How do you stay energized as a teacher? Stressors emotionally drain us as teachers throughout the day. In the midwest, it is furthered by February. Stupid February.
The answer to staying energized is to collaborate with colleagues. I always feel renewed when I talk about student learning in a positive way with other staff members. When I get a new idea from them, I want to try it out. I have passion, a renewed purpose, and with the idea it engages the classroom in a new way. I reflect on it's use, and I report back to the peer to let him or her know how I used it and what I would do differently the next time. This is why collaborating is so powerful. Collaborating improves instruction through bettering your craft to improve student learning in an organic and meaningful way.
Furthermore, the EGLLT (Elk Grove Lead Leaders Team), which you can read about by clicking here, met to collaborate on the topic of literacy. Through the efforts of that meeting, teachers were exposed to a TED talk by John Hattie on Maximizing Impact on Learning. One of the great things is that when teachers work together to enhance student learning, it is one of the most powerful things teachers can do. So, while you renew yourself, you will be impacting student learning at the same time! Here are excerpts from John Hattie's work and the video.
If you want to watch the video or read the entire study you can use the links below to access it.
Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning By John Hattie (Routledge, 2012)
Stupid February.
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