Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Actions do speak louder than words, and yet we still all like to hear ourselves talk. There are hundreds of blogs, magazines, and journals out there that put forth the latest and greatest theories and pedagogies of education. While those are all fine and good, I would rather just do something. This might seem a bit odd that I am currently doing the very thing that I am downplaying…

The point I am trying to make is that too many educators are talking about what changes need to be made in education. This is a great thing and I hope we never stop talking and writing about how to make education and learning better for our students. However, at some point the talking and writing need to be replaced by action. With this in mind I have some examples of things that have taken place in my school this that required action and not talking.

Action: I asked our district administration to unblock Twitter for staff to use as a professional development tool.
Result: They unblocked the site and I held a session in it today and showed numerous of excited teachers the potential benefits of using it as a professional development tool.

Action: I have been reading a lot of the work done by Dr. Mitra and his “Hole in the Wall” study that he did in India.
Result: I am testing his theories of collaboration and learning with my students. I have some students working individually and some in collaborative groups. At the end I will analyze assessment data to see if the theory actually holds.

Action: Many educators write and talk about the need for student and parent input in the decision making process of schools.
Result: I sent out surveys to both students and parents to gain feedback on their learning experiences. Through this feedback I have been able to change and tweak things I am doing to make the learning better and more accessible to all my students and their parents.

Action: Many people talk about being out of shape and not as healthy as they want to be.
Result: I just went on a six mile run in single digit weather and will be passing out on the couch shortly…

What actions are you taking to better your situation and the learning experiences of your students?