Who are we? What to we stand for? Who do we serve? It seems that these questions should be easy to answer. We are an elementary school. We are teachers and educators. We stand for excellence in learning. We serve our community. Simple. Yet so complicated. Who are we? Most of us would say teachers or educators, which is what we have defined as our job title. While teaching is part of what we do, I am not sure it defines our role in today’s educational system. With the current focus on accountability and budget, it is easy to loose track of why we wanted to work with children. Most of us, deep down inside, understand that children have remarkable curiosity, wonder, and thirst for learning.
We, collectively, are much more than teachers. We are
builders, facilitators, and researchers. As
builders, we are responsible to build opportunities everyday for our
students to learn, to feel safe, and to learn how to communicate successfully
with those around us. As facilitators,
we must know, at all times, the pulse of those we are working with. This makes
it necessary to “present” at all times and in all situations with our students.
As researchers, we must observe,
hypothesize, and document what we are observing. We focus our observations on
our students and their learning.
Master Builders
and Designers, what makes them great? They have a vision for what they want to
see happen. They think the design through very carefully. They consider all
aspects of the design. They plan very carefully. They go over their plans very
carefully, and then they have their colleagues’ go over their plans to get
further feedback. They leave nothing to chance. Every aspect of the plan is
thought of. As the design is being built, masters in this field observe what is
happening. Checking over plans along the way. Trusting other experts in the
field. Celebrating along the way.
Great
Facilitators, what makes them great? They understand that they are responsible
to connect with their participants. They gather information about the group.
They practice, over and over, what they want the desired outcome to be. They
respect their participants and know that the participants are the actual
drivers of the learning. Great facilitators move flexibly throughout their
delivery based on the feedback they receive from the participants. They
understand that the participants need and want to construct their own
understandings and truths. They enjoy leading them through this process.
Great Researchers,
what makes them great? They understand the focus of their job. What are they
trying to find out? For us, we know that our students and how they are
interacting with their learning is our job. Researchers need to document what
they observe. Every observation has the ability to drive the hypothesis of the
researcher if they are present in the moment and aware of what they are
observing. This documentation is then studied. Documentation is posted and made
public amongst other researchers. It is questioned, hypothesized about, and
discussed in groups of experts passionate about the focus. Plans are made for
action and then the process starts again.
Give the above
information, it is clear that we must plan our design for learning, facilitate
the learning with excellence, and document what we observe with an understanding
that this in necessary to reflect and improve. We must be willing to share our
documentation and create a plan of action together. This is the only way to
learn and grow together.
As we begin our
week, let’s be very mindful of our job. Each day requires a plan, a design, to
build every opportunity for learning. As facilitators, we must respect our
participants (students), which require us to be aware of our interactions with
them. Are we guiding them in a safe and motivating way? Are we regulating our responses
to ensure a better outcome for our participants? Observing and documenting what
we observe is a necessary part of our job. How often do we take notes during
the learning? Are we purposeful about documenting our observations?
Our path is clear
at Holiday Park. We are builders, facilitators, and researchers. Go
Roadrunners!
