Everyone's ideas seem obvious to them. Often we hesitate to share them with others because we are sure that our idea isn't anything special. I know I am guilty of this. In The Innovator's Mindset, George Couros talks about helping teachers see that what they are doing - even if it seems commonplace and routine to them - could be quite helpful to someone else. I marked that passage. This is what I try to do in my work every day. Because I am not in one particular school in the district, my perspective is more broad. I can connect educators that want to try something new with another that is doing it. Another who probably thinks that what they're doing isn't that special, but it IS!! We bring our school library media coordinators together periodically. We bring our elementary digital teaching and learning contacts and secondary instructional technology facilitators together quarterly. They share ideas and lessons from their schools with each other. These meetings can be empowering. As a result of them, I've seen some truly innovative things taking place in classrooms across grade levels in our district. On days when I wonder if anything I do matters, I remember those moments. Don't be afraid to share your ideas. You have them. Someone else doesn't. They might need to hear yours.
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I just finished reading The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros. If you haven't read it - you need to. So many good points that I plan to write about in future posts. Above is a rendering of the 8 Characteristics of the Innovator's Mindset - I have had this on my office door for all to see for over a year now. I even shared it during our monthly #NHCSchat some time ago. All before I really read the book. I'm so glad I finally read it. It was validating and empowering. In my last blog post, I wrote about empathy. As I read this book, I realized that empathy is one of the eight characteristics of the Innovator's Mindset. I have that! Go me! ☺ But this quote also resonated with me: If we are going to be effective leaders, we must model the behavior and attitudes we seek in our learners - be they students or educators. Maybe it was because the next sentence says it's more powerful and persuasive to say "Let's do this together" than to tell folks to do something we ourselves aren't willing to do. I LIVE this. That is item three of the Innovator's Mindset - in the book, not on the image above. Again, I have that! Go me! ☺ Take a look at the whole list. I have a couple that I want to develop more and some that are definitely my strengths. Here are the 8 characteristics from the book:
How many do you posses? How do these impact your teaching...and learning? |
AuthorJeannie Timken Archives
March 2023
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