by Carmen Buchanan
If you know me, you know I love football. My son plays it and I plan my fall Saturdays and Sundays around it. You will hear me being the loudest fan in the stands cheering on the James Clemens Jets high school football team, the Auburn Tigers, and the Tennessee Titans.
One of my favorite things to watch during a game is the chains. I love seeing the chains move along the sideline as a team progresses down the field. I also love helping educators grown and learn. A huge part of that is creating the Professional Learning Plan, a document where educators set goals for the year.
So let me pose this question about the PLP: Are you an educator who settles for a 1st down and 10 yards and then heads for the bench — and the chains quit moving?
Are you mostly putting something on your yearly plan to please the administrator or the district that requires you to have the plan? Or are you really determined to cross every yard line in a meaningful professional learning plan and score that touchdown? Are you excited as you work toward your goal line and see the chains moving down the field?
If the offense stopped trying after they gained a first down, the team would never score. They have to keep pushing ahead. As you think about what you want to accomplish this year professionally, think about your own goals. Like that determined offense, you can reach them by grinding them out 10 yards at a time.
When you take things slowly, you can really be persistent with attaining your goals. Or you may be one of those players who finds it more exciting to step out and taking a risk with a 45-yard “Hail Mary” pass or a sprint to the goal line.
Whatever you do, don’t quit. Don’t turn over the ball just because school gets difficult and other things begin to take up your time. Even if no crowd is cheering you on, your professional goals are for you and your growth (and for your students, of course).
It’s not about the glory
My son is an offensive lineman. You never hear his name over the PA system on game night. Yet there he is, in the trenches, doing his job on each play, making his block and helping his team succeed.
Don’t pursue your professional goals for the glory. Make them count for yourself and your students. Someone is always watching, even if you don’t hear your name over the loudspeaker. While the fans in the stand watch the quarterback roll out to pass, I’m watching the offensive line to see that they’re making the blocks. I notice the teachers in the trenches who are progressing and moving the chains!
As you develop your Professional Learning Plan for the year, think about those around you who can offer support. Your teammates (fellow educators in the building) and your administrators (your coaches) are there to help you. Lean on them, just as a football team leans on each other and their coaches. Think about learning from others and also sharing your own expertise.
Twitter has become my personal learning network. I rely on relationships I have built as a part of the Instructional Partners Pilot in Alabama. Every coach and player looks outside his or her team for ideas about how to grow and get better. You should do the same. Find an EdCamp near you (or help start one). Talk about ownership in learning and growing…EdCamps are a 99-yard touchdown!
Bottom-line: Don’t set small PLP goals this year. Your students deserve better than a 10-yard run. Go for 1st and goal and cross that line. Reward yourself with every step you make and keep watching for signs of progress. Seeing the chains move is evidence you are headed in the right direction. Look to the sidelines as needed for coaching and never give up.
Take some chances. Gamble on 4th down and 2. Try something new that might fail, but might succeed amazingly. Let your kids see you take risks to learn “big” and they’ll become adventurous learners too.
Carmen Buchanan is an Assistant Principal at James Clemens High School in the Madison City Schools. Carmen participated in the first year of the Instructional Partners Pilot program during 2011-12. (Read her reflection at the ABPC blog.) She will complete a graduate degree in Educational Leadership this December. Carmen wrote for us about instructional rounds in May 2012.
