I'll start with my part - Hi. I'm Jessica. I'm a terrible blogger. I'm just not organized enough to find time to post. It's been several months since my last blog.
Now that that's out of the way, you may or may not be surprised to hear that I've had at least 3 conversations with teachers this week about not feeling good enough at their job and not meeting expectations. Remember, it's only Wednesday! I have to say, I'm right there with them, but why do we do that to ourselves?
This conversation originally came up in a meeting about attracting teachers to present at our district's innovation summit. I'm a coach in our district and I see teachers doing amazing things every day, yet no one feels what they do is good enough or special enough for others to want to hear about it. I'm here to say we do want to learn from you.
If I attend a conference presentation, I'm hoping for just one kernel of knowledge just one experience the presenter has had that will inspire me. In fact, if you think you're not good enough - you are exactly who I want to hear from! There's nothing like going to the presentation from the "perfect" teacher who must not sleep because everything they do is amazing. That just makes me feel inadequate.
I want to hear from YOU who got the new 3D printer that sat in the box all year because you weren't sure what to do with it. When you asked the students they came up with amazing ideas. I want to hear from YOU whose students cracked 5 Chromebook screens and stole 3 of them. How did you adjust? I want to hear from YOU who thought Google Drive was a new car model back in August 2015 and now both you and your students are proficient users. Your failures will lead to others' success.
Leave your ego behind - don't you have to turn it in when you get a teaching certificate? Share your failures because you learned from them. Share your failures so we don't make the same mistakes. Share you failures because you are modeling how to reflect and adjust. Share your failures because only through your failures is real learning happening.
Oh, and sign up to present at the Arcadia Innovation Summit, July 8, 2016. www.arcadiainnovationsummit.com (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)
Now that that's out of the way, you may or may not be surprised to hear that I've had at least 3 conversations with teachers this week about not feeling good enough at their job and not meeting expectations. Remember, it's only Wednesday! I have to say, I'm right there with them, but why do we do that to ourselves?
This conversation originally came up in a meeting about attracting teachers to present at our district's innovation summit. I'm a coach in our district and I see teachers doing amazing things every day, yet no one feels what they do is good enough or special enough for others to want to hear about it. I'm here to say we do want to learn from you.
If I attend a conference presentation, I'm hoping for just one kernel of knowledge just one experience the presenter has had that will inspire me. In fact, if you think you're not good enough - you are exactly who I want to hear from! There's nothing like going to the presentation from the "perfect" teacher who must not sleep because everything they do is amazing. That just makes me feel inadequate.
I want to hear from YOU who got the new 3D printer that sat in the box all year because you weren't sure what to do with it. When you asked the students they came up with amazing ideas. I want to hear from YOU whose students cracked 5 Chromebook screens and stole 3 of them. How did you adjust? I want to hear from YOU who thought Google Drive was a new car model back in August 2015 and now both you and your students are proficient users. Your failures will lead to others' success.
Leave your ego behind - don't you have to turn it in when you get a teaching certificate? Share your failures because you learned from them. Share your failures so we don't make the same mistakes. Share you failures because you are modeling how to reflect and adjust. Share your failures because only through your failures is real learning happening.
Oh, and sign up to present at the Arcadia Innovation Summit, July 8, 2016. www.arcadiainnovationsummit.com (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)