By Michael Kobito 

As a teacher, my students were either excited by or puzzled by the constant positive energy I brought into the classroom. My first block class always accused me of having an entire pot of coffee before class started, as if that would be the only explanation for my cheerful demeanor. Whether it’s exciting or puzzling, this is just how I am, and how I try to be consistently for my students. 

Personally, I don’t believe that having positive energy is the same as being toxically positive. We know the world isn’t perfect. We all have days that aren’t great. We know that there are people who are cutting us off in traffic for selfish reasons. We understand that every action isn’t pure all the time. But more importantly, we know that our students learn more from us than just the content we teach. They are learning how to act, react, and respond to all the opportunities that life brings. With this, we have a responsibility: teach the art of consideration. Consider the whole picture before judging, reacting, or responding. 

To better equip our students for the world, we must allow them the opportunity to buy in to the importance of this exploration. Being great role models is the path to molding thoughtful students, stronger leaders, and considerate people. 

Four Ideas to Help Your Students Create Buy-In

Idea #1: Model the Model

One of the most impactful modes of learning is through mimicking modeled behavior. Even in high school, I had many students who were easily identified as my students because of shared mannerisms and catchphrases. As teachers, we need to model the model. This means we work on handling situations more thoughtfully. We own lapses in our own progress. If we want anything for our students, it’s that they leave our classrooms better people than when they entered. This is something we can and should actively model every day. If you don’t believe it, ask your students if they’ve ever noticed the way you respond to a certain situation or conversation. You’ll find that they are far more perceptive than you thought. 

Idea #2: Make Time to Understand 

Ask more questions that force students to think. Oftentimes, we spend our energy looking at the answer to the question. Sometimes, we will look to figure out how they got to the answer (especially when the answer is wrong). But very rarely do we understand the journey the students took to get to their answer. We rarely provide the chance for them to understand their process unless we are intentional about this. 

How do they know if they love science, or statistics, or STEM, or singing, or Shakespeare, if the only communication they have around those topics are “Did I get it right” or “What didn’t I get right?” Allowing our students to think deeply, not just when a negative action has occurred or a negative consequence is impending, is preparing our students for a world where they can safely explore their emotions and processing power. 

Idea #3: Lead by Listening

Keep your bias out and allow your students to feel as they feel. While the reaction to a situation may be inappropriate, the emotion that caused their reaction is still real for them. Don’t hear me wrong on this point — when a behavior is inappropriate and a consequence is required, that consequence shouldn’t be bypassed for the sake of the feeling. Rather, we must follow through with the proper process while ensuring that we allow the student to actually grow.

For us to help our students develop competencies in this area, we have to be willing to listen without being dismissive, and have a real conversation. While their feelings may not make sense to you, students need empathy to feel safe enough to grow. 

Idea #4: Notice Positive Growth 

If you are taking into account everything we have talked about, you are probably finding areas that your day-to-day can slightly shift to build up consideration in classrooms. You might be feeling some conviction, and that’s ok! We as adults aren’t too dissimilar from students when it comes to receiving feedback — it can be hard and make us sensitive, or even defensive like we talked about earlier. I bring this up because it is important for us to notice positive growth, not only in our students but in ourselves too. 

The school is one of the only places where the sole purpose is learning. All who walk through the halls of the school deserve to learn something while they are there. When we learn and grow, that deserves to be acknowledged and cherished, so congratulations! Keep it up! Share the good news! Just because you didn’t know something yesterday or just were reminded of it today, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t feel pride in the truth that you’ll keep learning tomorrow. So don’t phone in. Slow down, look around, and keep buying in instead. 

Phoning in is easy. Buying in demands effort.

Phoning in is common. Buying in is special. 

Phoning in is dull. Buying in is compelling. 

Phoning in is careless. Buying in is considerable. 

Buy in. Challenge your students to buy in. It’ll make a world of difference in the culture of your classroom, your community, your students, and your world.

By Kara Mallory

My daughter and I have, in many ways, grown up together. Most of my friends were still learning about their passions from textbooks. They took on study abroad semesters, with many still having mom and dad pay most of their bills. I had just turned twenty and was learning from sleepless nights, Sesame Street, play, and caring for someone other than myself. I supported and taught this little one about real life while still figuring out what real life was myself. As I look back over the last 16 years, as much as I have taught her, and now her siblings, they have taught me and continue to teach me so much more.

And guess what? You don’t have to be a parent to learn from kids! I have learned as much from the students I have taught, coached, and mentored as I have from the classes I’ve taken and the adults I’ve interacted with.

Sometimes, when we get busy or only see ourselves as drivers, teachers, or providers, we miss out on what our kids are teaching us. Focusing too much on standards, tests, or their achievements can make us miss the lessons they are showing us. Eventually, this can distract us as leaders, causing us to overlook the daily lessons we can take from children.

Young people are childlike in their wonder, attitude, position, and dependence in their early years. Yet we often are the very opposite. As adult leaders, we slip easily into a self-centered mindset. We tend to strive for positions of advantage instead of seeking a place of service. We often try to be strong and do it all on our own. We act childish — arguing over petty things — rather than being childlike with sincere and humble hearts. As it turns out, there is much we can learn from kids. Let’s look at four of them.

1. Kids are responsive.

Children fearlessly answer questions, even if unsure. They easily befriend strangers, help others, and show confidence in problem-solving. They don’t worry about being watched or liked, but this changes as they reach puberty. Teachers and parents should provide tools and experiences to help kids maintain their confidence. We, as adults, also should put ourselves in positions to continue to grow, see, and recognize others, and grow our own responsiveness.

2. Kids are curious.

Kids eagerly enter each new school year, ready to learn new things. They have a natural curiosity and set goals for themselves. For example, my four-year-old wants to spell his name and put on his jacket. My six-year-old is excited to ride a bike and tie her shoes. My sixteen-year-old is eager to learn to drive. Children approach learning with enthusiasm and curiosity, traits that often fade as we grow older. Kids remind us that we can keep learning and growing if we stay open to the possibilities available to us.

I have also noticed that even as kids are open to learning and growing, they rarely do it alone. Kids learn and grow best with others, like peers, teachers, parents, siblings, coaches, and teammates. Who is helping you grow? Children teach us that learning and growing is possible so long as we have support.

3. Kids are vulnerable.

Have your kids ever proudly shown you their artwork and wanted it front and center on the fridge (even if you weren’t sure what it was exactly)? Children love to share their work and are naturally vulnerable, but once they become teens, they transition to a world full of filters and fake news. Our world encourages teens to operate more privately even when they feel more desperate for something real. They crave authenticity and vulnerability because these traits have become scarce — even for us as adults as well.

Imagine being truly authentic. People would leave, saying, “They are real.” We’d talk not just about successes but also about failures with teachers, students, and parents. Sometimes, our most vulnerable thoughts are what others need to hear most.

4. Kids begin with belief.

For many kids, from their very first Christmas, parents set the stage for them to believe in the magic of the season, in Santa, and even maybe a little elf on the shelf. The same is true of the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy. It is not until they are a little older that they question their beliefs. They simply begin with a spirit of belief. While I’m not asking you to believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, I would ask you to answer this question: “What or whom do you believe in?”

Let’s unite as a community, bridging school and home. Let’s believe in each other. I challenge you to build trust in your homes and school. Always see the best in your students and fellow parents. Offer empathy and support. The days may feel long, but the years fly by (for parents and teachers alike).

Kids are responsive, curious, and vulnerable, and they begin with belief. We can weave these lessons together as we think about how we can apply those lessons to our own lives. Rachel Carson says in her book, The Sense of Wonder, “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement.”  May our world be transformed by the children around us to be fresh, new, and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. 

How might you be able to apply these lessons to your classroom, your parenting, or your life?

By Patrick Erwin

One of my favorite books on leadership is Start With Why by Simon Sinek. In it, Sinek reminds us that purpose inspires action. When there is no joy in the impact that you are making, or perhaps you just forgot about it, then passion for work is easily lost. However, we often make the grave mistake of merely quoting the title when leading people. ‘Why’ is a great place to start, but  no ‘why’ is powerful enough to overcome a bad ‘what,’ ‘how,’ or ‘with whom.’

I’ve been an educator my whole life. I remember one particularly contentious faculty meeting where many of us complained about policies that made our jobs harder. The response? Our leader suggested that we all needed to simply “Remember our why.” No one around me in those times had forgotten their why—we were all there for students. “Why” wasn’t the source of our struggles. It was ‘how’ we were being led and ‘what’ things we were being asked to do that seemed to take away from our ‘why.’

When you work in an industry like education, which has a very clear ‘why’ built right in, being reminded about it only goes so far. Do we need to revisit our why now and again? Absolutely. However, is ‘remember your why’ a remedy for all that we dislike in our work? Absolutely not. We should start with why, but we cannot end there.

The Struggle Beyond ‘Why’

In July 2023, the organization “We Are Teachers” published anarticle listing 18 alarming research statistics on the state of education. The ones that stood out to me the most were:

1. 55% of educators plan to leave the profession earlier than planned, 35% in the next two years.
2. 80% say that taking on more work due to unfilled openings is a primary concern.
3. 62% say their district is lacking in student discipline.
4. 92% say there is not enough support staff (leading to more work).
5. 84% wish there were more counselors and psychologists.
6. 65% say district bureaucracy interferes with teaching.
7. 94% want more student health and behavioral support.

Given those statistics, the response ‘remember your why’ feels tone-deaf. What we have to remember as leaders (in education and otherwise) is that ‘Why’ might get you in the door, but it’s not enough to keep you there. After defining your ‘Why’, turn your attention to:

1. WHAT am I asking teachers to do daily? 
2. HOW much control do I give them over their space and schedule? 
3. HOW much of their time to work and prep is being taken?
4. WITH WHOM am I asking them to work? How do their team and leaders make them feel?
5. WHAT resources (people and stuff) have I given them to combat the issues in our school?

Answering the above questions will go a long way toward combatting the issues in those previous statistics.

What do we do about it?

There is a solution to the ills above, and it may surprise you. The solution is to lean into school culture. 

People want a voice and choice! “We Are Teachers” also published a wonderful article on school culture that you should readhere. In it, they list some excellent ‘remedies’ that can get us past ‘why’:

Remedy #1: Remember that teachers are highly qualified professionals.

Over half of American teachers have master’s degrees, and nearly all have undergone at least four years of university training. They must also complete coursework to renew their teaching certificates regularly. However, we still regularly undermine teachers’ expertise by standardizing the curriculum, creating more tests, and emphasizing standard teacher evaluations. 

Try it out: Remove any unnecessary barriers to them doing their best work.

Remedy #2: Give teachers a choice in professional development opportunities.

The greatest gift I was given as a teacher was the ability to choose my own professional development (PD). We were encouraged to seek opportunities to learn from experts in our profession. Too often, PD opportunities aren’t personalized or applicable to our classes and waste valuable time.

Try it out: Give teachers a choice in what they want to learn and from whom.

Remedy #3: Utilize coaching strategies in teacher evaluations.

Coaching assumes the person they are with has the skills and knowledge (and desire) to fix whatever needs it. They use questions to help the person reach the conclusions themselves. When evaluations become interrogations in which we have to defend ourselves, growth cannot occur. 

Try it out: Make evaluations two-way conversations.

Remedy #4: Provide leadership opportunities for teachers.

This is one thing that always bothered me about teaching. It seemed like the only way to be a leader was to become an administrator. What opportunities do teachers have to learn leadership skills, teach leadership skills to their students, and lead their peers?

Try it out: Find ways for teachers to lead.

A Great Resource for Leadership and Culture

As a teacher, I was lucky to find a great resource to develop my leadership and the leadership of those I was leading (students and adults). That resource is called Habitudes®. Habitudes are images that help ground leadership concepts in easy-to-understand pictures and metaphors. Habitudes® is beneficial because it is easy to use, fosters connections, and works with all age groups. These images can be transformative in your school, giving everyone an interesting, engaging ‘what’ and ‘how’ to accompany that all-powerful ‘why.’

Give us a call, and let us tell you how.