Resolve to Keep Your Resolutions!

We are just a few weeks into our new year…so are you excited and inspired about having 20/20 vision this year? Or are you feeling like the confetti is long gone, credit card bills have arrived, and it’s like the holidays and break never happened? At the start of the new year, we always take stock of our lives, what we have accomplished, and where we are headed. However, often, even by the third or fourth week of the year, we find ourselves tired–and in the daily routines of our busy lives, often quickly falling back into patterns and habits we were trying to break.  

Patrick is impressively doing well with his workout goals, but Amy’s goal to learn to cook one new meal per week never got off the ground. Regardless of the goals we set, whether personal or professional, we found there are a few common threads as to why we succeed or struggle to make change. It always comes down to the resolve that we have and the habits we create that ensure we effectively:

1. Manage and use time
2. Leverage the support of others
3. Seek/Build the community around us

Over our break, we were reading back through our recent blogs and selected a few to help you stay on track with the goals you set in your schools related to these three habits.

These were not only our favorites, but also most read and most often shared in social media.

Blog 1: Running to Stand Still or Finding the Time to Lead?

Ask yourself: How many classrooms have you visited this year? 

How many great conversations about teaching and learning have you had this year? 

Have you successfully found time to lead the learning?

As you head into mid-year conferences, do you know what your teachers are working on and how they are doing instructionally each day? 

We know you are incredibly busy, but we have identified strategies in our first choice that you can use right away to ensure you have opportunities to lead the learning each week: 

Blog 2: Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Are you trying to carry the load? 

How is shared leadership being created in your buildings and districts?

Is there a culture where everyone is responsible for all learners?

The second blog choice takes a cue from our feathered friends who have figured out how to increase efficiencies and effectiveness to accomplish long-term goals together:

Blog 3: It’s Like Riding a Bike

Are you all pedaling together toward the same goal as a team?

How are you building collective efficacy in your teams/districts?

We may make time to lead learning and share responsibility for the teaching and learning in our schools, but to effect change, we must work to cultivate a culture of learning and build a shared vision. Our third blog choice reinforces the value of observation and feedback beyond evaluation as a key driver toward our common goals and increased collective efficacy.

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