If It’s On the Menu
January 1, 2024
Happy New Year! A time to review the last year and plan for the year ahead. I too am celebrating what went well, reflecting on my speed bumps, and thinking forward as to how I want to work even more meaningfully in the upcoming year.
I once met a gentleman who was in the midst of a transition job wise. He was fortunate that he had the space and ability to not just look for a next job but to ask himself, “What do I want to think about in my day to day work? Who do I want to think with? Where might I want to spend time doing that work? What type of impact do I want to make?” I always found his questions inspiring. He was intentional, self-authoring and awake to what kind of impact he wanted to have and who he wanted to be with in order to do so.
To that end, as 2024 begins I want to put out into the world some ways I would like to work this coming year that are not featured on my website ‘as is.’ While I have done this type of work in the past, it has been customized for clients who dreamed up an idea of professional learning and asked if I wanted to go on the journey with them. I believe these are pretty cool growth experiences for those who choose them – learning opportunities that strengthen capacity for those who say ‘Yes.’
Learning experiences we can do together – for your consideration….
- Educator in Residence – A 10-12 month offering of customized, ‘just in time’ adult to adult communication consulting with one school or organization. In person meetings 3-4 times a year for a minimum of 2 days in a row. Differentiated support that can include all stakeholders in the school (staff, faculty, leadership, parents, and others) with monthly Zoom options as well for leadership consultation, individual coaching, online workshops, program design/development, and more. International and national residencies both doable. In this residency I hope to be a thought partner, bring light and insight and become a cheerleader of your work and where you want to go. With my five books as a framework we can create a personalized curriculum around leveling up the adult to adult communication at school and creating an even more healthy, professional culture for all. (P.S. This residency can be shortened to a semester if you’d like.)
- Just In Time Coaching ‘Moments’ – There are those times you just need some very localized yet focused support around a hard conversation you need to have, a design of a presentation, or a review your interview responses or your writing or whatever (i.e. Should I take this job? How should I respond to this parent?) These ‘coaching moments’ can be 1-2-3 hours, can be done on Zoom or through the sharing of video recordings, Google Docs, or in whatever form that fits and fits our international schedules.
- Customized Video Series Around….??? – Does your group need three to six 20-30 minute videos to form a series to use for self-directed, asynchronous work with, for example, your coaches/mentors around the foundations of coaching? For your leadership team around specific needed communication skills that you then can discuss at your team meetings (ala flipped classroom)? For your team leaders or admin around how to have a hard conversation? I have been designing customized video series for clients for a while now that they then put behind firewalls and use for internal support of their colleagues.
I learned a while ago that if it is on the menu, it’s in the back and you can order it! I give you absolute permission to ask for what support suits you or your team and makes a difference in the work. I stated in December that my word for 2024 was ‘Empower’ so here we go. You are empowered to ask for the support you prioritize at this time!
If you have any interest in the above offerings, questions, comments, or suggestions please feel free to email me at jennifer@jenniferabrams.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Cool Resources
Happy & Resilient: The Complete Guide to Joyful Teaching, Learning, and Living by Roni Habib. “For over fifteen years, Roni Habib has used positive psychology to teach thousands of educators and leaders effective and rigorously studied practices for developing the types of thoughts, attitudes, and actions that allow us to thrive in life and to be top educators no matter what subject or grade level we teach. In Happy & Resilient, Roni shares practical ideas, skills, and exercises that will support your teaching in the classroom, your leadership at school, and your own well-being and resilience. Each chapter includes activities to use in the classroom with students or at school with your staff, journal prompts to deepen your reflection, and graphic organizers that recap the core exercises. This book lays out a path for what all educators deserve: to be happy and resilient.”
Still Learning: Strengthening Professional and Organizational Capacity by Allison Rodman. “For years, schools have worked to ensure that students develop their social-emotional learning skills, which research shows can benefit not only students’ well-being, but also their academic achievement. Until now, however, developing these skills in adults has not received the same emphasis in schools, despite evidence that they are just as helpful for advancing professional practice. With Still Learning: Strengthening Professional and Organizational Capacity, educator and author Allison Rodman, founder of the Learning Loop, seeks to correct this oversight so that teachers, administrators, and other school leaders can thrive both individually and collectively.
Rodman offers a comprehensive “Framework for Educator Capacity Building” that sequences, defines, and outlines key concepts and strategies in five disciplines: attunement, alignment, perspective, collective efficacy, and organizational learning.”
Elevate School-Based Professional Learning by Joellen Killion, Ann Delehant and William Sommers. “Collaborative staff development in education is the vehicle to student success, and research shows that the closer professional learning is to daily practice, the more meaningful and impactful it will be. Written with deep respect for the work educators do in their classrooms each day, this practical resource illustrates the importance of school-based professional learning and offers guidance on how to implement it.”
