In this reflection, educator and coach Nili Bartley shares how one simple but powerful practice — inviting others in — transformed her teaching, coaching, and leadership journey. Through stories from her classroom, coaching experiences, and collaborative projects, Nili illustrates how building learning communities rooted in curiosity, connection, and shared purpose can ignite joy and lasting impact for students and educators alike.
The most central lesson I have learned in education that I have certainly carried with me is asking others to join us in building our journeys together.
When I finished reading “Teach Like a PIRATE” during winter break of 2014, an unforgettable journey was ignited because I did one simple thing. I gave every one of my fourth graders an invitation to join me, and thankfully, they accepted. It wasn't about dressing up like actual pirates, although being nine and ten years old, we certainly had days where we did. It was about refueling an energy together, one that would keep the teaching and learning flame lit, even when facing challenges.
I asked my students what would make them run to school. After brainstorming several ideas, they took PIRATE, which was only an acronym for teachers at the time, and got to work. They came up with the following, which quickly took on its own life as a chant every morning that one brilliantly energetic student led with every ounce of his being. Every day, we started school with a reminder that we were all going to approach learning with the following approach in mind, and in our own beautiful and imperfect ways, we did.
“Participate. Imagine. Revolutionize our Thinking. Ask Questions. Take Risks. Engage and Encourage.”
This was before “Learn Like a PIRATE” by Paul Solarz, which we certainly used a lot!
I made a lot of mistakes when I took the leap to become a technology integration specialist the very next year. Trying to guide hundreds of colleagues was quite different than leading my students, and I had neglected to remember the most important lesson I had learned just one year earlier: invite them in.
I quickly and thankfully dove into a hefty dose of reflection and pivoted quickly. Perhaps the wisest decision I made that I carried to all of my coaching roles was to ask my colleagues how we can make this role work for them together. I desired to know what they wanted out of my role, what would make them run to school to meet with me, or have me in their classrooms. Boy did this change my trajectory, relationships, and future experiences my colleagues and I built together.
When I later taught middle school as a technology specialist with nine sections of students every three months, each first class started the same because I remembered to invite them in. I asked two questions, the first one being, “What makes you happy?” Students would create their own design and share with each other digitally or by hand. I wanted them to remember that we can creatively bring what makes us happy into the classroom — like our stories, superpowers, and passions — to build amazing experiences together.
The second question was, “What would make you want to show up to this class?” We set a few parameters and off they would go. We transformed the lists students came up with into norms and reviewed them every class. Working with friends, choice, projects, listening to music, and playing games, were always pretty popular. Of course, mine were “be kind, go big, and honor each other's voices.” Although life in middle school was far from perfect (as is how I remember it as a student), every student knew that who they were, what they wanted, as well as what they needed from me mattered, and that I would do my best to make their time in my class worth it.
Ten years ago, the invitation a group of fourth graders received from their teacher to join her in an unconventional adventure led to inviting others into the classroom. Educational leaders and heroes, published authors, a Broadway-bound musician and curriculum writer, educational technology companies, classrooms near and far, and the list goes on and on. Our time together became richer and inviting people into our space took my students into a whole new world.
Since my time with them, whether it was colleagues in the building or educational rock stars students and colleagues had never met, whether I was coaching or teaching middle school, and whether it was in real time, or perhaps watching Flipgrid videos, I never stopped inviting people in. When we can learn from what others have to offer and we make it part of our culture, we teach our kids not only to be curious, but that they have the power to make their own contributions. This is invaluable.
About the Author:
Nili Bartley is currently a personalized learning coach in Natick, MA. After an eleven-year adventure in the classroom, Nili’s technology integration role at the elementary level for the next three years pushed her to see the importance of a thriving culture and led her to write “Lead Beyond Your Title: Creating Change in School from Any Role.” Since then, Nili has been a middle school specialist and digital learning coach and is now embracing her new role on a district-wide team. An enthusiastic presenter, she is committed to sharing her passions beyond the school community and is always excited to connect with other educators.