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What stays with me about this movie is that Mr. Holland’s impact isn’t primarily about music. It’s about the relationships he builds and the ways he helps students see that they have something worth contributing. Over the course of his career, he notices students who aren't always noticed. He finds ways for them to participate, pushes them when they need pushing, and creates opportunities for them to experience success. And, along the way, he discovers that he belongs to this community just as much as his students do.

That feels especially important as we settle into the school year.

Belonging isn't separate from teaching and learning. Students are more willing to ask questions, contribute an idea, attempt something difficult, make a mistake, revise their thinking, and try again when they trust that they are valued members of the classroom community. In other words, many of the things we want to see in the APS Learning Task require students to take intellectual risks. Belonging helps create the conditions for them to do so.

And belonging isn't created through one big program or event. It is built through hundreds of small interactions: knowing a student's name, noticing when someone is absent, inviting a quiet student into the conversation, believing a student can do something difficult, or simply communicating, “You matter here, and we are better because you are part of this community.”

That applies to adults, too. Schools are communities, and all of us do our best work when we know that our contributions matter and that we are part of something larger than ourselves.

If you watch (or rewatch) Mr. Holland’s Opus this month, I hope you’ll talk about it with your colleagues. Which students in our school may not yet feel that they truly belong? What do we do- intentionally or unintentionally- that communicates “you belong here”? How does belonging affect a student's willingness to participate, take academic risks, struggle, and try again? And perhaps most importantly: Who needs us to notice them right now?

Last month, I asked us to think about the educator who saw something in us before we fully saw it in ourselves. 

This month, perhaps we can be that person for someone else.

-Sheri Jett

Math Adoption Updates