“Change is an Opportunity to do Something Amazing!”
The above quote is from George Couros. And the quote could not have landed in my lap at a better time. You see, we just wrapped up an all day inservice, which was supposed to inspire our district elementary teachers to stretch beyond the confines of traditional teaching. We provided the why by watching a clip from the film: Most Likely to Succeed. We helped them zoom out of the specifics of the standards and help them identify the overarching concepts. Our main goal was to encourage teachers to step out of the silos: math, reading, science, writing, and social studies. Some teachers were excited to be given the green light, as they have been dabbling with innovative teaching. Others were resistant and felt this was just another swing on the pendulum. This weekend I have been wrestling over how to get everyone on the bus.
“Compliance does not foster innovation,” is another quote found in George’s book The Innovator’s Mindset. Unfortunately, just like our students, teachers have found compliance is the easy road. Just tell me exactly what to do and how to do it and everything will be okay. But that’s the problem we shouldn’t want everything to just be okay.
We should strive to make learning exciting!
We should create environments that cause students to thirst for school.
We should provide opportunities for students to feel empowered.
We should desire to prepare students for their future.
Right?
“If we want innovative students, we need innovative teachers!” Teachers break out of your compliant habits! Take risks! Connect with teachers beyond the four walls of your community!
You may fail, but use it as an opportunity to fail forward and you will do something amazing!
