The answers I’ve received have been varied of course, but these are some of the things I’ve heard over and over and over again:

We want our students to be inquisitive about the world and about themselves.

We want them to persevere.

We want them to know what matters to them, what brings them happiness, and what they are good at. We want them to use this knowledge to serve others in school and in their careers.

We want them to be kind.

We want them to know how to connect with others and learn from them. We want them to be comfortable learning and working and serving others globally.

We want them to be courageous.

Transforming vision into reality requires an action plan. We have to be clear about what the indicators for these standards look like too. We may not call them standards or indicators, but that’s what really what they are. We have to be clear about where we hope to go and what it will look like when we arrive. This enables powerful planning. It helps us carve a path with greater intention.

So if a student is inquisitive about the world, what does that look like? What will they know and be able to do as people who are inquisitive about the world and themselves? What learning opportunities would we need to provide to students? Which ones would they need to create for themselves? What would that look like?

How do teachers design curricula, instruction, and assessments that enable learners to accomplish these things while progressing toward the CCLS, and how do we know when that’s happening?

These understandings have provided me a great deal of perspective as I’ve begun the required work of unit/module/lesson design inside of schools this fall. More on that tomorrow…..

• First, we defined our vision of the graduate that we hoped to shape and our vision of the teachers we hoped to become as well.
• Then, we tried to imagine what could happen if we leveraged the opportunities inherent in RTTT in service to this vision rather than sacrificing our vision to a mandate.
• Finally, we considered school culture, and we thought about the ways in which our expertise and passion might limit us.
• The bottom line is this: creating the conditions that empower reform is critical to doing this work well.

And I have a lot to learn.

What happened once our visioning work was done?

We sized up the task before us and began to strategically plan. This  looked a little bit different in each of the districts I’m working in, but one thing remains the same: the vision we created is on the table every time I design, work, reflect, or set goals with others.

Most of our first efforts involved unwrapping standards and designing the first drafts of CCLS units. As this phase of the work winds down, I’m returning people to the vision they began with.

“This is the portrait of the graduate you wanted to shape,”  I’m reminding them. “This is teacher you want to become.”

“How did completing this work move you closer to that vision? Where did it pull you off course?”

“How can we create better alignment between our vision, our actions, and the work that we do as we continue moving forward?”

What do we need to study?

What needs to be revised?

“…you are teaching yourselves how you will live and work. Early habits take up residence and are difficult to evict later on.” Jim Burke

I spent a chunk of this weekend getting inspired by the different approaches my favorite edubloggers are taking with back-to-school posts. The start of every year is filled with such incredible excitement and anticipation. There are goals to set and plans to shape and personal needs to attend to. We’re getting ready for our work with kids and our work with teachers and contemplating the best ways to engage everyone in thoughtful conversation. It’s a busy time of  year, and it will only get busier once area school doors open tomorrow!

Seeking balance is my greatest priority right now, and Jim Burke’s latest post really spoke to me for that reason. He reminded me that I am responsible for teaching myself how I will not merely work…but live. I appreciate his assertion that I can and should approach this purposefully. This returns me to previous thoughts about creating a vision for the work that we will do and as Giselle Martin Kniep reminded me this summer, the legacy that we will create. It’s not enough to simply leap into service at any level and kill ourselves to get bigger and bigger jobs done faster and faster because we are driven by fear or some wreckless compulsion to compete. I learned long ago that this doesn’t sustain the learning and growth of teachers or students. It doesn’t sustain ME either.

Establishing a clear vision of the work that I will do and how I will pursue it is as motivating as it is clarifying. It also provides an anchor for me……something to return to and measure my actions against every time I contemplate adding something more to my plate (or someone else’s). Jim Burke reminds us that it’s important to have a vision for the lives we want to live. Our work exists within that larger life, after all. Unless we do that, it’s easy to begin making everything an equal priority, and it isn’t. Some things deserve more of our attention than others, and some steps are better taken first or last rather than at the same time. Jim’s right–this is great insight for young teachers who are just beginning to set those priorities and establish life-long habits. It’s a great reminder for all of us as we begin this new year, too.