School is about to begin for the 2014-2015 school year. It will be an exciting year of changes, growth, and challenges. Many times, a “challenge” is deemed negative, meaning it is a hardship or a problem. Challenges do not need to be negative. In the classroom, we give our students “challenges” all of the time. There, a challenge is a quest to overcome, to solve, and to learn within the task. Challenges define who you are, summon you to take on something new, and stimulate growth. In education, we need to challenge each other, to inquire, and pursue excellence.
For this school year, I challenge you…
- to be proactively positive every day, no matter what negativity surrounds you
- to grow and learn along side your students
- to play games with your students
- to laugh
- to connect with other educators
- to build relationships with students and their families
- to collaborate with great educators and interesting minds
- to create great lessons, great activities
- to reflect on your practice and write about it
- to share the story of your classroom through your website, a blog, and/or professional social media
- to celebrate successes in your classroom
- to try a new technological tool
- to find a great resource and then share it with colleagues
- to take a risk and know it is ok if it didn’t work out they way it was planned
- to help students learn how to be digital citizens
- to model what you want to see
- to think about time differently during the day, maximizing what you have for constant meaningful engagement
- to base every decision on kids
- to engage students in questioning and inquiry
- to ask WHY
- to wake up, be amazing, and then go to bed.
I know this school year will be fantastic. I’m a bit partial, but my staff is the best! Together we tackle these challenges, becoming better, helping each other grow, thus pushing our students to newer heights!
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