Sunday, August 14, 2016

Write the Next Chapter

It is still amazing to me that after 20 years of a "first day of school," I still get those excited jitters. This year is especially exciting as I begin the year unlike any other in my 25 years of life. I will be starting the school year as a husband, a resident of a metro city, and a South Tama County Trojan. There have been plenty of changes take place throughout this summer, all I believe for the better. It's important to be able to sit down during these summer months and reflect on the job you did during the previous year and look forward to what you can improve on for the year ahead. 
With that being said, it's also important to realize that every school year is the beginning of a new chapter in the book of education. This new chapter will be full of ups and downs, highs and lows, successes and failures, but it's always moving forward. The new chapter is about starting fresh, with a growth mindset and a willingness to put yourself out there to do what's best for kids. Below, I have a highlighted a few keys ways that you can make your next chapter the best one yet!

1. Be a success seeker.

Recently I watched a TED talk by Scott Geller entitled "The Psychology of Self-Motivation" and it focused on the question of how do we get people and ourselves to be self-motivated? About halfway through the fifteen-minute talk, Mr. Geller posed this question to the audience; "How do we get people to be success seekers rather than failure avoiders?" This question struck me as odd for a moment simply because I had never thought of it that way. I began thinking about the things in my life that I had chosen not to do in the past and wondered if it was because I was trying to avoid failure? I also reflected on this past school year and asked myself how many times myself or my students "avoided failure" rather than chose to seek success? It's an important mindset shift, focusing on seeking success rather than avoiding failure. This will help you become a better educator or leader as it will allow for more risk-taking and innovation. Choose to be a success seeker this school year.

2. Bring the donuts consistently.

As I was taking part in the weekly #IAedchat on twitter one of the co-moderators, Dan Butler, was tweeting about the differences between climate and culture and posted that "bringing donuts for the faculty meeting may impact the climate, but not the culture. Culture established slowly." While this is true, he brought up an even greater point later that if you bring enough donuts consistently you can begin to impact the culture. I think this is greatly important in our educational systems. Don't be a one and done type of teacher that tries something once and either forgets about it or chooses not to do it again, regardless of the success of the attempt. Whatever "donut" you are bringing, make sure that you are bringing it consistently in an attempt to continually improve your school's culture for the better. Choose to bring the donuts consistently this school year.

3. Be the lead learner in your classroom/school.

As educators, we should be the lead learners in our classrooms. As educational leaders, we should be the lead learners in our schools. If our districts and schools goals involve raising the learning for our students then we must also spend time as educators learning ourselves. Everyone has something to improve on or something new to learn about. One of my favorite parts about this summer was being able to read the book Kids Deserve It and gaining a wealth of knowledge from it to take back to my classrooms. It's why I've also decided to read books about branding your school and shifting mindsets as a leader. I have made it a commitment to be a lead learner and challenge my colleagues both in my school and in others to do the same. Choose to be the lead learner in your classroom and/or school this year.

The great thing about these three ideas is that they are simple enough to implement as long as you have a growth mindset. As educators and leaders, we should always be looking to grow ourselves, our students, and our schools in any way possible. Implementing these three ideas in your classroom or school this year will help make this next chapter of your career the best one yet. Remember, we are in the business of helping kids reach their hopes and dreams and we can not do that if we are not at our absolute best! I hope everyone has a great school year and make sure that whatever you do or attempt to do, you do because #KidsDeserveIt!

Until next time, Be A Light!
-Derek




Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Celebrate the Journey


It's hard to believe that we are just 3 short weeks away from the first day of school with students at STC. As this will be my first year teaching 7th grade at South Tama I am looking forward to working with not only my new students but my colleagues and administrators in the building and district. I have been busy this summer planning for the new school year as well as continuing my Ed Leadership program/courses through Drake University. I am also a new husband as I married by best friend on July 10th and celebrated with our friends and family. It has been an amazing summer!



As the calendar turns to August it's time to start thinking about the goals and expectations for the upcoming school year. As we all know, goal-setting can be both a benefit and a hindrance depending on your commitment to achieving them. This school year I'm laying out actions that I am going to be committed to rather than goals I plan on achieving because I feel as though I should be focused on these actions throughout my day-to-day rather than look at the end result. I plan on celebrating the journey this school year with myself and my students! Here are a few things I will be committed to this school year.

  1. I am committed to putting students first.
    • This summer I was able to read the book Kids Deserve It! by Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome and it really challenged my thinking as an educator. I have made a commitment to never stop fighting for what's best for kids because "Kids Deserve It." This means being even more of an active educator, allowing for more creativity and risk taking, and being jacked up every day to be around kids! 
    • More important than just putting students first is being a champion for all kids, regardless of the challenges they bring with them or pose to you as a teacher. I am committed to reaching every student in some way and celebrating the journey with each of them. Every student has a story and it is important for them to share it.
  2. I am committed to growing as an educator and educational leader.
    • This has been an ongoing commitment since I started my Ed Leadership program back in January. I have gained valuable knowledge in just a few months but most importantly I have really started to grasp the idea of the growth mindset. I began implementing this in my classroom by creating activities and lessons centered around the idea of the growth mindset and hope to continue this in the coming year. 
    • As an aspiring educational leader, I also look forward to working with my school and district admin teams in various leadership roles to get a realistic vision of what the life of an administrator looks like. I will be piloting a Genius Hour component during our school's RtI/MTSS time and will be a member of our PBIS and SBG leadership teams. I also hope to have a role in a new Curriculum team that is being assembled at the district level.
       
  3. I am committed to taking time for myself and bettering my physical health.
    • This is a fairly new commitment for me and something I have always struggled with, even before my time as an educator. I have committed myself to taking time for myself as well as focusing on my overall physical health. A few years ago I made a strict commitment to this and ended up losing roughly 130 pounds over the course of 9 months. This was something that felt good at the time but over the past few years I have fallen off the wagon and gained much of that back. My plan is to incorporate time in my day for moderate exercise as well as portioned meals that are good-tasting and good for you. 
    • Along with taking time for myself, I plan on spending as much time as possible growing in my relationship with my wife. As we are newlyweds we still have plenty of growing left to do and a lot will be done unplugged in an attempt to spend some time away from the workplace. This is something I have also struggled with in the 2 years I have been teaching and hope to continue growing in this area. 
I challenge those that are reading this blog to make commitment statements for themselves for the upcoming school year. 
  • What are you committed to as an educator? 
  • What are you committed to as a leader?
  • What are you committed to in your life outside of school?
I plan on posting these commitment statements in certain places around my home as well as on my desk to remind me on a daily basis what I have committed myself to this school year. Part of the growth process is remembering that failure is just a part of the process and while the journey may be long it will be one that is filled with joy, love, and laughter. I am excited to get started on another new journey in three weeks! 

Until next time, Be A Light!

-Derek