A lot of us have great ideas, but because we are lower down on the pecking order in the school system, what we really think and do is rarely heard by those around us, above us, in spite of all the pointless meetings. The assumption is that the department chair, the district coordinator, the principal and the generalists around her, etc., because they outrank us, must know more than us, can help us, can show us how it’s done and give us advice. It is a mistake on our part to mentally accept what they say. No one in our school knows more than we do about teaching languages, because they simply don’t.
There are no experts. There is just us, helping each other with good will and good ideas. Rarely does anyone we work under know anywhere near what we know about what is best for our language students. We shouldn’t waste time talking to those people if they cannot grasp what we are all about and why we do what we do.
It is better to find ways to share our ideas online and at conferences. The summer conferences are coming. That is the very best way to share and learn. I think that the conferences Tina and I are doing in ATL, MN, St. Louis, and Philadelphia will be the best sharing of ideas of the summer. I know it. But you have to be open your mind to new ideas. It’s all new now, again. We can love our jobs now.
https://ciliftoff.wildapricot.org/events