Control the Narrative

Last year I had the opportunity to attend a conference in San Diego called ECET2 (Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching).  It was a life changer.  It helped me to realize that titles do not make a leader, actions do. For the first time in my teaching career, I have the confidence to know that I on the same playing field as some of those award-winning teachers even though I do not hold those awards. That playing field is "what is best" for students, and we are all on the same team.  Personally, however, I felt as though the most important change I needed to make was to help control the narrative coming out of my classroom and school.

A few of the amazing KS educators I met in San Diego!

Teaching is not what it used to be, and I think that is where the biggest disconnect between the public and those in education can be found. It is not building up a binder of daily resources to re-use for ten years. It is not days upon days of worksheets.  It is not desks in a row, one-size-fits-all types of classrooms. It IS working to unlock each student's learning potential using whatever means we have at hand - be it through 1:1 laptops, flexible seating, independent reading, maker spaces, and coding. The 6-o'clock news doesn't show this; they run stories about inappropriate teacher relationships, failing budgets, and state assessments. No one knows what happens better in my classroom than I do, so why in the world would I let someone else tell my classroom story?

My kiddos are loving the flexible seating and low tables!

People often ask me about how I teach and how the kids are these days. I struggle to verbally tell them what happens in my classroom because I strive to make my classroom an experience, not a lesson.  So I show them; I tweet, I blog, I post to Facebook. Oftentimes, I second guess myself.  Should I share this? How will others view this? Will they think I am bragging or patting myself on the back? These are all genuine concerns, but it all comes down to sharing little glimpses of what happens in my classroom and my school each day. It is promoting the awesome things that my students and colleagues are doing each day; I often find myself saying, "You should Tweet that out!" It is making myself a little vulnerable by trying new things and sharing if they worked or not. It is showing how much fun we have each day in class and how much I look forward to seeing my students each day. (Have I told you how awesome and inspiring they are and how much I love them!?)

Imagine what would happen if more educators worked to control the narrative of public education? How might that start to slowly change the view that so many hold about teachers and teaching? But there's a catch. Doing this puts an emphasis on innovation and takes teachers out of their comfort zone. It changes the role of the teacher from sage-on-the-stage to facilitator of learning. It widens my audience. And let's be honest, change is scary. However, it also makes my classroom transparent, and if we expect to see any changes in the public view of education, those cinder-block walls have to be opened up for others to see. It costs nothing to create a district hashtag (#313teach), building hashtag (#BHSlearn), or classroom hashtag (#BHSNeill). It is such an easy start to promoting the awesomeness that happens in classrooms each day. Sometimes it just take a little encouragement to share. Tweet it out, control the narrative, welcome others to the awesomeness that is your classroom!