What’s Your ‘WHY’?

As we learned from Sinek (2009), not every organization knows ‘why’ they do what they do, and this is the reason why some succeed and others do not. In order to implement my Blended Learning innovation plan the proper way; I must remember my ‘why’. No matter what obstacles come up, I will always remember that my students are the biggest part of my ‘why’.

I am attempting to contain my excitement after my principal agreed to support my innovation plan yesterday. The next step is to approach the district for final approval to pilot blended learning in my classroom next school year. As excited as I am, I am trying to stay grounded in the fact that many people do not like change, and many times try to resist it at all costs. This fact makes it very difficult to promote small changes let alone organizational change. Kotter (2011) reminds us that you have to tug at someone’s heart before you try to convince their mind about something. I will be using this premise as I move forward with my tentative implementation timeline.

Creating and implementing change requires a lot of moving parts and can lead to more failures than successes. But if you create a sense of urgency like Kotter (2013) talks about; this will help those that need to be convinced to take the idea or plan more serious. It would be easy to say that my innovation plan could be talked about and we can decide on when to implement down the road, but that will most likely lead to failure, not a success. The fact that this will be implemented by the next school year can create the sense of urgency needed to be successful for my students.

When it comes to the success of my students and their future, I will do anything to find the path that is needed for the best outcome. How does my ‘why’ affect my students in our small community in Texas? All of my students are 1 to 1 with Chromebooks, which allows for extensions beyond the classroom and also provides the environment they need to learn with and beyond the technology. Implementing the blended learning model will create the learning environment needed for growth in each and every one of my students.

References

Kotter, J. (2011, March, 23). The heart of change. . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NKti9MyAAw

Kotter, J. (2013, August, 15). Leading change: Establish a sense of urgency. . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yfrj2Y9IlI

Sinek, S. (2009, September). Start with why: Simon Sinek TED talk. . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw