Spring Inspirations

By Natalie Irons, Associate Director, Instructional Coaching, UCLA Center X

It is spring and time for our gardens to show buds of growth. Maybe your “garden” is a classroom, a team you are developing, or in your own mind. Wherever your seedlings may have been planted, take some time to notice what is surfacing. Who might benefit from a bit of acknowledgment and noticing? Or, maybe you notice something that moves you, or inspires you, and you want to share.

Here are two posts I would like to share because these individuals and their work have inspired me. I am so honored to know and to have worked alongside these beautiful people. Thank you to my teachers. Check out their work below!

And, as you move toward a break, or are returning from one, who are the people that have inspired or supported you along your journey?

Who motivates you to stay your course? What are some of the conditions created that support you?

I’d love to hear who inspires you!

Check out these resources:

Jenna Kamp, Academic Leadership Coach, interviews Nina Phillips where the arc of this teacher’s story of purpose emerges.

http://jennakamp.com/think-or-thwim

Shandreka Rankin, Instructional Coach, shares her own kindergarten story in reflecting on the potential that books in classrooms have to become “mirrors” for students to feel empowered and that they belong.

https://www.thedailycafe.com/content/i-stole-my-kindergarten-teacher