Teams who learn together, stick together

Learning.  It’s what we do as educators.  We plan for learning.  We monitor learning.  We facilitate learning.  We assess learning.  But, I often wonder how much we focus on our own learning?  We live in a new world as professionals.  The amount of research that is now published about our craft and our students’ learning astounds me.  We have more research at our fingertips than ever before. Research that would drastically improve learning.  Then, why, do so many of us choose to ignore it and fall in the sacred-cow trap so easily?

So, let’s change that!  Here’s a challenge for your team: learn together.

Not sure where to begin?  At your next meeting, don’t talk about the student who you can’t get to do whatever it is that you want her to do.  Research new ways to build relationships with students and provide the power of hope (a hidden curriculum we might forget).  Bring the article to your team and see what ideas they might have to support you with this student.  

Struggling with how to assign a grade that reflects everything you want it to reflect (knowledge, effort, perseverance, growth)?  Research grading practices and ways to start shifting thinking about how we “grade” students.  Thomas Guskey is one of my favorites!  It’s a lot to take in and a completely new way of thinking about how we provide feedback for student learning and report this information to our stakeholders.  But, the conversation could start something spectacular!  

Need some help with motivating the unmotivated?  Carol Dweck’s research about the power of “not yet” and growth mindset completely changed my approach to supporting struggling and high-achieving students alike.  Grab “Brainology” as a jump start and brainstorm ways to build in mindset moments to help students rewire their thinking.  

The research is endless.  Educational experts have spent years researching ways to be more effective.  And, I find, that all too often we forget to stop, learn and grow as professionals.  I want to be the most effective educator and leader I can be.  I can’t do that alone.  A core belief of mine is that learning changes a person for the better and opens possibilities that one may never have imagined.  I wouldn’t be an educator if I didn’t believe in the possibility of learning.  And, that is what learning with my team has done for me.  It has made me, and will continue to make me, better than I could have ever imagined.

The next step to stop teaching: learn!