To help encourage conversations and dialogue about sharing what we have learned with one another to foster a culture of continuous learning and growth, our question of the week is: Share a piece (or pieces of advice) that you have been given that you would pass on to someone else. Sharing Our Learning (Week of 3/7/21) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
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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 is really hard to believe that we are now in the midst of the second week of March - so many different thoughts come to mind with that reality! I have been really enjoying the extended daylight hours and am finding that it gives me such a boost towards the end of the day. Katie and I started off last weekend by taking Lila for a walk at the Medfield State grounds on Friday afternoon - it was beautiful and centering (cold too!)...
Back in December I began a new routine at the start of each school day by taking a walk outside around ‘the campus’. I have always been an ‘early bird’ so the morning is an important time for me. Prior to December, I had always told the story in my head that this was time for me to center, reflect, and ‘be mindful’. The truth, however, was that I would arrive and dive right into ‘the work’. This routine of a walk has been wonderful - getting fresh air, moving my body a bit, and letting thoughts come and go. Sometimes it’s quiet reflection and other days I have listened to music or parts of a podcast episode.
On Friday morning I listened to some of Brene Brown’s episode, interviewing Dr. Yaba Blay (Brené with Dr. Yaba Blay on One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race). Within the episode, Brene shares a ‘roughly translated’ non-attributed quote - ‘We don’t rise to our highest goals - we fall to our most broken systems.’ I had to stop walking, ‘rewind’ the episode, and make sure I had written the words down. I woke up Saturday morning and Googled the words and came across a tweet from the author James Clear back in 2018- ‘You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.’ The tweet thread from Clear outlines the origins and adaptation…
This is a quote from my new book Atomic Habits and was adapted from one of my favorite sayings by the Greek poet Archilochus: “We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.”
Self-admittedly, I feel as though I have been a ‘broken record’ as of late, reflecting (and asking others to reflect) upon our lessons learned, or affirmed, over the last 12 months - and, in particular, pushing myself and others to think about our ‘systems’. After reading about James Clear I thought back to the work of Peter Senge, author of many books, professor, and ‘systems scientist’. I was fortunate to hear him give a keynote back in 2016 - his work is inspiring, real, and honest. For me it is his focus on shifting the narrative from ‘information sharing’ to ‘creating learning processes’ that really centers the path that we must continually and intentionally create, establish, adapt, and nurture for our students...
Peter Senge on the Creation of a Post-Industrial Theory and Practice of Education
In this 80-minute lecture, which has recently been posted on YouTube, with Peter’s approval, by the Academy for Systems Change, he shared his reflections on ongoing efforts to transform education systems across the United States, offering an extensive series of parallels with his wide-ranging personal experiences with the visible and invisible obstacles facing business transformations.
It is in the spirit of these reflections and in attempt to ‘channel’ and act upon these words (to be transparent and truly honest) - these are for myself as much as they are for others, I am sharing a post below from Tom Whitby (one of my ‘go tos’ for sure!), some responses from last week’s question, and a post I have shared in the past with our new teachers in the district as part of the mentoring program. For me (and maybe others) of these ‘shares’ speaks to the practice of shared learning, growth, reflection, and the systems that foster these practices on both a micro/personal and macro/collective level...
My AHA Moments in the Pandemic Education Plan
by Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby)
In this post Whitby shares the ‘Aha’ moments from the last year - they are certainly worth reading and thinking about in terms of our own learning and the potential and actual implications for our work.
Whether it is called an “Aha Moment” or ”an Epiphany” educators are seeing many aspects of their profession in a different light over this last year of the pandemic education plan. They are questioning, what was considered normal for centuries, as a system in need of change more than had ever before been realized. The pandemic blew up the existing education system, forcing changes that could never have evolved naturally at such a rapid pace under normal circumstances. Many concepts and assumptions, based on what was “normal” before the pandemic, have been discarded, replaced, adjusted and improved. Many changes have exposed more problems that will require new solutions to these new problems.
Probably the greatest of all the AHA moments that educators and parents have had is the role that relationships play in learning. From the beginning of the year of pandemic education, educators have stepped up in reaching out to their students. That has made a big difference in a bad situation for many kids, as well as parents. Now a term that we have all become familiar with is SEL, Social and Emotional Learning. AHA! Strong teacher/student relationships strengthen learning. We must deal with social and emotional needs of kids before we can accurately assess their learning.
My final Aha moment came after I spoke to hundreds of educators about how the year of pandemic education has affected them as educators. I was surprised that after at least a decade of professional development for educators emphasizing technology integration and online learning in education that a majority of educators were totally unprepared for the transition to online teaching. AHA! If we are to better educate our kids, we need first to better educate their educators.
The pandemic education plan that we have all been forced to endure for this last year is not all bad. We need to consider all that we have learned. Yes, many kids do not perform well with distance learning, but there are other kids who are thriving with it. AHA! There is no one method of education that works for every kid. We need to consider what we know to be true and build from there a flexible and evolving education system. We need to encourage and embrace the Aha moments and share these ideas through collaboration with all educators.
Sampling of Responses from Last Week’s ‘Question of the Week’: Share an important or impactful ‘life lesson’ you have learned (or re-learned) this school year. Why is/was it important or impactful?
- The only true consistency in life is that things change. An ability to adapt to change is vital for success.
- Disposition towards a subject is just as important as the skills acquired in the subject. This balance makes the best learning!
- I've often had to remind myself to stay the course this year. For me, that has meant taking things one day at a time, or even one period at a time. This approach has really helped when I have felt overwhelmed this year.
- Try your hardest and you will succeed
- Time is important. Never take time for granted.
- When you get mad, don’t do things that you won’t do when you aren’t. It was impactful because sometimes when I get mad I do or say things I don’t mean.
- That things don’t go as planned.
- treat people how you would want to be
- I relearned that you always need to be yourself no matter what others think of you.
- I learned that sometimes work you do isn’t perfect and how we make mistakes but need to learn to live expecting and accepting them
- It’s ok to ask for help. This was important because I don’t like asking for help but it pays off.
- I’ve learned that if you work as hard as you really can you can achieve anything.
- I learned that you should ask for help when you need it.
- I have learned that you can never give up.
- I relearned and learned that you can do anything and you should adapt to change and its ok to ask for help when you need it
- Look on the bright side
- I have re-learned that you should always ask for help when you need it.
- Whatever you say you are you are going to be. Ex. I said I am tired, I will be tired. If I say that it is going to be a good day it will be a good day.
- I learned that I am much more fortunate than others even considering the time we are going through.
- I learned that you can still stay connected even when your six feet apart.
- You can only control yourself. I think this is important because there have been a lot of things that are out of my control this year, but I can keep making good choices for myself.
- I learned that there is a lot you can accomplish if you try. It has been impactful because I have been able to complete lots of my schoolwork. At the beginning of the school year it took me much longer. Now I finish earlier.
- I learned that you will feel better about yourself when you do good things and not bad things. And that you will always be more satisfied when you did your homework instead of video games.
A Letter to New Teachers
by Chase Mielke in Educational Leadership
As noted above, this share is a ‘repeat’ - it is wonderful and embodies the essence of what I believe we strive for Blake...a culture of caring, positive, student-centered, and passionate educators. This has been a ‘trying year’ on many levels and the messages within from Mielke are strong compass points and great reminders for all of us about the importance of mindset and centering as we embark each day on incredibly important (and ever-changing) work with five 'passion stokers': Find a Positive Tribe; Curate the Good, Don't Hoard the Bad; Forgive; Own Your Present and Future; Craft Your Calling.
Over the last decade, I've come to rely on a few daily actions that keep my teaching passion alive. Some of these I learned from research in positive psychology. Others I learned the hard way, by initially doing the opposite. All of them stem from a core philosophy: My well-being, passion, and ability to thrive are within my control. Yours are, too. If you want to continue being a passionate teacher, practice these "Passion Stokers."
The biggest challenge of your teaching career will be staving off burnout. And your students probably won't be the main contributors to your burnout. Adult negativity. Societal pressures. Diminished resources. Debilitating legislation. The dichotomy of over-involved and under-involved parenting. These are the rains that will threaten to extinguish your flame.
One of the best things you can do as a new teacher is look for the colleagues in your building who still love what they do. Seek out the veterans who haven't grown embittered...Surround yourself with these people, learn from them, and ask them questions...Who we spend time with is who we become. Choose wisely.
Be proud that you are in a meaningful profession. But be prepared to fight every year—and every day—to keep your passion alive. Remember that the conditions of teaching matter, but your actions matter most.
I would wish you luck in your future, but I don't believe in luck, and you don't need it. All you need is the resolve to curate the good, to forgive, to own your future, and to embrace change. And maybe more dry erase markers.
In keeping with the practice of highlighting words each week in honor of Women's History Month, these two quotes are ones that I find inspiring and encouraging to keep ‘fighting the good fight’ by sharing the learning and striving for the adaptation of systems for all of our learners...
As always, let me know of any questions/concerns.
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Take care.
Nat
#willfulhope #willfulaction #longasIcanseethelight