What Happens When Teachers See the Best in Each Other
Last week, I ended one of my keynote sessions with a simple but powerful exercise.
I asked teachers and leaders to take a moment to reflect - not on what wasn't working, but on what was.
First, I asked them to think about their own strengths as it related to teaching.
Then, I invited them to consider their colleagues:
What is one thing this person does that makes you, your school, and children better?
After a minute or two, they got up, walked around the room, and began sharing words of encouragement. Teacher to teacher. Strength to strength.
The feedback was phenomenal. Some teachers said it was the most impactful moment of professional learning they've had in awhile. Others didn't realize how much their peers noticed and valued what they bring to the table.
The Universal Best Practices (UBP) framework is built on four foundational strengths that makes seeing others’ strengths possible:
Communication & Interaction: how we connect with one another
Cognition & Learning: how we think and teach strategies for understanding
Social-Emotional Strengthening: how we build trust and resilience
Executive Functioning: how we view, plan, organize, and follow through
When we recognize and celebrate strengths - in ourselves and in others - we strengthen collaboration, deepen trust, and improve outcomes for students, regardless of neurodiversity and needs.
Every school year can be better than the last when we make building each other up part of our school culture.
That's what our work is about: collaboration, encouragement, and creating schools where every student and every teacher can thrive.
