From Competition to Collaboration: Unleashing the Benefits of Cooperative Learning

A few days ago, my children and I walked over to our neighborhood park. They were ready to play woodchips (tag) and began generating a list of rules and protocols for the game. Whoever was it first would start at the park's tallest point, which is difficult for my son to reach. His sisters promised to help him reach the balcony -- even if he would soon be chasing them. Despite the game's competitive nature, they were still ready to support him. Regardless of who was chasing whom, they would ensure they could participate. 

As I watched them begin to play, I was moved by how naturally they collaborated and cheered each other on. The game was more fun when everyone could contribute. How do we replicate this productive and positive rivalry in our own classrooms? How can we encourage students to recognize the value in playfully pushing each other to learn, grow, and in this case, reach the peak of the park? 

Bring positive competition to the classroom. 

"We're all winners when we all learn" is a phrase met with eye-rolling and groans in my classroom, but it's true. I love incorporating friendly, low-stakes competition into my classroom. Sometimes we compete for bragging rights or a chance to choose a desired place in the speaking order. Other times, the winners of these competitive experiences earn stickers or candy. The reward is never significant, but the learning process can be an enjoyable way to practice essential classroom skills. Whether we play a review game such as Kahoot, deliver impromptu speeches, or complete a puzzle, these gamified experiences challenge students to apply content knowledge to an often collaborative activity. The motivation to succeed pushes students to test their skills and measure what they need to improve before a summative assessment. 

Positive competition also encourages students to challenge each other and recognize where they are in mastering a concept or skill related to others. With this knowledge, they can identify what they still need to work on. If we are playing a review game, I share the materials and games for asynchronous play so that students can revisit skills and resources as needed. By establishing that everyone succeeds when we all achieve mastery, students can begin to self-reflect on their own skills and find ways to support others in the learning process.  

Remind students that we achieve more when we work together. 

Collaboration and communication are critical skills employers in any field seek. Soft skills are essential for our academic, professional, and personal success. As instructors, we can facilitate the development of these skills through collaborative games and experiences in which students work together to achieve an end goal - whether it be a presentation, a score on a review game, or a solution to a puzzle. 

When we create a collaborative environment, we also prepare students to navigate real-world challenges. They develop problem-solving skills and recognize the power of leveraging everyone's skillset to innovate and create. When students can value the strengths of their peers, the collaborative spirit extends beyond the classroom into their personal and professional lives. 

• Socratic seminars and group discussions are wonderful ways to encourage students to use active listening skills and develop empathy. 

• Problem-solving scenarios can also provide real-world applications. I love challenging students to create public service announcements. PSAs encourage students to formulate a message for a specific audience and narrow the focus of the situation. Students then consider how to craft an impactful message while working together to create a final product. 

• Creative writing assignments open the door for collaboration. Whether students are writing a short story or generating RAFT assignments, they can work together to build a common narrative that can impact a much wider audience than a single teacher or reader. I love letter writing and using the RAFT writing format to encourage students to assume another person's perspective and use empathy to recognize the experiences of others who differ from them.

 

These assignments are playful in nature. They involve creative thought and engagement with others. While infusing our classroom with these tasks, challenges, and collaborative experiences, we must also encourage them to provide constructive feedback to their peers. This feedback allows them to stretch their thinking and adjust their approach to a given task as needed. While students are collaborating, we need to help them understand that they need to collaborate peacefully and find value in the strengths of others. 

Foster a cheering section. 

On the first day of any course, I use a meme of vegetables holding hands, saying that "We're rooting for you." I remind them that when they enter my classroom, I am rooting for their success and will partner with them to help them master the skills our class will focus on this term. I also remind them that we want to be successful, so we must understand and recognize that we significantly impact each other. Our actions directly lead to the success and growth of the people beside us. 

The best learning occurs when we make mistakes or fall short of our goals. When we collaborate with others, we must shift and redirect our thinking. We won't always win the review game or solve the problem the fastest, but we will develop soft skills that will make us better professionally and personally in ways that we won't recognize immediately. Even when we are competing for first place in a Kahoot, we can take the time to lift each other up. There's room for everyone at the top, especially when we take the time to help each other along the way. 

From Passive to Active: Transforming Icebreakers into Engaging Experiences

The 4th of July has blasted past with its usual fanfare and sparklers. While most of us still have the month of July to enjoy our summer schedules, the turn of the calendar often leads to preparing for the start of the school year. In search of fresh ideas for the upcoming school year, 

I stumbled on a Twitter post pleading with educators to reconsider using icebreakers to kick off the beginning of the school year. Why are icebreakers often so dreaded? How might we build rapport with our students and new teams without inciting the awkwardness and anxiety among everyone in the room, often associated with icebreakers?

Building rapport is about focusing on relationships and creating a positive environment. Yes, there are inherently bad icebreakers, and typically I have encountered them in graduate courses, in which the entire classroom knows each other, and the instructor is new. We have to go around and awkwardly share the same information we have already shared with each other, and it takes way longer than it should. When an icebreaker calls for one speaker at a time in a room full of 20+ people, the experience becomes passive and nerve-racking as a spotlight is put on one person at a time. 

Instead of asking every person in the room to share one fun thing about their summer break, icebreakers can become powerful and memorable shared experiences that encourage participants to collaborate, share, and learn how to work together. Instead of making people recite information aloud that they could write down a notecard in two minutes and calling it an “icebreaker,” get creative. Ask the group to actively work together to complete a task or solve a problem. These active icebreakers challenge participants to use communication skills for a purpose. They have the ability to thaw out any chilly or preconceived notion about icebreakers. 

For the last decade, I have hosted a summer camp for speech team that is more focused on team building and leadership than competing in high school forensics. During these camps, I have worked with my coaching team to create experiences that forge friendships, promote critical thinking, and build bonds. These activities were experiences that led to powerful learning experiences that positively pushed students out of their comfort zones and into a space in which they could learn and grow. So what makes an icebreaker work? 

Active participation is important. 

The first day of the school year is exhausting. Students (and teachers) are inundated with information, rules, and expectations. If they are sitting and not actively engaged, they will become passive, and the information being shared with them will not be retained. Instead, they will leave the classroom or the meeting tired and anxious, still wondering what the upcoming school year will bring. Talking at people is not an effective communication strategy (although sometimes necessary).

Instead, start with a challenge. Break people into smaller teams and give them a task to accomplish. I love to start with the spaghetti challenge. Recently a teacher shared math and engineering challenges that encourage people to build and create with me. Scavenger hunts and escape rooms also work nicely. Some of my favorites include:

1. Toxic waste: Students have various materials and have to remove tennis balls from the center of a circle without stepping into the circle. 

2. Toxic river: Students must figure out how to cross a "hazardous river" with limited supplies and work together to navigate obstacles. 

3. Puzzle challenge: Students are divided into teams. They have some of their puzzle pieces, and other pieces are hidden throughout the room. Their pieces are mixed in with other teams' pieces. They have to find their pieces and negotiate for others with other teams. 

4. Magic carpet: Students all stand on a tarp. They have to flip the tarp without stepping off the tarp. 

Note: These activities can be scaled and adjusted to meet any classroom's space and time constraints. Most of these activities can take less than 15 minutes, but the connectivity they foster is an incredible investment in student buy-in and engagement. 

Dave Burgess’s Teach Like a Pirate has a lot of ideas for hooking students with various strategies. I recently led a PD using his book. Check out these slides for more icebreaker ideas and videos that I use with my own students, or check out his book. 

Find a way to encourage students to build something or use creativity to solve problems. In the time they take to create together, they will start talking, laughing, and creating memories. While they may or may not be successful in solving the problem, they will be engaged with others. After connecting with others, they will be more comfortable talking and engaging with a larger group. 

Questions and conversations should extend beyond the surface. 

After working together in smaller groups, participants are more likely to open up and engage in self-disclosure. I still use either a notecard or Google form to gather information from my audience. I want to know the details, and I want to find ways to connect with them individually. 

These icebreakers are often ineffective because the information seems to go nowhere. The information written out by the participants is not revisited or referenced. You must close the communication loop if you ask students to provide information. That information needs to be used. Also, if you ask students to self-disclose information, you have to share information, too. Answer your own questions, show students the depth of information you hope to gain from them, and encourage students to share more. Students want to be seen and valued. They do not want to bear their souls to the whole class on day one, but they will share quite a bit with you in a more individual non-threatening way, like a Google form or even a Pear Deck, where they feel more anonymous. (Here's a resource to spark some question ideas).

Here's a mini PD presentation on Questions of the Day.

Initial experiences promote exploration and spark curiosity. 

An icebreaker doesn't have to only occur on day one. These icebreaker activities can build on each other. They can reveal a clue or allude to a puzzle the next day. I love questions of the day (Here's a template). Theming of the questions or using questions to spark even more curiosity about a topic or theme increases student engagement. They will want to return to find the next answer or finish a project they've already started. Digital escape rooms make great teases for future lessons. Finding ways to keep the mystery going and encourage students to wonder about a lesson or idea brings excitement and makes the icebreaker worth doing. 

Group reflection leads to more authentic connections. 

After completing a challenge, debrief. Talk about the experience and encourage students to consider the lessons learned. These tasks have instructional value and classroom connections, but students will only identify them if we discuss what we learned. These conversations are valuable and can lead to group reflection about the learning process, classroom expectations, and being an active citizen. 

Icebreakers don't have to be passive or designed for extroverts only. They can be meaningful and used to foster rapport. If an icebreaker sounds dreadful or awkward to you, skip it. Instead, find an activity or design an experience in which you can be an active participant too. Students will buy in if a teacher is having fun, being silly, and showing the power of self-disclosure. It's okay to have fun in the classroom, and it is certainly okay to be goofy. If you are willing to have students laugh at you, they are far more likely to listen to you. These types of icebreakers are certainly worth our investment. 

References:

Bonnie, Emily. "Ultimate Guide to Team-Building Activities Your Team Will Actually Like." Wrike, 22 Apr. 2022, Ultimate Guide to Team-Building Activities Your Team Will Actually Like. Accessed 8 July 2023.

"Build a Tower, Build a Team." TED, uploaded by TED Conference, Feb. 2010, www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower_build_a_team. Accessed 8 July 2023.

Burgess, Dave. Teach like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator. San Diego, Dave Burgess Consulting, 2012.

Davies, Rebecca. "50+ Questions to Get Kids Talking and Build Community." Differentiated Teaching, 2023, www.differentiatedteaching.com/discussion-questions-to-build-relationships-with-students/. Accessed 8 July 2023.

Garber, Peter R. 50 Communications Activities, Icebreakers, and Exercises. E-book ed., Amherst, HRD Press, 2008.

Stokes, Katie. "15 Engineering Challenges Kids Love." Gift of Curiosity, www.giftofcuriosity.com/engineering-challenges-for-kids-steam/. Accessed 8 July 2023.

Rethinking Success: Shifting the Focus from Achievements to Personal Growth and Development (Part 2)

"Why would you want to be an English teacher?" This was an actual question I was asked when I was in high school. Be anything else BUT an English teacher was the message I received. The concern was that English is a popular subject, and I would need help finding a job. Note: Never let someone convince you not to pursue your dreams and passions.

Why English? I come from a family of math and science teachers, and I am the only humanities teacher. My love for literacy derives from my desire to connect and empathize with others. In the early oughts (2000s), the STEM push consumed the conversation around education. While I love and value STEM, my passion has always been empowering all learners to share their stories, create innovative ideas or projects, and collaborate with others. These soft skills, often considered secondary to other disciplines, are the foundation of academic, professional, and personal success. Regardless of the discipline we teach or pursue, how can we help our students find success?

Students must be encouraged to set goals for personal growth.

Both organizations and individuals write SMART goals in the business world (and in education). However, a Harvard Business Study found that of the top MBA students from their program, only 3% had written down their goals. Of course, the study going that the percentage of individuals who had written down their goals earned 10x more money than the 97% combined.

While money does not buy happiness, having a clear direction and purpose can lead to a more fulfilling life. Teaching our students to write goals down physically is crucial. Where we might miss the boat as educators, however, is that we need to teach students to write smaller, more tangible goals. We want our students to dream big and reach for grandiose ideas. When a goal is set too far in the future, it becomes too much of a reach, and the drive to achieve that goal can fizzle.

I love the image above. Shorter goals and small steps toward a grander goal yield better results. We must show our students how to manage, set, and reset their goals so that they feel the energy to accomplish a task. That seemingly micro feeling of success will yield even more success moving forward.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear reminds us that "Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement." If we teach students to become just a little better each day, before they know it, they will feel transformed in their skill sets and will want to continue to grow.

We must foster a culture that maintains a positive mindset.

To succeed, we must also fail. Feeling like a failure can produce frustration and tension. Students look to us to see how we react to our failures. If we become overwhelmed when technology doesn’t work, for example, we demonstrate that it is acceptable to become angry if something doesn't go our way. Of course, we all have moments of anger and frustration, but as educators, we must be aware that our students are always watching (just like our children). They will react to setbacks in the same way that we do. The "do as I say, not as I do" mentality is a generation or two ago. If we want our students to have a positive mindset, we must start by evaluating our own.

How can we foster a positive mindset in our classroom?

1. Celebrate positive behaviors. Identifying what our students are doing and how those actions are positive can help students to recognize what behaviors will lead to successful outcomes.
2. Embrace struggles and problem-solve together. Discussing how to problem-solve provides students with a framework to refocus and reset after a failure. It is important to learn, reflect, and grow.
3. Identify the lessons learned. Talk through what was gained in a situation and use experiences to move forward.
4. Show gratitude for the people and experiences that have helped us become who we are today and who will continue to support us moving forward.
5. Focus on the word yet. When unpacking a situation, the word yet allows us all to understand that if something doesn't go our way, it means we are still learning and growing. Even though our desired outcome hasn't happened yet, it is still possible, and we can still see the positives in any situation.

I love Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote, "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." I often remind my students and myself that even though not every day is exciting or life-changing, every day provides us with an opportunity to learn, grow, and build relationships with others. When we learn to appreciate and embrace those initial steps joyfully, we become stronger and find meaning in everyday experiences.

Preparation is key.

We must prepare our students for the challenges they will inevitably encounter by helping them take a realistic look at the circumstances while finding the nuggets of hope in the face of adversity. We must prepare our students to hear no, receive a rejection, and handle criticism gracefully. They will face rejection in many ways; we all do. What they choose to do in those moments will determine their success. Failure is a gift, but one needs to learn how to handle the package to reap the rewards of the lessons that this gift can teach.

Part of success is recognizing and understanding how to move forward from loss and rejection. Success is about navigating the obstacles and rethinking, recreating, or redirecting our path. I want to continue to empower my students to find meaning in their lives and experiences, accomplish their goals, and, most importantly, experience the joy of living a life that brings them meaning and purpose.

Someone told me boldly that I'd never find joy as an English teacher. While they may have been well-intentioned, I did not allow them to stop me from pursuing my dream. I understood that I might hear no. I recognized that I might not succeed on the first try, and that belief strengthened me.

NOTE: I was hired very early in the job hunt (before spring break), within 24 hours of my interview. My first principal told me not to interview at a neighboring school in the same district, which I was set to do the next day. Post spring break, I received calls for interviews from over a dozen different school districts. I was definitely going to find a job.

Again, don't ever let anyone discourage you from reaching your goals. While the vision of success in my life has shifted over the years, and that definition might shift for others, we can help our students see the steps they need to take to reach their goals. We can empower our students by helping them to shape their understanding of success and take those first steps.

References:

Acton, Annabel. “How to Set Goals (and Why You Should Write Them Down).” Forbes, 3 Nov. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/annabelacton/2017/11/03/how-to-set-goals-and-why-you-should-do-it/?sh=104307bd162d.

Clear, James. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Cornerstone Press, 2022.

Rediscovering What You Need (And Stealing from the PIRATE)

What do you need? 

This year was surprisingly challenging. Many educators are struggling with behavioral issues that they haven't experienced since their first few years of teaching, if ever at all. We are all still in the recovery phase of the pandemic despite the feeling that we have closed that chapter. 

After spring break, I like to reflect on what I have learned from the current school year. I also plan my summer personal and professional improvement goals. During early April, I typically explore books I want to read, conferences to present at and/or attend, and what I want to do to recharge. This summer, my focus is both student and teacher engagement. 

My colleagues and I limped to the end of this year, and my students still needed support with their executive functioning and soft skills that were negatively impacted during the pandemic. Many of us have been stuck in a rut where we needed help identifying solutions or a way to restart the creative engines. Instead of looking to recreate the wheel, I realized in this reflection that we just needed to reenergize the great work we are already doing. The pandemic challenged us to shift our teaching strategies, create online resources that can be used to personalize the learning experience in ways we had not prior and explore many different technology tools that have enhanced the student experience. We don't need to innovate because we have spent the last few years pushing the envelope forward at incredible speeds. Now, we need time to reflect, rest, and reignite our passion for teaching. Which led me to the seemingly simple question - What do you need? 

I went to my bookshelf with my professional development books, and a familiar book caught my eye. I was surprised I actually had it on my shelf since I bought this book at least four times. People tend to borrow and not return it, which always makes me smile because I know this book has an impact. Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess caught my eye. This book, full of inspiring reminders about finding our passion as educators and bringing our best selves to our students, is always a hit with teachers. My district hosts a teacher summer camp where teachers and administrators host three-hour workshops on various topics. The summer camp I proposed and presented centered around Teach Like a Pirate and sparking the joy in teaching. When I consider my answer to the what do you need question, I know I need to be in a community with others, embrace my enthusiasm, and feel valued.

 

So what is the PIRATE method, and why does it resonate with teachers? 

PIRATE stands for - Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyze, Transform, and Enthusiasm. These ideas are familiar, but we often need to pay more attention to them or remember to incorporate them into our daily planning and practices. In the last few years, we have been so overwhelmed with teaching and regrouping post-pandemic that, as teachers, we don't give ourselves time to slow down and enjoy time with our students. Relationship building and rapport are what lead to classroom transformation. Being all in on a topic, lesson, or idea begets buy-in and success from our students. That "all in" practice looks different for every teacher and can be achieved by everyone if and when we give ourselves permission to jump into the deep end of joyful learning and flounder around for a moment.

What do we need? We need to give ourselves permission to fail, experiment, and play. Those practices lead to significant learning outcomes and more memorable experiences for our students.  

How can we "unstuck" ourselves? 

Simon Sinek has a fantastic TED talk on discovering our why. Why do we teach? Why do we love working with kids? Why are we passionate about the topics, ideas, and relationships we hold dear? As I was reading tweets and articles he's written, I discovered this video: A QUICK Way to Find Your Why

Instead of always trying to work alone and create meaning independently, it is so powerful to remember that we have a whole team of teachers and friends behind us. As Joyce Landorf Heatherley expresses in her work, we have a balcony full of people cheering us on and wishing for us to succeed. In my workshop, I leaned into the idea that we don't have to define our why. Instead, if we ask our balcony people to state our why for us, we can step outside of ourselves and discover something about our skills and gifts that we cannot see while feeling stuck. Asking our teacher friends to answer our why also sparks a conversation encouraging us to reciprocate and help them see their whys. This intentional conversation revitalizes our energy to rediscover our passions and strengths and encourages collaboration, support, and uplifts others. Fueling those collaborative relationships and conversations improves the culture and climate at school and can fuel a spark into a strong flame of un-stuck teachers. 

Where do we begin? 

Another question that Burgess uses in his book that I love is: "Would you want to be a student in your classroom?" This question makes me pause, and I try to ask myself every week. No, not every day is the most memorable and exciting lesson ever. Sometimes we have to provide direct instruction, and those days can admittedly be a little boring. Instead of muddling through it, we can ask ourselves how we might slightly shift the lesson or learning environment to improve the quality of our students’ experiences. 

We can find ways to engage and connect with them - even if it has nothing to do with the lesson. Those small moments and connections lead to incredible buy-in and foster a strong learning community. Burgess uses what he refers to as hooks as questions to guide teachers into considering what this process might look like in the classroom. I made a form to help teachers with the planning process and lead them to hooks that might work for their individual goals. As we recharge and refocus our compasses this summer, may we start by asking ourselves, “What do I need?” We don't need to redraw the map to great teaching completely. We simply have to adjust the sails and rediscover our wind. Passion and enthusiasm will follow. 

Making the Most of Our Time Together: Navigating the Final Days of the School Year

According to a study conducted in 2015 by the Microsoft Corporation, humans have an attention span of eight seconds, roughly the time span of a goldfish. While researchers elaborate that the human mind has much more potential to focus on an idea or action for more than a few seconds, any educator at the end of a school year would undoubtedly argue to the contrary. Student engagement becomes an uphill battle as the calendar pages turn toward warmer months, but we still have work to do. I hear my students lament about "senioritis" and the desire to break free from their K-12 education. How do I maximize my time with them and guide them through our final learning experiences before they run from our halls for the final time?

Storytelling is a powerful way to captivate people.

"Good speakers are great storytellers" is a phrase I say to my students at least once a week. Stories build suspense, foster creativity, and encourage us to connect ideas and each other. Find a way to create anticipation for a lesson or a concept. This past week, we started our final unit - special occasion speaking.

I always begin the unit by sharing stories from weddings I have attended, highlighting the best and worst wedding toasts I have witnessed. Jokes about the thirty-minute best man toast that involved bathroom breaks and a hall full of hungry guests to uncomfortably sit through childhood stories of the groom and his brother remind them that our speaking skills can and will be put to the test in numerous ways throughout our lives. My stories help them to recognize the connection between content and their lives. We can all leverage our stories and experiences to captivate our students and help them understand the greater context of what we are learning together.

Keep students active.

The spring is full of distractions. Alternative schedules, field trips, and end-of-year experiences are at the forefront of students' minds. When students actively engage in the learning process, they are less likely to be consumed by distractions. Collaborative projects that promote creativity and creation can help students master skills while also having fun.

One of my favorite assignments is a nonverbal video project in which students tell a story that relates to high school students without using words. This week students asked if they could incorporate videos into their final special occasion speeches. We went down a rabbit hole of TikToks and Reels that represented their high school experiences and related to the themes of their final speeches. Instead of scolding them for embracing their distractions, I found a way to tie their videos into their speeches by looking for themes and discussing how these videos communicate their values and beliefs.

Utilize technology to amplify their voices.

Distractions can be opportunities to redirect. They can also become part of the curriculum that keeps students engaged and actively using their interests to demonstrate mastery. Having students make videos encourages them to share what they're learning on a larger scale. Using their platforms, they are more inclined to share the fun, which turns lessons into flashbulb memories that they will take with them beyond the classroom walls.

Be ready to change course.

I am *that* teacher who plans the entire semester before it begins. I am comforted by a road map that helps me prepare for heavy grading weekends and allows me to understand my units' interconnectedness. While having a plan is valuable, I acknowledge and am always ready to shift course. Some days are rough, and a lesson needs to be retooled. Certain groups of students move faster or slower depending on their skill sets and strengths. As teachers, having a vision for the journey we want our students to take in our classrooms helps us to adjust our strategies to meet the needs of our students. We must be ready to rethink, retool, and revise to meet those needs.

The final few weeks fly faster than we can blink. While our attention spans may be swimming away during the last few weeks, we can keep our students engaged by inviting our students to be active in the learning process and co-creating powerful stories and memories together.

References:

Stutsman, Lori. “You Have Eight Seconds. Differentiate Your Business through the Art of Storytelling.” You Have Eight Seconds: Differentiate Your Business Through the Art of Storytelling, Microsoft Corporation, 15 Nov. 2021, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/us-partner-blog/2021/11/15/you-have-eight-seconds-differentiate-your-business-through-the-art-of-storytelling/. 

From Exhaustion to Empowerment: A Call for Teacher Self-Care

Teacher burnout is real. From chronic student absenteeism to a lack of understanding of deadlines, I am hearing an overwhelming number of teachers locally and from my personal learning network express experiencing hardships and struggles in the school setting that have snuffed out the joy of teaching and learning. Exasperated by the end-of-the-year fatigue, state testing, and the longing for summer weather, teachers are worn out.

I get it.  

We talk about student SEL, but we often forget about teacher SEL. As an instructional coach, I often focus on bringing energy and positivity to teachers. Positive connections can help fuel even the most challenging days, whether formally collaborating or informally chatting in the hall. 

How do we continue to identify ways to engage in self-care and restorative choices that improve our day-to-day experiences and help us be better teachers for our students as they transition from one grade to the next, or in my case, from high school to college? 

First, we must create a culture of trust and openness. 

When a school is a safe place, our students are more successful. They are more engaged. As teachers, we must feel safe and allowed to be ourselves. When the professional environment is not open and supportive, teachers will stop taking risks, trying new strategies, and most importantly, they will stop collaborating and sharing great ideas. We need to trust that we can be authentic. 

One way to create that culture of trust is for administrators to provide leadership opportunities to their teachers. Often, teachers feel like their voices do not matter, and even if they have input on decisions being made, their input is dismissed or undervalued. A disconnect happens, and the reasoning behind decisions is often left out, which creates mistrust. Transparency matters, and taking the time to explain the why can make difficult decisions clear. 

Celebrating success is crucial and can shift the culture. 

This year, my focus has been finding ways to celebrate my colleagues. People need to be uplifted. During COVID and in this post-pandemic phase of life, strong teachers feel frustrated. "Normal" teaching practices and strategies are not working as they used to, and obstacles are seemingly popping up frequently. To combat the heaviness that many are still feeling, I believe in finding ways to celebrate the wins, honor leadership, and empower others to share their incredible ideas that often happen behind the closed doors of a classroom. This year, I have facilitated a sit-and-snack series that teachers throughout the building lead. 

The skills they share highlight strategies related to blended and personalized learning that any teacher can use in their classrooms, often immediately. I have also had the joy of starting a podcast called the "Teach in Ten" podcast with my friend and colleague, Cori Schwarzrock, which is focused on amplifying the stories of amazing teachers in our district. In both experiences, those teachers are uplifted and realize how valuable they are to our school community and our students. Teachers need to be empowered to share their strengths and recognize the value they bring to the school culture. The more plugged into their strengths, the more likely they will continue growing and engaging in the community. 

We need to reach out, offer support, and foster positive relationships.

I will be eternally grateful for the colleagues who have helped me navigate my 20s, encouraged me to find work-life harmony in the early stages of parenthood, and are the reasons I survived the pandemic. They are my lifelines and extended family who have brought me so much joy even in challenging moments of the last decade. We must lean into those relationships and find the people who help us grow, who are safe spaces when we need to vent, and who celebrate our success. 

We also need to remember to be those people for others. It's easy when we are feeling burnout to become isolated or to produce negative energy. When I am feeling low, I love to revisit the Marigold analogy - remembering that I need to find people who encourage me to grow, encourage me, and support me. Positive self-talk and conversations can help us to reframe our experiences and find the good in difficult circumstances. This positive outlook should not cross into toxic positivity. I genuinely believe saying, "This simply sucks," is acceptable. Acknowledge the difficulties, but do not become complacent in those hardships. Sometimes life is just hard, but our Marigolds - our PLN - can help us find the sun again. 

Beyond our experiences and immediate community, we also must seek resources and professional development beyond what we can create on our own. 

I am reading and learning all I can on teacher-SEL. I am fortunate to have a partner at home who is skilled in finding work-life harmony. My husband has also gotten into the Glennon Doyle podcast and other SEL-themed podcasts, which has given me a person with whom to dialogue about finding that balance, even in my busy seasons at school. However, teacher-SEL cannot fall on the teachers. This practice cannot be another trend that an administrator adds to the end of a slideshow at the beginning of the year. Practicing self-care is easy to say and add to an agenda item, but it needs to be authentic, and support must be given. Whether that involves attending conferences, joining professional learning networks, or engaging in other communities, we need to find something to engage in self-care genuinely. With decision fatigue, we also need help and support to find these outlets.

Overall, we need to allow ourselves to reflect and understand that we are in the business of people. Our jobs are emotional and draining. We must find healthy ways to release the pressures of our days and fuel our decision-fatigued minds. We need to talk to our colleagues and loved ones, engage in self-care, and shut down our devices more often than we do. 

Teacher burnout is a significant issue that impacts both teachers and students. When we create a culture of trust, take care of our physical and mental health, and acknowledge the emotional intensiveness of our jobs, we can work towards reducing burnout and creating a more positive learning environment for all stakeholders. As educators, we must prioritize our well-being to continue to inspire and support our students to be productive and positive members of our communities at school and beyond.