To encourage dialogue and reflection about communities and how they can/are fostered and nurtured, our questions for the week are: 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 of Learners (Week of 3/17/24) (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 took a few days to adjust to our ‘new hours’ this week, but it has been such a gift to have the extended daylight each evening! I hope that the warmer temps and sunshine last Saturday were able to be enjoyed and that the weekend provided a nice break. Ours was very low-key and quiet - the ‘calm before the storm’ as that may have been the last weekend before the ‘spring craze’ of activities begins!
- Band-o-Rama and String Fling
- Blake’s first Unified basketball game with Walpole
- Kindness Month activities
- Interactions with students and staff
- Holliston’s fundraiser for their SEPAC - basketball game between their varsity teams and their Unified team
- Working to support the varied needs of students and staff
- Incoming 6th grade info night
- Planning for some end-of-year activities
This list is not comprehensive by any means, but upon my drive home on Friday evening and in processing the week with Katie, I felt ‘filled up’ with a sense of gratitude for the way that my/our community has had and continues to have an impact.
The incoming 6th information night for parents and caregivers is always one of my favorite nights of the year - providing a time to pause, share, and engage with our community about our mission, structures, vision, beliefs, and practices. A few of our 8th grade students attended the evening - they were simply wonderful!
Below I am bringing to the forefront of thought and (re)sharing a sampling of information shared from our incoming nights (slides, quotes, posts) along with a couple podcasts that I highly recommend for all. The intent behind this sharing/highlighting is to maintain currency in our field and to make connections to the values of our community - conveying our care, an appreciation for all of our students as individuals, and fostering a culture of learning and coherence based in science and research.
Screenshots of Some Slides…
The #1 Factor That Determines a Toxic or Thriving School Culture (Opinion)
by Alex Kajitani in Education Week
Your middle school child is the most amazing person
by Deborah Farmer Kris, CNN
Decoding the Teenage Brain
by Stephen Merrill in Edutopia
The biggest myths of the teenage brain
by by David Robson in BBC.com
Do Schools Really Stifle Creativity?
by Brad Latzke
Surgeon general confirms what parents know.
Young people are in crisis.
by Heidi Stevens & Tribune News Service from Chicago Tribune
Recommended Podcast Episodes - Recent Learning…
Why Math is the Greatest Equalizer in School
(24 min) from The Harvard EdCast
Kentaro Iwasaki talks about the challenges and potential solutions to address inequality in math education, emphasizing the importance of dismantling tracking systems and promoting equitable practices.
Find and Tap Your Hidden Potential
(34 min) from The School Leadership Show
Everyone has hidden potential for growth and achievement, but standard approaches to studying, practicing, coaching, and organizing education often leave this potential untapped. The practices of high-achieving individuals (and a high-achieving school system) reveal the surprising skills, scaffolds,and systems that unlock potential. Even better, anyone can learn them, and anyone can teach them, too.
In this episode we have a great conversation about Adam Grant’s book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things and how to apply his insights to our own lives as busy educators.
Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen: Q&A on Becoming a Healer
(42 min) from House Calls with Dr. Vivek Murthy
In this special Q&A episode, the Surgeon General sits down with his long-time medical school mentor, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, to talk about their journeys to becoming healers. Dr. Remen is the creator of a medical training course called “The Healer’s Art,” which Dr. Murthy took as a medical student.
As a follow-up to their House Calls episode “Can We All Be Healers?”, the pair decided to reunite and field questions from medical students and other healthcare trainees, including: How do you stay compassionate in the tough environment of the healthcare system? How do you get through career disappointments? And how can we lean on our relationships to help us?
Sampling of Responses from Last Week’s ‘Question of the Week’: What are the values you hold that help guide your decisions and actions? How can values help to do that?
- I value children and learning. Transparency. Supporting and respecting diverse people even if they do not make the same choices that I would
- I value kindness, patience, and courage.
- I think before i do
- Kindness, calmness, understanding, respectfulness
As Women's History Month continues, the words below will help to embrace and foster a sense and reality of community…