Five things I think it’s time to make the trade for in education… we don’t have control over what others do, but we can control what we do. So how about we make some trade ins?
1.) More trying to be a better version of yourself than trying to be better than others. We work together and we become better FOR each other, not better than each other. Teaching is not a competition, it’s a collaboration.
2.) More paintbrushes, glue, soldering, LED lights, construction paper, markers, duct tape, apps, tools, devices, blank paper and less number 2 pencils and test booklets. When kids make, play, explore they connect with the world. When kids fill in test booklets, they consume stuff.
3.) More open ended questions, less us telling them what they are going to know. Knowing stuff is great, but DOING SOMETHING with the stuff we know is super awesome. When we spend our time telling kids exactly what they are going to know and fail to give them the time for self-discovery and authentic connections, their “knowing stuff” is meaningless.
4.) More authenticity, less standardization. We need to guide our classrooms with passion, let kids learning come from authentic experiences, and we need to embrace that kids doing different things to reach the same goal is okay.. because kids are all, well, different.
5.) We need to stop complaining about things we cannot change, and start re-embracing our passion by connecting with each other. I’m guilty of it. I’ve made MORE than my fair share of complaints about standardized testing. But no more. What CAN we change, right now, in front of us? We can help each other. Connect. Embrace. Love learning. Right now.
And these thoughts are what I go to sleep with at night and wake up with on a rainy Saturday morning. Education matters. I just hope that years from now, when I walk out of a school for the last time, I will know, in the deepest part of my heart, that I have done everything I can to improve education. Because at the end of the day, it is THAT which will change education. Be our best, for each other. Inspire. Grow. Never stop learning. Because self-improvement will guide us toward system-improvement.
And each moment is an opportunity to make a difference.
