TL;DR:
- Just as Brussels sprouts changed, so can people and ideas.
- Don’t be so quick to dismiss something or someone because of one bad experience.
- Give grace to students, staff, parents, and the community.
It isn’t very often that I can pinpoint, to the exact day, the very first time I tried a particular food for the first time. But in the case of Brussels sprouts, it was February 20, 2006.
My friend Andrea had organised a Fluorescent Yellow Food Day party with our church group. (FYFD, for those who don’t know, is a day to celebrate friends, family, fun, and, of course, yellow food!) My roommate Brady, knowing full well the theme of the party was yellow foods, brought a tray of roasted Brussels sprouts, saying, “I figured we all needed something green during this party!” (Somewhere out there is a picture of those delicious green bulbs on the end of the table laden with yummy yellow snacks.)
Just as so many of us have given Brussels sprouts another chance, I invite you to give your students another chance. Give those new 'old' ideas another chance. Click To TweetBrussels sprouts have a fascinating history.
For the longest time, they were just known as a strange little plant with a bitter taste and a funny smell. No one really liked them. But they somehow managed to get passed around the dinner table from time to time anyway.
Something changed over the last 20 years or so. All of a sudden, Brussels sprouts were showing up on restaurant menus as an appetizer. And people were not just ordering them, but enjoying them! It didn’t take long for the strange little bulbs to make their way into our kitchens and our dinner plates.
So what changed?
What happened to Brussels sprouts that made them so different? Was it just a matter of our collective taste in food changing? Was it something about the vegetable itself? A combination of them? According to NPR, Dutch scientists carefully guided Brussels sprouts from their traditionally bitter state to one that was sweeter and more palatable. It took time. It took patience. And perhaps most importantly, it took a great deal of expertise in knowing just the right tweaks at just the right time.
Accepting New Old Ideas
It is not at all uncommon to hear veteran teachers talk about the swinging pendulum of education policy and practice. “This, too, shall pass” is an unfortunate adage in many schools and districts around the world. Whether from a new teacher or a new administrator, it seems that any time a new idea is brought up, there is someone out there who sighs heavily, saying, “Been there, done that, got a t-shirt and not much else.”
I’ve been there before. Believe me! I literally have a closet full of t-shirts from past programs! Even though we may have been there already and may have done that before, that doesn’t mean we have to completely dismiss the “new” idea. Sometimes it just takes a different team willing to give it another try. This is happening in my current district right now.
Reimplementing PLCs
The district had implemented the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model many, many years before I arrived. When I came six years ago, PLCs were meetings that happened every Wednesday morning, with a “late start” for students. Recognising that the meetings were not effective and that student absenteeism was considerably higher on Wednesdays, our district administration and teachers union agreed to eliminate the late-start Wednesday.
A few years later, after several other changes were put into place, it was decided that was time to reimplement PLCs from scratch. Starting with the district and building leadership teams, we have been slowly but surely building the foundation for PLCs. With a focus on intentionality and integrity of implementation, this old approach has been a breath of fresh air. It has helped teachers focus on what matters most as they meet with teams to help each student succeed!
Students Deserve a Fresh Start, Too
Imagine it is the start of the year and you have a new class. You don’t know much about the students other than what has been passed along from previous teachers. One of your students comes from a low-income household, has a record of frequent absences, has an IEP, and lives in a neighbourhood that is regularly visited by local law enforcement officers. What kind of ideas are you forming about this student? What plans are you already making?
As you get to know this student, you get used to the fact that he frequently misses school due to numerous medical appointments and is pulled out several times a week for speech and language therapy services. You also quickly realise that he has an incredibly sharp mind and seems to remember everything. He loves to read and gets along well with other students and adults.
He is quick to volunteer to help and can often be found assisting other students after he finishes his work unless he is buried in yet another book. You may have had to reconsider some of your earlier notions about this student from the beginning of the year.
You have certainly had to change your plans.
Years later, this student has graduated from high school and gone on to a top-tier state university to study, of all things, elementary education. You don’t hear from him and you lose touch with his family. One day you get a message on social media from a neighbour who heard he was trying to find you. You pass along your contact information, wondering what has become of this child who had the deck stacked against him from such an early age.
He lets you know that he is working in a large public school system as a leader among teachers. He holds two degrees from that top-tier public university, one in elementary education and one in educational administration. He’s recently come back from a statewide conference where he presented a breakout session, something he does several times a year throughout the state and occasionally at national conferences. He just wanted to say thank you for all of the time and effort you put into working with him all those years ago.
[scroll down to keep reading]
An unbelievable story, you say?
I promise you it isn’t. You see, this is my story—every word of it. I will be forever grateful to the amazing educators I had throughout my K-12 career who saw beyond my cumulative folder with absences and the neighbourhood my family lived in and gave me a fresh start each year. (I am especially grateful to those middle school and high school teachers who helped me navigate the incredibly awkward years of puberty and adolescence!)
Just as so many of us have given Brussels sprouts another chance, I invite you to give your students another chance. Give those new “old” ideas another chance. Find out which ones are the Brussels sprouts that just needed a chance to change, to evolve, to become less bitter and better.
About Alex T. Valencic
Alex Valencic is an educator, former small business owner, Boy Scout, volunteer drug prevention specialist, unrepentant bibliophile, and a geek of all things. He worked as a substitute teacher for three years before achieving his lifelong dream of teaching fourth grade, which he did for seven years in Urbana, Illinois, before accepting his current position as the Curriculum Coordinator for 21st Century Teaching and Learning in Freeport, Illinois, where he not only supports innovative educational practices in the classroom but also oversees social studies, science, and nearly all of the elective courses in the district.