Beyond Grades to Growth: My Commitment to Experiential Learning
This week, I wrestled with the Eisenhower Matrix in a way I never had before – especially through the lens of an educator. What started as a simple prioritization exercise became a mirror reflecting back some uncomfortable truths about how I spend my professional energy.
The breakthrough came when I stopped trying to separate what felt urgent from what was actually important and instead started with what I knew didn’t matter at all. Those tasks that live in the “not urgent, not important” quadrant – the extra things I do to look good, to present as if I’ve got it all figured out. The sobering realization? If I stopped doing these things tomorrow, nothing that truly matters would be negatively impacted. In fact, my wellbeing would greatly improve.
Once I cleared away that noise, everything else became crystal clear. I realized I’ve been spending too much time on the urgent instead of making the important a priority. The work that actually transforms both me and my students – professional development, creating experiential learning opportunities, developing meaningful formative assessments, refining feedback strategies – these were getting squeezed out by tasks that just made me look busy.
My North Star: Where Learning Comes Alive
This year, I’m committing my creative energy to developing experiential learning opportunities paired with strong formative assessments. This isn’t about checking boxes or improving test scores. This is about something much bigger.
Learning should be more than completing assignments and earning grades. It should make a lifelong impact on students, helping them become better versions of themselves in all aspects of their lives. Whatever the content, there are universal skills and values these experiences can provide: love of learning, respect, responsibility, an inclusive mindset, and genuine excitement to be in school.
I want my students to be inspired. I want them to become lifelong learners who, in turn, make a difference in the world. That ripple effect starts in my classroom, with activities and assessments that allow students to share about themselves and give me opportunities to build real connections with them.
From Vision to Action
This month, I’m starting small but starting now. I’m designing learning experiences where students can share who they are as whole human beings, not just academic performers. I’m creating space for genuine connection through the learning process itself.
My supervisor will help keep me accountable to this commitment, making it visible and supported at the administrative level. Because I know that without intentional structure, even our most important work can get swallowed up by whatever screams loudest for our attention.
This is my declaration: I will prioritize what truly matters. I will create learning experiences that honor the whole person. I will help my students discover not just what they can memorize, but who they can become.
The urgent will always be there, demanding attention. But the important – the transformational work of education – that’s where I’m choosing to invest my heart, my time, and my creative energy this year.
Because our students deserve nothing less than educators who are committed to their growth as human beings, not just their performance as test-takers. And that starts with me being the best version of myself professionally – focused on what matters most.
Victor,
Thank you for sharing this. The way you used the Eisenhower Matrix as a mirror rather than just a tool really landed with me. Naming those “not urgent, not important” tasks as things we do to look like we have it all together feels very familiar, and there is a lot of power in choosing to let them go.
I really appreciate how clearly you have named your north star. You are putting your energy into experiential learning and formative assessment that honours students as whole people, not just as marks on a page. Starting with small moves that invite students to show who they are, and bringing your supervisor in as a thought partner, makes this feel grounded and sustainable.
I would love to hear later in the year about one learning experience that surprised you, either in how students responded or in what you noticed about yourself when you leaned into this work. Thank you again for sharing this so honestly. It captures so much of what we are hoping to explore together in Beyond Grades to Growth.
Gareth Jones
Victor, when I read what you wrote: “I will prioritize what truly matters. I will create learning experiences that honor the whole person. I will help my students discover not just what they can memorize, but who they can become.” it more than resonated with me – because for me, what I spent much of the first half of my career steeped in was meaningful understanding over rote memory, so I truly am with you on this. Education is so much more than a set of facts or concepts from our curriculum. What our students become, as you wrote, is so very important, and the idea of honouring them along the journey feels like what I wish I was able to do at every single juncture (and is definitely where my aspirations lie).
I’m curious how your past couple of months have gone – how as looking at the urgent vs. important post our first F2F shaped your thinking coming into the 2nd one? Excited to connect with you and see what you are now noticing in your practice as we approach the middle of the academic year.