Influence This!

As I have reflected on my innovation plan repeatedly since its creation, I find myself trying to make the connection to influence and how that can help with implementation. I will be the first to admit that I am always a proponent for change in my classroom and beyond. This is definitely a bit larger in scope than any other previous changes that I have attempted though.

In order to start this change process, I have to make sure to ‘notice the obvious’ as Harapnuik (2016) states. It is very common to look for the underlying issues, and forget to change what is the most obvious issue first.
I know that motivating my students may be important, but influencing my colleagues will be the reason this innovation plan is successful or not.
With so many new initiatives always being presented to teachers, it is completely understandable why they would not want to start ‘one more thing’, which I would consider being what is called a possible ‘culture buster’.

Influence has such a huge effect on our daily lives without us even realizing it. Most of us do not really understand how influence is really created either. Being able to harness the 6 sources of influence from the book, Influence: The new science of leading change, as I implement my innovation plan will be a game changer. That is where the influencer model will provide a clear and concise goal of what needs to happen to make the blended learning rotation model a success.

Allowing teachers to choose whether to join the early adopters will allow for a true commitment to the implementation. No wonder this is the first and most important tactic to help people love doing what they hate; in this care changing how they teach (Grenny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan & Switzler, 2013).

The possibilities are endless when it comes to the success of our students when all 6 sources of influence are used to implement the blended learning model. I believe with the current district initiatives already in place, this implementation will allow our students to reach beyond the classroom walls to become leaders of change themselves in the nearby community and beyond.

References

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change: 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

Harapnuik, D. (2016, January 28). 4 effective ways to find and test vital behaviors. Retrieved from http://www.harapnuik.org/?p=6253.