2023 is on the verge of closing with all the goals, resolutions, changes, etc to follow. If your resolutions include forming better habits, go for it. If goals lead you to find your God ordained purpose, go for it. And if you are leaving 2023 with more storms and questions than calm and answers, know you are not alone. Every new year doesn’t require a drastic change or personal overhaul, it only requires reflection and growth from the previous year. Some years bring change and others bring a continuation of the progress you’ve made. This year I am keeping pace with the same me, the growth I’ve made, and allowing my hands to stay open to what God is requesting of me.
Walking into the second half of the school year, teachers and students review procedures, skills, and set goals to reach the end. As an instructional coach, I want to walk alongside educators and students to meet the goals they are setting. I ask each teacher “how can I support you this week” and my goal is to continue that practice as we finish the year. What is one goal you want to continue, change, or enhance? Do you have someone who you can share that with and help keep you accountable? I have learned that an accountability partner is necessary in life. Find your “someone” that can keep you accountable with perspective, relationships, health, spiritual habits, and any accountability you need. It is perfectly acceptable to have more than 1 person that holds you accountable.
One of my accountability partners shared Adam Grant’s analogy of a sea sponge; that led me to read Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. The chapter on living like a sponge hit me for the new year. I, like many, don’t need to make huge changes or reach big resolutions in the new year; I just need to work on the filtration system within my absorptive capacity (as Adam calls it). In education, we are constantly hit with new information, ways to approach teaching, and the endless need for trauma-informed care. With all that information, we can easily get into a thought spiral of “why am I in this profession? How can I do all of this? Am I really cut out do this?”. Take your ideas or goals talk with your accountability partner on; you have natural talents and skills that need to be brought to life through the encouragement of others. How can you filter, like a sponge, all the information and needs of your students to take the small steps in order to reach your goal or implement your idea?
With 2023 soon behind, we hold hope that 2024 has so much in store. You’ve got this second half of the year! I’m praying for you and your students. May God continue to show His grace to you and your students.
