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Episode 64 Stop Performing and Start Learning: Growing in Writing Instruction
Episode 64 • 7th May 2024 • Getting Students to Write- Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers improve student writing. • Melissa Morrison, Elementary, Middle School Writing Consultant, Literacy Coach
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This episode was inspired by a recent keynote speech given by Mr. Eduardo Briceno.

His speech resonated with me and the work I do with writing teachers and writing instruction in elementary and middle school classrooms!

We all want to do our best, but do we really know how to make change in our work?

Teachers are always performing, trying to give their best to their students. However Mr. Briceno tells us that living in the "performance zone" hinders our ability to learn and grow.

If you want to truly grow as a teacher of writing and help your student writers to grow as well, this is the episode for you!

Eduardo Briceno's Book The Performance Paradox

Freebie- Building Independent Writing Stamina Checklist

Grab the Checklist Here

About Melissa:

Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education.  Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.

Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction. 

Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.

If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

Website and Blog Read the latest blog posts and find out more about services provided by Melissa

Instagram Follow Melissa for tips and support with writing instruction!

YouTube Find out more about teaching writing as you watch webinars and model lessons taught by Melissa

LinkedIn Connect with Melissa!

Transcripts

Speaker:

Hey there, fabulous teacher.

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Have you been wondering how to

make writing time in your classroom

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more effective for your students?

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Do you want your students

to love writing time?

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If so, I think it's time for you

and I to start transitioning.

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Transforming your writing instruction.

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I'm Melissa Marson and I have a

passion for helping teachers to feel

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confident in teaching writing and

help them grow successful writers.

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I've worked with numerous teachers to

guide them through this transformation

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and in this podcast I bring you the

practical strategies you need to make

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writing the best time of your day.

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Let's get going.

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Microphone (Yeti Stereo Microphone):

Well, hello there.

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Welcome.

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Thank you for joining me again.

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Today.

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I have been inspired by a keynote

that I listened to a little while ago.

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So I guess I've been inspired before,

but I'm going to share it with you now.

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And it is, was from Mr.

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Eduardo.

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And he has written the book

called the performance paradox.

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Turning the power of mindset into action.

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He is a co-founder of mindset,

works the CEO of growth dot Howe,

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and he is a, um, keynote speaker.

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He was extremely empowering and, and,

um, just helpful and eye opening.

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And I wanted to be able to share this

with as many teachers as I could.

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And it's something that I really,

um, you know, took in because I

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think it will help the teachers that

I work with in classrooms as well.

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Um, but it's going to help all of us.

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So I wanted to share

some things about that.

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Today.

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Microphone (Yeti Stereo Microphone)-2: So

the reason this really resonated with me

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so much and why I think it's so important

is that what I have found when I'm working

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with teachers who are switching over from

the way they're teaching, writing, or.

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Or, you know, even if they're doing a

lot of the things that I talk about,

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but we're still adding in one or two.

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New techniques or ideas.

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Um, you know, teachers tend to be pretty

type a or perfectionist, not all but many.

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And even if you aren't, you really

just want to get things, right.

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Right.

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You want to do your job well, And

I've just found that teachers.

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That I've worked with have not given

themselves any slack, you know, and

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they want to do everything right away.

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Um, and you can't, you just can't do that.

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You can't be learning something new

and know all of it from the beginning.

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And expect yourself to be

able to hit all the goals that

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you want with your students.

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And I always go back

to this sports example.

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Um, And I talk about students not

being able to do everything at once,

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but it's the same thing with teachers.

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So if you imagine.

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Even imagine yourself as a new coach.

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So let's say they had no one else

to coach the baseball team or

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soccer team or whatever it might be.

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And you've never coached it before.

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Maybe you don't even have much experience

with it other than watching it, or maybe

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you played at once when you were little.

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And you're going to be this new

coach because they have no one else.

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Well, you know that you're not going to

take a team that is just getting started

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with this, you know, let's say they're

six years old and they're just learning.

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You're not going to turn them into

state champion champions in your

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first season of coaching this sport,

because you don't have the capability.

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You don't have the knowledge and maybe

no one could, but I'm just saying for it.

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For an example.

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You wouldn't be able to go in there.

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With so much to learn and be able to meet

every player's needs to improve them, um,

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to the ear, grow them to the point of.

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Mastering the game, right.

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You're going to go in and you're going

to have to figure out what's going on.

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You're going to, to figure

out how to run a practice.

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You're going to figure out some of the

skills that you need to teach them.

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Um, you were going to start with

some basics and you're going to

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see how things are going, and

then it's going to get better.

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Everything will get better because

you'll learn more and they'll learn,

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learn more, but you're not going

to do as good of a job as a coach.

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Who's been coaching for years.

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You just won't.

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So when you are, you know, I bring it to

teachers oftentimes, um, something about

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what I'm bringing to them is very new.

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And most often I'm completely changing

the way they're teaching, writing.

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And they still want to be able

to see that every student is

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performing to a certain point, right.

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You know, or I just know I'm not getting

where I need to get with this student,

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or I'm not hitting this student.

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Well, no, you're not.

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And that's okay because you're just

starting this out and I know you

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only have these kids for a year and

you want to do as much as you can.

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And I have been there before.

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But you have to accept sometimes

that it's your learning year.

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I can remember my first year of teaching.

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You know, when people would say,

you're not going to be great

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this year, you're just not.

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And I'm like, yes, I am.

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I am awesome.

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I am going to be the best

first year teacher ever.

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But then it took me a couple of

years to realize, Hmm, I actually

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hold a lot to learn, you know?

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And it's a good thing to go in that

way, but you also have to know that

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you do have things to learn, right?

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I think I did know that and I tried

to learn from others for sure.

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But you just don't want to accept

that you're not great at something.

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Yeah.

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But we have to accept that.

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And this is where this speech

and, you know, I would love

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to get this book and read it.

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I have not yet.

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So I'm just going to be sharing some

things that I'm finding from his website.

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But I did listen to the keynote obviously.

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And, um, but that's why I think this is

so important because we in every area of

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our lives, but especially for me in the

work I do with teachers and for what I'm

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sharing with you here on the podcast.

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Um, I want you to know that

you have to allow yourself to

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not be in the performance zone.

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At times.

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So let me tell you a little bit

more about what this book is

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all about and what I learned in

this keynote that I listened to.

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Microphone (Yeti Stereo Microphone)-3:

So, let me just share though

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what my biggest takeaway was.

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And it was that when he said you

can't improve without change.

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But change doesn't happen

in the performance zone.

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Okay.

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So think about that.

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When you're performing.

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So if you're teaching.

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And we're trying to be the best and

you're trying to not make any mistakes.

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Are you ever changing?

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Are you ever allowing

yourself to try something?

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Now there's reasons why you

might not want to do that.

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And we'll talk about that.

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But that's what was, what

stuck up, stood out the most.

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And then it has to do with

everything else that I heard.

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So let me just go to the website and some

things that he had about the book here.

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So it starts with chronic performance.

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Too.

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Many of us are stuck

in chronic performance.

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Which is the constant focus on

getting things done, as best as we

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know how trying to minimize mistakes.

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We think this is the way to improve,

but instead it stagnates us.

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The performance zone, which is when

we do things as best as we know how

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is a critical part of our lives.

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It's how we get things

done and how we contribute.

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But too many of us stay

in the zone all the time.

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Which ironically lowers our performance.

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And it makes sense, but

we don't think about it.

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Right.

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We don't think about that, but it's

so it makes sense because imagine this

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team that you're coaching, if they

only ever played games, That's it.

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Are they growing?

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Are they learning?

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Are they trying different things?

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No.

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They can't, they couldn't write.

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They have to have the practice time,

which is where it's not high stakes,

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which is where people aren't watching,

except all the parents that stay for

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practice, you know, it's where they're

learning something and trying it.

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Practicing right.

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But then they get too busy.

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The oh my goodness.

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I'm sorry.

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They get to the game.

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I was going to say Zune and

they're performing again.

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They can't stay there all the time.

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They won't grow.

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Right.

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And it's the same for us,

the same for our students.

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And it's the same for us.

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So then he talks about the learning zone.

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The learning zone is when we leap

beyond the noon, which is different

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than doing things as best as we

know how it's filled with curiosity,

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experimentation and change.

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To grow and reach higher

levels of performance.

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We need to habituate.

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This zone.

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You have to beat in it now.

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I mentioned a little bit before.

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About how there are reasons

why we don't want to do that.

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Well, we're, we're in.

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You know, school, we're

teaching for an R class.

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We want to do well for our kids.

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Clearly.

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And when are we supposed to practice?

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Cause we're always teaching them right.

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So it almost feels like we

don't have that opportunity.

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Now, this is where coaching is helpful

because it makes you go into that zone.

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You know, we're there and saying,

Hey, we got to try this out.

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Give it a spin I'm right here.

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So that's really helpful, but

it's also helpful for leaders to

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realize that they need to provide

opportunities for low stakes.

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Letting teachers know we're just trying

this, we know it's not going to go.

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Great.

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We might even see a dip.

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In some performance of students.

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Or, you know, when I come in

and you were working on whatever

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it might be that you guys are

implementing, let's say it's writing.

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I know.

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We've got not going to be perfect.

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I don't expect that.

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I just want to know where people are.

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I want to see what you're doing right.

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And so it has to come from

leadership has to come from us

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and from us telling herself, look,

I just started this it's okay.

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Um, you know, we need to model

what we try to preach to our

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students telling them it's okay.

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You're learning when they really

don't want to do that either.

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You know?

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Um, so I understand it being difficult.

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And there might be things that need to

happen or change in your environment or

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in your school that make you feel more

willing to be in the learning zone.

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Um, He also talks about

the power of mistakes.

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So mistakes are not all created equal.

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Some are more desirable and lead to

greater learning while others are

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best avoided when possible, rather

than label all mistakes as good or bad

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differentiate the four kinds of mistakes.

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And I know he talks

about them in the book.

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Um, He also says, and it's

is titled learning myths.

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When a growth mindset is misunderstood,

ineffective attempts to foster it,

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follow uncover the most common and

problematic misconceptions about growth

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mindset so that you can overcome the

performance paradox and unleash growth.

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And.

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He talks to, um, the idea of the

growth propeller and says it depicts

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the five key elements we need to

develop in ourselves if we want to

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become top learners and performers.

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So I know he's going to

talk about that as well.

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So.

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It does have to do with mindset.

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You can't have a fixed mindset.

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You have to be willing and

understanding that you can grow yet.

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You have to put yourself in

this zone, this learning zone.

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In order to grow in order to make changes.

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And so I want you to think about.

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What can help you to do that.

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So if you do have a worry or fear that

when, um, admin comes into observe, you.

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They see something.

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And it's not going well, and it's

going, you know, you're worried that

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that's going to look bad for you.

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If that's an issue, perhaps you

need to talk to them about that.

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If you just don't do well with,

with not, not being great at

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something, that's something you

need to talk to yourself about.

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Like a, if I want to get better, I have

to let myself be in the learning zone.

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Right.

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He told us you cannot make change.

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You can't improve without change.

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And he's telling us that changes

in happen in the performance zone.

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We can't be constantly at

high stakes and performing.

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It's just not going to work.

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So you have to let yourself know.

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That it's okay.

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Then I'm just starting this

and maybe give yourself goals.

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I like to do that when I first get started

with transforming writing instruction

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and we always start with trying to allow

students to be independent, letting them.

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Right on their own, where they

are and make their choices,

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you know, see what they can do.

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Not only does that open your eyes.

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To what you've been trying to get your

students to do, because now you see what

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they're capable of doing on their own.

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Um, but it's just the first step.

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And this whole writing process and

then also making, writing, authentic.

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So part of it is that they get to write

on their own and choose their own things.

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Right.

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But it's also, are we really writing, um,

are they doing writing projects or writing

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pieces that they see in the real world?

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Can we try to make it more

connected to real life?

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For whatever they might be seeing.

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So it's depending on the age level,

but for example, in the younger

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grades, they read picture books.

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Um, they watch commercials,

you know, they sing songs.

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Um, all those things can be happening.

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And then as they get older, they start

to see different things in they're

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able to do those things as well.

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So that's the first thing we talk.

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We, we work on is making it

authentic and independent.

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That's the first goal.

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And so when teachers know that

their job right now, or during

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that time is not to teach them.

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And that's, that's true.

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I'm not really asking them to teach

them anything because they don't,

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they're not ready to teach them

until they know where they are and

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the students have to be engaged.

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That's just others to it.

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So when you have goals and you

say, okay, I'm not going to be able

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to make this happen, but this is

what I'm trying to make happen.

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And so that's what you're focused on.

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That's what you are telling yourself

so that you are okay with not getting

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to that other place, you know, of.

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You know, I can't come in and start having

them change the way kids are writing.

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And then also say, okay,

we're also gonna learn.

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Um, how did you a.

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Research decide, teach conference,

and we're going to do mini lessons.

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We're going to do this then this and this.

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It can't happen.

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Just like you can't have that

happen with your students.

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Microphone (Yeti Stereo Microphone)-4: So

teacher, this is what I want you to do.

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I want you to give yourself

grace, let yourself be in

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the learning zone sometimes.

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And maybe a lot of times when

it comes to this, trying to

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change your writing instruction.

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I want you to pick a goal,

set a goal if you're not sure

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what that first goal could be.

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Other than what I just talked about.

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Ask me reach out.

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I would love to hear from you.

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I would love to help you.

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So set yourself a little goal.

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And be okay with that, be okay

with that being what you can do.

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And if you need to speak to either

other teachers or to administration,

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school leaders, do that, let

them know I'm trying something.

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And I'm just kind of worried that if

you come in and you see it's a mess,

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You know, um, as long as it's something

that you're there, they're okay with

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you doing, hopefully they will be,

um, then they should be supportive.

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I know sometimes we're afraid to let

our admin know that we might, might

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not be doing so well in something, but.

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They don't.

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I really, I've never seen

anyone look at it like that.

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Like, oh gosh, what are we

doing with this teacher?

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No, because it's so wonderful that

you want to learn and grow, and

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this is the way for you to do it.

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All right.

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Thanks so much for , listening,

and have a great day.

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Hey, again, I am so happy to have

had you listen in again today.

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I would like to ask a little favor.

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If you're enjoying the podcast, could

you take a moment to go wherever

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it is that you listen and write

a review and tell others what you

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find so great about these episodes?

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I would love to be able to share

it with more teachers to help them

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in their writing instruction, just

as hopefully I've been helping you.

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So thank you so much.

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