Greetings!
I hope you are having both a restful and productive summer. I've had a very busy summer, traveling to school districts and meeting great teachers and leaders. I also released a four page Beginner's Guide to Rigor, which has been getting great feedback! My last project was to set up an open group on LinkedIn for Rigor in Education. If you have a question for me or want to start a discussion, please don't hesitate to participate. Remember, you'll find activity templates, articles, podcasts, and more information about my presentations and books on my blog or on my website. No registration required, and they are all free! Finally, who do you know who might benefit from this newsletter? Please forward it to them and remind them they make a difference, just like you do Barbara |
Beginning the Year with a Vision Are you ready to start the new year? Are you excited? Apprehensive? A little of both? A friend of mine, Jason Womack said he always had butterflies before the first day of school. And then he commented, "the trick isn't to have butterflies; it's to have butterflies in formation!" What is your vision for the year? I'd encourage you to take a few moments, and imagine you are in a balloon floating above your classroom. It's your dream classroom! What do you see? What are your students doing? How engaged are they? How motivated? Now, write that on a 3x5 card and read it everyday. As all Olympic athletes know, the more you focus on your vision, the more likely it is to happen! 
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It's important to build a shared vision or to re-engage with that vision with your faculty. Begin by asking three questions:
1. What is a motivating, engaging classroom?
2. What are students doing in that classroom?
3. What are teachers doing in that classroom?
Collect the answers anonymously, and use them as a basis for a discussion of the school's vision.
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