There is an absolute rhythm to a school-year. It was more pronounced for me when I was in a school, but I still see it here in the Board Office. There is the excitement of September as students and staff come back fresh off of vacation. There is the reality of late October as interim reports hit in high school. In December – it is a double hit: Christmas Concerts and first-term reports. Then in the new year you can feel this build up towards spring break and then we return in April and the weather (is usually) better, we begin to look for ways to pull the year’s learning together, celebrate achievements and keep and eye on next year.
Of course, during all 10 months (and really all 12 months) we are always asking people to think differently, to push innovation and look for new and better ways of supporting our learners. I have been wondering if there are specific times of year that people are more curious, more open and more engaged in these conversations.
With only anecdotal data, here are the four key times I find that people want to talk about innovation:
October – By October, the school year has started, and classes are settled. In high school, it is in October that teachers and departments already need to look ahead to what they might want to offer the following year and begin the approval process. We are comfortable in what we are doing in October but not to the heaviness of November.
Mid-February – I find January to Spring Break to be the sweet spot for moving ideas forward in schools. I think students are the most focused during this term. There seem to be fewer distractions than the first and third term for everyone. If I was to differentiate this period to the other ones, I see this one as the time when people try new things with their practice. The other times people are often looking ahead to what they might do next term or next year – in this window of time, people are implementing new ideas – taking what they learned from conferences, workshops or colleagues and trying it in their class. I would love to see if my hypothesis is true that the most “new stuff” in classes happens in the middle of February.
May – May feels a bit like October when it comes to innovation. People are looking at next year but they are not into the field trip / track meet / graduation ceremonies of June. It seems to definitely be the time when people have one eye on this year and one on next year. It is the season of teacher postings, administrative changes and also a time when people look at what they might want to do differently.
Last Week of June / First Week of July – I get more emails about new ideas at this time of year than at any other point. I often say that everyone has some “thinking time” at this point in the year. School – regardless of your role – is all-consuming so it is finally once report cards are in and classes are being dismissed and before “summer holidays” really kick-in that people have some time to think about what they might want to do differently or put together and email about a proposal they have been ruminating on for a while .
I am sure all jobs have a rhythm. I do find the seasons in school to be very pronounced. I see a lot of if it X month, you can be sure that Y will happen. As we look to move our schools and our system, we need to be conscious of this and look for the windows when people are ready to talk about doing things differently. I am curious if what I see with the times of year are consistent with others.
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