Take Back the Teachers' Lounge

When I was a kid, I remember my parents harping on me about who I hung out with and how important it was to choose my friends wisely, to surround myself with "good" influences. Honestly, I got pretty sick and tired of their advice and had to make some mistakes of my own before I figured out they were right.

Now I'm a dad, and I can see exactly how right my parents were, and even how carefully they led me without forcing me, and I can take their parenting cues to lead my own children.

I'm also a teacher, and I notice the relational decisions that face the middle schoolers I see every day, not to mention my own 5th grade son who is approaching middle school himself.

But I would like to speak to the relationships we form among teachers and how important it is to surround ourselves with good influences. I can share with you how I try to do this, and you can use my opinions to shape your practices if you wish.

Beware the teachers' lounge...
You've heard it before. That teachers' lounge can be a hotbed of negativity. Yes, I understand it's your sanctuary, a place to escape the little rascals running through your classroom, somewhere you can let it all hang out. I can't count how many times I've heard (and said), "Little Johnny is driving me crazy today!" It's only natural to seek out other teachers with whom we can commiserate, but I think we must be careful when venting without looking for solutions to problems we come across. Use the lounge for problem solving, and then celebrate your successes together! You might need to be the one who turns a conversation around.

...but don't isolate yourself
I am an introvert. I like to study up and do my own thing. I've had many times in my career when I've hidden away in isolation and have taken care of my classes, quietly proud of my own accomplishments. As I reflect, I see an issue when teaching in this manner.

I don't want it until I see it
I view it like I view advertisements for products on TV: I don't want it until I see it. In my own little bubble, I design my lessons the best I know how, but when I pay attention to what and how my colleagues are teaching, I can consider my approach afresh. It's when I open myself up and share my ideas and listen to others' perspectives that I feel I need to continue to extend my pedagogy; I have a desire to improve my teaching. My wife checks Zulily almost every day, and man, I didn't even know I wanted new flip flops until she had me looking through that awesome deal online. Similarly, when I see the innovation in education, I want it for myself, too.

Enter social media
I like setting goals. I continually need to earn continuing education credits. Put the two together, and I signed up for the Innovative Educator Advanced Studies Certificate, aka the IEASC. Fast forward 6 months...I finished the 18 credits and have a fresh perspective on technology and the need to be informed. Within the program, I took an elective course through FPU called Twitter for Educators from a stand up instructor who jumpstarted my twitter heart. Through the online course and the interactions he encouraged, I was brought way back to my parents' advice: "Choose your friends wisely."

The Twittersphere
With Twitter, I can choose who to follow and build a Professional Learning Network (PLN). I can consider their ideas. I can unfollow them if I feel like it. I can have a big group of tweeps, or I can keep it small; it's completely up to me. I don't follow any celebrities (I don't care that LeBron James just gave his mother a new car--and I only know that because I just Googled it for my purposes here), but I've slowly learned to focus in on the cutting edge themes, ideas, and technologies in education. I can choose my friends wisely, those who can counsel me and help me grow as an educator. And with the Internet being the social monster that it has become, I have multiple options: Google Plus, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, EduClipper, even individual blogs through RSS feeds like Feedly. For me, I keep my social networks to a minimum and try to dive deep into the few I care about. They say Twitter is an ocean in itself, and you can really only take a dip.

A little help from my friends
I'm finding, too, that educators on social media are truly helpful and positive, just the sort of influences we all need in our lives. I've been watching back some episodes of The Two Guys Show with @Techbradwaid and @Techminock. One of their guests (see episode 7 with @4_teachers) created an app called QuickKey that acts as a scantron machine right from your device. I thought I'd try it out and give him some feedback, you know, as an encouragement, so I created a quick video demo of his app and shared it on twitter with him. He was ecstatic with the demo and retweeted it right away. I wanted to share with teachers at my site as well, so I shot them an email of the video. Alternately, I've been encouraged by others to try new and innovative things, and others have given me a +1 on a blog post within Google Plus. To steal a line from The Beatles out of context: "I get by with a little help from my friends."

Take back the teachers' lounge
Somehow we've got to transform the teachers' lounge into the type of place where ideas are shared, problems are solved, and real innovation occurs. It starts with you; yeah...it starts with me. We have got to make our schools safe places to try new things, where failure's just a quick stop on the road to success. And as teachers, we have to build our students up, not only in front of them, but also behind their backs. Surround yourself with the teachers who you know will help you do that.

One last challenge
I learned an important lesson as a kid that I didn't fully realize until I was much older--influence is a two-way street. I strayed a bit off the straight and narrow to become friends with the guy across the street, and though he may have been a poor influence on me (granted, I was no angel), my positive influence turned out to be life-changing for him, my best friend. Is there a teacher who needs your positivity today?