The Master Teacher Blog

It is not difficult to find someone willing to give advice. In fact, on most faculties there are people willing to provide seemingly endless advice, often without even being asked. Of course, not all the advice we receive is likely to be of high quality or may apply to our needs and reality.

Our challenge is to figure out what advice might be useful to us and decide what we should ignore. Sometimes the advice we receive is obviously not useful or relevant. At other times, the advice we receive may at first seem worthy, only to discover later that it falls short of what we need. Fortunately, there are some indicators we can heed to help us discern the advice we should consider and follow, and what we should reject or ignore. Here are six signs that the advice we receive may fall short and should be viewed with skepticism. 

The advice is simplistic or absolute.

Example: Students do not have to like you. They just need to respect you.

Certainly, respect is an important element of a positive, productive classroom climate, but respect rarely occurs in isolation. Fortunately, we do not have to choose between having positive relationships and the enjoying respect. The truth is that the most learning occurs, students behave their best, and we feel the greatest satisfaction when students like us AND a high level of respect is present. We can achieve both.

The advice is unrealistic.

Example: Treat every student the same.

This advice may initially sound as though it makes sense, until we consider the unique interests, needs, talents, and learning challenges that students bring with them. What will work best for and meet the needs of some students likely will fail with other students. Our knowledge of and relationships with students can help us to decide what they need, how to guide them, and how best to design learning experiences for them. Typically, advice that includes: “always,” “never,” and “every” is worth examining before following it.    

The advice is outdated.

Example: Memorization and drill are the best ways to ensure student learning.

While there remains a role for memorization and drill can build “muscle memory,” most of what students learn today will require that they understand and can apply what they learn. Learning experiences that build deeper insight, provide thinking tools, and stimulate ideas and connections will carry more lasting value for learners. Actively engaging students in analyzing, synthesizing, and applying what they learn can extend learning retention and make it more operationally accessible for students in the future.

The advice ignores your context.

Example: The most important thing is to cover the curriculum.

To a reasonable extent, we need to engage students with the most important elements of the curriculum. However, curriculum coverage is not what matters most. If students are exposed to information and skills, but do not learn and master them, we will have accomplished little. There are times when we need to slow down and focus on learning, even if it means that we will not be able to address every aspect of the formal curriculum. Of course, when this is the case, we may need to alert colleagues who will be working with our students to ensure that essential concepts and content are addressed in future learning.

The advice conflicts with your core values.

Example: "Focus your efforts on students who have or are close to meeting standards and don’t bother with the rest."

This advice might come as major assessments or accountability measures approach. While the advice might make the data look better, it risks sacrificing the needs and success of students who need our support the most. Unfortunately, following this advice means that we will abandon some students and ignore their needs. All students deserve our instruction, coaching, and support, regardless of where they are in relationship to generating high test scores and meeting learning standards.

The advice ignores your experience, knowledge, insight, and expertise.

Example: If a research study shows that a practice is effective, you should immediately adopt it with your class.

Being aware of current research is important, but many factors can determine whether it can be applied effectively in our context. The age and profile of students involved in studies matter. The conditions under which studies are conducted matter. Replicability of studies matter. Before blindly accepting and applying new research, we need to check its viability and likely applicability in our context, while considering our experience and expertise. 

Good advice can be amazingly helpful, especially in areas where we lack experience. However, not all advice is equal or worth heeding. Consider these six signs the next time you hear advice that leads you to question its value.

We want students to be recognized and reinforced when they do a good job. We want them to feel good about what they have accomplished. We also want them to be motivated to replicate their success with future challenges and in other circumstances. Achieving this goal requires more than general praise and positive words. 

Students need to feel they own their successes. They must see their accomplishments as more than luck or good fortune. The more students understand how their actions led to their success, the better able they will be able to apply effective strategies and the more confidence they likely will have when approaching new challenges.

Consequently, the words and approaches we select must convey a multi-level message beyond, “Good job.” What we choose to say needs to reveal key elements that are within the student’s control and offer enough clarity and specificity for them to reflect, learn, and act on what they hear.

Here are eight ways we can send the message that what the student did was good, how they can own their behavior, and how they can use what they have done to do even better in the future:

• Choose a context that is comfortable for the student. Some students thrive when their efforts and accomplishments are shared in front of an audience. Other students will feel embarrassed to have others witness our feedback and prefer to receive praise privately. Tailoring our approach to the student can make a significant difference in how they will respond and use what we offer.
• Focus on the student, not your feelings. After the student talks about what they did, how they feel, and what it means, we can follow-up with expressions of pride and delight. However, the focus needs to be on the student, not on how it makes us feel.
• Highlight what the student did, not their ability or talent. Effort, persistence, flexibility, creativity, and other behaviors are within the control of the student. They can be replicated and built on. Talent, ability, and giftedness may be nice to have, but students are likely to see them as inherent qualities over which they have little control and may not be present when facing the next task or challenge.
• Be specific. Point out the behavior or behaviors that led to the achievement. Highlighting strategies, persistence, and good use of resources helps students to know what they can do next time to achieve similar results.
• Be timely. Praise and other forms of feedback that make a difference need to be shared as soon after a student engages in a behavior, completes a task, overcomes a challenge, or achieves success. The longer we wait to share our observations, the less students will recall about what they did and the less likely our message will lead to repetition of the behavior.
• Point out evidence of progress. Noting signs of emerging skills, improving habits, and better processes can give students information on areas they can reflect on and focus. Seeing evidence of progress also can be a powerful motivator to keep going.
• Link effort to outcome. Students do not always see how what they did led to the outcome they achieved. Our pointing out key connections and providing examples from their work can help students to see that they were responsible for what they achieved. The connection between effort and outcome can be a powerful motivator for future behavior.
• Connect performance to purpose. The connection might be to an established goal, benefit to the student or others, or the classroom environment. Understanding that their work matters and makes a difference can give students strong encouragement to do more.

Praise and other forms of positive feedback can be powerful motivators. However, students need to see how their behavior led to their improvement or success. They need to feel ownership for the outcomes they achieve. And they need to hear it from us.

What if, by investing a few minutes each day, you could significantly reduce disruptive behavior, increase student engagement, and reclaim up to an hour of instruction time? What if, by investing a few minutes each day, you could dramatically lengthen and strengthen the impact of the feedback and praise you give to students, and build exceptionally strong connections with them to best support their learning? Seems impossible, right? Maybe not.

The truth is that we can gain all these benefits and more by regularly engaging in five simple practices. These practices do not require an exceptional amount of time, but they can generate exceptional benefits. Let’s explore these student-focused behaviors and why they can be so powerful. 

Positive, personal greetings. Meeting students at the door, greeting them by name, and giving fist bumps or similar gestures may not seem like much. However, studies show that warm greetings and brief check-ins can have a significant impact on how the day will go. One study found that these simple acts can increase student engagement by as much as 20% and reduce disruptive behavior by 9%. The difference can add up to as much as a full hour of additional instruction time per day!

Positive, specific feedback, compliments, and praise. Noticing and talking with students about their excellent attitude, improved effort, and other positive behaviors lets them know that they are seen, valued, and belong. We can make our messages even more powerful and memorable if we extend our message for as little as 20 seconds. By telling students what we noticed, why it is important, and the difference it made, we dramatically increase the impact and memorability of what we say.

Personal connections. There is amazing power in sharing what we are passionate about, people we admire, challenges we’ve faced, embarrassing moments, and other personal information that helps students understand and connect with who we are. Having students see us as regular people who share some of their life experiences and have overcome what life has presented can be a powerful connector. Of course, we need to avoid oversharing or being too personal or intimate but having students feel as though the know us beyond our professional role opens the door to stronger relationships and can build greater credibility. Sharing a few facts, stories, or interests every week can go a long way in building the connections we need to influence the students we teach. 

Individual conversations. Brief one-one-one conversations with students about how they are doing inside and outside of school also can open communication and build connections. The information we gain can help us to better understand, support, and motivate students. Meanwhile, students will appreciate the attention and interest we show. Setting aside time for conversations with a few students each week and rotating among students can make the conversations manageable while generating rich information that can help us to relate to and teach students.  

Invite input and listen to students. Students feel our trust and respect when we take the time to ask their opinions, seek their ideas, and listen to their perspectives. We might ask for their suggestions regarding class routines and rules. We can occasionally pause and seek input regarding what is and isn’t working for students. Depending on the age and maturity of our students, we might inquire about their preferences for how to approach a learning task. We may not always be able to accommodate and implement what students suggest, but when we listen, consider, and explain why we can or cannot use their input we demonstrate our respect for them and their perspectives.

Obviously, time is a precious resource. We want to use every minute to our advantage. The good news about these five practices is that by investing a few minutes every day and week, we can recapture time and accrue benefits that far outweigh the effort they require.

One of the most important and challenging beginning-of-the-year tasks is forming strong, positive, influential relationships with students. Building relationships with some students comes easily. We may have past experiences with them, they may be confident and ready to form a relationship with us, or they may share characteristics and behave in ways that draw us to them.

However, our challenge is to form influential relationships with all students. Not every student is immediately open to forming a relationship. Some students may lack the confidence or skills to respond to or reach out to us. Other students may have a history that makes relationship building difficult.

Consequently, we need a strategy that is broad and encompassing enough to invite, interest, and accept students, despite their backgrounds, experiences, and skills. Here are seven relationship-building “hooks” we can employ to communicate our care, demonstrate our respect, and create new connections.

First, lead with your heart. Students want to know we care. Caring counts for all students, but for students who struggle, have or are experiencing trauma, lack confidence, or are not certain they belong, our caring can make a crucial difference in how they feel and learn. Our empathy and compassion reassure and invite connections with students.

Second, demonstrate and expect honesty. If we want students to trust us, we need to articulate and model its importance. Our willingness to prioritize fairness, consistency, and transparency can assure students of our trustworthiness. Further, when we assume the honesty of students, we communicate our trust in them. Obviously, trust is at the heart of strong relationships.    

Third, consistently communicate and encourage hope. Students want to feel our belief in them and their success. We can treat their mistakes and setbacks as nothing more that temporary conditions and opportunities to learn and try again. Of course, our hope and confidence are most important when students do not feel the same way about themselves.   

Fourth, show your humanity. Sometimes students are surprised that teachers are real people who have lives outside of school. By sharing appropriate information about ourselves and our families, we invite students to understand and relate to us. Knowing our interests, our passions, and even our dislikes can be interesting and appealing to students. When we use personal experiences and examples to explain a concept or reinforce a point, we also make it more meaningful and memorable.  

Fifth, demonstrate humility. We are not­­­­­—nor should we pretend to be—perfect. Students often assume that teachers “know everything.” Consequently, our openness and willingness to admit our mistakes and learn from them can be surprising and reassuring. Our humility also makes us human and can facilitate relationship building.

Sixth, enjoy and share humor. Humor is a strong connection builder. Humor can break tension, relieve stress, and make us accessible to students. Delighting in the unexpected, appreciating irony, and even telling a weak “dad joke” can help students see us as safe for relationship building. However, we need to be careful to avoid humor that is disrespectful or at the expense of another person.

Seventh, look for ways to honor students. When we notice and value the experiences and cultures of our students, we send a message of respect. Recognizing and reinforcing positive behavior not only reduces incidents of negative behavior, but it also reassures students that we are paying attention and appreciate their cooperation. Finding frequent, small ways to honor effort, progress, and achievements communicates our expectations and support. Students are drawn to people who notice, value, and respect them.

Relationship building is important, but it is not always easy. We need good strategies and patience. These seven “hooks” can support a good start. What else have you found to be effective relationship building actions? Consider sharing your go-to secrets with your colleagues.   

In the coming weeks we will be meeting new groups of students. They will be making assumptions about us that will influence their behavior. We, too, may make assumptions about the students we meet that will influence how we perceive and engage with them.

While impressions and assumptions can create short-cuts for our thinking and decisions, they also can undermine our efforts to engineer a good start to the year and derail our attempts to form productive relationships with students. While quick judgments can feel efficient, they can mislead us in ways that threaten our effectiveness and make the success we seek more difficult to achieve. Consider these five potential missteps that can make our work more challenging and our students less successful.

Misstep #1: Assuming students have the skills and background knowledge presumed by the curriculum. It may be that the students we face in the fall did not complete last year’s curriculum or develop the skills necessary to succeed with this year’s curriculum. Or, they may have lost some of last year’s learning over the summer and need review and reteaching. We gain little by plowing ahead as though students are ready for learning challenges based on faulty assumptions. By setting aside time in the first weeks for some low-stakes assessments and diagnostics, we can gauge background knowledge and skill readiness. Time spent now preparing students for the learning that lies ahead can generate lasting benefits as the year unfolds.

Misstep #2: Presuming language skills reflect intelligence. The poor grammar we hear may reflect an absence of exposure and support. A student’s dialect may be more reflective of how family and friends speak than the capability of the student. Accents are more reflective of culture and language acquisition than learning potential. Meanwhile, students who seem well spoken may struggle with some content and skills and need more time and support to find success. Our challenge is to look past how students speak and commit to helping them learn and succeed regardless of their background and current language skills.

Misstep #3: Overinterpreting the absence of active engagement. The absence of student contributions, questions, or other interactions can be the result of many factors. Culture, natural shyness, and fear of mistakes can influence the choices students make about visible learning engagement. Some students need to feel comfortable and safe with us before they choose to engage. Other students may need more time to think and may seek ways to avoid the risk of public exposure. Still other students may need to see more purpose and relevance in what they are asked to learn before they are willing to invest. Taking time to get to know students and explore the causes of their behavior can help us to understand and respond in supportive and effective ways.

Misstep #4: Confusing students with their behavior. It is important to distinguish between our perceptions of students and their behavior. Character and behavior are not the same. A student who misbehaves or is not meeting expectations is not a bad person. Rather, their behavior may not be serving them well. We can accept and support the student while rejecting their behavior. We also need to keep in mind that our assumptions, expectations, and support can have a powerful influence on how students behave and whether they achieve.

Misstep #5: Allowing the behavior of siblings or past reputations to influence our expectations. Many of us have had the unfortunate experience of being confused with or assumed to be the same as our siblings. It may be that older brothers or sisters were exceptionally strong students, or they may have not established a behavior record worthy of emulation. Regardless, such expectations are unfair and can lead to unrealistic or undeserved expectations. Similarly, students who have struggled in the past with other teachers may not necessarily struggle with us. They may find success if given an opportunity for a new start. Meanwhile, students who have excelled in the past may find learning in our classroom more of a challenge. We can avoid this danger by offering students a “clean slate” and building a relationship with them based on shared experiences.  

Without question, the first weeks of school will be filled with new experiences, new students, and new challenges. These are aspects of teaching that make it an exciting, self-renewing career. However, we need to guard against making assumptions that do not serve us and our students well, and that can derail our efforts to successfully launch the new year.

As human beings, we often internalize how we are treated, and our students are no exception. While the intensity with which students seek evidence and reassurance of our relationship with them may vary, all students want to know that they matter to us, that we are attentive to their needs, and that we want them to succeed. Even students who may seem to resist our influence and reject our guidance want to be connected and included. These students may be carrying negative past experiences that make it more difficult to make connections and gain trust with adults in their life. It is crucial to not give up on making these connections and continue attempting to forge a relationship with these students, even when it doesn’t seem possible.

It is also true that much of what we communicate to students about our feelings toward and perceptions of them are not scripted and often are not even consciously demonstrated. Yet, students watch, feel, analyze, and interpret our words and actions to discern where they can find reassurance, protection, and connectedness. Let’s examine eight ways that we communicate to students what they mean to us, what we think about them, and what our actions and intentions say to them:

• Noticing. A greeting at the school or classroom door, an authentic and personal smile, or fist bump can send an unmistakable message that students are noticed and they count. These seemingly small gestures can have an outsized impact on how students feel about us and about themselves.
• Respect. Regularly calling students by name, listening to what they have to say, sharing their victories and empathizing with their struggles tell students that they are worthy and have our respect. When students feel respected, they are more likely to show respect in return. 
• Safety. When we establish and consistently enforce reasonable rules, refuse to tolerate hurtful teasing and harassment, and otherwise attend to students’ physical and emotional safety, we free students to be themselves. We make it safe to participate and take learning risks. When we create an environment that students feel is safe, we set the stage for everything else we want to accomplish.
• Caring. While noticing is important, caring goes the next step to inquire, listen, and act.  A question or comment when students may not be feeling well or are having a bad day, offering to do something to help, and even stepping up to advocate for a student who needs adult support can create a significant, lifelong impression on a student who feels lost and helpless.
• Belonging. When we build a classroom community, encourage respect and inclusion, and step in when students are shunned and ignored. It is important to assure students that they are welcomed and belong. Students who may lack social skills, come from backgrounds from other students, and otherwise may struggle to fit in can be especially aware to whether they have a place and feel connected to the class. These students often appreciate our attention and actions more than we know.
• Confidence. “I know you can do it”, “I have seen you find your way through difficult challenges before”, and “I believe in you” are all powerful statements when students hear them from us. Feeling our confidence can make the difference between giving up and persisting in the face of difficult learning or life challenge for students. Students do not always believe in themselves. Our confidence may be exactly what they need to feel to find their way through.
• Positive presumptions. Assuming that students are well-intended, trying to do the right thing, or simply made a poor choice when they made a mistake or behave inappropriately can send a powerful message about what we think of them and the behavior we expect from them. Giving students “the benefit of the doubt” reassures students that we view them as more likely to act positively than engage in mischief. Assuming that students are trying to meet our expectations encourages positive behavior. Assuming that students are purposely misbehaving risks encouraging them to validate our negative assumptions.
• Forgiveness. When we give students a fresh start after a bad day and avoid rehashing yesterday’s conflict or reminding students of past disappointments, we signal to students that we are focused on what today will bring. They do not have to fear retribution or uncomfortable reminders from the past. We free students to face forward and do their best without being hampered by guilt and regret.

Taken together, these eight connecting and confidence building behaviors can have a powerful impact on how our students feel and behave. However, this is not necessarily an all-inclusive list. What behaviors would you add to reassure and connect with students?

When we experience positive energy emanating from others, we tend to feel happier, safer, and more relaxed. On the other hand, when we sense negative energy, we often become tense, depressed, deflated, and less secure. We are remarkably sensitive to the energy vibes we pick up from around us, and others are susceptible to ours. The influence does not always even require words; we can feel it in the atmosphere.

The energy we project and perceive in others is more than an abstract idea. It is a real, experienceable force. It is also infectious. It influences our interactions with others and their interactions with us. Energy is a source for forming relationships and it is an influence we can tap into, whether you are an administrator working with teachers and other staff, or as a teacher working with students.

Occasionally, we encounter what might be considered “energy vampires." They consistently project gloom, doom, negativity, and cynicism. They sap our energy and challenge our optimism. The key is to recognize who may be sapping our energy, leaving us depressed, and feeling pessimistic. To the extent we can, these are people to avoid or spend as little time with as practical. They are free to choose negative energy as their vibe, but we can choose not to be infected.

Of course, at times we can all feel negative. Events, experiences, and even our current mood can leave us feeling energy depleted, but it is important not to stay there. We have the power and responsibility to manage the energy we carry with us and project to others.

Beyond the role of energy in our personal and collegial relationships, it also plays an instrumental role in our effectiveness with the staff we supervise and the students we teach. Let’s examine seven connections via which our energy is communicated and influences our work with staff and students.

Inspiration. Enthusiasm matters. Students respond to teachers who are passionate and truly care about their teaching. In conjunction, teachers can sense the passion and commitment of their leadership team. This energy feeds creativity, stimulates curiosity, and stirs passion. The result often is the emergence of new possibilities and the inspiration to pursue them.

Responsiveness. Staff and students are quick to pick up on supportive, interest-infused attitudes. Our open-mindedness, desire to understand, readiness to encourage, and shared confidence communicates the respect and support they need to add fuel to their energy and reinforce their commitment.

Authenticity. Others notice when we are comfortable in our skin. When we signal that we are not perfect or all knowing, we become more human and approachable. Our willingness to share our experiences and value humor also makes us more relatable. Our authenticity draws others to us; it is reassuring and trust evoking. When we model authenticity, we also make it safe for staff and students to let go of their expectations to appear to be perfect and never make mistakes.

Empathy. Caring is a powerful source and transmitter of energy. Trust thrives in accepting, nurturing, and supportive environments. Students feel safe to express their thoughts and feelings, and staff feel respected and valued. As a result, their confidence and commitment grow.

Adaptability. We demonstrate positive energy when we look for the upside of situations without being naïve or overly optimistic. Our flexibility in the face of barriers and setbacks models resilience and agility. Our commitment to be proactive and ready to try something different communicates confidence and optimism; two energizing habits.

Consistency. Clear expectations and structure can give staff and students reassurance and reduce the energy they must spend trying to discern what is expected of them. Consistency also generates a sense of calm and predictability, a key element in sustaining energy for engagement and resilience.

Of course, there are times when we, too, want to find energy to be inspired and need to feel reassured. We may seek security and authenticity on which we can depend. The same connections and influences we often share with others can be sources of energy we can tap into to fill our needs.

Conversations about bias are not new, but there has been a more recent trend addressing the implicit biases that we develop naturally through the experiences we have, the experiences we don’t have, how we interpret our experiences, and what we learn from others. Biases influence what we believe about people and what happens to and around us. They influence our expectations, interpretations, and interactions with others, including our students.

Biases are invisible yet omnipresent. They subtly and persistently influence how we see and engage with our students, and as an extension, they can shape how our students experience learning in our classrooms. Our biases can influence our students’ emotional state and psychological development, and they can hold the potential to undermine our efforts and our students’ learning. Let’s explore five of the most common biases that haunt our classrooms and how we can counter them.

Expectancy bias. Also known as the Pygmalion Effect, this bias allows our perceptions of students’ potential to drive what we expect, how we support, and how we evaluate the work and behavior of students. Multiple research studies have shown this bias to have a significant effect on how well students learn and perform. This may be good news for students whom we perceive to be talented, but it is very bad news for students we perceive as having low potential. Expectancy bias can also influence student behavior. Students whom we perceive as well behaved can more easily be given extra chances and the benefit of the doubt, while students perceived as mischievous, sneaky, or otherwise prone to misbehavior are often blamed and punished more frequently and harshly.

How to counter: We can avoid expectancy bias by having high expectations for all students and not allowing past performance to shape our beliefs about their future potential. We might commit to supporting all students to build their potential. We can also focus on individual student progress rather than comparing the performance of some students to others.

Gender bias. This bias involves different perceptions about female and male students. As examples, girls are assumed to share characteristics such as being more likely to demonstrate good behavior and skills in reading and writing but not being as likely to demonstrate strong skills in math and science. Boys are seen as more prone to mischief and leadership roles and not as strong in communication and relationships. While there may be some natural gender-related tendencies present, girls and boys share more characteristics than not. Girls commonly demonstrate strengths and interests often attributed to boys, and boys often excel in areas that are perceived to favor girls.

How to counter: We can start by being conscious of the language we use, the assumptions we make, and the behaviors we practice that reinforce gender labels. We might make it a point to balance opportunities for participation, responsibilities, and leadership. Further, we can encourage and support students—regardless of gender—to enroll and excel in a wide variety of academic and career-related subjects.

Stereotype bias. Socioeconomic status, ethnic background, race, and other factors can play a role in how we see and interact with our students. We may hold lower expectations for these students’ learning and expose them to less rigorous curricular content. We may make negative assumptions about their likely behavior and commitment to learning. We may even press them less to perform than we do for other students.

How to counter: We can regularly check ourselves and our beliefs to be certain that we are not expecting or supporting these students’ learning less than that of our other students. We can focus on each student as an individual, value their strengths, and support their growth. We also need to review instructional materials and resources to avoid reinforcing stereotypes and to ensure positive models for learning.

Affinity bias. We sometimes encounter students with whom we feel a stronger than usual sense of connection. We may share similar personalities, backgrounds, interests, or even certain life challenges. Even without consciously deciding to do so, we can give these students more attention, encouragement, support, and positive feedback than other students. While the students who experience our affinity may benefit, other students often pick up on what they see as favoritism. As a result, they can feel unseen, ignored, or even disliked, and those can lead to feelings of resentment; meanwhile, the student who is the object of our affinity can experience separation, teasing, and jealousy from classmates.

How to counter: Being aware of our feelings and the consequence of showing favoritism is a good start. We might also be careful to provide equitable feedback and attention to all students. We could even go as far as collecting data on our interactions to ensure an equitable distribution exists among all students.

Confirmation bias. When we have a preferred approach or have done something in a certain way for some time, we can assume that it is the best way to do it, even when there is evidence that other approaches work better, at least in some circumstances. Equally challenging, when trying alternative approaches and strategies, we can find ourselves paying closest attention to information that supports what we expect rather than objectively evaluating evidence. Confirmation bias can leave us clinging to practices that are not effective or that are not as effective as other options and approaches.

How to counter: Commit to having current practices prove themselves. Start with an expectation that a different approach might be better, and collect evidence in an attempt to prove it. Allow the evidence, rather than pre-existing beliefs, to determine the outcome. However, be certain to practice the alternative approach long enough to become proficient before making a judgment.

Biases can be destructive, but they are not inevitable—and we are not helpless to them. We can educate and equip ourselves to understand and overcome their presence and their impact. Our commitment to our students can be the motivating force.

Sweet, sweet summertime! For some educators, summer break is a time to do just that—take a break. Others do not have that luxury. And for many, summer is a time for both leisure and continued work, work that may or may not be related to education. These next few months will almost certainly seem to fly by; how we spend them remains to be seen, but if we are lucky, we will have time to rest and time to learn and grow.

Summer does not always mean that we have the time and opportunity to take a course or that we can set aside the time we do have to attend a conference. When possible, these are certainly great sources for learning; they can be excellent for networking, re-energizing our passion for education, and providing professional growth experiences. However, courses and conferences are not the only ways to gain new skills and elevate our practice.

When our summer is too full, too hectic, or too unmanageable to engage in formal learning—or if we just don’t want to go that route—we have an array of other options from which we can choose. These options can flex to accommodate our schedule, and they can allow us to focus on what we want to learn, when and where we want to learn it. Let’s explore six informal, but promising, ways to feed a summertime desire to learn.

Consider setting aside time to meet with a colleague (or colleagues) whose practice you admire. Often, colleagues who have an existing relationship with us and who share common experiences can provide highly useful tips, techniques, and ideas we can adopt or adapt for use with our students. Our relationship can also make it safe to ask questions that we might be reluctant to ask in other settings. Equally beneficial, we can share effective strategies and approaches from our practice that our colleagues may find beneficial in their work with their students.

You might join an educator group on social media. Like the first option, engaging with other educators in an informal setting can make it more comfortable to ask for advice, ideas, and suggestions that we can add to our repertoire of instructional, classroom management, and administrative strategies. Learning from others who share similar experiences can also provide us with encouragement and reassurance. Social networking can offer opportunities to share ideas and insights about what works for us.

Set aside time to read books, journals, and blogs you did not have time to read during the year. There never seems to be enough time to read everything shared with us, especially during the school year. We might have a stack of journals that were set aside for later reading. We might have heard from colleagues and others about books that they have found especially useful. Or we may follow blog sources that we have not had time to keep up with. Summer can offer the opportunity to return to these sources of information at a time when we can read, reflect, and plan.

Listen to professionally-focused audio and video podcasts. Summer break can offer a wide array of options for listening and watching podcasts. Whether driving to and from summer destinations, relaxing between summer activities, or engaging in physical activities that leave room for your mind to wander, podcasts can be a good way to catch up on issues and trends of interest, explore new ideas and thinking, or encounter some new perspectives worth considering and trying out.

Do your own blogging or podcasting. Of course, we don’t necessarily have to just read or listen to the ideas and insights of others. We can capture and share our own thinking and practice with others. While we might not initially consider this approach for learning, in fact, reflecting on our own practice, explaining useful techniques, and sharing what we have experienced can be a great way to solidify what we have learned, understand a deeper level of what we know, and discover new ideas and even better ways to accomplish our work.

Engage in your own research. We may want to find our own path as we seek to learn a new technique, overcome a persistent barrier, or uncover something completely new. Beyond what we may learn through the usual channels, we might search websites and databases that specialize in new research, report on promising practices, or engage in deeper debate regarding educational issues. This approach can pair well with a summer school course we might be teaching or a course we are preparing to teach in the fall.

Summer can be a valuable time for learning and reflection, but we do not need to rely solely on formal options and opportunities. The fact is that we can create our own! When we take responsibility for our own learning and find ways that work for us, the results can be amazing.