TL;DR:
- As spring is the beginning of the growing season for plants, we should also look at this time as prime time for our students to grow as well.
- As you engage this month: stop, look, and listen. Take notice of your staff and be careful about letting your physical environment slide.
- Elevate your own development by considering your annual goals, renewing your commitment to them, or adjusting them.
- Choose a communication platform and elevate your message.
Engage and Elevate Better in March: A Time to Grow
“The spring has sprung, the fall has fell. It’s the beginning of March, and I’m going through…a lot.” This little rhyme may be something that goes through your mind as we officially begin the spring season and bid winter a sweet adieu. I admit that living in South Texas, we see spring much earlier than some of the rest of you. Our weather is becoming warmer and clearer, we are seeing budding trees and bulb flowers starting to stir. Mountain laurels are beginning to bloom (and yes, the flowers do smell like grape Kool-Aid!).
It’s beginning to look like the year may actually come to a close, and are we ready for that yet? That is what early spring is like in my world. I have been dedicated to not only engaging this year, but in elevating my practice. This is what I’m thinking of as spring begins.
There’s Still Time to Grow
As spring is the beginning of the growing season for plants, we should also look at this time as prime time for our students to grow as well. Fresh, new beginnings are still possible for students who have matured, grown confident in their abilities, and have been practicing and following routines for the past six months.
One of the best things that is happening as we move into early spring is that we are coming to a major reflection point in the school year. The three-fourths done part is critical to evaluation and refinement of programs. There’s definitely still time to make tweaks and adjust our practice as we move closer to spring break. It is so important that we truly think about how we can still refine now. As someone who loves to cook and bake, I know that I would not pull out a cake that is three-fourths done!
As spring is the beginning of the growing season for plants, we should also look at this time as prime time for our students to grow as well. Click To TweetEngaging Three-Fourths of the Way In
So how do we engage this month to ensure that we are making the most out of the time we have remaining with the current group of students? If we think about spring cleaning and focus on clarifying our practice we can really get a good sense of how to engage with our students and staff. This is likely not the time to introduce a totally new initiative, but the seeds for next school year can certainly be sown now! The most effective ways to engage are:
Stop, look, and listen.
This seems obvious, but now is the time to look at how things have been progressing and make adjustments. Compare your goals to your progress in academic programs. If they seem on track, great. If not, it’s time to evaluate them from a global thinking perspective and make changes.
Take notice of staff that have started operating in countdown mode.
This is the time to help them understand that all the rest of the school days left have value. Maybe it’s time to revisit the goals you set at the beginning of the year when you were more enthusiastic and celebrate your wins, while you concentrate on adjusting the goals if necessary.
Be careful about letting your physical environment slide.
Just as you do every month, freshen your displays, change out your bulletin board paper, and look with a beginning-of-the-year eye at how things look. The care you give now to your environment goes a long way to keeping your perspective fresh.
Now that you are rolling along with curricular successes, this may be the time to amp it up a bit with some different techniques.
Choose a new read aloud time or style. Let the kids participate in the selection of the material if they haven’t done so before. Or share a book of your choosing like the one that was your favorite when you were in their grade.
Elevate in March! Let That Cake Continue Baking!
Going back to the baking metaphor, your practice will not elevate (nor will your cake fully rise) if you stop progressing three-fourths of the way through the process. You can, and should, still aim to elevate your practice in March! Here are some ideas to consider as you look to not just engage, but to elevate:
Consider doing a temperature check of your students, staff, and families.
A short survey would be great to get some idea of how you are doing, and what you might adjust to finish the last quarter of the school year. Be sure to ask staff specific, open-ended questions such as, “This has been on my mind and I need to let you know…” and “This has been working well, let’s keep doing this.” For families you might ask them to tell you, “These are things the school is doing well,” or “I would like to see the school implement this.”
Elevate your staff and students with activities that expand their perspective and build schema.
Perhaps you haven’t emphasized the arts this year. This would be a great time to watch a ballet or symphony (either live or via technology). If your science instruction has been less hands-on you might plant a vegetable garden and sell the produce to tie in math and economics.
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Elevate your own development by considering your annual goals, renewing your commitment to them, or adjusting them.
This doesn’t have to mean adjusting them down, by the way. You can also adjust your goals higher if you are making spectacular achievements based on your commitment and work. For example, one of my professional goals this year has already been met. I am adjusting that goal to a higher level to ensure I keep working to improve. Model continuous improvement, even as the school year winds down.
Choose a communication platform and elevate your message.
Is your weekly memo getting stale? How are you promoting the great things happening in your school on social media? Ask a friend, a parent, a colleague, and a community member to look at your communications through their lens and give you feedback to make it even better.
It’s been said that March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb. When we engage and elevate our practice in March, we can conquer that lion, and enjoy the sweetness of that lamb!
About Martin Silverman
Martin Silverman is a father, grandfather, husband, and long-time educator in beautiful San Antonio, Texas. He is committed to providing the best educational experience for the students and families at Salinas Elementary school where he is principal. Martin has worked in urban, suburban, and rural districts as a teacher and administrator. His interests are in creating and nurturing school culture, providing enriching experiences for students and families, and developing future teachers and administrators.
As a former bilingual teacher and administrator, Martin is committed to providing ELL students with quality programs to develop their unique skills. He hosts a podcast called The Second Question, which highlights educators and provides them a forum to discuss ideas, and to honor the teachers that have influenced their lives.
