You may not hear it often (or ever), but if you’re an educator, you’re making a difference in the lives of learners. And that impact has a domino effect.
In Because of a Teacher, more than fifteen of today’s leading educators remember the teachers and administrators who inspired and supported their careers. Through a series of heartfelt and uplifting stories, they reflect on their early years teaching, offering advice and strategies suited to first-year teachers and longtime educators alike.
These personal stories offer hope for new teachers, encouragement for educators tiptoeing into burnout, and reassurance that the work you’re doing right now will inspire generations to come.
Because of a Teacher will inspire you to
remember those who encouraged your love of learning;
honor and thank educators who have advocated for you, championed your career, and equipped you with the skills necessary to lead;
reflect on how far you’ve come since you entered the profession.
Endorsements
“Whether you are in your first year of teaching or nearing your last, Because of a Teacher will remind you why you went into education in the first place and help us all focus on what is really important: the legacy we will leave with the students and staff we are blessed to work with.”
—Allyson Apsey, principal and author of The Path to Serendipity
“I would highly recommend this book to any educator I know!”
—Morgane Michael, educational consultant and author of From Burnt Out to Fired Up!
“Because of a Teacher is filled with voices from the field who remind us of the impact we can make with all students, even on our toughest days. If you are looking for an inspiring read to remind you why you went into the profession, this book is it.”
—Jimmy Casas, educator, author, speaker, and leadership coach
Digital portfolios have been something that I have been work on for over ten years, and I am very passionate about not only the product it can create but, more importantly, the process. Having a space to share my learning and reflections has been powerful during this time in our world.
In this post, I share some of the questions districts, schools, and individuals need to consider for implementation. I address all of these questions in my most recent course on creating your digital portfolio, but hopefully, the items below will give you some food for thought!
Digital portfolios are something that is starting to take off in schools. Different software programs will make “portfolios” easy to share, yet do we truly embrace the power that a digital portfolio can bring into our schools? Since it is “digital,” we need to go beyond a collection that only represents one year of learning, but can show the progression over time.
Here are some questions for you to consider as you look into the process.
1. Is this a learning portfolio, showcase portfolio, or a combination of both?
Does this show the student’s progression over time (learning), or just the best stuff (showcase)? There are considerable benefits to both over time and a combination, from my experience, is the best path to pursue.
2. Who owns the learning?
Is this a portfolio that only shows “school” work, or does the student have the opportunity to display what they are passionate about, or is it merely for items to be displayed based on what the teacher wants? Is it a combination of both? If the student feels no ownership over the process and product, the results will not be as powerful as if they do.
3. How will it be exported after the process?
For starters, see the question above. Secondly, if there is no plan to ensure that students have the opportunity to put all of this learning into their own space, eventually, you are missing another opportunity that digital provides.
4. How will you make the audience eventually go global?
A lot of parents and educators are worried about the work of a student getting “out there” (for various reasons). Still, if the portfolio is only available upon request, we are taking a very “paper” mentality to a “digital” platform. This does not mean the whole world has to see everything from the beginning, or the student needs to share it with the world if they do not want to, but the progression plan to share it with the world should be there. Will the audience be limited long term?
5. What brings people to the portfolio?
Is there any mechanism that brings people to the portfolio other than telling people to come? Simple things like email help to build an audience. Is the space more likely to be seen and more valuable to the learning if it goes out to an audience, other than people coming to the portfolio?
6. What impact will this have on the learner’s digital footprint?
Will Richardson suggests that by the time kids graduate grade 12, you should be able to google them and find “good” stuff about them (see image at the top of the post). Does the portfolio help in this endeavor when every student we work with now will be googled for jobs, university, or a myriad of other things.
7. What about next year and other classes?
This is a HUGE question. If the portfolio only lasts for one year, then you are missing a great opportunity. What professional learning is in place for teachers to support a connection of learning over time for the students? What will the students work look like over time, and how will they be able to google or search for their learning? If the plan is not in place to grow this over time, we lose so much from the process.
If these questions aren’t considered, I am wondering if we are just doing a digital version of “school” or rethinking the empowering possibilities that a digital portfolio can truly provide for learning in and out of school? This is more than just thinking about “what software we should use,” but envisioning the potential of what this process can bring to our students and ourselves.
Did you know that IMPress author George Couros puts out a podcast once a week? Below is the blog post that accompanies the podcast (link to the podcast in the post) about ways you can influence change!
No matter your position in education, you can influence change. If we are waiting for “someone else” to create meaningful change, it might not happen.
You can check out the full podcast on Apple iTunes, Soundcloud, or Spotify. You can also read the slightly “updated” post below.
“At the end of the day, what qualifies people to be called ‘leaders’ is their capacity to influence others to change their behavior in order
to achieve important results.” Joseph Grenny
In a time where the only constant in education is “change,” people involved with education need to become “change agents” more now than ever. You can understand pedagogy inside out, but if you are unable to define “why” someone should do something different in their practice, all of that knowledge can be ultimately wasted. People will take a “known good” over an “unknown better” in most cases; the challenge is to help make the “unknown” visible and show why it is better for kids.
Simply sharing new ideas is not enough. It has to go deeper. Ultimately, you want people to feel and value that any change is better than they were kids, and that are current students will be better served by creating a better experience. Innately, educators want what is best for kids.
Tap into that, and people are more likely to move forward. As Dan Pink states,
“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources—not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.”
So how does this happen? Below are some things that I have seen effective leaders (from any position) to help people not only accept change but embrace it as an opportunity to do something better for kids.
1. Model the change that they want to see.
Although this might seem extremely “cliche,” it is the most crucial step for any leader in leading the “change effort.” Many organizations talk about the idea that people need to be “risk-takers,” yet they are not willing to model it themselves. Until that happens, people will not feel comfortable doing something different. It is also the difference between talking from a “theoretical” to “practical” viewpoint.
People will feel more comfortable taking a journey to an unknown place if they know that the first steps have been made by someone else. Although I believe in the idea of distributed leadership, the idea of “leaders” is that they are also ahead; they have done things that have not been done before. Chris Kennedy has shared the belief that leaders need to be “elbow deep in learning” with others, not only to show they are willing to embrace the change that they speak about but also to be able to talk from a place of experience.
2. Show that you understand the value that already exists.
The word “change” is terrifying to some because it makes them feel that everything that they are doing is irrelevant. Rarely is that the case. I have seen speakers talk to an audience for an hour, and people walk out feeling like they were just scolded for 90 minutes on how everything that they are doing is wrong. It is great to share new ideas, but you have to tap into what exists already that is powerful.
When you show people that you value them and their ideas (and not in a fake way which is pretty easy to read through), they are more likely to move mountains for you, and for themselves.
Strengths-based leadership is something that should be standard with administrators to teachers, as it should be standard with teachers to kids.
3. Tell stories.
Data should inform what we do and is an essential part of the change process, but it does not necessarily move people forward in a positive direction.
Of course, using evidence to inform practice is important, but stories are what move people forward.
Great organizations know the importance of telling a story to make people “feel” something.
This is something I truly believe:
To inspire meaningful change, you must make a connection to the heart before you make a connection to the mind.
Stories touch the heart. What is the story of your classroom, school, or district? Not only the one you can tell but the one you want to create together?
Think about it…this is a school newsletter. Imagine if I handed out a piece of paper to educators and asked them to read a newsletter from another school. Do you think they would care as much as seeing the kids, their faces, and their emotions?
Don’t let a grade be the only thing that tells a story about the kids in our schools. Let’s empower our students to learn to share their own stories, as well as the stories of the school.
5. Get people excited and then get out of the way.
“Increase your power by reducing it.” Daniel Pink
I have been to schools, watched administrators encourage their teachers to embrace something different in their practice, and they make that change impossible to do.
Answering that “we need to change the policy before you can move forward” not only encourages the detractors, but it kills the enthusiasm in your champions.
When “yeah but” is the most commonly used phrase in your leadership repertoire, you might as well learn to say “no”; it’s essentially the same thing. The most successful people in the world rarely follow a script, but write a different one altogether. Are teachers doing something better “because of you” or “despite you”? If you want to inspire change, be prepared to “clear the path” and get out of the way so that change can happen.
The change process is a tough one, but merely being knowledgeable is not enough. Some people that actually “know less” but “influence more” create more change than some of the smartest people we might know.
Education is not about “stuff” but about “people.” Tap into that, and you are more likely to see the change that you are hoping to see.
Below is a blog post from George Couros, author of Innovate Inside the Box, written with Katie Novak, about the amazing opportunity to be involved with their Facebook Book Study! There are already 750 amazing educators from all over the world signed up to participate!
Katie Novak and I are really excited to announce the #InnovateInsideTheBox book study, starting September 15, 2019, over on Facebook. This book study will go over a 4 week period and is an opportunity to not only dig in deeper into the content of the book with Katie and me but will also be a space for people to share ideas and learn from one another as we focus on creating opportunities for purposeful learning for every one of our learners. This book study is one that you can do at your own pace, but also will encourage participants to create multiple means of representation in sharing their learning through the process. To be a part of this, simply do the following:
Although we are “formally” starting the process on September 15, 2019, we are going to give some prompts and facilitate some conversations before the “official” beginning so please feel free to join any time.
Here is the tentative reading schedule for the process:
September 15 – September 21 – Read the Foreword until Chapter 2
September 22 – September 28 – Chapters 3 and 4
September 29 – October 5 – Chapters 5 – 10
October 6 – October 12 – Chapters 11 -14
In addition to participating in the Facebook discussion, we encourage participants to create one post per week (video, audio recording, written post, visual, or anything else) in their own space to share their learning back to the Facebook group. For me, my blog is a great space to create this learning as it allows for multiple ways to embed different mediums, but you might also be able to create this on a Twitter, Instagram account, or other sites. The focus is that we want this experience to be one where we create a community but also dive deeper into our own reflective process to deepen learning while modeling different mediums.
Although Katie and I will be keeping to a schedule of when we share, we want all participants to go at a pace that works for them. We know that every single month in the school year is extremely busy and we appreciate people taking the time to join. This is your experience so you make it what you want!
We look forward to working through this process! It is my first time using Facebook for a book study so hopefully, it is a good experience for all! Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in the book study!
The answer to creating innovative teaching and learning opportunities lies within you.
Every educator faces constraints—from budget restrictions to predetermined curriculum to “one-size-fits-all” mandatory assessments. The question is, how can you, as a teacher or administrator, ensure that regulations and limitations don’t impede authentic learning?
In Innovate Inside the Box,George Couros and Katie Novak provide informed insight on creating purposeful learning opportunities for all students. By combining the power of the Innovator’s Mindset and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), they empower educators to create opportunities that will benefit every learner. Couros and Novak show you how to . . .
Leverage the Core of Innovative Teaching and Learning with a focus on developing meaningful relationships.
Develop the 8 Characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset in your students—and yourself.
Use UDL to proactively design learning experiences that foster voice and choice while addressing barriers that impede learning.
Create learner-driven, evidence-informed learning experiences that provide all students with options and choices to maximize success.
“No one articulates a more compelling, a more urgent, or a more motivating vision of education—for both teachers and their students—than George Couros. No one articulates how that vision can be reached—for every student and teacher—more daringly, more practically, and more inclusively, than Katie Novak. Having them together in one book not only helps us reimagine the goals and practices of education, it reminds us of why we ever wanted to be teachers at all.”
—David Rose, PhD. CAST’s cofounder and chief education officer, emeritus
“An incredible book! Innovate Inside the Box speaks to educators who are the change agents in their sphere of influence.”
—Sarah Thomas, PhD, founder of EduMatch
“George and Katie’s combined talents as spectacular storytellers drive this book. You will feel like you are flying through it and then realize how deeply you are learning.”
—Loui Lord Nelson, PhD, author of Design and Deliver, and podcast host of UDL in 15 Minutes
Below is a post by IMPress author George Couros whose book will be available on amazon on August 14th, 2019! For now, you can check out his first book The Innovator’s Mindset.
Here’s a quick confession: I (John) used to hate the word “innovative.” See those quotation marks right there around the word? Those are actually air quotes that I would use whenever I used the term. “It’s a buzzword,” I would say. “It’s overused,” I would point out.
But the truth is, sometimes a word becomes trendy because it’s tapping into something we all agree is important. Is it misused? Sometimes. Is it overused? Often. But so are the words “love” and “awesome” and “friend,” but I have no intention of ditching any of those words. I think I reacted poorly to the word “innovation” because it had a certain overly glossy, high-tech connotation to it. It made me think of the EPCOT Center and of the Astrodome and of the Flowbee (a true innovation in haircutting that combined a hair trimmer and a vacuum). But that’s not innovation. That’s novelty. That’s disruption.
I have been discussing innovation for probably the past ten years, and I agree with John here, 100%. When people use the word “innovation” to describe something new (usually technology related) than it does become a buzzword. This happens a lot in education where a term becomes “trendy” and is used without thought of what it means, which in turn makes the word a buzzword. It is not saying that the word in itself is terrible, but it is in the way that it is used.
I’m defining innovation as a way of thinking that creates something new and better. Innovation can come from either “invention” (something totally new) or “iteration” (a change of something that already exists), but if it does not meet the idea of “new and better,” it is not innovative. That means that change for the sake of change is never good enough.
The “better” part of the definition is the most crucial. The word “better” is vital when it comes to traditional practice or innovative practice. Some traditional methods work better for our students in learning, and that is crucial to understand. If we gravitate toward the “new” only because it is trendy and lose our students along the way, it is not innovation; it is bad practice.
But what constitutes ‘better’? How do I know when a new way is a better way? For me, better is equivalent to students learning more. Whatever the ‘better’ is assists my students with learning/remembering/retaining more information in a more efficient and/or effective manner. What does ‘better’ mean to you? I think this is a vitally important question to consider and I’m not sure all educators sincerely know what their ‘better’ is.
The question I have bolded is essential, not only for individuals but as schools and organizations. What does “better” actually mean? If you are looking for an answer from me, I won’t give it to you directly. Here is why; what is often measured as “better” in schools is all about higher scores. But understand, this doesn’t mean it is better learning. For example, a lot of studies that discuss “effective practice” totally correlate it to test scores, but in your experience as an educator, have you ever seen students that could ace a test but not truly understand the content? I will admit that I have taught that way in my career because the sole measure of my effectiveness what was if kids did well on a test. We promote the importance of scores in education, yet many organizations that scores are not an accurate indicator of someone’s ability. I am not against students doing well on standardized exams, but I also know that some of our smartest kids in our schools are weak academically. There is more to learning and understanding than we could ever possibly measure on a standardized test.
We also need to understand that people other than the students often define the “better” for our kids. This is why I have often discussed the importance of having students define what “success” looks like for them. Do we genuinely become as passionate or resilient in achieving goals that are solely set by others? I struggle with the thought that sometimes the “scores” are placed at the forefront because it is an easier way to show the success of the adults than it is to show the success of our students.
I believe that as a school if we are talking about “best practices” or “innovation,” or anything else, we have to figure out what “better” means for our students, and from our community. How we assess this “better” will drive practice, not the other way around.
