“That’s just another buzzword”, my very dear friend and former colleague said to me over coffee. I instantly felt defensive. We were talking about personalized learning, and I had read, and really enjoyed, Personalized Learning with Habits of the Mind. I worked closely with my tech coach, and we dug deep into understanding the meaning of PL. We created a series of lessons that aligned with the philosophy, and had some conversations that pushed each other to really understand the concept. It wasn’t just another buzzword to me!!

A decade prior, I had my first exposure to data driven instruction at a workshop on Marzano’s formative/summative assessments. I was so excited about it, upon returning to school another teacher said “go talk to the 7th grade math teacher, she has been doing that for 30 years”. When I met with her, she didn’t call it formative assessments, and she recalled a workshop in the late 80’s that really spoke to her and it became part of her practice. She also didn’t tease me for my excitement about (what I believed) was a new practice. Her buzzword was something else, but a rose by any other name is just as sweet. In the foreign language world, realia has become #authres, throwing bean bags in your room has been termed “flexible seating”. The list of “what’s hot” and “what’s not” is endless!

Buzzwords in education make a lot of people roll their eyes, yet that same word can revolutionize a teacher’s practice. A buzzword is really what you make of it. I have become increasingly reflective on how to sustain passion in teaching for the duration of your career. I feel it comes from two sources: strong collegial relationships, and reflective, ongoing professional development. Buzzwords impact both!  We will not take to every new trend – and I think it is good practice to be selective and skeptical before rewriting a curriculum to fit a trend. But, a buzzword may be your or a colleagues first exposure to an idea. It also remind us of good practices we may have lost sight of as the popular trends cycle.