Hats Off to Educators

This week I am overcome by the difference educators make in the lives of their students. In my region, it is the last week of the school year, and I am thinking back on a year I hope we never repeat.
 
We have survived this year – the months when substitute teachers could not fill the holes, so colleagues gave up their planning periods and principals went back to the classroom. We were hoarse from teaching all day through a mask. We didn’t dare hug the child we were sending home to quarantine. This school year is ending with the loss of lives of teachers and students that is heavy on our hearts. As the poem by William Wordsworth repines, “The world is too much with us.”
 
As educators, you are exhausted from a long and challenging year. But you have touched the lives of children in an unmeasurable and ongoing way. Although districts spend millions of dollars on curricula, teachers are schools’ most valuable resource.
 
This year, I have also witnessed the difference a caring educator can make. Someone who is willing to joke and share. Someone who is willing to both talk and listen. I have seen the difference made by teachers who see possibility and potential, who have high expectations and work to assure those expectations are met.
 
The difference made by an educator with an asset-based mindset was made clear to me this week as I talked with teachers from a building I was visiting. One teacher told me about the high-expectations parents had for their children. She talked about students’ enthusiasm, how hard they were working and how much growth they had made over the course of the year.
 
I also spoke with a teacher who told me about how challenging his students were. They just “didn’t care” about education. They were behavior problems, and their parents didn’t seem to have education as a priority. The thing is – these two teachers were talking about exactly the same kids.  Because the grade-level was departmentalized, these two teachers shared students. But one saw students as disengaged and troublesome, while the other saw them as thriving.
 
There was truth in both their statements. I had seen students sent out of the negative-minded teacher’s classroom because of bad behavior and I had noted the low energy during the little time I’d spent in that teacher’s classroom. On the other hand, I’ve spent lots of time in the classroom of the asset-minded teacher, and I have seen students’ engagement, their creativity, and their interest and enthusiasm for learning.  The. Same. Students.
 
Hats off to the educators who have kept on believing in students, despite all that this year has thrown at us. Thank you for the caring that leads to good teaching. Hats off to you for the difference you are making in the world.
 
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I’m excited to share that my book, Differentiated Mentoring and Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is available for preorder here!  The book is my gift to coaches. I’ve put all my best thinking into it, and I can’t wait for you to read it!
 
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This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
Continuing professional learning as a coach:
 
https://blog.teachboost.com/put-your-learning-first-with-peer-coaching
 
 
A podcast about creating affinity spaces in the classroom:
 
https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests/james-gee
 
 
Prioritizing educators’ well-being:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/schools-not-teachers-must-reduce-stress-and-burnout-heres-how
 
 
The importance of the first 5-years for brain development (brought to you by in this TED talk by a 7-year-old):
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aISXCw0Pi94
 
 
How to increase the chances that your feedback gets heard:
 
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/creating-a-culture-of-feedback
 
 
That’s it for this week. Happy coaching!
 
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