George Couros
@gcouros • 252,517 subscribers
The goal is to help learners find a pathway to success that is meaningful to them. Through learning, writing, & speaking, I continue to aspire to this.
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“Teachers aren’t scared of change. They are scared of wasting their time on things that make no significant impact in their classrooms.” I remember a teacher sharing that with me and it always resonated. Are we spending a lot of time on changing things subtly, or are we creating something that there would be no argument on how much better it would be, whether in schools, professional lives, or personal habits. I thought about this when I heard about the backlash to “New Coke” from the mid 80s. Even though taste-tests showed that people preferred the new version, there was a pushback because the company had not understood the emotional connection people had to the old version. From the history website: _______ “The simple fact is that all the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people.” _______ Change is not only about doing something “better.” It is ensuring that people will see that they will be significantly better off through the investment of time and energy they pour into the new thing. If that connection can’t be made, then we have to ask is it truly worth the time and committment?
George Couros142,675 görüntüleme • 3 yıl önce
Can one person change the culture of an organization? Yes. We all know that can definitely happen in a negative way. One person can shift the energy of a room, school, or an organization, to make it worse than what it was before. The opposite can be true as well. I saw individuals shift the culture of entire rooms in moments by bringing their energy and people fed off their enthusiasm, and the dynamic of the culture changed in moments. We often discuss culture like it’s someone else’s responsibility but culture is made up of people. And eventually that one person who can bring a positive light to an organization can diminish their own. No matter how optimistic, joyful and passionate a person can be, never assume they are “good.” Check in on people even when they seem like they don’t need it, because often they do. One person can move the culture ahead in a positive direction, but that individual might also need your energy to keep them going. Education is about elevation and whether you are positive or negative, it is contagious? Which one will you be?
George Couros67,388 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
A tradition I started with Kallea in 2018, and it has been awesome to watch my kids watch themselves over the years through these videos. My family wishes all of you an amazing 2024! Always be willing to grow, but be proud of how far you have already gone!
George Couros56,785 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
Would you want to be a teacher on your staff as a principal? I have often asked teachers, would you want to be a learner in your own classroom, but the question above for administrators could be even more critical. If we do not support those closest to students every day in an effective manner, it is much harder for things to improve in schools. If we want learning to look different in classrooms, then leadership must also evolve. This doesn’t mean that everything done in the past has been wrong. Some things that mattered 50 years ago will matter now, both in learning and leadership. But replicating everything that was done in the past, whether it was effective or not, isn’t a great strategy for moving schools forward. I was blessed to learn from some amazing principals in my career, but I also learned about things that I hated as a teacher and swore that I would do my best not to replicate those strategies. I wrote this in my upcoming book co-authored with Allyson Apsey (Allyson Apsey) titled, “What Makes a Great Principal”: “If we do things in our schools and classrooms that were done hundreds of years ago that still work today, we should continue to do them. On the other hand, if we do new stuff just because it is new, but it doesn’t work, we shouldn’t be doing it. Whatever works for our community is where our focus should be, no matter when it originated.” What worked in the past? What would you change? What would you have wanted as a teacher, and how can you make that happen? Simply replicating the strategies of the past, whether good or bad, will not necessarily lead education to a better future. Innovation is crucial to leadership as much as it is to teaching and learning.
George Couros22,738 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
How do we help learners find a pathway to success that is meaningful to them? Too often, “success” is determined by others for our students, but everyone reading this right now could consider themselves successful, but have very different measures on what that means to them. If I don’t have a say on what success looks like to me, why would I care about getting to someone else’s destination? This is something I have been thinking about a lot since I was the opening keynote at #NAGC23 this past week, and how I emphasized the importance of focusing on bringing out the gifts in EVERY learner we serve, including our adults. We can’t bring out the best in our students if we only focus on the deficits of what we do as adults in education. It is imperative that we don’t just “value” people but that people feel valued. There is a difference in those two ideas. Here is a question I have really been focused on over the last few years; Do our students walk out of school all good at the same thing, or do they all walk out knowing they are good at something? Not everything that is important to bring out the gifts in our students can be easily measured, but not all things that matter can fit into nice and neat metrics. Helping learners find their own gifts within education ensures that they are more likely to find that pathway to success that matters most to them. NAGC
George Couros17,125 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
You can’t make anyone else change; all you can do is create the conditions where change is more likely to happen. I remember speaking with an administrator and hearing him complain that his staff wasn’t moving forward. Instead of commiserating with him at that moment, I said, “Maybe it’s you?” It caught him off guard, but there was a point. Too often, myself included, when we try to lead people to new ideas, and they don’t immediately embrace them, we blame them instead of looking at where we may be deficient. Sometimes, the new “approach” is sharing the ideas over again, only louder. That approach rarely works. In this week’s newsletter, I shared 3 things that have helped me rethink how to help create better conditions for others to embrace change. 1. Truly listen to their thoughts and viewpoints, and be open to the idea that your way might not be the best. 2. Recognize that you also had resistance to new ideas, including things that you might consistently do and believe today. Be open with your own story of resistance and what made you change. 3. Start by focusing on the areas in which others are excelling, as opposed to your perception of their deficits. People who feel valued are more likely to move forward. People who feel you are trying to “fix” them will fight you non-stop. You can only control your own actions. What do others see in you that will make them want to move forward, by your side? People are more likely to take steps forward on a path if they see footprints from others already on the ground. Read the entire newsletter here:
George Couros15,735 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
I wanted to say thank you to everyone for all of the kind comments & words about my dog Odom. He’s a fighter & I’m enjoying every moment I can. With his cancer diagnosis last week, I’ve been having a hard time & struggling with the thought of running the Disney World Marathon. I had put so much work & training into it, but I wasn’t as excited to do it because I’ve been sad about Odom. He’s been with me through so much, & it almost felt selfish to run. But I committed to the race, and got up early on Sunday morning to get ready. Being earlier than I typically wake up, I let the dogs go outside instead of taking them for a walk. As I headed out the door, Odom ran to it, & looked at me like he was saying, “We aren’t going for our walk?” He’s 15 years old, sick & at that moment, with his big floppy tail wagging, he wanted to go for a walk. I couldn’t believe it. He looked exactly the same to me as when I first got him from the Edmonton Humane Society society at 6 months old. That was him saying, “If I got the energy to get up & keep going, you should too.” The entire race, with every struggle, pain and negative thought that came into my head, I thought of Odom & his tail wagging in the morning wanting to go for a walk. Not only did it get me through the race, he gave me energy I didn’t know I had. While running, I thought of Odom & his enthusiasm in the morning, & seeing my family at the end. Those 2 thoughts got me to the finish line. At the beginning of the race, a runner had shared how she’d been dealing with cancer for years, & postponed a treatment to this week so she could run the entire marathon. She then encouraged others to run their best race. I was amazed by her strength. It reminded me of the quote, “Kindness is lending your strength instead of reminding others of their weakness.” Often, others are going through tough times and still give their energy to cheer on others. When things get hard, ask yourself what & who is getting you to your finish line, whatever your race may be. With stiff legs, Odom, Cooper & I got our walk in before going to bed. Seeing their tails wagging was the perfect end to my day.
George Couros15,861 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
In education, are we more focused on what school will look like 10 years from now, or asking the question, what are we doing with students today, and how will that affect them in 10 years? I also wonder how many students truly care about our “10 Year” plans in education. What matters most to them is what we are doing today. I was having a conversation with my daughter Kallea this past week and sharing about an opportunity that I wanted and how it didn’t work out. That was a teachable moment and I asked her, “What do you think your dad is going to do now?” Without hesitating she said, “Work harder.” This is something that I have talked about with her a lot, but hopefully, it is also something that I model. Sometimes things don’t work out because life isn’t fair. And sometimes, things don’t work out because we are not ready and haven’t done the work to get the accomplishment. It is easy to make the fault of others, and sometimes, that is even true. But I know that I always can control my own actions and if you complain about a problem, once you are finished complaining, it is still a problem. Only action creates future opportunities. My actions are the only things I can control. I hope this sticks with her and my kids because I know it is something my parents instilled in me. Of course, we need to focus on what school and learning can look like in the future, but we also have to understand that the future is also very dependent on what we install in our children today.
George Couros16,598 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
Daha fazla içerik yok.