or potentially even going completely untouched. Instead, with interactive you can help understand what leads should be prioritized because they include the all-important qualification and context sales desires.
You’re probably thinking, “sounds great, Greg, but where do I start?”
Let’s take look at a few examples of how you could start arming your sales team with the information they need to be successful today, alongside marketing activities you’re already doing.
Marketers and sales people alike love events — they’re great for brand recognition and present a unique opportunity for that all important face time with prospects. It’s no surprise they’re highly valued in most marketing operations – it’s the best opportunity to present value and many times yields the highest ROI.
The struggle with events? The same as your other demand gen initiatives… it’s hard to know what leads are the highest quality. You could scan hundreds of leads but usually there are only a handful of highly qualified prospects. Are you sending them all as MQLs? What if they really just wanted the cool socks you had at your booth? The list will go to your sales team resulting hours of calls/emails to prospects that might not even be considering your solution, while competing with every other vendor that attended.
Instead imagine leveraging an interactive experience. Ask; “How do you want us to follow up with you” with an interactive assessment.
At SnapApp we used the assessment above to do just that, and flip the script event follow up. By using interactive content inside our events, we don’t waste time on the people who just appreciate our taste in SWAG, and also don’t miss anyone who might not fit for our ideal buyer persona, but loved the message.
You’ll maximize your ROI and help qualify event leads faster. But the interactive follow up value doesn’t end with just WHO sales should spend their time on. It also makes sales outreach personalized and powerful.
We’ve all sent or received generic event follow up like this:
Generic Email – Low Personalization:
Hi [prospect],
It was great meeting you at [event]. I heard we had a great conversation around [value prop 1], so let me know if you would be interested in schedule a 30 minute call to learn more about each other’s businesses and how we can help!
And both prospects and sales people alike know that it works inconsistently at best.
However, with interactive conversations are rich and focus on your prospect, not on you.
Interactive Enhanced Email – High Personalization:
Hi [prospect],
It was great meeting you at [event]. Thanks for filling out our post-event assessment. Looking forward to scheduling a call to highlight your goals of [Goals Answer 1A] and [Goals Answer 1B] this quarter. I noticed you’re also currently using [Product/Solution Answer] to support these efforts today. We worked with [client example A] and [client example B] who experienced similar challenges and replaced [Product/Solution Answer]. When can we schedule 30 minutes to discuss further? How does [X/X @ X:XX] work?
Every teacher knows that consistently asking personal growth questions is part of the game in education. They exist in all shapes and sizes and are meant to challenge educators to meet and exceed professional goals. It’s for the good of themselves, their colleagues, and most of all their learners, that they devote themselves to this. You have enough to do already, so why make PD complicated?
Personal development goes hand in hand with professional development. It enhances it by ensuring we look deep within ourselves to discover the true motivations for why we do what we do, and what’s most important to us as teachers. Ultimately, these realizations drive us to excel for the benefit of our learners, and for the future of education.
By no means are we advocating that the 7 personal growth questions we’ve provided below are the be-all-end-all of what you can reflect on during your journey. What they will do is provide you with a baseline for developing your craft in your own way.
7 Personal Growth Questions for All Teachers
These personal growth questions are ones that are simple enough to ask yourself every day, while also complex enough to ponder deeply and critically whenever you have time. And no matter how busy you are, there is always time.
1. What is most important to me as a teacher?
This is the key to determining your professional development direction right here. What matters to you most about being a teacher? What kind of teacher do you want to be, and why? What are the biggest reasons you have for your choice?
Don’t fall into the trap of making this one about policy and educational doctrine. This is an introspective and emotional inquiry—perhaps even spiritual for many of you. Consider it carefully and, above all else, listen to your heart.
2. What takes me out of my comfort zone?
Progress happens in the face of overcoming challenges. But how do we constructively challenge ourselves if we can’t step away from feeling safe in our vocations? Do something that you’ve never done before—in your practice, in a relationship with a colleague, or what have you.
Think “what if …” and then act on it. If it makes you uncomfortable to consider or even scares you a little, you might be on to something.
3. How can I make sure I am learning every day?
Modeling lifelong learning is something every teacher must do for their learners. It comes through curiosity and a willingness to explore the unknown. Our learners benefit from our passion as educators when we display the same love for learning we want them to have when they leave us. How can you best do this every day?
4. What is the most amazing thing about me and how can I use it in my teaching?
Stop being modest—you’re awesome and you know it. So it’s time to let your learners know it too. Think about what you can do that no one else can. Recall a time when someone pointed out something remarkable about you that you’ve always taken for granted. “Wow, you really know how to _______.”
Are you good with humour? Are you highly creative with design and visuals? Are you able to use wisdom and compassion to turn any negative experience into a positive one? Are you an entertaining storyteller? What’s your special talent? And for crying out loud, why aren’t you making it part of your teaching?
5. What is the most important thing my learners need from me?
There is a simple and highly effective way to figure this one out: ask them. It also happens to be the only way. You don’t have to let yourself be afraid of the answers you get either, especially when you come from a place of heartfelt concern for your kids. So ask them what the need; they’ll surprise you and delight you, and they might even make you cry. Isn’t meaningful connection amazing?
6. How can I connect and communicate better with parents and colleagues?
Nothing changes you like perspective. As young and experienced teachers, we often do many things wrong. As parents, we also do things wrong. These moments present prime opportunities for teachers and parents to support each other and consistently bridge the communication gap.
In the end, nothing beats how parents and teachers can unite to solve problems and tackle issues together. The same is true for teachers who come together in the same way. What are the most proactive ways you can improve rapport with parents and colleagues to sustain a culture of support?
7. What am I going to start doing today to become a better teacher than I was yesterday?
You’ll find there is never a bad time to ponder this question. This doesn’t mean you’re not a fantastic teacher already; quite the opposite, in fact. It’s the idea that you are constantly looking for ways to improve that make you as incredible as you are. Everyone that’s a part of your life experience benefits from this.
Ask it as a personal reflection at the end of your day. Ask it at the beginning of your morning as a mediation. Ask it as you write in your daily journal. Ask it multiple times a day, even. Just make sure you ask it.
