Success

What is success?

I was asked recently what I felt success looks like for our students. Success to me is when a student is confident in their ability to work through a problem with others and prepared for challenges that may come in the act of solving that problem. This doesn’t always look the same in every subject or grade but the characteristics and skills are similar. Success isn’t a student’s ability to break the test code or how fast they can read a grade level problem, rather it is using grit to work through a challenging situation, seek out assistance from experts when they have questions and the perseverance to figure out the solution or answer to the problem.

True success is the ability to persevere, articulate ideas and solutions, collaborate and reflect on the learning that is taking place and hopefully learning from mistakes. This is the success that I am working towards for all our students and teachers. This type of learning outcome is something that we will continue to strive for daily! We are continuously preparing our students to be problem solvers, building their grit and learning to work hard until the best solution is figured out.

We are at that time of the year where we start making financial and human resource decisions and changes to the school’s appearance. We are in the process of making changes to our learning spaces and classrooms. Often our discussions are focused on what the educator wants to do to make it easier or safer for them as the leaders of the learning and not always focused on how to support the child and their learning, but if they are not the focus then who is it benefiting? We need to continue to focus on what's best for our students and their future.