To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the process of learning, this week's topic/question for the dinner table is:
These two statements are borrowed/paraphrased from the articles shared this week: 1. "There has to be a better way, and I don't know it yet" 2. In many cases, (we) may even choose not to do (something) because, in the end, (we) are not so sure about how to do (it) well." How often do you find yourself in one or both of these situations, and how do we get past it to the other side? Please see link to Google Form to share your responses: Is This Us? (This is an anonymous Google Form)
After our first week back in the new year, I hope that everyone enjoyed a nice weekend. After celebrating Maggie's 12th birthday (wow!) Friday evening, we had a sports-filled Saturday and then had a calm and relaxed Sunday afternoon, mixed in with Grayden's Kindergarten basketball clinic. It's always such fun to watch the 'herding of cats' at these clinics!
It is always an adjustment to come back to the routine of school after a vacation, and I would be lying if I didn't admit that it can be a struggle at times to get into the swing of things. I see it in our students, my children, our students, and many of you shared that sentiment with me this week. That said, routines are important and I find it helpful to take some time and keep the 'big picture' in mind. I say it often (yes, I recognize I can be a broken record), but reading and rereading our mission statement every morning as I walk into Blake is that key 'ingredient' that helps me to settle in, greet each day, and focus in on what's important: 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. Encouraged by Guy Kawasaki's keynote at the iPad Summit a few months ago that I have shared and reflected upon in the past, I have sincerely tried to carry forth his suggestion to adopt a mantra and it is the 'willingness to adapt' that has held great meaning for me. As we consider everything on our proverbial plate as educators (lesson plans, content that needs to be covered, expectations from administration, political pressures, etc. - the list could go on and on), being 'willing to adapt' and open to new suggestions is not just a nice thing to have - on the contrary, it is critical. In order to carry it forward to reality, though, we need to make sure we are focusing on skills and the process of learning - not just for our students, but really for ourselves. With this in mind, the three posts I am sharing below provide a framework for helping us move through a progression of thinking to get to an openness and readiness for learning...
A Challenge for the New Year: Leader, Know Yourself
by Jill Berkowicz and Ann Myers in Education Week
Berkowicz and Myers are models of reflection and this post is certainly aimed towards an audience of administrators and 'school leaders'. However, I believe the implications for everyone are clear and the ideas can apply not only to all educators, but all individuals. We must shift our focus from a 'reactive state' that is often the reality for our day-to-day work and actively create and foster a 'personal space' for learning and leading.
...success for students is a 13 year endeavor. It is like building a structure with Legos, one misplaced piece or one loose connection and the structure falls apart. It is that easy to lose a child in one year or one experience. Success requires each teacher and each leader to be engaged in the continuous process of learning, risk taking, and relationship building as professionals, all while responding to the needs of every child.
Educators live in a reactive state where every issue presents as urgent and every person wants a decision now. One of the perils of our work is when we become masters of the reactive state. Eyes on the future give way to the pressures of the immediate and moments intended for personal reflection and thought fall away as self-indulgent, unnecessary or superfluous.
The value of spending time and attention on personal development is essential for professional success. We can no longer afford a system where leaders are merely successful reactors, preservationists who keep us surviving. That day has passed. The essence of leadership for schools now implies directionality and movement. It demands an articulated relationship with the future and the capacity to encourage others into a frontier that is exciting and, to some, frightening. It is a new year and it is exactly the right time for an internal scan to be sure that we want to undertake that journey ourselves.
4 Ways to Become a Better Learner
by Monique Valcour in Harvard Business Review
Valcour introduces the concept of establishing 'learning agility' (capacity for rapid, continuos learning from experience) as one of the real aims we should have for ourselves and our students. She outlines four steps to develop this skill: Ask for feedback; Experiment with new approaches or behaviors; Look for connections across seemingly unrelated areas; Make time for reflection.
Research shows that leaders who think and act from the same assumptions and behavioral repertoires they’ve used for years are prone to stagnate, underperform, or derail. As David Peterson, director of executive coaching and leadership at Google puts it, “Staying within your comfort zone is a good way to prepare for today, but it’s a terrible way to prepare for tomorrow.” To sustain success, you must develop learning agility.
Running Without Music
by Colleen Moore
In this brief post Moore makes the analogy of learning to 'run without music' is like helping students to
Makes the analogy of 'running without music' to getting to the core of learning without grades - 'learning for the sake of learning'
For me, literally running without music allows me get to the core of everything. The world is stripped down to the essential. I can see Whitman’s blade of grass. The Beastie Boys, Macklemore, and, oddly enough, The Indigo Girls don’t get me “Closer to Fine.” Running just makes me fine. Not a perfect fine, but a better fine.
Sure my job is to instruct teenagers on the craft of reading, writing, and speaking. But really, my job is to teach them how to run without music. My job is to teach them to follow their passions, grade or no grade. My job is to teach them to be internally motivated. It’s years of schooling and decades of education that must be undone. That’s a tall task and one I haven’t figured out yet. But, I’ll keep running and keep trying.
Keeping the resolutions and intentions I set for 2016 in mind I'm hoping to incorporate elements from each of these posts...
- Deep reflection is necessary (Leader, Know Thyself)
- We need to have an understanding of skills we want for our students and ourselves (Agile Learning; 4 Steps to Get There)
- In order to bring this to 'fruition', we must focus on the learning rather than the grades (Run Without Music)
The time is always right to do what is right. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Take care.
Nat Vaughn