So I’ve been thinking a great deal about how to get more teachers on board the life long learning journey. Learning means changing, plain and simple – you don’t know/understand/can’t do something, then (after a journey of dead ends, false starts, reworkings, etc.) you can. There’s always pushback when people are faced with change. What is it about certain individuals that use change as an opportunity instead of an obstacle? Why do some dig in their heels and say, “We’ve always done it this way!” Why do others choose to be the roadblock that won’t allow others to change? How can we get more teachers to see change as learning, and to have them realize their own learning potential?

In the classroom with students, there is no magic formula. For some students, it’s inspiring them through sharing your passions: for others, simply listening and asking the right questions. I won’t go on, but you get my point – each individual is unique, and the nudge toward change they need will also be unique.

I’m making headway in developing my own personal learning networks. I’ve noticed two things happening:

1. more personal growth happens (like all learning) when the people I engage with are just a little further in their journey than I am;
2. surrounding myself with like minded individuals leads to an echo chamber where no new understandings develop

My goal is to get to know this next grade level of teachers and to see if I can give some of them a nudge in the right direction.