The Grounded Learners Guild

Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash

A lot of shows have been made through the decades about teenagers but none captured the joy, the awkwardness of growth, the struggles, and the internal reflections like mid-90s offering “My So Called Life”. Perhaps we are dating ourselves but, we see so many parallels here between coaching and the teenagers of both MSCL’s fictional world and the real world. 

As coaches, we experience the peaks of joy when our work with clients and partners leads to success; even more so when a chance encounter in the hallway with a teacher that leads to a budding connection. Our identity and how we relate to others is of such crucial importance, so the Guild figured we should probably spend an episode sharing the dramas and internal monologues that make up “My So- Called Coaching Life”.

Tune in and share your thoughts about “My So-Called Coaching Life.”

Photo by Merylove Art on Unsplash

Reality TV isn’t known for inspiring creativity and innovation - it can often be an intellectual sinkhole; however, for those who frequent Bravo and Lifetime, you might have come across the show Project Runway. The series challenges contestants to create and design original garments when given time, material, and theme constraints. Educator, author, fashion-therapist, mentor, and co-host of the series Tim Gunn would famously pop into the workroom and check in on the designers who were always at different phases of the creative process. He would listen to their design rationales, provide feedback, and ultimately exit the studio delivering his signature catch phrase, “Make it work!” In the episodes, the other host Heidi Klum will often say, "In fashion, one day you're in and the next you're out." What can educators do, though, when they feel themselves being driven out by constraints? What can you do to stay in and “make it work”?

Join us in our fifth episode as we discuss the make-it-work mindset and approaches we take as a guild to stay fashion-forward.

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Anyone who has ever dealt with small children knows the power of learning to “use your words”. But what happens when the words intended to increase understanding and move us all forward instead create misunderstandings and build resentment?
How do we deal with “dirty words” and “unpopular opinions”? We all want to fall on the side of that where we are drawing people in with our words instead of pushing them away. But are we? And what happens when, we may express a concept perfectly, but the concept is one that, for whatever reason, has become an “unpopular opinion” in education? How do we scrub our expressions clean to better reach our audience?  Or...do we even need to? Tune in to todays episode to find out more.

You might be familiar with that famous Ben Franklin quote: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Well, the GLG explores how we can realign our professional development practices to that concept through the lens of the adult learner. How can we take the age old concept of involving learners in their journey and update it to revolutionize how adult learning can look in a post pandemic world?

Photo credit: Emily Coklan

You know that feeling you get when you walk into a classroom or meeting and you feel like you don’t belong? That you are the most inadequate person in the room? That you have nothing to contribute to the amazing brain smash of brilliance happening around you? It’s not just you. Everyone will have that experience known as imposter syndrome at some point in their lives, even the best thinkers and creatives today. 

There’s hope for us all when we are able to identify when imposter’s syndrome hits. Today the guild will be sharing some of our most meaningful imposter syndrome stories, and how we have made strides in coping when the imposter winds pick up and try to knock us off balance. We hope our grounding strategies will help you realign to your purpose \ and have the confidence to stand strong (or at least pretend to).

Photo by Braydon Anderson on Unsplash

Now that public education can be found in the living rooms of families across the nation, Have you noticed the increasing pressure on teachers, administrators and families? Educators have historically shown up for students. But, much of this work has been covert and found behind a classroom door. Take a peek behind the curtain with three instructional coaches as we attempt to make the covert more overt and accessible to the masses so we can ground ourselves in a common and shared understanding.

Join us in today’s inaugural episode for the Grounded Learners Guild where we share our unique vantage point on the current reality of the educational landscape that is finding its way into the comfort of many of our homes.

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash