We Do This Everyday #9

We had an awesome retreat last week! Anita, Olivia, Lauren, and I were all in one room. As you can imagine there was some energy. Fueled by snacks and caffeinated beverages - we tackled some of the hard questions we toss around in our virtual space; how are we connecting to the learners? How are our teachers feeling? Are we providing the best support?

One of the things I LOVE the most about our team is how HUMAN-centered we are. We have been asking the WHO question for a long time. Who is the learner, the teacher, the parent, the caregiver, the instructional support, the admin, and the community? And, can they all access what we do no matter where they are or how they learn? I think we continue to move toward the arc of fully including everyone. We base all we do on WHO we are serving. 

Here are a few examples:

1. We teach students from Kindergarten to college, Advanced Placement, Exploratory, and Life Skills classes. Everyone can learn. We believe it, we do it.

2. We offer and host office hours for our teachers, learners, and our school facilitators to give them an opportunity to check in with Lauren, Olivia, and/or Anita every week to touch base, ask questions, or help solve a problem. We offer workshops, faculty meetings, and PLCs, as well as holiday fun.

3. Teachers send out Monday Morning Messages, every week to help students know what to expect in the coming week. They include guided notes or slides, on what students will learn. And we send out a newsletter - sometimes with a podcast - to keep you up to date.

4. We all think differently! Anita is the get-it-done #makethemhappy person. Olivia the thinker - pushing us to the next level of learning and growing #makingupwords. Lauren streamlining us, asking questions, helping us to work together and communicate more seamlessly - #reducethefrenzy. As for me, I am all over the place - big ideas - and no clue how to get there - except for the support and vision of the great people who we work with - #abeautifulmind.

As you can see, we LOVE what we do. We LOVE helping you and your school provide languages when you don’t have or can’t find a teacher. Think about us for Calculus and Chemistry, too. We are scheduling NOW for the 2022-23 School Year.

Here is the newsletter by Tom Butler that I regularly read and think about. It is filled with lots of thoughtful prodding. He calls it The Learner-Centered Leader. It is worth subscribing to even if much of what he offers seems like a far-off wish list. He is a thinker and a visionary. I like reading his stuff and talking to him - and trying to implement some of those big ideas at the World of Learning Institute - where we create authentic, relevant, and engaging learning experiences every day! You can, too.