Formatting my philosophy of adaptation has been tough. I feel like there is so much to talk about and to condense it down to 2-3 pages is tough.
This week I read Gerald and Natalie's posts. Gerald talked about coming up with a simple and concise statement. I really like his idea of "adapt or die." In science we learn this to be what happens. Adaptations help us survive, and if we don't adapt we will not be able to survive. He also related change to how our educational system needs and overhaul. I think this is a great connection and something that almost everyone can relate to. We know that the current educational system is not working for every student. The idea has been to just create different types of schools. I agreed with him that this is working for some students, but is not really the change that will fix the educational system. Next I read Natalie's post. I really liked how she focused on how to use technology. I didn't really talk about this but it is important to discuss how you can use technology in the classroom. This is a huge change from the traditional view of education. She also talked about using projects. I definitely feel strongly that this is the way to go. This is a change I have been making in my classroom. I think I need to do a better job at structuring these projects, but all of my students love projects over tests.
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Jule talked in her blog post about changing school. I can bet that changing schools would be hard on anyone. I have found that really trying to focus on the positives can help change feel less disruptive. This year I have really been trying to focus on the positives when I can. We aren't changing schools but have had our own challenges this year. Everyone has their own opinions. So I think Jule have nailed it that these differences will have to be reconciled, and you need a good leader who can help lead you through a change. She also posted a graphic that included great questions for you to ask yourself. This could help reframe the challenges you feel. It seems to take the focus towards how you can make the change work.
Natalie focused on listening in her post. This can be really tough especially when you have a different opinion. I think listening can be the most impactful as far as bringing people along for change to happen. If a person feels listened to and validated they are more likely to listen to you. I think it is also helpful to know what active listening looks like. So many think they are listening but really it is not the listening that people desire. We need to listen so that the other person feels heard. Here are the steps she listed for active listening:
Larissa shared a great example of a school through an edutopia video. These teachers are paired with another teacher and they collaborate daily. I wish I had an easier method to communicate with others who teach the same content as I do. At my school I am the only science teacher other than elementary teachers. The content I teach is different from what anyone else teaches. Right now we are only able to collaborate on strategies we use in class. We are a CHAMPs school and so right now we are working on our ratio of positive to negative interactions. This has been great to have because we are all working on something together and can share our experiences. It is relatable to all. Larissa picked up on the same quote I did: "If people begin sharing ideas about issues they see as really important, the sharing itself creates a learning culture." However I don't think it is true all of the time. If you are both on the same side and there is no disagreement then I think this works. But there are situations where you can be too passionate and stubborn to see someone else's perspective. I think this is where communication really has to be open and we have to be willing to listen to what the other person is saying.
Tristan talked about how she gives feedback to teachers when she uses their lesson ideas. This made me think about a program that I am in called PREPARES. It wasn't something I had considered until she mentioned this feedback and I looked back on this experience I have had for the past 3 years. This is a place-based, culturally relevant science curriculum that has been created with teacher and elder input. We are finally on the last year of piloting the curriculum. The 1st year we had a forum online to discuss what went well and what did not go as planned. This was awesome feedback to read if you taught the lesson after others had already taught it. It was very valuable regardless of if you were able to get the feedback before teaching or after. All of the teachers in the program are at different village sites and this was a great way to communicate. We get together once a year (more if we are lucky to see each other on other trips) and we talk about how our teaching of these lessons is going. This is the best communication I have had in my 5 years of teaching at a village site. I wonder if village sites could use this idea to foster more communication amongst teachers? Josie talked about her business experience. She said “Get the right people on your team, and get the wrong ones off” was always taught to her as being true. She talked about how most employers look for someone that will fit well with the team. I think this can be a good strategy, but you also need to make sure that they will bring diversity in. Maybe a new skill or even just a new perspective from their previous job experience. I wonder if most employers just look for someone who is identical to the workers they already have or if they just look for a personality that jives with their current employees? I would have to think it is the latter. It would be pretty hard to find identical workers, I would think? Andrea said something that really struck me: "we need to know how to work with a wide array of people." Isn't this what we are teaching our students? We definitely have to have high EI to work with everyone and this can certainly be challenging. I think a big step is just recognizing that a decision you made makes others mad. Some people don't even realize this part. You will never make everyone happy, but working with them will help them to feel included and could lessen the anger as a result. She also shared a quiz to see where your strong suits are as far as EI goes. I took this quiz and scored a 63 out of 80. I really like how this resource shares how you can improve your people skills. I think this is something that most people continually try to work on. Below are the results the test showed at the end. Score InterpretationScoreComment16-36Your technical skills may have taken precedence over your people skills in your career to date. You aren't making the most of the relationships you have at work, and this may be limiting your career growth. It's time to assess how you can work better with others in the workplace and develop a more collaborative, understanding, and open approach to getting your needs met – while still achieving team and organizational objectives. (Read below to start.)
37-58You recognize that working well with others in the workplace is important; and you are trying to work collaboratively while still making sure your needs are met. There is room for improvement, however, as old habits may creep in during times of stress and pressure. Make a plan to work actively on your people skills so that they form the natural basis for how you approach workplace relationships. (Read below to start.) 59-80Your people skills are good. You understand the give and take involved in complex issues involving people. You might not always approach situations perfectly, however you have a sufficiently good understanding to know when and where you need to take steps to rectify things. Keep working on your people skills, and set an example for the rest of your team. And take some time to work on the specific areas below where you lost points. The quiz assesses your skills according to the four main themes below. Review your scores for each theme, and read more where you need to. Interpersonal Communication Skills(Questions 6, 9, 13, 15) Your score is 16 out of 20 Many people spend more time working with other people than they do with processes or products. This means that they need to communicate well with others, and this makes communication skills some of the most important skills in the workplace. Some of the key communication stumbling block to be aware of include:
Managing Differences(Questions 3, 5, 8, 11) Your score is 15 out of 20 People can seem to disagree about almost anything – what caused a problem, how to solve it, what values are right, what values are wrong, what goals should be pursued; the list goes on! On top of this, you have the personal, non-job-related differences between people that lead to obvious differences in outlook and approach. Because of this, respecting and managing the differences between people can be one of the most important skills you can develop! Indeed, it can be a huge advantage if you learn to celebrate and enjoy differences, and make them work to your advantage. Key to this is recognizing that, in many cases, conflict is not "bad". In fact, conflict often causes significant, positive change. It spawns creative and novel approaches to problem solving, and can actually improve organizational performance if managed properly. In our article on Resolving Team Conflict , we discuss how you can build stronger teams by facing and embracing personal differences. And then, with our Conflict Resolution tool, we outline how to use the Interest-Based Relational (IBR) approach for solving interpersonal issues. Both of these articles outline how you can emerge from conflict with strong and healthy relationships. When resolving conflict, it helps a lot if you can understand other people's needs and points of view – this can often help you find solutions that may otherwise not have occurred to you. And when you take the time to understand another person's perspective, you are demonstrating your willingness to work together to find a solution. Our articles on Empathy at Work and Perceptual Positions can help you develop this aspect of people skills. These help you to adopt different vantage points when resolving differences. Finally, you need to be appropriately assertive if you're going to manage differences effectively. Aggression is clearly counter-productive if you're trying to resolve conflict, but also, if you fail to recognize your own needs in a situation, you run the risk of agreeing to a solution that works against your own interests. Again, it's important to remember that differences aren't necessarily negative, so suppressing your thoughts and ideas just to come to an easy agreement isn't effective or efficient. You can read more about assertiveness in our article here . And our piece Yes to the Person, No to the Task is a useful approach to use in everyday situations where you need to manage differences assertively and effectively. Managing Agreement(Questions 2, 10, 12, 14) Your score is 12 out of 20 While managing differences may be an obvious application of people skills, managing agreement may not seem to be. However, helping people come to an agreement with one-another is important, and requires a great deal of skill! "Synergy" is one of the most important things that you're looking for with teamwork. This is where the team's output is better or greater than the sum of each individual's input. To achieve synergy, you need to get people working together collaboratively. If you've ever participated in a team decision-making process, you probably realize that reaching a decision by yourself can be much more straightforward. The problem with individual decision-making, though, is that you miss out on all of the insights that other people can give. With strong people skills, you don't need to back away from collaborative situations: you can approach team meetings with a genuinely positive attitude! Tip:When you're engaging in group decision-making, make sure you avoid the common pitfalls. See our article on Groupthink for more. Part of this involves feeling comfortable with different kinds of questions, and with when to use them, and how. In our article on Questioning Techniques , we look at open and closed questions, as well as other common types of question that you can use to keep conversation flowing and get the specific information you need. As well as this, it's useful to have a good selection of problem solving tools in your arsenal. When you are confident in your ability to find solutions you will be more likely to participate in these conversations and add value to your team. In our article Opening Closed Minds , we show you how to get your point across effectively, so that you can reach the agreement you are seeking. These types of tools will give you the confidence you need to confront differences, knowing that you can also manage the agreement side of the equation. Another aspect of managing agreement relates to feedback. When given poorly, people reject feedback: it's viewed as destructive criticism, and it can damage relationships. Delivered well, however, feedback can lead to an improved understanding of one another's needs and perspectives, as well as improving performance and productivity. We look at this in detail in our article, Giving and Receiving Feedback . Also, in our article looking at the Johari Window we outline a great technique for increasing interpersonal understanding through self-disclosure. The bottom line is that, to develop strong people skills, you need to be able to accept what others are saying and learn from this. Not only will this help you personally, it will help you relate openly and honestly with others. Personal Integrity(Questions 1, 4, 7, 16) Your score is 20 out of 20 Integrity is the cornerstone of people skills. Integrity means basic honesty and truthfulness when dealing with others. It also means working with people openly, and in such a way that people's interests aren't compromised for the sake of the team or the organization. Basic courtesies like saying “thank you" often, and giving credit where it is due, are the types of people-oriented behaviors that can make all of the difference to other people. Whether you are in a leadership position or not, recognizing your teammates' contributions and acknowledging their efforts will go a long way towards creating a positive, harmonious, and productive team climate. Our articles on Rewarding Your Team , Leading by Example , and Ethical Leadership are all great resources that help you learn how to behave with integrity on a daily basis. Key PointsWith well-developed people skills, you can communicate effectively on an interpersonal level; manage conflict positively; work productively with others to find solutions and reach agreement; and work with integrity and ethics to motivate and inspire others. These are all skills that can be learned and developed. Even the most technically-oriented worker can begin to incorporate people skills in his or her work setting. Best of all, people skills are not limited to the workplace. When worked on actively, they will enrich all aspects of your professional and personal life. Sarah talked about how mentors share their perspective with a mentee. It is not about the knowledge but rather sharing what each knows. I loved this quote: "A teacher has greater knowledge than a student; a mentor has greater perspective." If we assume the role of a mentor we aim to share with each other. This can be hard in teaching children because they don't always have as much knowledge. I think mentoring definitely works better as the student gets older. A mentorship takes such a different skill set than teaching. I know in my mentorship it is hard to take a step back and let the mentee share what she knows. I have such a great desire to help her that sometimes it is hard to just step back.
Matthew shared about his mentorship with an older teacher stuck in his ways. I think his mentorship is definitely tough. There are no real requirements for the mentee so in this case the mentor has to really try to sell what they are offereing. My mentorship is the opposite. My mentee wants to know more but is not fast at picking up on technological things. For me this has been pretty easy to show her new things because she wants to know it. The issue is that she just needs more time to practice. I have noticed that with the mentoring aspect she only practices with me and doesn't try as much on her own. I think right now she doesn't feel comfortable with it. I review each time we meet and have her try to dictate what she learned. I think this is helping her gain confidence. Confidence can be a major barrier for many. I wonder if this may also be holding back Matthew's mentee? I wonder if he is afreaid to fail? I know in my reading this week I read that adults are more likely to not try due to a fear of failure. Gerald talked about teaching students creative thinking skills in math. He said that this is his moral purpose as a teacher. I love this idea. The only problem I have is that my students are so low that basic math facts are not easily recalled. I love hands on equations because it has word problems that go along with basic equation solving. This has really helped my students to be able to try some simple problems whereas before they wouldn't even try them. I definitely think that once basic math facts are more readily recalled students should be pushed to try new problems. They need to learn to be creative and that not everything is done the same way.
Andrea talked about her moral purpose to help all students be included in the classroom. I think this is so important. As a teacher it is so hard to meet every student where they are at and you could easily not. You really have to have a high moral purpose in helping all students to go the extra mile for each student. I think this fits with my moral purpose as well, especially in terms of after school. I do so much because I know students wouldn't get to experience some activities if I did not do them. These activities really help students grow and I am happy that I can spend the time helping them. It also gives me another way to get to know students on a different level and I get their buy-in in the classroom. I also believe this relates to my post in that I haven't always made time for myself. I am getting burnt out, and that has made me realize that I need to set time limits and make sure I follow them. MENTORSHIP UPDATE My mentor and I have met 3 times. 2 times we met and worked together on creating a google doc for the weekly bulletin, set filters for her emails, created folders for staff lesson plan submission, and fixed the site calendar for this year and created a proposed calendar for next year (this was not on the list for help topics but she requested my help). So far all is going well and my mentor has really thanked me for helping her. She is not very tech savvy and likes learning new things to help her do her job more smoothly. 1 of the times we met was just to recap and for her to give me feedback. I have created videos and handouts to help my mentee learn when I am not around. She has requested that I continue to do this, as it is really helpful. I will also be making a video for our staff on how to submit lesson plans to the folder. I would do this in person but I will be missing next Friday and hate to wait any longer to show staff how to do this. Natalie pointed out on a comment in my blog that with all of the technology we have communication still doesn't seem sufficient. I think some of it boils down to how skilled administrators are with technology. The ones who are comfortable with it seems to be better at communicating than those who aren't as comfortable. Currently my administrator is in the not so skilled category. However, I am working with her for my mentorship project so hopefully this will help.
Gerald made a good point about how leaders sometimes don't make decisions based on everyone around them but rather just go off of their personal interests. I think this is where you really have to look for a school that matches your beliefs. I know I have been filling out a lot of applications and they do ask questions relating to what you believe about education. I think people really have to be honest here to make sure they end up in a place that is a good fit for their beliefs. Larissa talked about how leaders really need a good moral compass, and she argued that this might be more important than any other quality of a leader. If we think about it, who would want someone who is unethical making decisions? No one. We want to have trust in our leader. She linked a video that talks about how being labeled a leader can go to our head. I think this happens more often than not. The title makes people feel entitled and like they are invincible. This shows that a moral compass is even more important. This is something that I did not think about in my post but makes perfect sense. In Gerald's post he talked about how you have to have others support. "You could have the best leader for change, but unless you have the masses’ endorsement and support, you will lead an army of one." We have to build relationships to get others to back us up. This is what so many said through Twitter or their blogs. I remember reading some of a book a last summer called crucial conversations. This book gives suggestions for having tough conversations with others. I think this is a skill that relatively few people just have but many could acquire it. His post made me think about how we can get the support of others. How can we win them over? I thought back to crucial conversations because it really did give some great advice on how to make others feel heard and to help them hear what you have to say as well. Larissa also posted about that fact that teachers don't have to know everything. I was reminded of that in my reading this week as well. For me this is a challenge. I feel like I have to know everything to be a good teacher, but this just isn't true. There has been a large shift from teachers being the sage on the stage to being more of a facilitator. She posted a link to a video that did a great job of explaining the role of facilitator. In the video it explained that we have to know the right questions to ask rather than the answer to a question. This can be more challenging that just giving your lecture. For the lecture you can plan, but predicting the questions you will ask cannot be predicted in a PBL lesson. I believe you really have to prepare students for a PBL lesson because they have generally not been taught how to think or work in this manner.
Jule first talked about a lack of time and resources. Jim echoed this concern on her blog. My question is: Is there a teacher who doesn't have time & resource issues? I feel like that is always a problem. Even without taking classes I would still find ways to busy myself by grading, creating lesson plans, or even just catching up on stuff at home. There is always something to do. I think that really proves the point of small steps. Try out one new thing at a time and don't bite off more than you can chew. I also really liked the video Jule posted. I could totally relate to it. I was definitely the quiet kid in school, but now I am a lot different. When in small groups I would open up but not in front of the class. I really had to gain my confidence and for me that happened as I went through college and had to find my own niche. I think the strategy of talking with a student after class could make the world of a difference. Allowing them to hear that they are right can build the confidence and when they are ready they will speak. Everyone has something to say but they may need confidence to say it. I first read Larissa's blog and a lot of it resonated with my post this week. She first talked about how prevalent collectives are and how how easily accessible they are now with technology. She then talked about gamer collectives as being one of the best example of a collective. Currently we are giving our seniors a reward for doing well on the recent round of MAPs testing. They are playing games and teaching and helping each other. They are totally engaged in what they are doing. It just goes to show the power of a game and the dialogue we can have when we are into what we are doing. Even thought the game is hard and they aren't always winning they still want to play over and over again. It has really made me want to gamify my classroom more. I just wish I either had the same group of students or taught the same classes. I'm struggling just to put a game together for my 8th graders. I have the bulletin board set up and they have each picked characters but I am struggling to get the other parts ready. I wish it was easy to recreate a game like environment.
Jim talked about how teachers should try to incorporate the collective as much as possible by using project based learning or collaborative or cooperative learning. This encourages students to connect and I think the authors would agree. He then went on to talk about how this is not new and I agree but I am not sure the collective is project based learning, collective learning, or collaborative learning. I think they could fit in but they are not the same thing. I think technology really helps to just connect people of like interests because I believe that is where the collective is. In a classroom you are going to have a lot of diversity but online you can get a group of similar minded individuals. I comment to Jim that I thought the authors idea of the collective was more about joining something that interests you and finding a way to leave your mark. In education you are forced to do what the teacher expects. In education students will always have to do things that aren't in their interests so I guess it is more about how to incorporate student interest when it might not naturally be there. Gerald commented on my blog about some of his interests and how the unicycle interest has transferred over to his daughter. I believe this shows how our passions can make others passionate. I think it goes back to the first book we read, Teach Like a Pirate, where if we can show our passion to our students we can catch their interest. I like how High Tech High has no single subjects but rather they are combined. This allows teaches to teach things they are passionate about. In turn they have test scores that are 10% above the state average and 98% of graduates enter college. The students their are allowed to explore learning from a passionate teacher and I believe this helps them to develop a love of learning. The students experience learning more as play than this required task. Now we both agree that test scores are the best means to measure our students, but right now that is what we have. Even if it isn't the best means this example from High Tech High does change the way that I view education.
In Sarah's post she talked a lot about how people embrace change. A lot of people are resistant to change because we want to do what already works even if it doesn't work great. We want to do what is comfortable. I do like trying to change things up, but when I get busy I definitely revert back to what is comfortable. I definitely learned by lecture. It is not that exciting but I was able to learn that way. It is hard to change to something we don't know. We can fear the unknown. We just don’t know what to expect so how can we prepare for it. For me I just try to live in the moment. I plan a week at a time, because that is what is required at my school. I know some teachers who plan for a month. I just don’t know how they do it because I evaluate at the end of the week and sometimes this radically changes what I will do the next week. I think this might be the biggest way to incorporate change. You have to leave room for it. I know if I had plans for a month I would not want to change because that would require more work for me. Gerald posted about how using technology for his is like a game. He plays around with the new tech until he understands it. I have the same experience. Even though the only reward I get is knowledge I still want to play. I think if we can find something that our students are passionate about and leverage it to be a learning experience we will see that students are wanting to learn for more than a grade or a prize. They do it because they want the skill. I did not think about it this way but I can totally relate. |
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