Phew! How can you sustain all of this great work? That’s a perennial question. Continuing to push forward can sometimes feel isolating, interrupted, or disjointed. Here are just a few ideas to help you feel connected, supported and inspired instead!
Expand your digital learning networks
Think about how social media helps us connect with others. Which websites, Twitter communities, or Facebook groups might support your work? Here’s a primer for how to use Twitter as an educator as one place to get started.
Share your work with others
Another key to sustaining this work lies in sharing the your work with others. What regional or national conferences do you attend? Or perhaps there’s one you’ve had your eye on. Consider presenting as a strategy to meet others doing similar work. This is a great way to connect with colleagues, challenge yourself, and build a body of professional work.
Share student work
Bringing student work (with the student and caregiver’s permission of course!) is a great way to showcase your students’ work and get feedback on different assignments, assessments, and projects. Maybe your students can even present at those state conferences as well. Talk about authentic audiences!
Food for thought
As you become more confident in creating personalized learning environments, you may grow more comfortable sharing power and leadership with students. To sustain innovation, consider partnering with students as well! Maybe you’ll redesign a key structure in your classroom. Perhaps you’ll support a student leadership group on fighting racism or greening up the school. Or maybe you’ll co-plan curriculum. Whatever it is, partnering with students can be both rewarding and sustaining.
- How can your students also be partners who help sustain this critical work?
- How might partnering with students strengthen their sense of personal efficacy?
Now tell us
- How do you currently sustain innovation in your setting?
- Who can you reach out to for further support?
- What audiences would be interested in your learning story?
Remember to partner with others who want to innovate. Build your networks, share your work, connect with others, and iterate. Reach out for support and offer it when you can. We are all in this education thing together!