PLC – Empower. Collaborate. Connect.

In the fall, I had the pleasure of listening to Kelly Gallagher, educator, writer, speaker, and author speak at a national conference across the country. Although he was incredibly inspiring then, his words seemed farther away, taking a little more time to land on my educator spirit. At the time, I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps, it was the bigger venue. Perhaps it was because I had arrived late to his session. Perhaps it was because prior to that, I was in a different room packing up my personal belongings and speaking with lingering educators after finishing the facilitation of my own session.

Since I consider myself to be an “on time” kind of person, my mild discomfort probably started there. It took me longer to get settled into a learning space that was overflowing with a sea of educators. I remember the image vividly, every seat filled with people sitting along the perimeter of the room and in the middle of the carpeted floor. What a compliment to both Kelly and Penny Kittle who was also presenting with him. I remember thinking how proud they must have felt to look around that room and know the legacy of their literacy work has had a profound impact on the world of education. It’s the kind of work that’s so meaningful that educators walk away feeling they can implement these new practices tomorrow and see better outcomes for their students. It’s the kind of work I look up to. The kind of work that makes me better. It’s the kind of work that made my day better.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to Kelly speak again at a local conference. It was four months later and this time, the day began differently. I had arrived at the venue early enough to select the table I would feel comfortable sitting at and was even able to save seats for colleagues and a longtime educator friend. After I got some breakfast and a much needed second cup of coffee, I turned my head back to the entrance to see if my friends were in view. Instead, I noticed Kelly sitting at one of the round tables in the back of the room. He was settling in and waiting for the conference to begin like everyone else. His image, once feeling so far away, suddenly, didn’t seem so far away anymore. He was much closer.

I didn’t think twice, I sprung up from my seat, walked over to his table, and greeted him with a smile and a subtle fan girl spirit. “Hi Kelly, welcome to Long Island. I saw you speak at NCTE in the fall. I am a big fan of your work.” Suddenly, I realized that his fall presentation may have had more of an impact on me than I realized at the time. It was certainly enough for me to have wanted to initiate this interaction. Kelly and I went on to have a conversation about travel, education, our shared technology issues at the last conference, and the day ahead of us. At that moment, we were just two educators, ready to embark on a day of learning. Towards the end of our conversation, I wished Kelly luck on his presentation and said I was looking forward to hearing him speak again. He replied, “Good luck with your presentation today too, Lauren.”

In that moment, I quickly remembered that once again I was given the opportunity to present and felt incredibly grateful to be able to share practices I am passionate about with other educators. Afterall, professional learning is not just something educators do. It’s a choice. It’s an obligation to help themselves and others grow into the learners and thinkers they are capable of being.

A little later on, I stood in an empty room, setting up for my presentation. As I scanned the empty room, I envisioned this sentiment: If I can make even one person’s day better, I have done my job. While I was talking with a few people I knew, I briefly looked up and noticed that the room wasn’t so empty anymore. Instead, it was filling up quickly. In fact, it began overflowing with a sea of educators, eventually filling every seat in the room. Then, I looked up again and saw that educators had begun pulling chairs from other areas to join the learning space, while others were sitting on the floor.

There were a few moments where I unexpectedly paused during my presentation to internally reflect on the educator I am continually becoming and asked myself, Am I too beginning to create a legacy that leaves a profound impact on the educators who cross my path? When the presentation concluded, a familiar woman approached me. She shared, “Lauren, I saw you present at NCTE and was so excited to be here to see you again. This is the kind of work I look up to, the type of work that makes me better.” I smiled and replied, “Well, it is an honor that you chose to spend your time with me again. I am grateful.” She looked back at me and said, “Lauren, I came back because you had an impact on me, not to mention, last time, I was sitting so far away, this time you were much closer.”

Revolving Doors

Education is a perpetual revolving door of change. Every time the door rotates, new learners walkthrough, discoveries loom, fresh learning tools/platforms emerge, and technological advances burst into our worlds. We are continuously swimming in a boundless sea of eternal possibilities. As we tread in the water, we find ourselves looking around, grasping for the right answers, and searching for the people who will hold out a life vest and swim with us. These are the people who have faith in our ability to believe in ourselves; they lift us up, empower us to take the lead on decision making, and let us spread our wings by sharing with others. And while the doors endlessly turn and transformation ensues, we recognize that education begins with people; not protocols, not a curriculum, not instruction, not technology, not evaluations, and certainly not assessments. We need to ask ourselves, what can we learn today that will strengthen our ability to amplify the social, emotional, and academic capacity of our students? Who will support our efforts and give us permission to sink in the ocean and then push ourselves up for air so we can swim again?

A Commitment to Transformation

When you become an educator, you are committing to a journey of lifelong leadership, learning, and growth that stretches far beyond the required traditional years of schooling. It is a mindset and professional obligation to push yourself down a path of innovation, creativity, risk-taking, and reflection. How can we work to create professional learning communities that value collaboration, open dialogue, reciprocity, and a willingness to share instructional practices with one another? Becoming a part of professional learning communities will ultimately transform your practices and propel you forward so that you positively influence your colleagues and students. You see, you can’t wait for growth to come to you; if you want to make an immediate impact, you have to be willing to proactively seek it out!

Finding My Life Vest

When I stumbled upon the book, The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity by George Couros, I knew I had found my life vest. I felt as if George was speaking right to my core. As I read his book, my whole educational journey flashed before my eyes. I became deeply reflective about my own successes, challenges, and failures. I thought about what I could have done differently to positively impact my students and colleagues and wished I could go back in time to make adjustments to some of the choices I made. I thought about the present and the future and how I can use my learning to elevate others in intentional, meaningful, and relevant ways. His philosophy and mindset are what every educator and person who comes in contact with learners should hear. Every time I read another line in the book, I would write it down in my journal and share it with whoever would listen. In my heart, I knew this book could be a key driver in moving teaching and learning practices forward in my school district. After all, the district vision statement supports innovation, risk-taking, collaboration, and creativity; I wanted to help bring this vision to life.

Living the Innovator’s Mindset

When I became the Mentor Coordinator in my school district, one of my goals was to use the book The Innovator’s Mindset to inspire and empower new teachers and their mentors to be lead learners, share their special gifts with others, and not be afraid of success! These are the educators who consistently model professionalism, have strong interpersonal skills, value collaboration, are empathetic, compassionate, reflective, and responsive to ALL learners’ needs. These are the educators who will ultimately become the hub and driving force behind the development of powerful professional learning communities. With them by your side, you will build social and professional capital, strengthen collective efficacy, and empower educators to improve the learning outcomes for ALL students. To me, these educators will be able to embrace the 8 Characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset; they will become connected and networked educators while making a positive impact on school culture, their colleagues, and the students and community we serve.

Long Beach Public Schools Mentors LBPS Mentors and Mentees

Finding the Courage

I am so grateful to have connected with George Couros. He has the natural ability to rally people together, lead with empathy, empower educators to fail forward, be resilient, encourage risk-taking, and challenge people to create new and better things. One of my favorite quotes from Couros is, “Change is the opportunity to do something amazing!” He truly does inspire me to embody the change I want to see. When you are open to inviting new perspectives that stretch beyond the walls of your classroom and school district, you ARE embracing innovation. Finding the courage to believe in yourself while motivating and inspiring others, showing bravery and strength in your convictions, and creating collaborative learning communities are the heart of continuous personal and professional growth. And, as the perpetual revolving door of change keeps spinning in the education world, we manage to keep ourselves afloat in the boundless sea filled with eternal possibilities; Suddenly, we realize that the door of transformation has always been open. Sometimes it just takes the inspiration and optimism from the right people to help you recognize that you are your our own life vest and are READY to swim!