The Ideas Spin Around and Around

As we approach our second F2F meeting, I am excited about diving in and exploring new ideas. I feel a bit overwhelmed by the ideas that I have already. I also wonder if I’m prepared enough. I even wonder if I did my ‘homework’ enough to bring something to the table. How will I transform what I’m thinking into something new? I’m not worried about it; I’m excited by the possibilities ahead.

I came to the first F2F with ideas and goals for the year. This meeting brought new ideas and new questions into the equation. Since then, even more have come flying in.

Since this meeting, there has been lots of discussion at my work about how we can be the best teachers for our students. We’ve discussed challenges we face and goals we want to reach this year. It worked out well this happened authentically as staff. I became a fly on the wall using what I learned and saw as fuel for what project I could take on this year.

When observing, listening and chatting with my colleagues I noticed key challenges that resonated during group discussions (and I think most teachers would agree):

  1. The need for more Time! Time! Time!
  2. The opportunity and time dedicated to promoting collaboration. (“We’re asked to do it, but how can we with such different schedules.”)
  3. How can we support community building (between teachers and with our students)?
  4. How can we help students look beyond marks and embrace learning for the sake of learning?

When listening to my students talk during their breaks, I often hear them feeling similar. They feel overwhelmed by the little time they feel they have, they are worried about an upcoming test, or they are frustrated by a relationship they are unsure about. After hearing this, I asked a few of them what challenges they felt were facing them. They sounded overwhelmed, they were struggling with balancing curricular and extra-curricular expectations, and they were obsessed with high marks.

I began to probe them with what they enjoyed about classes. I asked a few of them what makes a great teacher. To them, a teacher that is empathetic, humorous (even bad jokes worked) and relatable. They said that when things got hard or ‘heavy’ a teacher that lightened the mood and made connections with them made things better and more accessible (jokes mostly worked). They buy into humour.

Nothing I learned in these discussions, with teachers or students, surprised me. Instead, it highlighted how students and teachers have similar concerns. We work in places where making connections is essential, telling stories and having fun makes learning better and where many of us are more stressed than we should be. Time management and balancing priorities have both teachers and students feeling stuck.

Where does this leave me? I’m curious what others bring to the discussion tomorrow. I started this journey planning a project aimed at helping teachers bring creativity into their classrooms. Now I wonder how we can make marks matter less, help everyone feel like they have more time, or maybe something else I haven’t even thought about.

Like the quote above implies, how can we go beyond what we know to make a change? I have some ideas and would love yours too.

Time to continue exploring.

1 thought on “The Ideas Spin Around and Around

  1. So great that you’ve carried the excitement of our first F2F into conversations with your colleagues. It’s a great approach to refining ideas isn’t it? And my goodness what a list of questions sitting at the heart of so many of our concerns/ambitions. Ah yes, time! I will be excited to see where this goes during our design process, particularly as you consider your “sphere of influence”. Sometimes a refreshed perspective on the learning that occurs in and the general expectation of a classroom can magically adjust time. Consider that learning itself struggles to be lasting and authentic if not presented in a culture conducive to the skills at the heart of authentic learning (how about feeling safe to take risks). I look forward to these discussions this weekend!

    @acampbellrogers @mneale @ashaikh @gnichols @jmedved

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