The Surprising Impact of Student Led Learning

The Surprising Impact of Student Led Learning

What You Value, You Spend Time On!

       What You Value, You Spend Time On!

      Take just a moment and think about the things that you value in your life. What are the most important parts of your life? How much time do you spend on them? I struggle with these questions on a daily basis, not just in my personal life, but professionally as well.

      

       All of the things are important, but what is taking up your time? There are lots of “things”/ tasks that steal our time, all of which need to get done, but are we spending lots of time on tasks that should be a quick task? If so, how can we be more efficient in those tasks? I do not have the magic answer, but I do have reflective questions for you to ponder when thinking about what you value professionally…

-         If a school task is taking longer than it should for the importance of it, please come see Donae or I for help. Is there a better way to complete the task?

-         Does the task need to be done? (Who assigned it?)

-         Does the task help students be successful?

o   How so? Or why not?

-         Would being collaborative be helpful in this task?

         We are all guilty of getting lost in the “stuff”. We can’t see the forest for the trees. Our goal should be helping our students be as successful as they can be. Each student needs something different, this is not new information, but what kind of time are we spending discussing what our students need? We need to be discussing how we can accommodate for different students as well as how we extend thinking for students that need to be pushed.

           

          We often spend more time talking about the “what” instead of the “how”; how do we switch up our conversations during PLCs to be more student centered instead of teacher centered. We need to support each other in putting the important things first- The kids! The kids should always be our priority, always. When we do our work, we should be spending time on what is going to make the students successful, what is going to help close achievement gaps, what is going to push our students to think at high levels.

        We spend our time on what we value. We often spend time on tasks we enjoy or that are fun, not necessarily what is needed. What is it that you value? Does it align with your actions? If not, what is standing in the way of it aligning?