One hundred and twenty-six sessions were offered over a course of three days. I chose ten sessions hoping to push my thinking. I attended several sessions with topics focused on how to ensure we have high-quality educators in every classroom in our buildings. Each of these sessions reminded leaders about the power of positivity, accountability, and transparency.
I actually think of myself as a positive person who believes it’s important to see the silver lining. Hearing presenters such as @christinacole03, @TechNinjaTodd, and @Teach_aLa_Carte talk about how accentuating the positive is actually necessary to build strong school team…well, it just made me smile. I know that positive ideas drown out the negative and try walk that talk daily. It was suggested that we talk about the problems, but must focus on the solutions. Small problems stay small when we focus on quickly addressing and working together to find solutions. When educators make time to put their heads together, amazing things happen for all learners!
Ms. Christina Cole shared that educators can take accountability to the next level by helping their students set their own learning goals. We must find ways to propel student’s learning forward by focusing on what goals they have for themselves! I’ll be serving 3rd – 5th graders as a lead learner at Bethke Elementary in the fall. I want to help our educators improve learning for our students by helping our learners build their own learning goals for the 2016-2017 school year. Let’s do this! It was stated that part of accountability is finding ways to involve the community in the process. We want our schools to be known as places where all community members are welcomed on a daily basis. Mr. Todd Nesloney not only invites the business leaders into his school weeks prior to the opening of school with a Business Open House, but he also shared how the educators in their school take the school to students’ homes with a hot dog event! I am determined to chat with the Bethke educators on finding a way to make this happen in our learning community.
Ms. Frances Gonzalez shared ideas on ways schools can invite teachers to be viewed as change agents by encouraging groups to have open and honest talk – Think Tanks. Our educators need to be positioned with other learners to grow in their thoughts. Networking inside and outside of our four walls is not only helpful, but it is crucial to the development of our teams. I will make sure I’m a leader who works side-by-side with all educators in our building and I want to make sure I am a person who is learning from educators outside of Bethke community, too. I believe that all learners need to view their leader as someone who talks about his/her own successes and failures. I want to be an educator who is trying things and growing from those experiences.
