Supporting Teachers with Best Practices
The unintentional missteps teachers and administrators are making
As an instructional coach and former virtual coach, I have observed countless classrooms across the nation, and it’s disheartening to see how many of our well-intentioned practices are slowly killing student curiosity. It’s a subtle process, but the cumulative effect is turning learning into a lifeless experience.
I’ve observed five major ways we’re unintentionally stifling curiosity and issue a call to action for educators, administrators, and policymakers to join the curiosity revolution:
Growth Strategies
The life you want waits for self-development. Growth strategies maximize potential. Perhaps you’re so busy savoring this life that you don’t have time to grow into the next. And who has time for future opportunities when you can’t keep up with today’s challenges?
Those who make a difference trust their talent, expand their skill, and develop their strength. Growth strategies enable growth as you go. It’s too late if you feel fully equipped for the next opportunity.
Through the eyes of new teachers
The series, called “America’s Future Teachers,” comes at a time when the teaching profession is in turmoil. Many current teachers report high levels of stress and dissatisfaction in their roles. Some have left the field. School districts are often not able to fill every open position, or not able to fill them with qualified candidates. And the rate of individuals enrolling in teacher preparation programs has dropped precipitously in the last couple of decades, resulting in too few incoming teachers to serve the student population. The U.S. Education Department even started airing TV ads to encourage people to enter the profession.
FAFSA Updates
The proposed legislation received largely bipartisan support, but some worry the hard deadline could backfire if not part of a more comprehensive plan.
The House’s education committee Wednesday advanced a bill that would require the U.S. Department of Education to release the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by Oct. 1 each year.
Rep. Erin Houchin, a Republican from Indiana who introduced the new bill, called the rollout of the updated FAFSA a “complete failure” and said it created unnecessary hardship for students’ families and colleges.
The Republican-controlled Committee on Education and the Workforce voted 34-6 to send the legislation to the full House of Representatives.
The proposal received conditional support from some Democratic lawmakers, who called for increased investment in the Education Department to allow it to fulfill its mandate.
Homelessness on the Rise
Affluent North Texas school districts grapple with a growing problem: a rise in homeless students
North Texas school districts are seeing an increase in students experiencing homelessness — even in affluent communities like Plano.
Students experiencing homelessness — or what James Thomas from Plano ISD calls “living in transition”— are eligible for services at school under the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The federal law aims to increase these students’ access to education.
Recognize your Employees
Recognition is pretty popular in the world of organizational psychology, with good reason. Were leaders somehow forced to pick only one behavior to drive team performance, recognition would be their best bet, because it would lead the team to self-govern.
For a leader to be great, it is almost a requirement to be generous with providing recognition, as it is one of the most powerful drivers of discretionary effort. When people are recognized, they work harder. Anyone who has ever led effectively either knew this instinctively or figured it out pretty quickly.
