Visualize this scenario: It’s early August, and as you scroll through your inbox you see the first of many emails from your school administrator. “Already!?!” you say to yourself as you hesitate to open it. You guessed it! It’s your new school year Welcome Letter and Professional Development Schedule. On the agenda, you notice a full-day training scheduled for Shurley English! Your next few thoughts go something like this: “I’ve taught Shurley English for 5 years now! I don’t need training! Maybe I can get out of it this year!”

Warning: Thoughts like these are exactly why veteran teachers still need our support! Take these thoughts as a sign. I know because I’ve been there.

Certified Shurley English consultants typically train new and seasoned teachers from all grade levels at the same time. Why? Well, I would say from my experience, we do this because it is an excellent way to ensure consistency across all grade levels. It also gives us the opportunity to re-motivate and re-inspire teachers who have been instructing Shurley English for many years. Veteran teachers, me included, tend to develop habits of comfort that can lead to getting stuck-in-a-rut, or so to speak. We want to make sure all Shurley English teachers understand the big picture of what the curriculum was designed to do in order to successfully teach it with confidence and enthusiasm. A Shurley English-Full Day Training can energize and inspire a veteran Shurley English teacher with what I like to call the “Vital V’s!”

The Four “VITAL -V’s” of a Veteran Shurley English Teacher:

1. Know that YOU ARE VALUABLE! You are the best resource for new Shurley English teachers. (Never forget what it was like your first year.) You have a wealth of experience and knowledge to offer the newbies. Please share it. Take the lead and step up to the next level, especially if Shurley is your “thing!”

2. Add VARIETY to your lessons! Keep challenging yourself to stay in alignment with the curriculum (teach with fidelity), but add your flare of creativeness to Shurley English; this gets easier the longer you teach Shurley. Get more engaged in the Enrichment Activities, Discovery Time Activities, or try creating Learning Centers.

3. Be VIEWABLE and VISIBLE! You are a leader and a model to new teachers. Make sure you’re a part of the professional development opportunities no matter how long you’ve been teaching-never stop learning! With grace, show them how it’s done…because they are watching you-observing how you make it work. Invite them into your classroom for a Shurley English demonstration. Mentor them. Collaborate with them. Lead them. Help mold them into successful Shurley teachers.

4. VOCALIZE with authenticity and sincerity. Your thoughts, questions, and concerns need to be heard and can be validating to teachers not willing to speak up. When you do speak up, be genuine, honest, and tactful. If you see teachers not staying in alignment with the curriculum, I encourage you to say something. A broken cog in the wheel makes it difficult for the wheel to roll, and the Shurley wheel needs all cogs in place.

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.” -Martha Graham