Great Educators Celebrate

I recently had the privilege of traveling to Katy, TX for the What Great Educators Do Differently conference.  What a fabulous experience!  Not only did I have the chance to learn and grow with some of the best in the education field, but I also had the chance to interact with many fine people from Katy and around the world.

All weekend, attendees were challenged to think about their current practice and ask themselves (and each other) if what they were doing was simply good enough, or truly great.  

We were asked to overcome our fear of taking risks for the sake of inspiring our students:

If we are afraid to take risks, what kind of culture does that create with our students? @RafranzDavis #WGEDD pic.twitter.com/coD0SgJs0w

— Pete Helfers (@petehelfers) April 9, 2016

We were asked to challenge our grading practices:

Boy, do I remember doing that @pernilleripp #WGEDD pic.twitter.com/aJbQrKA3Xo

— Pete Helfers (@petehelfers) April 9, 2016

Our homework practices:

Examine homework practices and time spent talking in class instead of allowing Ss to work @pernilleripp #WGEDD pic.twitter.com/dMoenctXqm

— Pete Helfers (@petehelfers) April 9, 2016

We were asked to challenge that which we were calling true innovation:

Missed @Great_Educators in TX? Link to 1000+ image photo walk :) https://t.co/DpYbHGnOGl #katyisd #txeduchat #leadupchat #leadupkaty #wgedd

— c64KID INNOVATIONS (@c64kid) April 12, 2016

We were asked to tell our story (or risk someone else telling it for us):

In the absence of knowledge people make up their own @Joesanfelippofc #WGEDD pic.twitter.com/YipZ8fKjxj

— Pete Helfers (@petehelfers) April 9, 2016

And we were asked to seek forgiveness from our students others when we blow it in the above categories (or others):

If you ever mess it up when dealing with a kid go and ask for forgiveness. And be sincere about it @casas_jimmy #WGEDD

— Pete Helfers (@petehelfers) April 8, 2016

And that is just a small snapshot of a very small number of the highlights!  We also edcamped, collaborated, and challenged ourselves and others to think differently, act differently, and lead differently for the sake of students, teachers, administrators, and communities.  To say it was inspirational seems like an incredible understatement.

To continue to the learning, collaborating, and growing, I want to throw one more thought into the pool related to what great educators do differently than average, so so, or even good educators. Great educators celebrate.  This thought came to me on the plane ride home from Houston.  I settled into my seat, put my earbuds in, and was ready to checkout for the flight home.  However, because I was sitting close to the front galley, the movements of the flight attendants caught my eye around 30 minutes into the flight.  They were reaching for their phones, peering out the window, and taking pictures of the rather beautiful sunset.  It struck me that neither of the two flight attendants doing this looked like this was their first flight.  I would guess that they were both veterans by their composure and the way they conducted themselves on the job.  Surely this wasn’t the first sunset they had seen from 30,000 feet.  Why the pictures?  I think it is because it is in the nature of some of us to want to celebrate that which is beautiful.  It was a beautiful sunset after all, but one might think that flight attendants of all people would think such a sight as ordinary and that their treatment of it would also be ordinary.  I could almost picture the conversation: “Hey Sophie, did you see that sunset?”  “Yeah, I saw it.  Nice, but not as nice as yesterday’s” and off with the beverage cart Sophie would go.  But that is not how it went down.  They both stopped to marvel and to photo it before getting back to their work.

Average educators see spectacular things in students every day.  Many of them think things like, “Yeah, nice project, but you should have seen Susie’s last year.”  Great educators stop to celebrate all that is beautiful, marvelous, or spectacular in their classrooms every time they see it and then continue on with their work of helping every other child do their most beautiful, marvelous, or spectacular work.  And then go on celebrating that, too.