Teaching...
Obviously teaching is a word that gets used quite often in the education setting, but I push you to try and eliminate it from your everyday vocabulary. When we say 'teaching,' we are talking about what we the educators are doing or not doing. Though this important, we have to ask ourselves where the kids are in this conversation. Instead of saying 'teaching,' let's start saying 'learning.' This will quickly and easily shift our focus away from us the educator and place it on the students whom we serve. Think of it as going from teacher-centered to student-centered.
Rigor...
The word rigor has quickly transformed into something we say all the time though it more times than not doesn't actually mean what we think it does. By definition, rigor is very much based on a 'severity of strictness, inflexibility and harshness.' Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of education and I think of students, those really aren't the words I want associated with what happens in education. Having said that, what I really think we are meaning to say is 'appropriate challenges.' So, let's stop saying we are trying to increase 'rigor,' and let's start saying that we are trying to create an environment that 'appropriately challenges' our students.
Professional development...
Have you ever heard someone say, 'Hey, I'm going to go do some professional development!' I'm assuming you probably haven't, and if you did, they probably weren't doing it on their own accord and were probably fulfilling some required district mandate. Professional development has become a negative thing for many folks because they see it as something done 'to' them rather than 'with' them. More times than not they are unfortunately correct. Instead of saying 'professional development,' let's start saying 'self-directed growth' which puts the ownership back on the individual and allows them to be empowered and responsibility for their own learning and growth.
Differentiated instruction...
Far too often we say differentiated instruction because we have groups or centers of kids doing different things at the same time. Just because we have kids doing different things at the same time doesn't mean we are truly differentiating instruction. To help make this distinction a little more clear, I recommend that we start saying 'personalized or customized learning.' Similar to teaching, differentiated instruction is very teacher-centered whereas 'personalized & customized learning' is more focused on the students. Additionally, it's not just kids doing different things at the same time, it's providing kids a personalized & customized learning experience that meets them where they are, not where their classmates are or where we want them to be.
Assessment...
Let's ask the most important question first... why do we have assessments? Are the assessments just so we the educators can accumulate and gather huge amounts of data? Or, are they a form of feedback and input that benefit both the educators and the students to provide a monitoring system to improve student learning? I hope we all agree it's the latter... So, let's stop saying 'assessment' and let's start saying 'input and feedback tool.' This will also help to show kids that these 'assessments' are used to help and support them in their learning journey, rather than end and limit.
Meeting...
Most folks hear the word 'meeting' and they immediately start to cringe and get that fingernails on the chalkboard kind of shiver. The word meeting has overtime become a word synonymous for 'you sit and listen to me talk' kind of an event. Though folks with good intentions have tried to change these types of events to be more productive and collaborative in nature, the word meeting still evokes a negative emotion that many struggle to shake. I challenge you to replace the word 'meeting' with the word 'gathering.' When people talk of gatherings they are usually fun and people enjoy being there, so set the tone in a positive way and move away from meetings.
What do you believe we should stop saying in education? Feel free to share in the comment section below!
Obviously teaching is a word that gets used quite often in the education setting, but I push you to try and eliminate it from your everyday vocabulary. When we say 'teaching,' we are talking about what we the educators are doing or not doing. Though this important, we have to ask ourselves where the kids are in this conversation. Instead of saying 'teaching,' let's start saying 'learning.' This will quickly and easily shift our focus away from us the educator and place it on the students whom we serve. Think of it as going from teacher-centered to student-centered.
Rigor...
The word rigor has quickly transformed into something we say all the time though it more times than not doesn't actually mean what we think it does. By definition, rigor is very much based on a 'severity of strictness, inflexibility and harshness.' Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of education and I think of students, those really aren't the words I want associated with what happens in education. Having said that, what I really think we are meaning to say is 'appropriate challenges.' So, let's stop saying we are trying to increase 'rigor,' and let's start saying that we are trying to create an environment that 'appropriately challenges' our students.
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Have you ever heard someone say, 'Hey, I'm going to go do some professional development!' I'm assuming you probably haven't, and if you did, they probably weren't doing it on their own accord and were probably fulfilling some required district mandate. Professional development has become a negative thing for many folks because they see it as something done 'to' them rather than 'with' them. More times than not they are unfortunately correct. Instead of saying 'professional development,' let's start saying 'self-directed growth' which puts the ownership back on the individual and allows them to be empowered and responsibility for their own learning and growth.
Differentiated instruction...
Far too often we say differentiated instruction because we have groups or centers of kids doing different things at the same time. Just because we have kids doing different things at the same time doesn't mean we are truly differentiating instruction. To help make this distinction a little more clear, I recommend that we start saying 'personalized or customized learning.' Similar to teaching, differentiated instruction is very teacher-centered whereas 'personalized & customized learning' is more focused on the students. Additionally, it's not just kids doing different things at the same time, it's providing kids a personalized & customized learning experience that meets them where they are, not where their classmates are or where we want them to be.
Assessment...
Let's ask the most important question first... why do we have assessments? Are the assessments just so we the educators can accumulate and gather huge amounts of data? Or, are they a form of feedback and input that benefit both the educators and the students to provide a monitoring system to improve student learning? I hope we all agree it's the latter... So, let's stop saying 'assessment' and let's start saying 'input and feedback tool.' This will also help to show kids that these 'assessments' are used to help and support them in their learning journey, rather than end and limit.
Meeting...
Most folks hear the word 'meeting' and they immediately start to cringe and get that fingernails on the chalkboard kind of shiver. The word meeting has overtime become a word synonymous for 'you sit and listen to me talk' kind of an event. Though folks with good intentions have tried to change these types of events to be more productive and collaborative in nature, the word meeting still evokes a negative emotion that many struggle to shake. I challenge you to replace the word 'meeting' with the word 'gathering.' When people talk of gatherings they are usually fun and people enjoy being there, so set the tone in a positive way and move away from meetings.
What do you believe we should stop saying in education? Feel free to share in the comment section below!
