Exiting Your Comfort Zone

I recently told someone that I wake up most mornings by 5:00 am, even on the weekends. Much to their surprise they asked, “What do you do when you wake up REALLY early on a Saturday morning? The answer of course, is simple….the same thing I do when I wake up at midnight, 1 am, 3 am, 4 am, or any other time my brain frequently can’t shut down---I think about our school!  Sometimes I worry, but mostly my brain navigates to thoughts of how will we get better tomorrow, a month from now, 5 years from now!

This morning’s thought centered on Professional Development as yesterday I announced Vianney would host a Google education summit and boot camp in June of 2016!  While I was initially excited about hosting the summit, my brain could not sustain the thought very long.  It wandered, as it tends to do early in the morning, back to our faculty’s professional development in August of 2014.  I’ll never forget that day!  It was the most self-fulfilling, and personally satisfying professional development session I have ever organized. 

Looking back, I was terrified! The thought of asking my

teachers to become “Purple Cows” and to wear foolish outfits and learn teenage dances, and play, and laugh, while learning and growing closer as a faculty could have easily flopped!

It was a professional development session, I thought to myself, that would either identify and set the course for what our school could become,--no, what I thought it truly was!  Or, it would symbolize that after three years of trying new methodologies, and despite promises and signs of growth, that ultimately our faculty didn’t follow my lead and were content in resorting to their traditional ways of doing business.

I remember the hours leading up to our professional development session where I would challenge teachers to CARE, ENGAGE, INSPIRE, and PLAY and I couldn’t help but think, 

“Comfort zones are roadblocks to reform. Comfort zones kill creativity, stifle imagination, and limit our engagement with students.”

Looking back the day was a success!  The faculty and staff of Vianney didn’t just participate, they accelerated the day’s activities!  Minute-to-Win Games became conquests for institutional bragging rights!  Kickball games heated competitions for supremacy!  The Cupid Shuffle and Wobble training sessions not only filled the air with music, but laughter, enthusiasm, and smiles!  While the “rockstar” videos our Vianney family created showed they were innovative, creative, and not only ready for the challenge, but yearning for it!

And what started as morning of fear and trepidation in my heart, quickly turned in to a day of exhilaration, hope and promise!  I knew we were on the right path to not sustaining excellence, but escalating it!

And as I walk up and down the hallways of our school and see teachers using Plickers to gather student data, dressing as historical figures for “guest lectures” gamifying their classroom, allowing students to teach the class something, creating their own adventure stories, singing vocabulary songs, creating hip-hop videos to explain photosynthesis and a host of other creative learning activities I am overwhelmed with joy!

And now a new question has popped in to my head.

“Why are so many educators constantly seeking to find their comfort zone?”

We all want to find that right flow for our work and our life. And when we find it, we certainly don’t want to move out of it. And yet, I know through my experience that comfort too often kills all that is great in education!

I believe in education, we can ill afford to be overly comfortable in our classrooms, schools and systems. Getting out of our own comfort zone means pushing the envelope, further enhancing our skills and evolving our practice. And believe me, it is uncomfortable! It is uncomfortable because we are far more competent in our current methods. Furthermore, we grew up in a system that has held on to the belief (for far too long) that teachers must know everything and cannot be seen as still learning real time, while in the classroom. And, as 20th century people, we still want to make it perfect before we ever deliver it to our students.

Some individuals can slip out of their own comfort zones and find their new normal with great ease.

For others, the thought of moving beyond what they know and what they do is almost paralyzing. The fact though, is without some movement from our comfort zone, educational reform will not occur. Everybody in the educational system needs to begin (or continue) to get out of their comfort zone. This is certainly an attribute for effective leaders. As the lead learner of a Nationally recognized School of Excellence, I must be prepared to get out of my own comfort zone and lead and facilitate in ways that are new, innovative and creative.  This is something that I don’t relish but I know it has to be non-negotiable in my work.

During this school year, I would encourage that all those involved in the educational world look at ways to move themselves from their own comfort zone. To begin with, it doesn’t have to be a radical departure from your current practice but it does require a departure. Be fully aware that you will feel uneasy, but remember that learning, especially deep learning requires that uneasiness. We crawl, then walk and then run! Don’t expect to be running when you depart from your comfort zone. Expect to stumble and likely fall. But in the end, you will be better at your professional practice and students will benefit as educational reform takes hold.

Good luck getting out of your comfort zone!