To help encourage conversations and dialogue about resolutions and staying centered on one's resolutions and intentions, this week's topic/question for the dinner table is:
Finish this statement: For the new year, I resolve to...
Did you resolve to stop doing something, or to start/continue doing something? Please see link to Google Form to share your responses: Resolve (1/3/16) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
As you read this update I hope that you find yourself relaxed and rested, having enjoyed a wonderful holiday vacation with family and friends. We had a nice time as we rested, read, went to the movies, celebrated the arrival of the New Year in Chatham with family, and had some much needed catch-up time with good friends. It sure is important to take advantage of the gifts of time that we are given!
I often share that one of my favorite things to do during my 'down time' is to catch up on some reading - not necessarily the education journals, but some novels or books that are on the bedside table. I feel fortunate that, as an educator and father, much of the books that I like to read have implications for both my personal and professional lives. In addition to some other readings the majority of my 'down time reading' was spent reading (and, in some cases rereading) two books - How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims and Building School 2.0 by Chris Lehmann and Zac Chase. Lythcott-Haims's book is our Site Council read for this year, and Lehmann and Chase's book offers 95 propositions for 'creating more relevant, more caring schools'. I highly recommend both and I will be sure to share some of the mindsets that I believe correlate to our work at Blake. I could go on and on with examples, but one that has stayed very present is Proposition # 1 from Lehmann and Chase - 'School Should Mirror the World as We Believe It Could Be: This book is borne of a spirit of hope that we can build healthier, more relevant, more caring schools that, in turn and in time, will help to build a healthier world'. It is this clear and transparent statement that inspires me to marry my ideals, core values, and beliefs with my practices and begs the question - 'What is it that we really want for our students?'
During the holiday vacation I also like to set aside some time to write down the thoughts I have circling in my head for resolutions and intentions for the new calendar year. Many are ones that transcend the calendar year and blend from one to the next, but I also try and push myself a bit to 'raise the bar' a bit and stretch my comfort zone. Below are the resolutions/intentions I outlined for 2015 (some have been realized and others need more attention) along with the ones I am pushing myself towards for 2016, followed by several posts that I hope will keep me centered on our students, one another, and our collective community of learners...
Resolutions/Intentions from January, 2015 (as noted above, I'm hoping to carry them forward)...
- Expand my learning network both within the Blake/Medfield community and beyond 02052
- Push myself to stretch, take risks, and learn (among others, Instagram is on the list for 2015)
- Be open to the ideology of those who do not share my thinking and better understand those views (ask questions and be genuinely curious for feedback)
- Be a mirror for others and ask others to do the same for me
- Stay the course and keep the 'big picture' in mind at all times
- And, as always, 'lean towards yes'
- Explore ways that mindfulness can be brought into the Blake community
- Foster leadership at all levels (students, staff, parents, and community), balancing ownership with healthy delegation and growth for others
- Create and experiment (and encourage others to do the same) -'pushing the envelope' while striving to keep the 'proverbial envelope' intact and on point
- Building and expanding my own knowledge of tech integration tools (Canva is on the list and Instagram is one I still want to explore, having only dabbled a bit this past year)
- Maintain and encourage in others the 'willingness to adapt'
- Explore ways to publish and share the work of our students, staff, and school (carrying forth the 'networking intention' from 2015) as we tell our stories
- Collaborate, learn, and listen - while always 'leaning towards yes'
A Kids' Coding Expert Says We're Making Computer Class Way Too Boring
by Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) in NPREd
Kamenetz's story/post was published during Computer Science Week in conjunction with the Hour of Code. Mitchel Resnick heads the Lifelong Kindergarten Group, a team that develops new technologies for creativity at MIT's Media Lab. Their message is that we must make sure that we are fostering learning experiences that are relevant and offer opportunities to 'create and experiment'. I am not sharing with the intent of stating or implying that our classes at Blake are boring or that we must change everything; however, keeping these ideas in mind is indeed critical as we work to keep relevance at the heart of our work.
For Resnick, a good litmus test is to ask, "Does this support creativity and expression?" The answer, he says, can determine whether a technology is truly educational and developmentally appropriate.
Collaboration: A Necessity, Not An Option
by Umair Qureshi in ASCD InService
Blake's theme of Collaboration for 2015-2016 is one that is important for students and adults alike, and Qureshi outlines five reasons as to why it is a necessity, and not an option, for an effective and forward-thinking learning environment: Depersonalization; Action Research; Broader Perspectives and Stronger Visions; Collective Experience; No One Left Behind.
Here is an essential question: can teachers be successful while working in isolation? Certainly not, and teachers working in established education models know that. But knowing is not enough. We need to delve deeper into a system where teachers collaborate with one another to optimize their teaching and benefit all stakeholders.
Harnessing the Incredible Learning Potential of the Adolescent Brain
by Katrina Schwartz (@KSchwart) in MindShift
Schwartz references scientific evidence that the period of adolescence is prime for learning, and this framework underscores the importance of our day-to-day work with our students.
Because the brain is still developing during adolescence, it has incredible plasticity. It’s akin to the first five years of life, when a child’s brain is growing and developing new pathways all the time in response to experiences...Adolescence is the last time in a person’s life that the brain can be so dramatically overhauled.
Understanding the neuroscience at work in the adolescents populating classrooms can help teachers develop lessons that challenge, engage and satisfy the search for novelty in teens. Those experiences in turn could be some of the most meaningful ones in their lives.
The Year of Agency
by Beth Holland (@brholland) in Edutopia
Beth's post outlines a vision of 'agency' for our students in 2016, and I believe this empowerment of students holds great promise at Blake as we look to continue our work of answering this essential question - ‘How Can We Curate the Progression of Student Learning and Growth?’
Now that students have increased access to digital tools and devices, I think that 2016 may be the year of student agency -- the ability to act independently within a given environment and assume an amount of control and empowerment. In other words, this may be the year to truly empower students to become active learners.
Given the tools available, we have more opportunities to engage students in cognitive apprenticeships, provide them with opportunities to practice the tenets of good citizenship, and encourage them to construct their own understanding of the world. This may be the year of agency as we empower our students to assume an active role in their learning and play a critical part in the construction of their environment.
How Far One Can Go
by George Couros (@gcouros)
Couros is an educator that inspires me to be a better educator, as he openly shares his learning and endeavors. His message is particularly timely as we begin the new calendar year of 2016, and I hope we can help embody this message as a community of learners for the benefit of our students.
The thing is that sometimes we look at someone doing something we want to do, but we don’t see the journey that got someone there.
No matter the opportunity though, I try my best, because I want to be my best. The first step is often the hardest, but it is realizing that taking the next step in the journey is often as important as the destination. It is the willingness to do something you love and putting in the work with no idea where it may land you, that is crucial.
...if you want to be a writer, write more. If you want to be a speaker, speak more. If you want to be the best teacher in the world, keep honing your craft. The journey is just as important, if not more so, than the destination. Just don’t accept that what you dream of is not a possibility.
Clarifying and stating our beliefs is the first step towards the understanding and realization of our intentions. We must then work to examine how these intentions align with 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. Last year at this time I shared a quote from Bill Ivey in Larry Ferlazzo's blog and it is worth sharing again: "Each and every school day will bring tens of thousands of reasons to celebrate in schools across the country." Let's help one another to celebrate and tell our stories heed Couros's advice and encouragement to keep the possibilities open and and limitless. Please keep me honest by reminding me of the intentions/resolutions noted above on a frequent basis, and I will do the same for you. 2016 holds great promise and I am looking forward to the work (successes, challenges, and everything in between) that lies ahead.
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Take care.
Nat Vaughn