"Make Learning Fun"
It’s a typical Tuesday at the elementary school. Teachers are running around to make copies, attending meetings, instructing students, grading assessments, handling behavior situations, etc. Oh, and it isn’t even lunch time yet. The day is certainly a never-ending whirlwind. Teachers are constantly met with new initiatives, so how can we fit one more in? The whirlwind limits strategy execution because people are busy, to put it simply. They are multitasking and moving quickly as it is, so throwing another factor into the mix is challenging, and urgency beats importance. It’s not that people are stupid or lazy; they are just busy (FranklinCovey, 2012). As teachers, I am sure we have all carried home papers to grade only to never take them out of our bag and bring them right back to school the next day. Why? Something else more important than those papers came up; the whirlwind won.
What can we do about this draining whirlwind? We have to make a wildly important goal (WIG). Notice that “goal” is singular because the less you focus on, the more likely you will be to reach the goal. The WIG is the one thing that makes all the difference and needs to be carefully developed. The goal should be measurable with a clear finish line to create a sense of urgency and develop morale in a game-like way. Once the WIG is developed, you act. It is important to put more emphasis on the lead measure (predictive and influenceable measures that lead to the WIG) than the lag measure (measures the goal). Then, you create a scoreboard. Everybody likes to win. Is everybody a winner? If you act like a winner and strive to win, yes. Winning is fun, engaging, and exciting. I have never heard anyone say, “I hate winning.” We need to take advantage of that in plan execution. If you make a simple, visible, scoreboard where people can quickly see if they are winning or losing, the motivation will increase. Finally, make people accountable. This is why Fitbits have buddies; you’re more likely to follow through with expectations if someone knows about it. We need to have weekly meetings where we review the previous week, update the scoreboard, and plan for next week. Putting all of this together engages all members in a winnable game, increasing morale and leading to success.
Many times, our goal as teachers is to make learning so fun that students don’t realize they’re learning. Now as influencers, we need to make change so fun that teachers don’t feel stressed and overwhelmed, realizing it’s happening just enough to notice the positive difference.
References
FranklinCovey. (2012, April 19). Executive overview of the 4 disciplines of execution [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZR2Ixm0QQE
