Empowering Educators, it's About Time...

How do we empower educators? How do we empower educators to have meaningful impacts with students and on learning? Give them time...

Time to:

• Try new approaches
• Build relationships
• Be responsive 
  
• Collaborate
• Innovative 
• Evaluate 
• Reflect
• Model 
• Learn
• Grow

Too often in education we are caught looking to the latest tool for answers. Be it a new app, device, set of resources, assessment tool, or even the latest buzzword, in education we love new...  Don’t get me wrong, as an educator I love investigating how the tools that are are available to us today, and believe me, there are many, can help us meet students needs in ways we never could before.

Opening session for the day

The ability to locate, use, implement and observe the impact of any number of educational tools available to educators today is nothing short of amazing. At no point in our history have so many options been available to so many educators, so easily, and at one time… and the number of these new tools is only going to continue to expand. With all of these new tools, one of the most amazing and impactful educational resources available to us today are the educators who use these tools, along with their ability to positively impact student outcomes when they have time to collaborate. This thought is supported by the research of John Hattie, who found that through collective teacher efficacy (CTE), the shared belief that through their collective [and collaborative] action, that educators can positively influence student outcomes. This includes those students who are disengaged and/or disadvantaged. With an effect size of 1.57, CTE is ranked as one of the top two factors for influencing student achievement (Hattie, 2016).

So, how do we harness this amazing power to impact the students we work with in purposeful and meaningful ways?

Time…

Our educators need time... Meaningful time... Purposeful time…

Time to complete the task of collaboratively planning for ways to meet students where they are at, and then to move them forward based on their unique and individual needs.

This past week I was able to plan a day of professional learning and work with some amazing educators while at the same time observing the

Staff gathering for the day

amazing power and impact of providing professional educators time to do just this. Time via a day of professional learning and collaboration inspired by EdCamps. This approach provided not only time, but choice, and personalization for the educators. As an educator who coordinates professional development activities for a district serving just over 3300 students, finding ways to make professional development responsive to staff needs within a campus of seven buildings is an exciting challenge. 

Unlike a traditional EdCamp (When sessions are proposed and scheduled the day of the event) our EdCamp “Style” event had a session board built ahead of the day by the educators scheduled to be in attendance. Very much like a traditional EdCamp, the sessions for the day were proposed, delivered, facilitated, and presented by those in attendance.

Also like a traditional EdCamp, staff self-selected the sessions they attended based on their own individual needs. This approach to professional learning for our K-12 staff saw educators from all grade levels learning alongside each other in session facilitated by their peers. The staff (Teachers, Paraprofessionals, and Administrators) shared ideas, discussed new and innovative approaches, reflected on student learning, identified next steps related to classroom learning, instructional planning, responsive instruction, and student collaboration. The educators present took time to identify ways to be more supportive, aware, and inclusive of individuals with varied backgrounds. They spent time to discuss student transitions, student mental health, and school safety… The list goes on and on and on. So much was included and covered by our staff in the day, that it still amazes me that it was only one day.

The fact of the matter is this… When we empower educators with time, time that is meaningful,  time that is purposeful, time that is intended for them to grow as professionals, time that is theirs, empowered educators will do amazing things every time!

Building Relationships, It's About Time, Sharing Time…

Building Relationships, It's About Time. Sharing Time…

What does it take to build a positive relationship? From my point of view, it’s about time, sharing time....

There is no substitute for how sharing time with others builds relationships. Sharing time, is the cornerstone of any positive relationship. Once established, there are few limits to what positive relationships can accomplish, personally and professionally. Even when we may not agree, if positive relationships have been established, we can work together for the benefit of all. Sharing of time

however is not be confused with the act of merely spending time with others. By definition these two approaches mean very different things. In my observation, sharing time is more... As the definition of sharing [time] (verb) states, sharing is: to divide, apportion, or receive equally, whereas spending [time] (verb) is: to pay out, disburse, or expend; dispose of. Apply this to the act of sharing time while building relationships, and it is no wonder how when we share time with others, the relationships we establish can improve us all, and lead to the accomplishment of many things. In comparison to this, the act of spending time, with someone could be viewed as an act that comes at the expense of something else, rather than an investment in each other.

In education today, much of our focus is on outcome, and it should be. This is however not to say we should only be focusing on one outcome at a time. We should, and need to be focusing on multiple outcomes, and at times, changing outcomes, and ones that pose major challenges to accomplish. Be it academic, social emotional needs, equity, mental health, overall wellness, sustainability of efforts, programmatic improvements, pedagogical best practices, innovation, and funding stability. There truly are no shortages when it comes to outcomes that need our attention. With so many areas of need to be focused upon, it is easy to become overwhelmed by it all. This is why positive relationships are so important.  Once established, our positive relationships, built on shared time, allow for the accomplishment of amazing things! Ask any teacher, or as an educator, ask yourself: “Is it easier to accomplish the instructional goals and objectives that are facing us at the start of the year, or is it more “manageable” once strong relationships have been built? Now reflect on the positive relationships we have, not just the ones with students, but the ones with parents, with colleagues, with educational leaders, with our communities. How did we establish them? Did we establish them by chance, by simply spending time with someone, or did we build them by sharing time with these individuals?

Positive relationships, when shared with others, allows us accomplish many things… Amazing things… Are we choosing to spend time with people, or are we taking the intentional steps to share our time with others? To build these powerful relationships with others, relationships that will lead to the change, to the growth, to the outcomes, and the overall success we are seeking for our students, ourselves, our schools, our community, and our world, takes time, shared time...