To encourage dialogue and reflection about the ways we can foster belonging and in our community, our question for the week is: What can we do as a community to help others recognize and feel as though they belong? Share some specific ideas. Nurturing Belonging (Week of 3/24/24) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
Blake's Guiding Lights
Our Students
Blake's Core Values: Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Reflection
Our Essential Question: How can we cultivate and curate the progression of student learning and growth?
Our Mission: Blake Middle School believes in a living mission statement, based on the concept that our community seeks and respects knowledge, integrity, character, wisdom, and the willingness to adapt to a continually evolving world.
The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning. - John Dewey
You cannot teach today the same way you did yesterday to prepare students for tomorrow. - John Dewey
It was great to start off last weekend with the 7th/8th grade dance - special thanks to Deb M., Matt Marenghi, Tracy, Elise, Kelly C., Susan B., and Kiersten for chaperoning! Although the weather on Saturday was pretty yucky, it provided a great ‘excuse’ to just relax and give in to laying low. We had a few friends over on Saturday and enjoyed watching some of the March Madness games.
What New Research Says About Fostering a ‘Sense of Belonging’ in Classrooms
(54 minutes) from EdSurge Podcast
There are key junctures in education that are especially important for helping students feel they belong in school or college. And new research points to better ways to strengthen student-teacher relationships and a sense of belonging, argues Greg Walton, a psychology professor at Stanford University.
We've had something wrong in education – it's not the GPA or the test scores.
(34 minutes) from The School Leadership Show
Many of us as educators have assumed that the kids with strong grades and strong test scores were set up for success. Isn't that what we were supposed to work toward in schools?
Dr. Borba has interviewed scores of students and has found that these 2 areas – grades and test scores – are not the markers of success today in the 21st century.
Dr. Borba is an educational psychologist, author, and parenting expert. She has written over 20 books and has worked with everyone from Harvard to Sesame Street – mostly about the power of character skills and character education.
Dr. Borba’s work has profound implications for us in the field of education right now.
The questions and shares below are ones that I know I will come back to - and hope that others will too, as they can serve as compass points for our work to nurture belonging, foster hope, and provide an outline/map for our students, our curricula, and our community.
Google Classroom Stream Questions from 3/19 Faculty Meeting
- What does inclusion mean to you?
- How can we foster more inclusive practices at Blake?
- Dr. Sonn Sam…‘You are committing your life to serve young people - why?’
- What are you hopeful about? How can we provide and foster hope for our students?
Posts/Podcasts Highlighted from 3/19 Faculty Meeting
What Happens When We Believe All Young People Are Brilliant? with Dr. Sonn Sam
(55 minutes) from The Learner-Centered Collaborative Podcast
‘It’s not a theory of change - it’s a practice of change’
Sonn Sam, National Director of Partnerships at Big Picture Learning, discusses his experiences and insights on creating learner-centered education systems.
Sonn shares how his experiences as a refugee from Cambodia shaped his educational journey and how he did not feel seen or supported in traditional school environments. He found mentors and purpose through community programs focused on his interests, like dance.
Later, transformative educators helped Sonn discover his passion for empowering youth by asking him questions no one had asked before about what he cared about. This led him into education and working with Big Picture Learning.
Key topics covered include:
- The importance of knowing students' interests and passions to drive relevant learning
- Small group advisory structures for relationship building- Connecting students with mentors and internships in the community
- Developing competency-based systems and authentic assessments
- Moving from theory to action by starting small and evolving practice over time
Sonn emphasizes the need to build ecosystems that honor the brilliance in every student, not just those who fit traditional measures of success. His vision is for an education system where every child feels seen, heard, and loved.
Lessons In Leadership: A North Carolina principal details why middle school is more than academics
by Roger Riddell in K-12 Dive
Often, our piece has to be teaching them more of the value of inclusivity rather than the drama of exclusivity.
There’s a lot that we have to rethink in education. We still are pretty much trapped by reading, writing, math, classes and blocks of time. We have to get a more integrated and better approach to how we integrate and prioritize the kindness and the stability and the emotional health and respect we need our kids to show one another.
When we can create authentically curious learners, that makes everybody’s job and everybody’s work and fascination that much deeper and that much easier. It’s incumbent upon us to not just think like the teachers we were, or the teachers we had when we were in middle school. In the book, we say, “Don’t be the teacher you had as a student. Be the revolutionary your learners need you to be.”
Future-Proofing Students
by Michele Borba in ASCD
This generation will need more than grades and scores to thrive in an automated, accelerated, unpredictable new world. To prepare students for a tech-intensive future, we cannot hold on to 20th-century learning practices. We must reimagine education and cultivate an updated skill set. Which competencies and practices will "future-proof" students—or at least prepare them to the best extent possible?
1. Self-Confidence
Abilities: Self-Awareness, Strength Awareness, Finding Purpose
2. Empathy
Abilities: Emotional Literacy, Perspective Taking, Empathic Concern
3. Self-Control
Abilities: Attentive Focus, Self-Management, Healthy Decision-Making
4. Integrity
Abilities: Moral Awareness, Moral Identity, Ethical Thinking
5. Curiosity
Abilities: Curious Mindset, Creative Problem-Solving, Divergent Thinking
6. Perseverance
Abilities: Growth Mindset, Goal Setting, Learning from Failure
7. Optimism
Abilities: Optimistic Thinking, Assertive Communication, Hope
The world is changing and so must our instructional practices. Our moral obligation is to equip this generation with the content and abilities they will need to handle an unpredictable future and thrive. Doing so may be our most important educational task.
“Child psychologist: The No. 1 skill that sets mentally strong kids apart from ‘those who give up’—and how parents can teach it.”
by Michele Borba in CNBC News
Research shows that hopefulness can dramatically reduce childhood anxiety and depression. Hopeful kids have an inner sense of control. They view challenges and obstacles as temporary and able to be overcome, so they are more likely to thrive and help others.
Yet despite its immense power, hope is largely excluded from our parenting agendas. The good news? Hope is teachable. One of the best ways to increase this strength is by equipping children with skills to handle life’s inevitable bumps.
Here are nine science-backed ways to help kids maintain hope, especially during tough times:
1. Stop negativity in the moment.
2. Use hopeful mantras.
3. Teach brainstorming.
4. Share hopeful news.
5. Ask ‘what if?’
6. Celebrate small gains.
7. Boost assertiveness.
8. Create gratitude rituals.
9. Embrace service.
Q&A: Michele Borba on Teaching Students to Thrive
by Sarah McKibben in ASCD
We have to do a reboot.
The best schools and classrooms I’ve visited are ones where everyone is on board—where, for example, they decide to work on developing self-control, but not in a generic way.
The first thing we need to do is realize that parents are out of tools themselves. Even last night, I was on a Zoom call with parents and several of them broke down crying because they desperately want their kids to be happy and succeed, but they don't see that happiness and success isn’t achieved through a GPA. Parents need to help their children find their strengths and assets.
Empathy, empathy, empathy. We have to make sure that we stay human in our connections with each other…Next to empathy, I believe curiosity is essential for an AI world. To be able to think outside the box and to anticipate, “OK, what's my plan B?” To really be open to ideas and possibilities.
The fascinating thing I discovered in my research is the multiplier effect. You put any two strengths (or traits) together, they multiply the outcome. So, what you really need is empathy and curiosity together. That’s what's going to make you innovative.
Sampling of Responses from Last Week’s ‘Question of the Week’: What are the most important characteristics of a community? What needs to be in place to create a community? How can we help people feel like they are part of a community?
- Community relies on a shared understanding of growth and maintenance. Open dialogues and hard work make a big impact. Valuing differences, supporting struggles, and celebrating efforts goes a long way!
- An understanding that all identities and ideas are valued. Time and space for the community to take root and flourish. The needs to be relationship building.
- The most important characteristics are loyalty and kindness. A sense of belonging needs to be in place. We can help people by encouraging them.
- The most important characteristics of a community are a leader, if everybody is working towards a common cause they will feel like they are part of a community.
- be more honest
- Medfield is a great community with caring people and they are so generous. A community has to have people that respect each other, a community that organizes things that we can do to help. What I love about Medfield is that we help people in need like the seniors or in the Medfield food Cupboard.
- Teamwork, collaboration, inclusion, and a positive attitude are needed for a good community.
As Women's History Month concludes this week, the words below underscore the importance of belonging and hope within a community…