Bright Spots: Guiding your students into the new year

Dear Educator,

I just got home from an epic family trip to Africa and if you follow me on Instagram you might have seen some of our adventures. We explored, we navigated new terrain, had a lot of fun, and made lifelong memories. Inevitably when you are in a new place, you find guides to show you around—some are structured tours, some are taxi or Uber drivers, and some are people you connect with along the way. One of the things that I spent some time thinking about as we toured new environments was how the guides supported our learning and experiences. Whether it was rafting, exploring a village, or on a safari, I couldn’t help making connections between my learning experience in a new place to those of learners in many classrooms.?

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As a new school year begins, many of you will have the opportunity to be influential guides for learners—both students and educators—throughout the year in your classrooms, schools, and districts. What stood out to me in my travels and what I believe is most impactful for our school systems, is that the best guides had the following characteristics:

• Relationship oriented: They made connections and got to know about us.?
• Goal focused: They took note about what our goals were and helped us get there.
• Responsive & flexible: They were readily available to answer our questions and pivot based on our goals and needs.?
• Experts: They shared background and highlighted important information and sights.?

This week I want to highlight a?teacher's strategy to learn about students in order to guide them throughout the?school year.

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With Gratitude,

Katie Martin , CIO Learner-Centered Collaborative

We want to hear from you! Share your Learner-Centered Bright Spot with us?here .

BRIGHT SPOT OF THE WEEK

Guiding your students into the new year

The journey from middle to high school has been top of mind lately, as my daughter is just weeks away from starting her freshman year. I love 9th grade teacher Kati Begen’s plans for guiding her students that starts with connection, not the syllabus. Check out this post with more details of her day by day activities for the first week.

The time spent getting to know learners and helping them feel that they belong in our learning spaces is foundational to deep and meaningful learning experiences. Of course we want and need to grow the skills and knowledge of young people in our classrooms, but if we don’t see them for who they are and know them for their goals, strengths, and challenges we likely won’t build the relationships and connections necessary to support their growth.?

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What are your best strategies for connecting with learners? Share on social with #LCBrightSpots and tag me @KatieMartinEdu.

RESOURCE ROUNDUP

Explore resources for getting to know learners throughout the year.

1. Revolution in Education podcast. Check this new podcast where Devin Vodicka and I speak with Chris Unger about the learner-centered revolution and scaling learner-centered schools.?

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2.?Learner-Centered Strategies. You’ll want to bookmark these strategies to use throughout the year. Use Art to Get to Know Learners is a great one to start with to get to know your learners.

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3. Inspiration from a learner-centered classroom. 5th/6th grade teacher Kelsey Simpson shares 4 ideas from her classroom to try this year.?

LET'S SHARE OUR BRIGHT SPOTS!

How do you connect with learners throughout the year?

Share your #LCBrightSpots on social media!

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