I watched many teachers cheer students on, interact with family members, and lead activities as Field Day occurred yesterday. I noticed the common denominator of commitment as well as the diversity of leadership approaches and styles. As the principal remarked at his recent retirement party, we are a teaching/learning community of leaders, and as leaders, we are both similar and different. We bring different strengths to the school, and this is what makes us a strong and successful educational community.
The reality is that no educator can be all or do all--that's impossible. Yet, we all have areas of strength to contribute. This is how we support one another. I am learning this everyday as I watch my colleagues display their craft in many, many ways. The learning can be as simple as watching a colleague support a child in the hallway to listening to a class share their incredible learning at the school assembly. There's opportunity to learn all the time.
And while we bring our strengths, we bring our shortcomings too--that's the humbling part. There's al limit to what we can do, and we can't all be the same. Our intersections are many, our objectives great, and our ability to meet every expectation challenged by time--in most cases, our expectations far outnumber the hours in a day. This means we have to spend considerable time prioritizing as individual educators, teams, and as a school community. What matters most? How do we prioritize? Can we think deeply about this in order to allow our most important priorities to rise?
Of course as I think of priorities, I recognize the following:
Positive relationships come first. This is not always easy in the busy city-like culture of a school. I wonder how we can build the best possible relationships while also recognizing what each of us needs to teach well. Sometimes constraints such as planning/prep time, good communication, space to teach, and less lead time with regard to scheduling can challenge those good relationships. Re-looking at a school culture with positive relationships as a goal could be helpful in this regard.
Meaningful learning is a priority. How would we define meaningful learning? How do we choose the best possible learning goals and objectives? How can we create scheduling patterns that ensures we are teaching in engaging, meaningful, and impactful ways?
Teamwork is essential. No educator can do it all, and with that in mind, how do we foster and support the best possible teams and teamwork to focus our energy and activity in ways that work well together?
There is much to do to continue to develop my efforts to teach well. I am mindful of this as the school year comes to a close and I think about the summer study ahead. Onward.
