Let's listen. Let's build alongside educators and students. We cannot expect people to feel ownership and engagement in something that they were not a part of building. Imagine what we can do if we build together.
Humans First
That Crushing Weight We Feel
We cannot be good for others if we are not good for ourselves.
A Little Love
Perhaps we should start by loving ourselves as educators. As Mr. Roger once said, "You can't love someone else until you love yourself first." Through all of the hard stuff. The mistakes. The days when we just aren't feeling it.
Kinder than Necessary
Energy is contagious. Spread the good stuff.
We All Build Culture
Perhaps this is radical, but how we spend time with people is one of the greatest ways to change this world. How we show up for each interaction, each gathering, how we are in community with each other -it matters in a big way. We have the power to make people feel strong and special and capable which means that the opposite is true too if we aren't thoughtful.
The Magic of People
Write that tweet. Send that email. Have that conversation. Do whatever you can do share the good word.
We Do Not Have Time for This
Love the people. Try hard. Care big. Learn what you can. Sleep soundly.
Less Thinking. More Doing.
I wonder if this is what we are missing in some of our "data" meetings in schools. Do we have pictures of kids at the table? To start, they are our WHY. They are why we want to be better. That's a big part of our identity as educators. But also, setting goals for improvements is nice, but it's not the work. The work is the small moves made over time that can make a big difference. Too many data meetings sound like, "We need to get these scores up." Well, yeah. We know. But how? And because we don't know what the best strategy or step to take is, we may not take a step.
Quieting Our Insides
We get one beautiful, important shot at living a good life.
People before Workers
Rather, if we take the time we need, we will be better rested and more emotionally available for others. This looks different for everyone. There is no one right way to recharge. But knowing ourselves and giving ourselves what we need is the first step to taking care of others as well.
MEGHAN LAWSON 