Obvious to You


One #MTBoS trend I saw this summer (and something I wanted to blog about for months) was the idea to simply share. Share your work, your questions, your ideas, your classroom, your lessons. Without the feeling of doubt that "This idea isn't good enough," or "Everyone already knows this." Without the feelings of vulnerability. A group of educators even started using the hashtag #pushsend, which was perhaps like the famous ad slogan, "Just do it." 😉  I love the approach, I need to remember this suggestion, and this post is my action plan!

One of my favorite things to share in sessions is Derek Sivers' video, "Obvious to you. Amazing to others," and I think this video is a perfect reminder to get over this fear.  I think it's especially difficult (for me, at least) when colleagues learn the same things as you; they know the same tips, tricks, and tools, they attend the same conferences and read the same books. It's almost a competition to see who can find and share something new...but it shouldn't be!

While in the classroom, it was often a feeling of competition for who received a "Teacher of the Week," recognition from a team, or whose classroom was the "best," based on the talk in the school. But again, it shouldn't be!

In this recent post by David Geurin, he reminds us that "we want collective greatness." All students are winners when there are 100 wonderful teachers on campus! All schools and districts win when all of us are providing the professional development services that help move the learning forward.

We all have something great to contribute. It doesn't matter if someone else shared it first. Go ahead, just do it. Learn, share, and grow!
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