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The Power of Noticing, Appreciating, and Supporting Each Other

Every time of the year brings its challenges. This month is no exception. We can feel nostalgia with the change of seasons. Shorter hours of daylight can signal our bodies that we need more sleep. Our energy and enthusiasm may ebb. Meanwhile, we continue to struggle to address our students’ learning needs. We may be dealing with behavior issues that accompanied students back to in-person school. We may also be facing more adult conflicts and troubling interactions than we recall from the past. Yet, there are actions we can take to counter these feelings and lift the spirits of our colleagues and staff. During times like these, we need to hear that what we do matters, that others understand what we are experiencing, and they want to support us. We need to get beyond glib sayings and meaningless phrases if we hope to have our words be heard and accepted and have an impact. Our messages will matter most if they include three crucial dimensions:

Attention: People want to know that we notice what they face, what they are doing, and how what they are contributing matters, especially to us.
Understanding: They want to know that we grasp how difficult, frustrating, and exhausting some tasks, responsibilities, and situations are, even if there are limits to what we can do immediately to lift the burden or resolve the situation.
Support: When we genuinely offer our support - whether tangible, emotional, or symbolic – we can lighten the load, make the work more worthwhile, and leave people feeling appreciated.

So, what might be some messages we can share that will make a difference? Here are five examples to consider and build on as your own:

I know that you are working hard right now. Is there something I can do to help?
I noticed how you worked through a difficult and challenging situation. I appreciate and admire the flexibility and creativity you demonstrated.
I have an idea about how to address a challenge we face, but I would appreciate your insights and advice before a decision is made.

I have noticed how your team seems to be pulling together despite the situation you face. Thank you for collaborating and continuing to search for the best answers.
I appreciate the insight and commitment you demonstrate in response to the student behavior incidents we have faced recently. Thank you for the sensitivity and wisdom you have shown.

There is no question that many of the challenges we face are enormous, longstanding, and systemic. However, we all do better when we notice, understand, and support each other. In fact, we may be surprised by the impact we can have when we commit to face our challenges together, work together, and search for solutions that will make a better future.

November 03, 2022

Five Reasons for Educators to Be Optimistic

Earlier this fall, Lexia Learning released the results of a study on attitudes and perceptions of educators regarding their optimism about or the likelihood of burnout in the year ahead. Not surprisingly, educators reported several significant future concerns. Yet, while more educators expressed fear of burnout, the percentage of teachers who alternatively reported optimism trailed close behind. Obviously, in the near term we’re flanked by concerns. We worry about resources available to serve all students, about time and effort needed to get students back on track with their learning, about the political climate in which we work, and other issues. However, when we step back from immediate issues and concerns, good reasons provide confidence for the education profession. First, a recent study by the Brookings Institution ranked educators as among the professions least likely to be replaced through automation. The rate of automated job replacement in the aftermath of the pandemic and the scarcity of workers are staggering. Researchers identified many tasks currently performed by teachers that can and likely will be automated. Yet, the study reinforced the crucial role of human interaction in support of learning. They noted that daily tasks and roles of teachers will likely become less administrative, while offering more time and opportunities to engage with and teach learners. Second and related, a recent study by McKinsey & Company estimated that 20-40% of the tasks performed by teachers, including some lesson preparation, grading, and general administrative tasks, could be automated using existing and developing technologies. The researchers estimated this automation could free up as much as thirteen hours per week for teachers to engage in other professional or personal activities. Of course, teachers often perform these necessary tasks outside school hours. The shift to automation poses a challenge, but with imagination, a willingness to risk, and commitment to succeed, it can happen. Meanwhile, researchers agreed with the Brookings Institution research team that educators’ key work of instructing, coaching, and guiding students will not likely see automation any time soon. Third, learning skills and the desire to learn are quickly becoming among the most prized skills and characteristics sought by employers. Our work to help students become skilled, motivated learners, who strive beyond following directions and responding to adult expectations, provides the best advantages we can offer. Equally important, as learning becomes a key advantage for workers and organizations, those who can build these skills and instill these attitudes in young people will likely enjoy new status and appreciation. Education may once again become a profession to which young people aspire and an option that caring adults will counsel young people to consider. Fourth, education still is a profession in which creativity is an everyday opportunity. Many jobs and work roles offer few or no opportunities for flexibility and creativity in response to real time conditions and challenges. Education, every day—often every hour—brings new challenges, insights, and conditions that invite our creativity and demand our flexibility. Of course, we can choose to ignore these opportunities, revert to prescribed practices, and fall back on traditional instructional models. Yet, new strategies we try, innovative approaches we learn, and creativity we employ fuel our success, satisfaction, and, often, our sanity. Fifth, even slight differences we make with learners can change their life trajectory. We engage with and nurture the learning of children and young people when their intellect, attitudes, and identity are still forming. At this point in their lives, a comment we make, a nudge we offer, or a sense of confidence we instill can be life changing. What we see as a small shift can be magnified decades later as new opportunities, new challenges, and new circumstances to shape the lives of today’s students in ways that can far exceed our imagination. If we doubt this fact, all we need to do is ask successful adults around us to describe key moments and influences that made a difference for them. Inevitably, we’ll hear stories of educators who believed in them, encouraged them, and pushed them to see and be more than they saw in themselves. Admittedly, this is a challenging time in education, but there are compelling reasons to be optimistic about our profession and our future. Equally important, we can choose to be a part of making real the future for which we hope.

October 28, 2022

Time for a Mid-Course Discipline Check-Up

Several weeks have passed since the beginning of the school year, with instructional processes in place, daily routines established, and behavior expectations communicated. It now makes sense to step back and assess how the year is going. An area on which we might focus is classroom discipline. Setting the stage for a smoothly operating classroom took up our first weeks. By now, that foundation should be supporting an environment with diminished behavioral issues. Occasional distractions and disruptions are expected and managed through periodic reminders. This is typical, but it may not be our experience this year. A unique mix of students may be creating unusual challenges. We may have taken some aspects of establishing expectations and creating a learning environment for granted, assuming students already know and will follow usual classroom norms. Even if the situation doesn’t seem to be out of control, our students and we might benefit from a mid-course check-up to identify areas that need attention. A good place to start is by reviewing the three elements of a classroom discipline system. If one element gets ignored, handled inconsistently, or mismanaged, expect student behavior issues. Like any system, all elements must be in place for smooth and efficient operation. The first and most crucial aspect of an effective discipline system is its foundation. This element includes creating expectations, establishing routines, making rules, and other processes. Typically established at the beginning of the year, the foundation provides guidance to help students understand and anticipate the behavior expected of them. Involving students in establishing classroom routines, rules, and expectations increases the likelihood they will be respected and followed. With a well-established foundation, the need for other types of discipline decreases as students become skilled at managing their behavior in acceptable ways. Time invested in preventative discipline pays rich and lasting dividends throughout the year in avoidable distractions, disruptions, and lost learning time. Questions to consider regarding this foundation include:

What evidence do I have that behavior expectations are clear and understood?
Are classroom routines established well enough that students regularly follow them without needing to be reminded?
Do students accept classroom rules as fair and necessary?
To what extent do students take ownership of processes that help class run smoothly?

The second element is maintenance. Activity in this aspect of discipline serves to remind students to respect and follow procedures, routines, and rules. Attention, fairness, and consistency are crucial to maintaining preventative discipline. Key maintenance actions on our part include reminders, redirection, verbal admonishments, and suggestions for behavior change. When foundational discipline is well established, actions to maintain discipline become low-key and less frequent. Questions regarding maintenance of discipline include:

Where am I spending most of my discipline-related time and attention?
What classroom expectations, routines, and rules cause students the most problems?
How consistent and fair is my attention to behavior, regardless of which students are involved?
How are students responding to my reminders, redirection, verbal admonishments, and suggestions for behavior change?

The third element is behavior correction. Our actions in this element are necessary when foundation and maintenance measures do not result in students practicing acceptable behaviors. Corrective discipline typically features consequences. The best consequences are natural, such as moving a student to another area within or temporary removal from the classroom in response to actions that disrupt or distract other students. Importantly, we need to understand the causes of misbehavior or we risk escalating the situation, especially for students who have experienced significant and prolonged trauma. Questions to consider regarding corrective discipline include:

How frequently am I having to assign consequences for unacceptable and disruptive behavior?
Is the need for behavior-related consequences widespread or confined to a small number of students?
To what extent are my corrective discipline measures natural consequences for behavior versus punishment?
Is the assignment of consequences leading to improvements in behavior?

If our discipline program is working well, our review can help to maintain momentum as we enter the winter months. On the other hand, if aspects of the program need attention, now is the time to prioritize reestablished expectations and adjust routines, so our students and we can get on track. For more information and resources on managing behavior, check out our You Can Handle Them All… Courses Book App

October 21, 2022

The Debate: Have Textbooks Outlived Their Usefulness?

Textbooks have been ubiquitous in American classrooms for generations. Yet, the debate over the future of textbooks intensifies with complaints of outdated information and politically objectionable content, especially with the availability and ease of Open Education Resources and other growing technology-based options. Despite this, textbooks remain a staple of lesson planning and serve as guides for curriculum development. The special place textbooks occupy in traditional education makes it more difficult to retire them than we assume. Abandoning longstanding practices in education often proves more challenging than anticipated. Consider that textbooks:

Provide an efficient and consistent way to present curriculum content that aligns with state and local standards for instruction and learning.
Supply well-researched information collected, compiled, organized, and presented by discipline experts.
Match and align students’ levels of academic and social development with target content based on grade level. Calibrate vocabulary, readability, and other learning supports to match the average student’s anticipated grade readiness.
Require no additional devices or connectivity for basic use.
Represent a one-time purchase often used over multiple years.

On the other hand, textbooks present serious limitations:

By the time content is collected, organized, written, published, then made available, the textbook is out-of-date.
Textbooks are often treated as one-size-fits-all support for classroom instruction.
Textbooks provide limited perspectives regarding events, problems, or controversies.
Textbooks become susceptible to political agendas and dominant culture interpretations, especially those among politically powerful groups.
Chosen textbook approaches can conflict with the needs of students’ curriculum and learning paths.

As this debate unfolds, the considerations given most weight should relate to learning, not to teaching ease or to content control. Arguments should focus on students’ learning future and their learning needs. Consider these ideas to enhance debate:

Learning is best stimulated through engagement and experience, not exposure to content. Limited in experiential depth, textbooks cannot provide the growing number of tools and approaches available for richer learning experiences.
Stimulus for learning must integrate students' unique learning rates, learning paths, and their responses to diverse experiences.
Students should be exposed to issues from a variety of perspectives if we hope to nurture careful, informed, and critically thinking citizens. Exposure to a single or limited set of views shutters students from rich, important, and engaging learning opportunities.
Students deserve access to the most current information possible. Textbooks rarely expose students to real-time content. Better alternatives and richer options capture and deliver current issues, developments, and insights.

Make no mistake: Transforming our traditional instruction-driven system to a more learner-centered system will demand releasing long-held traditions and unexamined assumptions about teaching and learning. Educators should commit their informed voices and professional expertise to this debate.

October 14, 2022

Give Students a “Leg Up” to the Next Level of Learning

The future will demand more from our students than being able to follow directions, comply with expectations, and perform standardized tasks. Repetitive tasks and standardized processes increasingly can and will be performed by machines. The World Economic Forum recently projected that within eight years more than half of the tasks for which humans are paid will be performed by technology. Meanwhile, more than half of the jobs today’s students will hold do not yet exist. Learned skills that used to have a life cycle of three decades now have utility for five years. Future success requires constant learning and unlearning, adaptation and upskilling, curiosity and imagination, and confidence and grit. Workers proficient at managing standardized processes, applying learned formulas, and employing established protocols likely will find themselves falling short of expectations and at risk of being held back from success they seek. Meanwhile, opportunities for motivated learners possessing skills necessary to learn independently will fill the future. It is they who will take responsibility for growing their knowledge, will be curious and imaginative, will be prepared to test assumptions and question perceptions, and who will possess the courage and confidence to engage what is yet to be understood. Yet, the truth is that the schools most of us experienced and most students experience today were designed to prepare proficient students, not develop skilled learners. If we hope to make the transition necessary to prepare young people for their future, we need to change their learning experience. Four shifts can help us move beyond simply preparing proficient students to preparing skilled, motivated, independent learners. Here is how a student might describe learning experiences these shifts can highlight. Shift #1. I spend less time and energy doing what I am told and give more time and attention to taking responsibility and ownership for my learning. I have more choices in what and how I will learn, a stronger voice in my learning experience, and more control over the goals that guide my learning. I am open to receive more timely, descriptive, focused, and actionable feedback on my learning before a grade is assigned to my work. Further, because I have more control, I see more purpose and value in what I am learning. Shift #2. My learning is shifting from dependence on being motivated by and engaged in teacher directed activities and instead to giving more attention to building learning and problem-solving skills and strategies, making decisions about approaches and resources, and organizing and managing my work. Though making more mistakes than I used to, I am actively learning more from them. My learning involves more open-ended activities allowing me to plan, schedule, and monitor my work. Spending more time reflecting and adjusting my thinking and actions, I am learning to enlist the support of others by asking questions, tapping resources, and exploring perspectives other than my own. Shift #3. I spend less time waiting to be instructed and following directions and more time and energy dealing with ambiguity and figuring out how to solve problems. When I need help, my teacher is more likely to share potential models and suggest alternatives approaches than give me answers to the problem on which I am working. Not having a set-by-step process to follow can be frustrating, but it also gives me more control over my learning. Meanwhile, solving problems in this way gives me more confidence and pride than when I simply follow a given path. As a result, I learn more self-discipline and patience. Shift #4. I am less preoccupied with simply finding the correct answer and more committed to focusing on the best processes and finding the best path to an insightful and responsible outcome. I am discovering there is more than one way to find a solution, even though some approaches work better than others. I often must make multiple attempts, but I find I can learn a lot from what does not work. Focusing on the learning experience and process, I know if my work is good, the grade I receive will take care of itself. Of course, proficiency will continue to be important; it is just not enough to prepare students for their future. The good news is that we do not have to choose between proficiency and skilled learning. We can build proficiency while also nurturing skilled, independent learners.

September 02, 2022

Seven Ways to Convince Students They Belong

In the rush to start the year, create routines, and begin the learning journey, it can be easy to overlook an important contributor to student success. We need students to focus, commit, and persist in their learning. We want them to feel safe and comfortable. We need them to take risks and overcome mistakes and setbacks. Yet, unless students feel as though they are accepted and belong, they are not likely to give their best effort. On the other hand, when students feel as though they are valued and part of a community, learning is easier, self-doubt is less of a distraction, and engagement becomes a natural process. Unfortunately, a sense of belonging that extends to everyone in our class does not just happen. Students who come with confidence, a record of academic success, and significant social capital may assume they belong and will require little reassurance. Other students who have experienced feelings of not fitting in, who have been excluded in the past, or who may just lack confidence will need more intentional support. The good news is that we can nurture a sense of belonging through many of the practices and procedures we engage in daily. However, we need to be intentional and strategic in our efforts. Here are seven ways we can introduce, build, and sustain a sense of belonging, regardless of our students’ backgrounds and past experiences: First, learn students’ names and pronunciation early. Knowing students’ names and saying them accurately sends a message of value and importance. Until we know and use students’ names, we are not likely to have a positive influence on whether they feel they are accepted and belong. Also, we need to be careful about assigning and using nicknames. Some students may come to us with and prefer a nickname, but we need to confirm this information. Second, include students in developing class rules and norms. When we allow students to have a voice in how the class will operate, what is and is not acceptable, and how they will treat each other, we send a message that they share ownership for the class. While we need to be in charge, what students think matters. Of course, students are also more likely to internalize and follow rules and accept norms for which they have had input. Third, frame the work of the class as teamwork. Certainly, learning happens one student at a time, but peer support and encouragement can also be helpful to the learning process. We can set shared goals and plan activities that position students to work together and support each other. Common enemies and shared purposes can be powerful forces to build a sense of belonging. Fourth, connect personally with each student. Listening to and observing students can provide a wealth of insights to begin conversations, offer encouragement, and inquire about interests. We can also notice and greet students outside of class in hallways, at extracurricular events, and in the community. Being noticed and recognized can be powerful messages of belonging. Fifth, model showing acceptance and valuing all students, especially students who may be marginalized. When we sensitively use students within an example, comment on a strength, and lift up their contributions, we send a message to other students about what we notice and value. Our modeling can give the student confidence and lead others to shift their relationship with them. Sixth, assume that all students can find learning success. What we believe about students matters more than we may realize. If we do not believe that a student is capable of success, we are less likely to continue to nudge and encourage their learning to ever-higher levels. We are more likely to accept less than their best work. Further, we need to focus on learning over grades. All students can learn, even though students may start at different places, some may need more time, and others may follow different learning paths. We need to respect each student’s learning, even though the nature and amount may vary. Seventh, do not tolerate ostracism. What we choose to ignore can send a message that is as powerful as what we choose to support. We must be proactive to avoid ostracizing behaviors and respond immediately when we sense or see it. Ostracizing behaviors can be more frequent among students at certain ages and stages of development than at others, but it is cruel and hurtful at any age. We need our students to focus, commit, and persist in their learning. There will be challenges and setback in the weeks and months ahead. When we assure students that they belong and will be supported and successful, they can give their full attention and effort to learning.

August 19, 2022

Share Your Tips & Stories

Share your story and the tips you have for getting through this challenging time. It can remind a fellow school leader of something they forgot, or your example can make a difficult task much easier and allow them to get more done in less time. We may publish your comments.

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Five Values We Can and Need to Teach

We might think that with so much division and discord in today’s world there are no universally shared values. Certainly, the impression left by much of the news leads us to think it’s impossible that everyone could agree on a set of core values. We might even wonder if everything is morally relative. We may also think that it is too risky to deal with values in a public education setting because not everyone will ascribe to what we may teach, nurture, and reinforce. There are differing views on many aspects and elements of our society, especially what we value and teach. Yet, extensive research by Rushworth Kidder and others has established that there exist at least five core values we consistently support regardless of political perspective, community size, voting history, gender, education, region, and other factors. In fact, we share these values worldwide. Tested hundreds of times in dozens of countries, some form of these five values surfaced consistently regardless of culture, race, socio-economic status, education level, or other demographic element. The five core values we share:

Honesty
Respect
Responsibility
Fairness
Compassion

The exact terms people choose to describe these values may vary. As examples, integrity might be used in place of honesty, love in place of compassion, and promise-keeping in place of responsibility. Importantly, the five core values, whatever form, remain consistent across groups, communities, and countries. These values also may enjoy differing levels of priority among diverse groups. It is possible for these values to be held tightly within a family, close circle of friends, and a community, but not extend to include interaction with the wider world. Nevertheless, we can teach, nurture, and reinforce in students these core values. We can teach the value of honesty, even when something less would be easier and more convenient. We can teach what it means to be respectful of others and to have respect for oneself. We can teach that promise-keeping and follow-through are important behaviors. We can help students to understand what fairness is and why being fair is important in relationships, communities, and society. We can teach students that caring for others, reaching out to help those less fortunate, and seeing others as worthy people are important attitudes to adopt and important behaviors to practice even if they come from another culture, socio-economic background, or other life circumstance. Our important values reflect fundamental differences in what we view as right/wrong and good/evil. Also, our values are as much aspirational as normative. They provide a standard for behavior to which we all aspire even though we may not practice them as consistently as we desire. We can remind students that sometimes we fall short, but that does not necessarily make us bad people. We need to sincerely apologize if our actions have hurt someone and then commit to do better in the future. We also can teach and coach the value and importance of extending these core values beyond those with whom we commonly associate and see as like us. When we practice these values widely and consistently, trust and understanding grow. Our class, school, community, and nation become stronger.

August 04, 2022

Time to Repair and Rebuild Culture – Where to Start

It is not a secret that organizational cultures took a beating during the pandemic. The result for too many of us has been feelings of isolation, struggle to remain engaged in and committed to our work, and even questioning whether we still belong. Unfortunately, without focused attention and careful effort, some of the damage to the culture of our schools and districts will become permanent. Simply hoping the situation will improve holds little promise. Declaring that certain elements will be part of our culture does not guarantee their presence. Repairing and rebuilding culture takes time and focus. It also requires an understanding of what the culture can be and why rebuilding is important. Our repair and rebuilding plans must focus on the areas and aspects of our culture that have sustained the most crucial damage. Our plans also need to include expanding and strengthening areas of the culture that were not as robust as they needed to be prior to the pandemic. Of course, as leaders we must model the central elements of the desired culture consistently and visibly. If we as leaders do not commit to and behave consistently with the culture we seek, all other efforts will likely fall short. The beginning of a new year is a great time to revisit, reexamine, and recommit to the culture that will define us and the impact we will have on our students, each other, and the communities we serve. We must be intentional, transparent, and authentic in our work to repair and rebuild. We also need to support the work with dialogue, activities, and reflection to translate concepts and aspirations into experience. Here are five areas of examination and potential activities that can serve as places to start: Reaffirming core values and purpose. We may assume that the core values in place before the pandemic remain and that everyone accepts and is committed to a common purpose. We may be correct. However, much has changed over the past few years. Unless we revisit, re-examine, reaffirm our core values, and recommit to our central purpose, we risk having them drift, be ignored, and even be abandoned. Our repair and rebuilding efforts must push beyond broad statements to include clear examples and evidence of living our values and purpose. Activities in which we engage might include generating what would constitute evidence of living our purpose and values. We might provide real or constructed case studies, and in response, people could identify the values involved and describe how our purpose would inform actions to take and messages to communicate. Seeing through the eyes of learners. We can examine learning experiences from the perspective of students. When we do, we shift the focus away from adult issues and gain insights into how learners experience the culture and what we can do to make the culture more inclusive, supportive, and rich for students. Activities that include student voices can stimulate important conversations and dispel faulty assumptions about how students experience school. Student voices can also provide insights regarding where to expand learning opportunities and experiences, how to increase learning commitment, and how to uncover ways to make learning more relevant and compelling. Reaffirming the value of community. Shared community is a crucial element of a healthy culture. When members feel as though they belong, are valued, and are respected, almost anything becomes possible. People want to feel confident that they will receive support when needed, that they can collaborate without fear of manipulation, and that they can struggle together without fear of blame and abandonment. Activities must help participants to feel what community can be and how it opens doors to possibility. Celebrating evidence of living our purpose. A strong culture is more than an aspiration. It is experienced daily, sometimes minute by minute. When teachers and other staff members exhibit courage, flexibility, patience, persistence, and other purpose and value related behaviors, it is important that we recognize and celebrate these behaviors and their impact. What we choose to celebrate conveys a message about what we value. The activities we choose need to signal the importance of reflecting and recommitting to core values and purpose. Building shared capacity. New challenges, a new context, and new expectations call for increased capacity to respond and serve. Initial capacity building activities can engage teams and staff in learning that has value for all. Activities might explore how to stimulate student creativity, promote engagement, and build learning skills. Capacity building can also extend to defining and responding to challenges and opportunities facing the organization. We can explore how everyone can play a role, contribute their talents, and be a resource in meeting challenges and take advantage of opportunities. Organizational culture often becomes strongest when everyone works together in the face of difficult problems, responds to external threats and achieves common goals. Sustaining a healthy, vibrant culture is difficult work even in stable and predictable times. The times in which we are living are neither. Consequently, the work of repairing and rebuilding culture now is even more challenging. Yet, it is work that can strengthen and transform our organizations and the experiences of those associated with them. We face what may be a once in a career opportunity to lead work that will create a path to greatness for our organizations and for those who are a part of them. It is time to get to work.

July 21, 2022

Why We Need to Assure Students They Matter – And How We Can Do So

We all want to matter. We want attention, relationships, engagement, and respect. Feeling that we matter can counter depression and ease feelings of stress. We like being in places where our presence seems to matter and we make a difference. On the other hand, when we feel ignored, not useful, unappreciated, and like we don’t have strong connections we tend not to make a strong emotional investment. We may eventually drift away in favor of circumstances and contexts where we feel needed, appreciated, and respected. The desire to feel that one matters is not exclusive to adults. Students typically have the same feelings. The difference is that children and young people often don’t have the freedom to choose where they spend their time and may not always be allowed to physically drift away from situations where they don’t feel as though they matter. Of course, school can be one of these places. We may assume that these students aren’t academically successful. We may speculate that students who feel they don’t matter are loners, behavior problems, disinterested, and disengaged. Of course, students who fit this profile may feel as though their presence and participation don’t matter to us and classmates. However, many students who seem well-adjusted and academically successful often still feel that they don’t matter in school. Fortunately, we are in a unique position to counter student feelings that they do not matter. In fact, when we create and nurture conditions that contribute to feelings of “mattering,” we can transform learners’ experiences from disconnection and “going through the motions” of school to learning engagement, commitment, persistence, and satisfaction. Let’s examine five conditions we can nurture that signal to students that their being in our class matters. First, we can create a sense of belonging. A sense of belonging begins with our communicating to students that they are valued and appreciated. Belonging grows when we demonstrate a belief in their potential and we offer our trust and support. Belonging blossoms when we encourage students to build connections with one another. We can sustain a sense of belonging for students when we create a classroom culture that encompasses these elements. Second, we can build an environment of acceptance. We can assure students that they can be themselves and don’t have to pretend to be accepted and successful in our class. Of course, we also need to create conditions where students understand and accept each other’s unique identities. When acceptance moves to valuing and appreciating uniqueness, students’ sense that they matter grows even more. Third, we can create a sense of shared purpose. Not every task or assignment must have a distinct and obvious purpose, but students need to know what we’re trying to accomplish and how they can contribute to shared success. We can help students see how they play a role in making the class successful. We also can point out to students that we cannot be successful unless they are successful, so they truly matter. Fourth, we can make it a habit to notice. When something happens in students’ lives and someone notices, comments, or asks a question, they hear the message that they matter enough for others to pay attention. Often what may seem like a small change in behavior and performance can be a clue to problems and even trauma students may be experiencing. The reassurance of someone asking what is wrong and what they can do to help can be a strong signal that the student matters. Fifth, for students who need even more assurance, we can create roles and responsibilities. Some students need even more proof and ongoing reassurance that their presence matters in our classroom. We can think of the skills and interests these students present and offer them roles and responsibilities that are consistent with their talents and that position them to help the class succeed. For younger students, these tasks may be as simple as distributing materials and monitoring supply inventories. Older students might assume roles such as discussion timekeepers and technology support aides. Reassuring students that they matter may seem like a small thing. Doing so is not costly or overly time consuming. However, from the perspective of our students, knowing we care and they matter can be all it takes to set them on a path to academic and life success.

June 28, 2022

It’s Time to Tap a Powerful but Underappreciated Morale Booster

Much has been said and written over the past several months about the pressures, disappointments, and difficulties educators are facing. They are navigating crisscrossing political currents, frequently changing pandemic mitigation measures, and the conflicting expectations of multiple publics. Any one of these forces can get in the way of doing one’s best work, but the combination can feel overwhelming. Of course, as leaders we need to do all that we can to shield staff from the distractions and block out the noise. We can provide flexibility in use of time where practical, lighten the load of responsibilities where possible, and provide the support we can where needed. Yet too often this still is not enough, particularly viewed in the context of the predictable stresses and pressures that accompany the final months of the school year. We might ask ourselves what else can we do to lift spirits, restore energy, and renew hope to carry through to the end of the year? Surprisingly, there remains an often underutilized but powerful source that can significantly lift morale and performance. For some, the answer may seem too simple or obvious and be easily overlooked. The answer has to do with sharing and receiving gratitude. A recent study on the power of gratitude reported in the Journal of Applied Psychology involved healthcare workers who, as much as anyone, have had to bear the brunt of the pandemic. When workers heard and felt the gratitude of patients, their spirits lifted, they experienced greater satisfaction in their work, and incidents of burnout dropped. Another less formal study at the Warton School arranged for a customer who benefited from the services of a call center to speak to workers at the call center about his gratitude for their efforts and support. The impact of hearing the difference they were making led to a 20% increase in revenues for the call center. The point is that gratitude matters. During rough times when feelings of appreciation are in short supply, finding ways to help educators and others associated with education feel gratitude can be especially important. The effort may be even more impactful if other steps to improve working conditions and lessen stresses are already in place. So, what are some ways we might arrange for our educators and other staff to experience the gratitude of those whom they serve? Here are six ideas to get started:

Invite a current parent or panel of parents to a staff meeting to share how their children are being supported, nurtured, and protected during the pandemic and how they have grown as learners and young people despite the challenges of the past two years.
Arrange for a panel of recent graduates of your school to reflect on their experiences as students in your school and how staff relationships, guidance, and support have helped them to succeed as learners. Their reflections might be a part of a staff meeting or recorded and shared with staff.
Work with student leadership groups to plan a surprise appreciation week for staff. Hall decorations, a special assembly to honor staff, and notes and letters of appreciation are some ideas to stimulate planning.
Invite parents to record brief videos describing the difference school staff have made in the lives of their children.
Invite students to record short videos describing how staff helped them to have “their best day of school.”
Invite support staff to a faculty meeting to be honored for the contributions they make to a smooth operating and successful school. Be sure to cite specific examples and describe tangible differences they make.

Of course, gratitude makes the greatest difference when it is genuine, specific, and timely. Gratitude can also become an impactful habit. We like being around people who are quick to share their gratitude. We also feel better when we share our gratitude with others. It is a classic “win-win.”

March 16, 2022

The Master Teacher Blog