Empowerment > Engagement

The title of this post might give the impression that I'm giving engagement a bad rap. Engagement is a good thing. It increases the odds that students will willingly get on the bus. Yet empowerment invites them to sit in the driver's seat. I have been on a quest the last few years, with the help of the Idaho Coaching Network, to find ways to move students to the front of the bus more frequently. Though I can confidently claim that I'm heading in the right direction, my pursuit of increasing empowerment has left me with more questions than answers. This post is a short and sweet summary of this journey.

My narrative began with the following essential question.

How can I empower my students by creating more opportunities for inquiry, curiosity, and research?

This question led me to the following books.

These books led me to the following inquiry projects.

Although reading these books was the right and best place to start, they still left me with numerous questions. 

What does inquiry look like on a daily basis?

How does it look different at the beginning of the year as opposed to the end? 

How do I scaffold the research process with young students who can't easily access texts or resources?

How do I still teach required curriculum?

How do I find comfortable and manageable routines, while at the same time, keeping it fresh?

It's a good thing there is expiration date on finding answers to my questions. Next year, I plan to continue iterating and building on all that I've put in place. Though I have very few answers, I choose to take David Wolfe's advice when he says, "Until further notice, celebrate everything."

Empowerment > Engagement

The title of this post might give the impression that I'm giving engagement a bad rap. Engagement is a good thing. It increases the odds that students will willingly get on the bus. Yet empowerment invites them to sit in the driver's seat. I have been on a quest the last few years, with the help of the Idaho Coaching Network, to find ways to move students to the front of the bus more frequently. Though I can confidently claim that I'm heading in the right direction, my pursuit of increasing empowerment has left me with more questions than answers. This post is a short and sweet summary of this journey.

My narrative began with the following essential question.

How can I empower my students by creating more opportunities for inquiry, curiosity, and research?

This question led me to the following books.

These books led me to the following inquiry projects.

Although reading these books was the right and best place to start, they still left me with numerous questions. 

What does inquiry look like on a daily basis?

How does it look different at the beginning of the year as opposed to the end? 

How do I scaffold the research process with young students who can't easily access texts or resources?

How do I still teach required curriculum?

How do I find comfortable and manageable routines, while at the same time, keeping it fresh?

It's a good thing there is expiration date on finding answers to my questions. Next year, I plan to continue iterating and building on all that I've put in place. Though I have very few answers, I choose to take David Wolfe's advice when he says, "Until further notice, celebrate everything."

Curious and Empowered > Engagement

Engagement is one thing, but to be curious and empowered is what I've been striving to nurture and provide for my students the past few years. It's been a journey of more questions than answers, yet I know I'm moving in the right direction, much aided by the support of The Idaho Coaching Network. This post is a short and sweet depiction of my journey.

My narrative begins with the following essential question:

How can I empower my students by creating more opportunities for inquiry, curiosity, and research? 

I don't mean to give engagement a bad rap. Engagement can be a good thing but it doesn't necessarily put students in the driver's seat. It simply increases the chances that they'll willingly get on the bus. My quest is to move them towards the front of the bus as much as possible. 

My essential question led me to the following books.

These books led me to the following inquiry projects.

Although reading books and jumping into some projects was the right and best place to start, they still left me with numerous questions. 

What does inquiry look like on a daily basis? 

How does it look different at the beginning of the year as opposed to the end?

How do I scaffold the research process with young students who can't easily access texts or resources?

How do I honor inquiry and curiosity and still teach required curriculum? 

How do I find comfortable and manageable routines, while at the same time, keeping it fresh?

It's a good thing there is no expiration date on finding answers. Next year I plan to continue iterating, building on all that I tried this year. Even though my questions outnumber answers, I will take David Wolfe's advice when he says, "Until further notice, celebrate everything."

You're the Kind of Kid

This summer I read Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World by Michele Borba. It did not disappoint. If I could require all parents to read it before giving birth to their children, I would. Of course, teachers of all grade levels should read it too.

There are many valuable and practical takeaways from this read, but one of the most powerful, yet easiest to implement, only requires our intentional and repetitive words.

Borba says, "What we say about our children helps define who they are and the type of people they believe themselves to be."

She offers the example, "You're the kind of person who likes to help."

Eavesdrop in my classroom and you'll hear, "You're the kind of kid who..." quite often.

You're the kind of kid who...

• cares about our community
• values kindness
• values being ready
• values being brave
• values being safe
• wants to do your best
• wants to help others
• etc.

How would you finish Borba's sentence?

It all depends on what you want the children in your care to believe about themselves. Feel free to borrow her phrase and repeatedly tell your students who they are. 

They're ready to be those people.

Permission Slips

In my experience, being a one on the Enneagram means that I have an unwavering sense of right and wrong that permeates all facets of my orderly life. For example, my conscientious mindset does not allow me to drive 65 until the sign says I can, and you can bet I won't be pushing to go faster. Receiving permission is important to me. (Well, except for how I run my classroom, but that's complicated.)

But sometimes the most important permission I can receive is from myself.

Thanks to The Idaho Coaching Network, I've been ruminating on the idea of permission slips but not the kind that I remember from my days long ago at Meridian Junior High. This kind of permission slip is one that I write for myself – to myself. And I'm not sure there could ever be a better time to write one (or several) than now. 

As I struggle to process how last school year came to a close and how up in the air this new year is beginning, not to mention how the rest of the following nine months might turn out, I'm recognizing the need to intentionally give myself permission to feel some things, as well as plan for what I physically, mentally, and spiritually need in order to be at my best.

So I've literally written myself some permission slips. I'm keeping in mind that the road ahead is like driving Highway 55. It's a windy one. I don't know precisely what I'll need until I get around the next bend or two. But this list is a start.

I, Tammy McMorrow, give myself permission to...

• be sad about the loss of what I know school should be.

• take as much time as necessary to establish community and culture.

• take it slow and not worry about what we don't get to.

• make mistakes along the way.

• make time for hobbies that bring me joy.

• make my health a priority. 

Grab some paper and do yourself a favor. What would your permission slips say?

Minimize Your Own Space

I don't know much about real estate, but I do know that it's a commodity people will spend an insane amount of money to call their own. And though we inhabit a big, big world, I wonder how long it will take before we run out of said commodity. Society seems to gobble it up with abandon. The classroom is not much different. 

If I could give new teachers (and veteran teachers alike) advice about moving into their rooms, I'd tell them exactly what Kristine Mraz and Christine Hertz recommend in Kids 1st From Day 1. 

Minimize your own space.

After 25 years of teaching, I admit to still owning a teacher desk. Though I never sit there unless the children are absent, I feel like I need an organizational space of my own. But, my desk is small. It's out of the way. It's at the back of the room. It's not taking up prime student real estate, which is something I don't want to run out of.

As teachers think about their rooms this coming year, I challenge them to resist the urge to move in and monopolize prime student real estate. Might I suggest that corners and areas at the front of the room are exactly what we need to protect. Obviously, I'm not here to tell anyone to rid themselves of a desk or space of their own. Let's simply minimize it.

Straight and True

"Can I have a break?" she said. I was in the middle of putting out myriad fires and patting backs all within seconds of each other. I motioned her to follow me, wondering how much longer I could keep all the plates spinning, hers being one of them. As I jotted "break" on a post-it for her to take to the office, she rather insightfully stated, "I understand teaching is hard work." I'd often described her as an emotional being. She feels things to the extreme. Could she feel the desperation behind my smiling exterior? Could she sense how hard I was working to hold my world together?

Teaching is indeed hard work. If I were to list all the reasons, they would be varied. Yet for me, the one that rises to the top  is the one I faced on a daily basis during this 25th year of my career.

My vision did not equal my reality.

Vision is a powerful tool in a teacher's hand. It inspires. It motivates. It provides direction and purpose. And it results in disappointment when it's obvious from even the first few days that the vision and reality cannot coexist.  

Reflection demanded change, and though I might have wished it so, it wasn't coming from the children. It was me. It was my expectation. It was the grand picture in my head of what I needed to accomplish by May 30th. 

My cousin Kevin offered wise and life-saving perspective. 

The arrow will be launched straight and true. The target has moved and you many not achieve all that you set out to achieve, but there is a river of life pouring forth from you and it touches everyone with whom you come into contact.

Looking back on year 25, I admittedly mourn the relocation of my target. It was hard to accept, not just once, but repeatedly throughout the year as new obstacles arose and the target moved yet again. I miss the sense of satisfaction that comes from reaching the intended goal. 

Kevin was right though. 

I launched my arrow. It was straight. It was true. I'm striving to believe that it made contact, made a lasting impression. In faith, I walk away from year 25 knowing that I hit my target.