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Brookwood Elementary has a high teacher turnover rate, but not for the reasons you might expect. Last year I had two teachers leave for administrative positions. Two others went to middle schools because they wanted to empower kids at that age level. We’ve also had teachers leave to follow their passions of owning businesses and moving states. One of my goals as a leader is to inspire my teachers to learn and grow. When you do that, you can have a higher teacher turnover.

Another reason some teachers leave is because they don't feel like anybody but kids are relying on them. They suffer from what I call “just a teacher” syndrome. We’ll be trying to address some issue and they’ll say, “I'm just a teacher.” Every time I hear that, I say, “You have the ability to completely change lives every single day. You’re a superstar.” To make them feel appreciated and supported, my admin team and I are on a mission to build collective teacher efficacy, which John Hattie calls the most powerful influence on student success. Here are three practices that reinforce how amazing our teachers are.

Viewing Leadership Through Three Lenses

Teachers have so much to share with each other, but it’s hard to do that when time is so limited during the school day. Our leadership teams help teachers learn from each other and make decisions about important aspects of the school. Every grade level has a leadership representative who is in charge of the nuts and bolts of nurturing their team. Then we have a curriculum team that looks at everything we do from an instructional standpoint. We also have a positive learning environment team that maintains school culture. Using the 7 Mindsets, they lead professional development that builds connections with students and each other.

Within each team, we talk about how to build trust, belonging, and significance within your team, and how to build collective teacher efficacy. We choose a mindset for the year, and for 2019–2020, it’s “Live to Give.” One of the four tenets that support that mindset is “stretch yourself,” so we’ll have each leadership team discuss what it means for teachers to stretch themselves when it comes to leadership, curriculum, and positive learning environment. Each team will share their ideas with their grade level and then have each teacher address “stretch yourself” in their classrooms. This approach creates a common language and set of goals that unites every teacher in the building.