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| What do you do when The Great Egg White Experiment doesn't pan out? Add BACON! |
In honor of the official end of resolution season! That’s right! If you made your resolutions for the new year, January 17 is the date that the majority of those resolutions fall apart. So long, gym trips! Adios, grading those papers early! Sayonara, early bed time!
You know the spiel up to this point in the year. It’s the new year! Make your new year’s resolutions! Gonna be a great year to change it up! New year, new you! Pick one word that exemplifies what you’re gonna be about for the whole year! Stop sucking so much at being you and be a better version of you!
Bleh. Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so much a sales point as the others, but let’s just talk about what works. After all - that’s what we do, right? We keep doing what works. So, what’s good and what you do now that you did last year and the year before? How much of what you do is actually new? How do you bring in small amounts of new to the old to make it feel just different enough not to lose your mind?
I try to keep the following things in mind as I move forward, and I don’t feel like I’m reinventing anything. I actually feel like I’m reflecting and adapting.
Identify your successes:
Chances are you’re doing something well. You’re fostering relationships, building rapport, You have great methods for imparting knowledge. You know your content forward and back. Find the things you do well. They’re the things that you’re going to take with you forever. Hold on to them. They’ll help you grow.
Chances are you’re doing something well. You’re fostering relationships, building rapport, You have great methods for imparting knowledge. You know your content forward and back. Find the things you do well. They’re the things that you’re going to take with you forever. Hold on to them. They’ll help you grow.
Find 1 or 2 new things to attach to things you know:
You’re clearly connected. Now it’s time to harness that connection. Find someone who is doing what you do differently. Talk to them. Pick their brain. What are they doing differently? How is it working for them? Can you use what they do? Can they use what you do?
You’re clearly connected. Now it’s time to harness that connection. Find someone who is doing what you do differently. Talk to them. Pick their brain. What are they doing differently? How is it working for them? Can you use what they do? Can they use what you do?
NEVER teach a new tool with new material:
When you find a new tool you want to teach your students, you cannot teach it at the same time you’re teaching new material. It doesn’t matter the age. If they don’t understand how to use the tool, you’re not going to know if they understand the material, and the assessment value will be lost. Teach them the tool. Let them fail with it a bit. Then let them use the tool to show you they understand how to leverage it to demonstrate their content knowledge.
When you find a new tool you want to teach your students, you cannot teach it at the same time you’re teaching new material. It doesn’t matter the age. If they don’t understand how to use the tool, you’re not going to know if they understand the material, and the assessment value will be lost. Teach them the tool. Let them fail with it a bit. Then let them use the tool to show you they understand how to leverage it to demonstrate their content knowledge.
Thinking strategically about how you approach your early [or even late] adoption will allow you to keep your changes sustainable.
