Enhance Learning, Hype Teams, and Community

What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. My name is Brian Martin. I'm a second grade teacher and host of the teaching champions podcast. And last week, on December 1, I pulled into the school parking lot. And as I'm pulling in, parents are in the drop off lane, dropping their children off. And this young child, who had to be in pre K, he gets out of the car. And he has a Christmas Santa hat on. And he also is holding an elf. And this young man proceeds to walk from the drop off point, all the way into school, holding this alpha right out in front of them. And the whole time, he's yelling, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And he's doing this at the top of his voice, and the whole way in the school. And if you want to talk about starting your day off, right, that right, there was a little bit of magic. So as we go into December, I want to use these next couple of minutes to share something that I learned, and something that I was reminded of. And these are two lessons that I wrap up the week with. And both of them have added value to me. And there are lessons that I can look at at the end and say that through these lessons, I can keep growing. And hopefully, these are some things that you can take away. And maybe you can add a little something to your day. Maybe these lessons are how make you think a little, maybe they'll help you reflect a little, maybe they'll make you make a little tweak to what you're doing. And the first lesson is all about learning. And it comes from John Maxwell. And if you don't know who he is, he's a thought leader. He's one of the greatest speakers of all time, and just a truly inspirational and knowledgeable individual. And this lesson is important. Because what we do is we preach to our students about being lifelong learners. So it's important that we practice what we preach. And on his podcast, he shared some tips on how we can enhance our learning. And he said he it comes down to three words, preparation, contemplation, application. And he said, to enhance our learning, we have to prepare ourselves that too often we look to learn something after has passed us. And we missed out on the learning as it was coming towards us. So what we should be doing is we need to prepare ourselves for these learning moments. And it all starts by asking a few questions at the start of the day. Questions such as? What am I learning moments today? Who will be around me today that will help me go to a new level? Or what am I learning that I need to learn more about today? You see our days, they're filled with so many opportunities to learn from the people that we meet, the things that we do, the experiences that we have. So if we prep our minds, and we're intentional about looking for these learning opportunities, then maybe we won't be missing out on these moments of growth as they're coming towards us. The second step that John talks about is contemplation, deliberately making time to reflect. He says that he takes about 15 to 30 minutes every night to really think about what he's learning. He said he looks back on the day and he thinks about what he's accomplished, what he's learned, and how to apply that to his life. And I think that this is such a vital component. When I look at my own life, I wonder how many lessons have come and gone and have never really made an imprint on me. Because I never took the time to sit with it. I never took the time to marinate with it. And maybe it's not 15 to 30 minutes. Maybe it's just five minutes. Just something Time to be still to reflect, to learn from our days. Because we're never a finished product. There's always room for growth. And as we get older, the greatest teacher that we can have is ourselves, and learning from our own lives. So we have preparation, contemplation. And the final step is application, applying what you learn, asking yourself, Where can I use this? When can I use this? Who needs to know this? If you want to enhance your learning, think about these words from John Maxwell. And this was just a very condensed version. And if you want to hear more about this, I'll leave the link in the episode in the show notes to John Maxwell's podcast. Like I said before, he is one of the greatest thought leaders, and just a phenomenal speaker. So it's definitely worth a listen. Now switching gears a little bit, I want to share a little reflection piece of my own, and the lessons that it holds. This past Friday, I'm walking down the hallway is my break. And as I walked past one of the reading teachers rooms, she weighs me in. And in a room such as these five kindergarten boys and kindergarteners, they bring a whole new level of excitement as it is. But these gentlemen, they were pumped, because they say one of the members of their group just mastered learning all the letter names. And he's going through the flashcards for us. And we're all there and we're hyping them up. And you just see this smile spread across this young man's face. And it was one of those special moments one of those priceless moments when you are there with some students, and you're laughing and you're having fun, and you're cheering each other on. And it's just reminder of the beauty of what we do. And later in that day, I'm teaching class, and the maths specialist comes in to pick up her students. And she's a rock star. And all my students are always begging to go with her. So on Fridays, she takes one student that is not her designated student, along with her crew. And one of my students gets picked. And this young lady, she joins that group and they leave a half hour later they return. And as this young lady comes back into the classroom, she turns to one of her friends and says, You were right. It is so much fun down there. And that moment stayed with me. And this is something that happens every week. This is a reaction that is given. But you want to know something that I've never done. I've never taken a moment to ask those students. Why is it so much fun, I've never taken the time to ask my colleague about what she does. And obviously, she's doing something pretty special in that time. And by not asking, I'm losing out on some insights and ways that I could grow. And I'm also depriving my colleague, the gift of knowing that some of my students are absolutely raving about what she does, because she deserves to hear that. And if students say great things about others in our buildings, we should be sharing that with them. And there's one more thing I wanted to share. The school day was over. And I ran into that reading teacher that pulled me into her class for a minute in the morning. She thanked me. And she said how wonderful was that she worked in a school where there were so many people are willing to be part of a hype team for the students that will stop and they will celebrate with the kids. And she said something that really just resonated with me. She said it's about community. And she's so right. Schools should be about community. It shouldn't be that these are just my students. And those are your students. Every individual that walks through those doors in the morning, they're our students. And we should be treating them as such. Because if you want to talk about school culture, then show me a building where the adults in the building are celebrating not just the students in their own class, but all the students in every class and this week, enhancing learning, preparing your mind. Contemplate on those lessons that you were gifted throughout the day and look to apply them As lessons and throughout the school day, be curious of those around you. If a student says another class is amazing, then ask why. Ask that teacher to share their learning practices. Give that teacher the gift of knowing that you see the great things that they're doing, and that their students are raving about them. And as I wrap up, I just want to share that if you have a little itch to write a book, or explore the idea of writing a book, reach out to Dr. Darren Peppard at the RO Das is amazing guy, and he can help you on that path to bringing your story out into the world. And I'll leave his link in the show notes. Thank you for being here, for being part of the teaching champions community. We support we encourage we lift each other up. And if you think someone will benefit from this message, please share. And be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss out on any new episodes. We have episodes coming out every Wednesday and Sunday. And always remember, it doesn't matter. If you're from rural America, to urban America, to Canada to Spain to Bahrain. We're all on that same team. We're all on that same mission. And we're always better together. Keep being amazing, my friends, and as you go out into the week, May you step into strength may step into shine. And let's build our champions up. Have a great week, everybody