The best teachers are professional learners. Inspiring teachers learn with and from their diverse students. Collaborative teachers learn with and from their skilled colleagues. Reflective teachers learn through and from their honest mistakes, strengthening their practice with vigorous insights. Especially now, at this critical crossroads for K-12 education, this powerful learning quietly drives meaningful change, amazing work, and caring connections in classrooms every day. What if this learning became the new narrative of teaching today?
In March, Innovageous, funded by The Neubauer Family Foundation’s Re-Start Grant for Neubauer Fellows, connected diverse professionals in and adjacent to education to collect insights in four virtual, dynamic conversations that catalyzed both learning and hope. While there is no denying the need for longer term sustainable solutions for investing in our teachers’ lives and livelihoods, the stories we tell about the powerful and transformative impact of our teachers on our students, families, communities, and nation must compel those in power to take action. The time to tell our stories is now.
This week our social media feeds were flooded with messages of gratitude in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. Help Innovageous turn this moment into a movement! You can become a part of the solution right now with resources from our social media kit designed to elevate authentic stories of how teachers inspire young people and why teaching is a worthwhile profession. Post your teacher story. Proudly display the hashtags #TagATeacher and #MyTeacherStory. Tag a teacher that the world needs to know. Together, we can collect and amplify the stories of our most passionate professionals and connect people to these stories to energize and empower a new generation of skilled teachers that care.
Maya Angelou knew the emotional power of stories when she said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Please tell YOUR teaching story with learning at its heart. It may just be the spark that ignites change, or the reason a passionate young person enters our profession with pride.
