George Couros
@gcouros • 253,118 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 Couros142,668 views • 2 years ago
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 Couros67,384 views • 2 years ago
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 views • 2 years ago
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 views • 2 years ago
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