To encourage dialogue and reflection about the process of learning and role that creativity plays, our question for the week is: When thinking back on 2022, what have you learned about yourself and how have you grown as a learner? Reflection-Action-Reflection... (Week of 12/18/22) (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 a pretty busy weekend for us, full of basketball, holiday preparations, and catching up on our ‘to do’ list around the house. Katie picked up Maggie on Friday afternoon, and it has been so nice to have her home with us. This coming week will certainly be a busy one with lots of excitement, and I am looking forward to it. For those who are celebrating, Happy Hanukkah!
‘Speaking from the I’, I have lots of feelings and thoughts - some contradictory - about these developments, and with each I end up having more questions than I do answers. With each one, however, I am coming back to one question, in particular - ‘What’s our next step?’ This question is one that really guides all of our work and is what is guiding our systems of feedback as well (Encouraging Learning). It is incumbent upon all of us to deeply reflect, learn, and act upon what it is we are experiencing - we would be truly remiss if we did not engage and welcome the dialogue. We will do this casually (discussions, independently, etc.) as well as formally (at meetings and in structured manners), and I do believe that our learning skills will become even more critical as areas of focus for all of us.
The two posts below, coupled with some of the responses from last week’s question, push us in the direction of reflection, learning, action, and adaptability. Similar to a post shared last week (Measuring Creativity And Innovation? by David Culberhouse), I am struck once again by the date it was written - April 2, 2019. Upon first reading it, it truly reads as though it could have been written today as a response/directive in regards to the impact of artificial intelligence on schools and organizations.
The Beautiful Question
by Jim Knight in ASCD
Effective questions are:
Empowering. Good questions give power to the person who is asked the question, not the person asking it.
Authentic. Good questions are real questions, ones for which the questioner doesn't already have an answer.
Respectful. Well-asked questions communicate our respect for others.
Invitational…Invitational questions encourage participants to think deeper ("What leads you to believe ___?"), to generate more ideas ("What are some small steps you could take to move closer to your goal?"), or to access thoughts and feelings ("What will it feel like when your students hit their goal?)"
Good questions are real manifestations of your curiosity and caring. Good questions are like intellectual fireworks, leading to explosions of ideas and more learning for the questioner and the conversation partner.
Rise of the Full-Stack Learning Organization
by Lisa Kay Solomon in Medium
Living with constant fluctuation and ambiguity, as we all do today, requires a different approach to continuous learning that embraces shades of gray. It’s up to forward-thinking leaders to instill a strategy of full stack learning within their organizations, to both protect against disruption and embolden innovation in a hyper-creative marketplace.
In these dynamic times, the learning agenda is the strategic agenda, supported and scaled through carefully considered strategic choices. Learning fuels clarity about our changing context, collaboration with diverse and global networks, conversations that spark new ideas and innovation, and deep connections that foster resilience and regeneration.
Learning is not a single strategy, but rather exists among emerging paradoxes that inform a range of choices.
Learning is both fast and slow.
Learning is both collaborative and individual.
Learning is both episodic and ubiquitous.
Learning is both intentional and emergent.
Learning is enhanced by AI and other emerging technologies, but must be in the service of IA.
So, what are the direct implications of these paradoxes for leaders and their organizations?
1. We will see a new breed of “Full Stack” Learning Organizations.
2. Leaders of organizations across all sectors will model and support lifelong learning as a strategic capability.
3. The best performers across the organization will be the best learners.
4. Technology will continue to support not just intelligence augmentation but “talent augmentation.”
5. Organizational design and culture must be centered around learning.
Simply put, leaders must be learners, and they must build a learning culture by modeling, enabling and rewarding that behavior.
Sampling of Responses from Last Week’s ‘Question of the Week’: What helps you to be creative and learn? Why?
- To always do the best I can and to love what I do
- A quiet place. A quiet place lets me focus.
- Opportunities
- visual examples because I'm better with visual stuff
- One thing that helps me be creative is hands-on activities. It helps me learn because it gives me a better understanding of things.
- What helps me be creative and learn is reading because I love doing it.
- Exercise because it gets my blood moving and my brain active.
- Support from others
- Hands on! Crafts or creating things!
- Learning something that interests me and group activities. It makes me focus and learn how to love to learn.
During the December vacation, I look forward to my annual practice of reflecting upon personal and collective learning, growth, challenges, and successes - perusing influential/impactful posts and sources that have implications for both myself and the Blake community.
This is an annual practice, looking and reflecting upon ‘influential posts’, resolutions, and implications for myself and our learning community at Blake. The images and words below are ones that I hope will center us, guide us, challenge us, and lead us on our ‘imperfect journey’ (some of these have been shared the last few years and are worthy of carrying forward into 2023 and beyond)...
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Take care.
Nat