We Know the Why, Now How?

One of my earlier blog posts focused on finding the "why" in what we do. Based on Simon Sinek's book Start with Why, he advocates that we must know what drives us to excellence in our field. Another voice that echos powerfully is Dr. Mary Howard. What I admire about her work is her focus on teachers, and the emphasis being on "if we as teachers are passionate about our work, our students will be too. " For example, if a teacher admits he/she is not a reader, how can we expect our students to be avid readers? It's just not logical. So much of what we do extends from our modeling, that we cannot rely on our words to inspire our students, but our actions! Our students deserve to have the best versions of us arrive into the classroom everyday. While I remain with my feet planted on the ground here acknowledging that we won't be perfect all day, everyday, it's still of vital importance that we find joy in what we do. That joy is what shines through and inspires the young minds in front of us.  Having that joy also branches out into our own personal joy for teaching. What excites us about learning? What do we want to explore next? What can we do to grow our practice? 

Motivated by Dr. Mary Howard, I decided to take her advice and challenge myself to take my work here a step further and showcase my thoughts. As much as knowing our "why" is necessary to our work, we also have to channel our energy into the "how" so we continue to push forward. For some it's often difficult to know where to start. Remaining stagnant only creates a sense of being overwhelmed. I also believe that those educators who are "comfortable" and never seek to expand/grow are not in the profession because of the "calling to the lifestyle of the profession," but rather view it as a job. For me, teaching has been a part of my life for the past 13 years, even before as a pre-service teacher. I've always wanted to share my love of learning with students, and that "why" has not changed, only stretched. 

From there, I am always contemplating, and working on how I can continue my professional growth, and now I have the honor to work with other teachers as their thinking partners on their how as well. I spent a few moments to note my thoughts, and came up with this general list to get started: 

- Think how can I continue to learn? 

- What new journeys can I take to expand my practice and learning? 

- How can I use reflection to improve my instructional practice, and also my professional work? 

- How can I inspire others to take risks and grow as educators

All of the suggestions here carry equal weight, and require our dedicated efforts. Don't feel like you have to take them on all at once! The purpose is to start somewhere and branch out from there. One of my favorite things is reading, and if I'm not reading a book, I'm most likely buying one. If you feel the same, perhaps start by researching books through publishers like Heinemann or ASCD. 

So, perhaps find a suggestion that stood out to you most and focus on that as a starting point. The main goal is to embrace your why to fuel your how to continue to develop as a professional. We owe it to ourselves and our students.

Final Thoughts: Keep your educator momentum- your students deserve it! Keep your personal passion areas close by, they will be your strengths! Keep challenging yourself to work on the "how" since you already have your "why."