027: Triple P Decision-Making Process

This week's blog is written by Resonance Ed's Creator of Coaching Content, founder of Plan Z Professional Learning Services, and co-author of the book The Minimalist Teacher, Tammy Musiowsky-Borneman. It was originally written for the Plan Z community. We love sharing our content!

Last week was a wonderful wrap up of a school year for us. We had many successes and also many points for reflection. Looking forward to a few items we are seeking to implement next got me feeling somewhat overwhelmed, so I had to put some Triple P thinking into play...

​Do you know about our Triple P Decision-making framework? Here’s some background information and how it might help when you are trying to make well-informed decisions about what you might be introducing to students or teachers.

“When discussing ideas for this book, we knew introducing new educational jargon or acronyms that did not meet the goal of transforming to a minimalist approach would be a poor decision. Yet, we knew we needed a simple phrase that would stick in a cluttered teacher’s mind to move the work ahead. After we boiled down many of our professional conversations, as well as conversations we have had about writing this book, we were consistently coming back to three main points resulting in what we have called the Triple  P questions part of our Triple P framework.  
1. What is our purpose? 
2. What are our priorities? 
3. How can we pare down resources? 
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Purpose: Every day we ask ourselves easy-to-answer questions. “Why am I  running when my knee hurts?” Easy answer. “Why am I using this product  instead of that one?” Easy again. But when we ask ourselves, “Why would I  teach that?” or, “Why would I teach that in this way?” we must peel back the layers of teaching and learning, because there are so many “Why am I doing this?” questions to ask.  

Priority: Now, here lies a great challenge. How do you prioritize when there are just so many “things” that require attention? Go back to your purpose to help you build your prioritization muscles. Your priority will always be the well-being and learning experiences of your students. Always and forever. Remember this when your mind is swamped because we know from experience that our priorities are masked by other clutter. In schools, items for discussions are usually prioritized by time and money, not by student or teacher needs. How do you unmask these mandated compliance tasks in a short time frame while still ensuring integrity in your teaching and, quite honestly, your sanity? While the Triple P questions become more intricate when peeling back the layers, remain simple in your response: your students are your priority.  

Pare Down: Last but certainly not least—how does one pare down all that  “stuff” so that priorities match purposes? How do you really do more with less? This may become the most challenging part of the transformation of practice. The challenge comes with letting go of things, control, and feeling overwhelmed to make space for increased efficiency, productivity, and new feelings of satisfaction and supported well-being. We will work with you through this process of letting go.”

What part of the Triple P sticks out for you? How might this be helpful?