Be...

I was inspired by this creation found in the lobby of Chauncey Davis Elementary School.  Principal Kresta Byington made this display with the intent of highlighting some of the student traits teachers and staff value.

Three of these traits (among others) I believe are vital to teach and encourage in our students.



Be... Creative

Creativity is something I believe we need to promote in our schools and classrooms.  This can be challenging because it requires us to allow students (and teachers) to follow their interests, which may lead them outside our safe, contained, way of "doing" education.  We need to refrain from giving our students the notion that there is a "right answer", and should encourage our teachers to innovate without fear of failing.  Education should have the freedom to be authentic, real, and open ended.

Be... Yourself

How often do we hear all students need to be "college ready"?  How often does "education" attempt to mold all students into one "correct" and "standard" definition of success?  Students are unique.  Children come to school with individual talents, interests, and ideas.  We need to provide an educational environment that grows all students' innate strengths.  Students should feel safe to express their ideas, learn to find answers to their own questions, and create according to their interests.  We should refrain from conforming students to one way of being, to always doing things the "way we do things", and suppressing talents we "know" just won't be useful.

Be... A Thinker

What do students do with the things they learn?  Do students just go through the motions of school?  Of course they do.  We need to teach students how (not what) to think, how to apply their learning to their own ideas, and how to find answers to their own questions.  Rather than educating students to simply memorize facts they already know how to find on Google (simplistic example), we should provide opportunities for students to apply their talents to produce new information or products.  Rather than students simply learning what someone else thinks, students should learn to question why that knowledge is relevant.  More important, what can they do with that knowledge or how can they make it better?

Schools need to be a place where all students grow as individuals.  Schools need to be relevant to students and meaningful to their being.

Be...