Why leave the comfort zone for the unknown?
Why seek emotion and a bit more of fun into our dull lives?
Why should one work harder just for the sake of changing?
Why even consider the transformation if all things seem to fall into place?
Why innovate if someone else will get the credit?
Why do something different if everything seems to work the way it is now?
Why alter the state of our classrooms if the students are learning for centuries this way, but just seem "a bit bored"?
Why transition to a more proactive view of professional development if I won't get a raise?
Why spend my precious time studying, searching, planning for better teaching if I won't get more recognition from my superiors?
Why the shift?
Why the move?
That's why most of us keep saying NO to the inevitable passages in life, when we have to transition from our well-known, safe routine to a new "unpredictable" mode of thought and act. Though we might question ourselves the WHY, and this is healthy when it doesn't block the possibilities ahead, innovating, moving towards a new direction, finding a more appropriate perspective to learning and teaching is simply part of our own evolution as human beings, as educators.
The word CHANGE is part of my daily job. Every day, there's something new that makes me change the way I see things, a new tool to do things more efficiently. Though resistant at times, I've learned to listen to opposite views, to ponder, and to come to the conclusion when change might be beneficial to the collective.
Say YES.
Innovate.
Surprise.
Give a new sense to your own life.
Bring life to your classroom.
Make it lively.
Laugh, dance with your students, sing a song, create one.
Let breadth and new light enligthen your educational practices.
Learn with your students.
Don't expect recognition, except your own perception of how engaged, motivated your students are.
Consider your own small rewards when you see a sparkling eye, a curious soul.
Laugh again.
Teach with passion. Teach with soul and intuition. Find magic in the small details.
Add bits of tech before you can call yourself a true innovator.
Keep daring.
Are you still considering saying NO to change? Well, you might use 100 lame excuses to avoid becoming a more adventurous, happier educator. Or you might start considering making small innovative changes that will make a difference in your and your learners' lives pretty soon.
Say YES to your very simple changing acts.
Try it.
It can be really powerful!
Let's start right now a Say YES movement.
I'd love to hear what you've done to substitute inertia for hard-hitting transformation.
What a great post. We so often talk about intrinsic motivation for students. If we truly believe it, we must practice it in our own lives as well.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Damianne. We must find our own drives first, we must learn how to say more YES and how to have a more open mind to what lies just ahead of our eyes.
ReplyDeleteCarla, Loved the blog article. Thanks for the sparklers in this post. I will be sharing this with our staff as we return in August for another year of making connections and building relationship with our students. I can feel your love and energy for teaching! Keep sharing with the global educational community.
ReplyDeleteEven skimming the active, positive vocabulary in the YES message made me grin. Great post!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned recently was to replace the word 'but' with 'and.' For example, instead of: "I want to teach with technology, BUT I don't have access to enough of it" you would say, "I want to teach with technology AND I am writing a grant to get some more in my classroom." It totally changes the conversation and your outlook on a situation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding us to not to become complacent and to challenge ourselves to move ahead!
@rcantrell Thanks! And I'm glad that the ideas will be useful for your own community of educators. I've learned that even if you keep trying to inspire your own group, when we have outside voices, it seems that our communication channels open up more if it were you to deliver the same words. Little by little I've learned how powerful those outside voices are. Since then, things have changed tremendously in the school I work for.
ReplyDelete@thebookchook I get goose bumps of excitement when I read and try to act upon those words.
@mshertz I've read this idea of exchanging the "but" for "and" a few days ago in an ed tech leadership blog. I think it is a very powerful concept and it can be even turned into an interesting activity with the teachers to help them go from inertia to active engagement. Thanks for the reminder!
Such a brilliantly written piece! Thank you for the reminder in such a positive, proactive missive.
ReplyDeleteI´m glad it was a good reminder for you, Jill!
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