Bringing Your Best Self Everyday

In the video I sent out earlier in the week I referenced an article about ending the game well in basketball. It offered me the opportunity to reflect on what "ending the game well" means for us in schools. (Link to whole article is here.)

The first suggestion given in the article was:
1. Be ready to catch the ball, be mentally focused and 100% dialed in. Slips happen near the end of the game through too much confidence or lack of confidence.  

When thinking about how confidence might look in the classroom I thought back to how I felt toward the end of the year.  I remember having too much confidence - I was teaching 4th grade science and thought,  "My kids have this! We are good. We have 'covered' all the content."  When it came time for game day during state testing I realized that my "practice" wasn't rigorous enough.  It wasn't aligned to what the students were expected to do on game day.  I had great science activities, experiments, and demonstrations but "I" was the problem.  I didn't have the STUDENTS apply the experiences that I gave them to situations where they would perform to the level of the assessments.  Specifically, we hadn't completed appropriately-aligned constructed response questions (at the time they were "open-response questions.")

That same year I was also teaching 4th and 5th-grade math.  I was so overwhelmed by the 5th-grade content that I lacked confidence in what the students would be able to do.  It was like I gave up before game day and didn't push my students like I should have.  I thought, "I've done all I can do with them.  If they don't know it now, they will never know it before the end of the year."  I definitely didn't bring my best self every day.  So how do you work on your mindset?  How can you bring your best self, being "mentally focused and 100% dialed in?"  

Keep your focus simple when planning--focus on student work.  STUDENT WORK IS WHERE IT'S AT.  Focus on planning high-quality student work, no matter what.  It doesn't matter WHAT OR HOW YOU present or teach your students, if you do not have your students perform in ways that show their understanding at high levels that match the content rigor of the standards.  

Heather Akers is a great example of someone who does this really well.  She gets outstanding results year after year in reading as evidenced by KPREP, iready, MAP, etc.  When she and I talk, she often reflects on how well what she has students do matches the standards.  She shows me assignments, asks what I think and shows me the resources that she uses.  When you look at the exit slips that she attaches to her planning protocol, you see perfect congruency between standards and prompts.   

Create habits or routines that put you in the right mindset and will keep you focused.  I do a much better job bringing my best self when I complete my "workday startup" routine.  I start the day with 3 positive notes, a positive walk, and then a review of my goals.  One of my goals is to do at least 7 walkthroughs a day.  When I complete my routine, I review that achievement goal and the habit goal I have of getting into 3 classrooms every hour.   I believe I did a MUCH better job getting in classrooms this week because I got here early enough to complete my workday startup routine!

What routines and habits might you implement?  Would it help you to start the day reviewing your "I  can statements for each lesson and how you plan to assess those?"  What about a habit goal?  Should you plan to show the exit slip at the beginning of the lesson?  Would that help you remember to share the learning target with students at the beginning of the lesson and the criteria that will let students know they have mastered it?  

Visualize your day ahead and what might challenge you or trip you up and how you will combat that.  It's a common practice for the most successful athletes to visualize to get ready for their game, meet, match, etc.  How do you think visualizing each morning might help you?  Maybe there is a class period throughout the day where you tend to have low energy.  Is there one period of the day where it's too easy to allow your students an extra-long bathroom break and downtime instead of making good use of every extra minute?  Could you visualize exactly what you plan to do and set a reminder to do it?  Is there one group of students that you teach throughout the day that is extra challenging?  Visualizing yourself setting expectations, reteaching behaviors, and using a 5:1 ratio of positive to negative interactions might be really helpful.  

Reflect on what you want to be known for as a teacher and what you find you are really known for.  Bringing your best self can all boil down to these questions:

• What do you want to be known for?  
• What are you really known for?  

What you are really and truly bringing everyday is reflected in what you are known for.  Ask around to see what you are known for.  This can be scary.  Just know that whatever it is, it's true whether you know it or not.  If there is a gap between what you want to be known for and what you are really known for, then perhaps, you aren't bringing your best self.   BUT, it is not too late!  Reflect on the answers to those questions and use the information to help you move forward.

We got this.  Let's end this game strong, y'all!