To help encourage conversations and dialogue about staying present, this week's topic/question for the dinner table is: what can you do to increase your ability to keep your attention on the present? Please see link to Google Form to share your responses: Staying Present (3/20/16) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
After some lovely spring weather over the past couple of weeks, I do not think I was alone hoping that the prospect of a snowstorm tonight/tomorrow did not come to fruition! We enjoyed a nice weekend without many 'scheduled' activities. On Friday night Katie's father treated Owen and me to the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden - amazing game between UMass Lowell and Providence (triple overtime!) - and the rest of the weekend has been some much-needed family time. As we look ahead to this week and the ones ahead, we know that the spring craze is beginning!
Last Monday all of the administrators in the district were together for a professional development workshop centered around the evaluation process. Dave Castelline from Teachers 21 facilitated our work and we have been fortunate to work with him as a team for the better part of the last two years. I always enjoy the sessions as they provide a different perspective, challenge my thinking, and I find implications for other facets of our work. As we look at our own practices as 'evaluators for adults' the connections to how we examine our practices as 'evaluators for students' are important to keep in mind and thoughtfully consider. The process of giving and receiving feedback one that is complex and we each (givers and receivers) bring our own prior experiences to each interaction we have. We can not forget the underlying foundation of trust that needs to be in place to build the relationships for feedback to be meaningful so that the 'intent/impact gap' is minimal. I have shared below some of my notes from our workshop. Some of the bullet points are direct quotes Dave shared from Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen's book, Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well.
- 'The key player is not the giver, but the receiver of the feedback' - Stone and Heen
- 'Nothing affects the learning culture of an organization more than the skill with which its executive team receives feedback' - Stone and Heen
- 'At its core, good teaching is about relationships - because students allow themselves to learn from people they trust' - David Saavedra
- 'The ability to accept feedback well is a learned skill that anyone can develop' - Stone and Heen
- It's all about the receiver
- 'Feedback happens in the context of a relationship'
- For our systems or ideas to work, they have to be doable, manageable, and sustainable
Teachers Will Take Risks When Leaders Build Trustworthy Environments
by Jill Berkowicz and Ann Myers in Education Week
Orla shared this post with me last week and it is a wonderful reminder about the role that trust plays in fostering and establishing a healthy environment. They recognize the need for the 'constant of change' and the 'requirement of trust' for change to occur.
Presently, change is a constant and it is necessary for us to lead within an environment of unpredictability. No matter where one stands on whether schools are successful or not, who among us can defend perpetuating a system designed for a century past? Programs have been tried and tinkering has happened around the edges but the system, itself, must open up in order for innovation to thrive and have room to take hold.
Changes in schools can free time and structure, can welcome new partnerships, and utilize new methods. The changes will take place in and among classrooms led by teachers and in workplaces where partnerships are alive. Practices and methods will have to be examined; some will be held and some, let go.
Vulnerability, the Advantage of Leaders Who Don’t Pretend
by Tracy Clark in Getting Smart
Clark's post highlights Michael Fullan and Lyle Kirtman's book, Leadership: Key Competencies for Whole-System Change. A willingness to recognize one's vulnerability has a profound influence on others and is a trait we want to instill in our children - modeling this is important as educators and parents.
For educational leaders, setting out to challenge the status quo in a system filled with entrenched practices and powerful inertia, we have to recognize where we are, how we got there, and where we want to go. We must recognize what traditions, practices, routines, and behaviors in our schools are keeping us stuck, a part of the status quo. We must be honest, and, at times, step out in vulnerability to create systemic change.
In my own reflections I realized I used to think vulnerability was something to be avoided, especially in situations where I was leading others, now I think it is something to lean into, get curious about and rumble with...It is something that can help us stop all the pretending, silence the lizard voice, and do the work that matters for our students.
Stressed? (Your brain may be hard-wired to focus on the negative, but you can reprogram it.)by Leah Shafer (@UKnowHGSE)
As we continually examine our practices, adjust to meet the needs of our students, and be open to change, we need to make sure we are looking out for our own well-being. Shafer shares some specific strategies to 'rewire' our brains towards positivity through the practice of mindfulness.
Our brains are hard-wired to focus on the negative, but by practicing mindfulness, we can reprogram them — teach our brains to accentuate positive experiences and maintain serenity.
Repeating the same thoughts, feelings, and behaviors increase synaptic connectivity, strengthens neural networks, and creates new neurons through learning. In other words, practicing a positive habit can predispose our thoughts to be more affirmative.
Try to be persistent with your mindfulness practices, but don’t beat yourself up if you slip and find yourself getting stressed. Be gentle with yourself.
At the end of the proverbial day, I believe that we all (students and adults) thrive on feedback. We hope it will be positive all of the time, but that is not always going to be the case. When giving feedback, considering one's audience (students, colleagues, parents, teachers) is critical. In turn, when receiving feedback we need to be open to change and that requires a willingness to be vulnerable. It is a cyclical and carefully constructed web that must be woven for the environment and culture (and, most important, the individuals) to move forward. I hope we can continue to meet our students and one another 'where we are at', recognize where we each are at as individuals, and look after ourselves and one another in the process. There are opportunities each day for our students and ourselves to grow, and I am excited for the opportunities and prospects that await us at #DLDMedfield on Friday to be open to new ideas, share, and learn. In essence it is a wonderful chance to practice 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 - and continue examining our essential question: How can we curate the progression of student learning and growth?
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Take care.
Nat Vaughn