Our new principal is starting to shake things up a bit at McClarin. I am excited to see some of the changes that she wants to make. She wants to put the right people in the right positions to help McClarin move forward. Her latest strategy was to show the department chairs the short TED Talk video by Simon Sinek, Getting to Why. His premise states that we need to understand why we do what we do. I think it is really easy for teachers to do what they do to the point of automation. I believe that many teachers have been teaching for so long that they have forgotten why they chose the profession in the first place.
One of the first activities I have students complete in the coaching endorsement for Griffin RESA is "My Story." In this activity, participants write their story. It is designed to help them get to the "why." The course is Culturally Proficient Coaching so the activity is supposed to help them look through the lens of culture as they write. I tossed around the idea of having our staff write their story during pre-planning. These stories are private and don't need to be shared, just written. Volunteers can share their story if they like, but the process of writing the story should remind them of why they do what they do.
The bottom line - I agree with Simon Sinek. We need to know why we do the things we do. A school's staff need to know why they are doing what they do. Given all the directions in which we are pulled in this day and age in education, it is easy to forget about our "why" and get lost in the chaos!
Tim-Thanks for the post and sharing "your story". It was a very interesting read. I'm excited to find out about your next step in the journey!
ReplyDeleteI watched the Simon Sinek video and I'm actually going to use this to help implement our plan for PBIS. We know what we are going to do. We know how we are going to do it. I am going to try to create buy-in with the why. I have lots of whys and one of them is not "because we have to." Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI like the "why" question, and if you're going to do it during pre-planning, what about doing it during a lunch and learn kind of activity. If you give the staff a writing activity, that's how they're going to view it. As a task. But if you make it something fun...while they're eating...I think it may help boost participation. Just a thought! :-)
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