#OneWordEdu 2016-17

I learned about #OneWord from my partner in Tech, Margaret last year. I’ve been into goal-setting for a long time now, but have frequently seen a similar pattern: think up what you want to do, formulate an elaborate goal, and then work on it.  I’ve decided to move #OneWord into #OneWordEdu– let’s build a community of like-minded, growth-oriented Educators to growth with and support!

Last year, my focus was Reflection. I continue to feel its importance in the work that I do, but having spent an entire year on it, I know that I’ve changed what I do. As a coach and trainer, I wanted to make Reflection part of my practice because I see so much work done TO teachers, rather than opportunities for teachers to grow. If I have a training or a coaching session and don’t build in a chance for teachers to reflect on what they’ve been doing and what I’m asking them to consider, I’m wasting their time. My thinking (and hope), is the more that teachers make Reflection part of their practice, the more they’ll see a need for reflective practice for their students.

Would I like to continue with working on reflection? Absolutely- I love reflective work now…which tells me it’s time to move on. I don’t have to think about reflection any more. It’s part of my practice, which makes it a bad goal for growth.

For this year, I’m going to focus on Priorities. It’s a classic Kendra move to be working on something very important, see something else that is loosely connected and move on to something interesting (but unrelated) to the work I was initially doing. My word for 2016-17 is Priority. I’ll have depend on my reflective practice (2015-16) to identify what is truly important to define my Priorities, and then continue reflecting to ensure that I’m meeting the needs of those Priorities like I think I am (hope to be).

As always, I’ll need my PLN to keep me focused. Please reach out and ask me what my Priorities are. If you think I should rethink them, call me out! Growth involves risk-taking and being uncomfortable, and I fully intend to be uncomfortable with this process.

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