Every Week Matters

Time.  Time relates to so much in our lives from day-to-day interactions to the monumental picture of life itself.  It all revolves around time.  Speaking of time, regardless of the time that has passed since my last post, I couldn't wait to dust off my blog tonight and jump back in with a post that I was inspired by earlier this morning from @pastorstevepoe.  

Did you know that the average number of weeks a parent will have with their child from birth to graduation is a mere 936 weeks?  936 weeks?!  While that may seem like more than enough to many, as a parent myself, that number seemed shockingly low.

Infographic credit: @NorthviewCarmel

As you can see from the infographic above, 936 weeks seems like an incredible gift as time continues to pass as a child gets older and older.  Wow! Talk about perspective!  The more I thought about the gift of time not only with my own children, the more I started thinking and reflecting about the students in our classrooms and the value of their time spent with educators during their years of schooling.  

The following is my own creation of an infographic as it relates to a child's education: 

Created using Piktochart

Ironically enough, the TOTAL amount of time a child spends in school grades K-12 equates approximately to only about 8 or 9 years of a child's life as seen in the first infographic.  Powerful message, isn't it?  

As educators, how are we choosing to spend the time that we have with our students each and every day?  When thinking about the role of the elementary school years, it becomes even more apparent about how crucial these weeks are in laying the foundational blocks in a child's learning.  

As we think about our instruction, are we using our time wisely with our students?  When we begin with an end goal in mind for our students not only now but in the future, we are able to use every minute of time in our classrooms as a gift and opportunity rather than as a burden that often leaves us falling victims to content "coverage".  Each teacher's 36 weeks with a student could either push them  36 weeks closer to that end goal or 36 weeks farther away.  

In the end, every day and every week matters with our students.  The time we get with them now all contributes to that magical number of 468...468 amazing weeks of opportunity and promise.  An educator's influence is inevitable and substantial on a student regardless of their age or grade level.

How will you choose to spend your 36 weeks?  

Change Your Words, Change Your Mindset

What are things a flower needs to thrive and grow?  We know when we give a flower things like water, air, and sunlight,  it will grow because we are giving it things it needs. However, what happens if we don't give a flower things it needs?  It will no longer grow and will stop thriving.  Our brains work in many similar ways.  This was just one of the analogies I used when sharing the message of maintaining a growth mindset with our students recently.

Throughout the month of September, I had the opportunity to visit every K-5 classroom in our building and model a lesson to our students about a growth vs. fixed mindset.  This concept was first introduced to our staff at the beginning of the year by our principal (@phaney10) and assistant principal (@MBRileyNCE).  Further inspiration came from psychologist and author, Carol Dweck, and her book, Mindset.  I felt the impact this message had on myself both personally and professionally, so I knew what I wanted to do as we kicked off the school year...share the power of our words!  Not only is maintaining a growth mindset imperative to us as educators, it should also resonate deeply within each and every one of our students. 

"In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong."~ Carol Dweck

"In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities"~Carol Dweck



I loved the ability to differentiate my lessons dependent upon the grade level I was teaching; however, despite the activity or age of the student, the message remained constant, consistent, and more importantly, powerful! The ideas and conversations from our five-year-old students were just as insightful and impactful to those of our ten-year-old students.  Some of the books that I shared with classrooms are seen below.

One of my favorite activities was when I played choose a side with each class towards the end of our lesson.  One side of the room represented a fixed mindset, while the other side of the room represented a growth mindset.  Students started in the center of the classroom and chose their side depending on the phrase I said.  We started with phrases such as, "I'll never be as smart as him" (fixed mindset) to "I made a mistake, but what can I do to improve next time?" (growth mindset).  The one phrase that split the room in almost EVERY single classroom was the phrase "It's good enough".  While I loved seeing the differing of opinions as students stood on either side of the room intently wondering if they were "right", what I loved even more were the rationales given for why they were standing on the chosen side.  Should our work ever be good enough?  It was amazing to see the shift when I added "It's good enough, BUT what could I do to make it EVEN better?"-Ah-ha! Transition emerged from what was thought by some to be a growth mindset to the realization that they were actually in a fixed mindset before adding a few more words.  It's a perfect example of how a growth mindset can impact our instruction each and every day.

Going along with the power of our words, I shared one word with all students that I hope they will continue to reiterate with themselves this year and every year going forward in their own educational journeys.  The power of the word...YET!  Do we all face challenges?  Sure.  Are there things that are difficult for us? Of course.  That being said, if we are keeping a growth mindset, then we must continue to acknowledge and emphasize that just because we can't do it now, we just can't do it YET! All students set goals for themselves in their learning and what they would do to keep a growth mindset with their "yet" challenge.

Asking questions, making mistakes, taking risks, taking on challenges, practice/applying strategies, giving/accepting feedback...just a few of the things students, teachers, staff, and administrators encounter on a day-to-day basis.  We all have various roles within our building, but at the end of the day, we all share the same end goal which helps make our school "team" even stronger...

Foster the growth mindset, squander the fixed mindset. 

   

Heading to a screen near you NOW!

Calling all you educational blog lovers! Introducing the scoop on the scenes behind the scenes at Noble Crossing from the perspective of a fellow tiger herself. The students, teachers, and staff make this elementary school the unforgettable place that it has become, and I feel blessed every day to have called this my school home since Noble Crossing first opened its doors eight years ago.  

TRUST= Tigers Reaching Unprecedented Success Together, so join me as I blog about my home away from home and all of its wonderful people within it.  We celebrate our successes and reflect in our struggles, but at the end of the day, it is our school culture that we have collectively established and we couldn't be prouder.  It's going to be a fun ride!