You and me both, Ryan! It will take some time, but I'm super excited about being away from Twitter for the most part. Such a toxic space.

👊

Thanks for recognizing this, Ann! Best idea I ever had and I didn't put my name on it.

Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk.

😂

#steppingoffsoapbox

#EduSky

And let's be real: We give "developing risk takers" lip service, too. We say that we value that trait in learners, but we aren't willing to study the best strategies for developing it in our students because we have "too many other things to do."

(Read: Standards to teach and tests to give.)

Sadly, I think we give lip service to building a supportive classroom culture. "Team building" is reserved for the first few days of class and almost always involves a cheesy activity that we do once and move on from.

The result: Our kids don't take risks in our spaces.

And if we REALLY wanted our kids to be risk takers, we'd invest significant time into developing meaningful relationships between all students in our rooms.

We are willing to take greater risks in front of people we trust.

Which means if we REALLY wanted our kids to be risk takers, we would engineer lots of opportunities for students to take low-stakes risks in our rooms -- and to take those risks together.

Those moments are full of social implications for students. Answering the question wrong or giving an opinion that the group doesn't agree with has long-lasting consequences for kids.

Those stakes aren't worth it to kids -- and as a result, they don't "take those risks" in our rooms.