What Is Your Secret Sauce?

The Big Mac has it. Your grandmother’s gravy has it. Your nana’s famous spaghetti sauce has it. It is that one ingredient that no one else knows that makes the dish special, unique, and famous. The other day I was chatting with one of my kindergarten teachers, Diane, and for whatever reason, I kept calling her strengths her secret sauce. (I guess I was hungry and had McDonald’s on my mind . . . not sure.)

Then I realized that every teacher I know has a secret sauce. That one ingredient that makes them special and unique as a teacher. The thing we want to name and replicate. Diane’s secret sauce is intentionality. Every curriculum choice she makes for her students has intention. 

As a literacy coach, I can sometimes be a bit judgy. One of my jobs is to make sure our school has curriculum alignment, and when I walk into a classroom and see something that at first glance looks like it doesn’t fit with our common language or goals, I can get flustered. The good thing is that I don’t let that sit long, because I have learned to ask the teacher to tell me about the curricular choice.

Diane can answer that question every time. She is intentional in every curriculum decision she makes, and each choice leads to the next step for a child. A turkey coloring page during kindergarten literacy time is not about a picture to hang on the refrigerator at home. Diane finds the smallest developmentally appropriate writing tool and shapes to color in, and voila! Kids are strengthening their pencil grip, and legible handwriting thrives. Every single practice that happens in her classroom has intention. 

What is your secret sauce? Every teacher has that super-special ingredient that makes a classroom experience unique. So while you are driving to work, walking the hall to the copy machine, or out on a walk, ask yourself that question and celebrate the answer. Share it with others so we can all enjoy the benefits of the secret sauce!