Three Transformative Phrases That Create Community

Welcome, I’m so glad you’re here.
Do you know so and so? Let me introduce you.
You should give a presentation about that idea; I would love to hear more.

These three simple statements were something that I came to believe were a norm of the physics teacher community. Early in my career I took for granted just how transformative they are, and how special the community I had entered was. It’s because of this that I find myself frequently repeating these same words over and over at events like our national meetings. Unlike other aspect within our community, I’m not sure there’s a particular person these can be tied to, yet everyone has a story about an individual person who pushed them forward in the community. I’ve seen the great power of these simple three sentences

Welcome to the community, I’m so glad that you’re here

When it’s your first time at a large conference like AAPT, it can be so easy to feel isolated. A large conference is a large undertaking. You have to arrange a great deal of finances, rearrange your schedule, arrange for substitute teachers and lesson plans, and it can be defeating to do all of this work just to feel alone at the conference. What was the point? Hearing, “I’m so glad you’re here” makes it inevitable for a smile to spread infectiously from one person to the next.

“Have you met so and so? Let me introduce you”

So many of us are quick to say that the reason we come back meeting after meeting after meeting is because of the community. In order to form community, you naturally need to have more than one person as a familiar face.

Engaging in conversations with others with a true curiosity to learn about the other person does a few things. First, when we engage others with curiosity they immediately feel valued! It’s actually been researched, the more a person engages positively with others, the more positively viewed they are by others! It seems simple, but as in all relationships, creating a strong community is about building up others, not trying to make ourselves look impressive. The second piece is that if we lead with true curiosity, we may find ourselves easily connecting members of the community with one another, bringing them in. I’ve witnessed this and participated in this first hand on so many occasions, I find myself eager to engage in opportunities for helping others connect.

You should give a presentation about that idea; I would love to hear more.

Without a long CV to create for a tenure dossier, high school teachers don’t necessarily have a specific, extrinsic motivator to give a presentation at a conference. Add to that these national conferences can create huge waves of intimidation and imposter syndrome. “What do I possibly have to offer?” a teacher asks themselves. “Everyone knows so much more than me” or “I’m sure they’ve seen this before”. Of course, as I’ve learned and many others have learned, it’s simply not true. Telling someone that an idea that they have from a casual conversation should be presented at a conference is validating and empowering. And when that presentation happens? It creates one of the strongest positive feedback loops you can gain from community. Quickly, you find yourself presenting out of a desire to give back to the community that has given so much.

“Hi. Welcome to the community. I’m so glad you’re here.”
Now there’s joy across my face.

“Have you met so and so? Let me introduce you”
Now I have someone with whom I can relate and possibly co-create.

“That’s such a great idea. I’d love to hear more about it. You should present it.”
I gain the confidence to get up in front of my peers share my ideas, and it results at a positive feedback loop where people ask questions and come up to me and tell me that they liked my idea.

After those three questions have been answered, and after you’ve been the one presenting, now it’s your turn. It’s your second, third, fourth time presenting at the conference. Are you asking those questions?

So glad to see you. Have you met so and so? I hope you present that I want to learn more.

This is how our community grows, and it’s how each of us is able to grow within our community.