Nat Vaughn, Blake Principal
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Practicing Self-Care

3/25/2020

 
March 25, 2020

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about identifying and sharing how we can take care of ourselves, our topic/question for the week is:  What strategies do you use to practice self-care and nurture your own well-being?  Practicing Self-Care (Week of 3/23/20-3/27/20) (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

Has anyone else had a difficult time remembering what day of the week it is?  On Saturday morning (I think it was Saturday morning!) it really did not feel any different, except for the fact that there were no scheduled ‘Zoom calls’ (now a regular for me) on my calendar.  This is just one of the many ways that we have been adapting at our house to our ‘new norm’. The weather this past weekend was lovely and we did our very best to get outside, go for our ‘social distancing’ walks with Lila, read, and cook.  Grayden and I have enjoyed baking cookies and donuts (a first!), and we are thinking about trying pretzels today or tomorrow. This week has also brought forth a lot of mixed feelings and emotions - trying to find the good in #slowingitdown, while also recognizing the scary reality of the global pandemic with both known and unknown feelings of anticipation, worry, and fear.  I know I am not alone with these sentiments and appreciate the space to be vulnerable with others. Community is important and I am so very grateful for the ones I have both personally and professionally. Needless to say, it has been a week of deep reflection...
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The words noted above from Josh Starr and Brene Brown are ones that I have seen, read, and shared myself over the past few days.  They have served as excellent reminders and points of reference for me about the importance of self-care, reflection, and learning - and, how they all interconnect.  The words serve as foundational elements for learning and I believe they will continue to be critical ‘touch points’ as we navigate the days and weeks ahead. When looking at the responses from last week’s topic/question (sample responses are below), I was struck by the poignancy and, to be honest’, eerie relevance of the words from Papert in my last blog post (Expert Learners)...
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There is the balance of finding hope in the words along with feeling a sense of anxiety in the unknown of what the words imply.  I have found comfort and courage in the collective response of our community at Blake - acknowledging the challenges, listening, and doing our best to adapt - truly ‘making the path by walking it’ (thanks again, Colby!).  We are all doing our very best to establish routines and structures - and, at the heart of this routine has been the practice of adaptation. That has been a significant mindset for me - acknowledging that adaptation and change are now part of the daily routine.  

Coupled with the new routines of Zoom calls, 24/7 parenting, and social distancing (to name a few), I have also been reminded of the importance of self-care.  This has always been a challenge for me as I try to ‘do it all’ and often put myself second or third (ironically, at the cost of those close to me, if I’m being honest).  I have made it a priority to start every day with yoga and/or a ride on the exercise bike - the bike has the added bonus for me of dedicated ‘podcast time’. I love learning and I find this ‘time for me’ to be an investment in myself as a learner, physically and emotionally.  This morning ritual is a time to center myself (as best I can), reflect, make connections, and let thoughts flow in and out. In the spirit of sharing I’ve shared some of the notes below from some of my listening - I look forward to sharing and engaging with others - always happy to explore, dive in, and discuss...

Notes/Mindsets/Take-aways from some podcasts...
** These notes/ideas/thoughts are from different segments from the Modern Learners (The Modern Learners community was established by Will Richardson and Bruce Dixon) podcast (I highly recommend it) along with some notes taken from a Modern Learners ‘webchat’ with administrators across the country.  The segments referenced below were recorded over the last year - again, timely and relevant now more than ever...
  • Student-centered learning rather than Student-centered assessment
  • We should practice and embrace being ‘expert learners in the community’ rather than ‘expert teachers in the community’
  • The ideas and principles of Personal Learning Plans (PLP)
  • We are all identifying ourselves as learners pretty quickly
  • We need to establish and formalize an ethic of care
  • Vulnerability - start there and move forward (scaffold up)
  • We need to remove the adjectives in front of learning (take away the COVID-19 in front)
  • It’s ok to give ourselves a minute…
  • What makes school special (social aspect, relationships)
  • What story are we telling in our communications?
  • What will be the new normal?
  • If this doesn’t force us to ask ourselves - ‘What the hell are we doing?’ Then we have a problem…
  • Build freedom into what we do for kids…
  • We need to give parents the permission to look at things differently
  • The things that drove us a week ago don’t drive us any more…
  • In the service of learning - a ‘compass point’ mantra...
  • We now hae a culture and climate of 24/7 learning and yet our ‘norms of school’ - learning should be thriving 
  • A single better day in the classroom goes a long way
  •  Can you to no value in and include your students in your learning
  • Schools are ‘central reference points’ like the Beatles or Motown
  • We need to make sure that schools maintain because that’s what we have - they need to reflect our current ideas and thinking - they can and should be the central locations of hope ideals and mission
  • The learning environment we need is already realized - go into a library and look - it’s just not theorized yet
I’ve also highlighted a few posts below and a sampling of responses from our most recent Topic/Question (extended for a week) with the hopes that they will help all of us to practice self-care, be open to new ideas, and recognize our own abilities to adapt/change and look ahead.  It has certainly been a week of true learning for me and my family and self-care has been a big part of it...

Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Weeks of 3/9/20 and 3/16/20):  What support(s) do you need to help you become an expert learner? Share why this/these support(s) will help you along this path.
  • Everyone’s love and compassion around you.
  • I was reading an interview with Jeopardy's Ken Jennings this weekend. He was interviewed at the MIT Sloan Conference on Sports Analytics. When asked about what makes someone good at memorization, Jennings stated that there are not good or bad memories, only differing levels of interest. He cited songs people know by heart or movie lines and sports rosters people could tick off with ease. According to Jennings (and I would agree) a high level of interest in the topic allows learning to come naturally.
  • Quiet classroom sometimes
  • A way of moving on with topics at the pace of the student.
  • I need the support of teachers to help me learn
  • I think time, direction, and discussion really help the learning process.
  • Pay attention to everything around you
  • A quiet environment with attention and someone in the room to help if I’m stuck and me being comfortable. Because if someone is there to answer my question it’s I relax a little more.
  • Succession takes help and you have to be in the right learning environment
  • More time. I feel like I'm rarely able to learn as much as I want about a subject due to lack of time.
  • I need to be able to ask people questions in person (or on the phone;-)
  • Someone I can ask questions to in case I don’t understand something.
  • Independence. The ability to try out new ideas without supports so I can come up with ownership of rationale and results.

How to Cultivate More Self-Compassion
by Allison Abrams in Psychology Today
As one who can be a tough self-critic, I found this post and the research and ideas within to be helpful.  The five strategies outlined within are good for all: 1. Treat yourself as you would a small child; 2. Practice mindfulness. 3. Remember that you’re not alone; 4. Give yourself permission to be imperfect; 5. Work with a supportive therapist or coach.
Psychologist Kristin Neff was the first person to measure and operationally define the term “self-compassion.” She describes self-compassion as kindness toward the self, which entails being gentle, supportive, and understanding: “Rather than harshly judging oneself for personal shortcomings, the self is offered warmth and unconditional acceptance.” In other words, being kind to ourselves in good times and bad, in sickness and in health—and even when we make mistakes.

Over the last decade or so, research has consistently shown a positive correlation between self-compassion and psychological well-being. People who have self-compassion also have greater social connectedness, emotional intelligence, happiness, and overall life satisfaction. Self-compassion has also been shown to correlate with less anxiety, depression, shame, and fear of failure.

I Refuse to Run a Coronavirus Home School
by Jennie Weiner in The New York Times
I shared this post with staff and families as a check-in heading into last weekend.  I am worried about the pressure being put on families/parents/guardians to ‘recreate’ school at their homes in the midst of this very stressful time for all.  This post spoke to me and I have been sharing it with many - it speaks to the importance of ‘relationships first’.  
Out of respect for their amazing teachers, I’m making a good-faith effort to get my kids to do the work that’s been sent home, but that does not come anywhere close to filling what would have been a school day. After accomplishing the bare minimum, the agenda is to survive and watch too much TV. We are eating cookies and carbs and hoping for the best. We are loving one another and trying not to go insane.

I want to send a message to parents, and in particular to working moms, who will inevitably take on most of this home labor along with working remotely: This is going to be messy and that is OK.

I’m also not a parenting expert — a fact that would be clear if you met our wonderful but somewhat feral children. But I do know, from often painful firsthand experiences, that trying to turn mothering into a competitive sport is straight up unhealthy. It’s not a game I want to play.

Even when everything in our life is working the way it should, and with all the privileges we have — our solid health care, our economic stability, our whiteness — we often feel overwhelmed. So this pandemic felt like a bridge too far. We had to meet it head on: holding our breath, crossing our fingers. And not judging ourselves...Maybe this is the perfect time to call a timeout on the academic rat-race that was never healthy or fair in the first place.

We love each other, we yell, we apologize, we laugh, they punch each other, we yell some more, we make up. We live, we try to be compassionate and we hope this will all be a memory soon. And when it’s over, the schoolwork will be there.

School as Fiction
by Will Richardson (@willrich45)
I shared this post right after February vacation and it resonates now more than ever.  Our ‘stories’ of learning and school are rapidly changing and we need to recognize the ‘fiction’ and ‘givens’ we have been experiencing and practicing.  As I noted a few weeks ago, by challenging the ‘givens’ of school that we have come to accept, we will be able to see schools as ‘stories’ that can evolve and grow.  
The idea of schools as “fictions” is bracing at first. But if you flip the idea over a few times, less so. The narrative of schooling runs deep, but it is simply that: a narrative. A story. One that depends on our “communal belief” in it to wield the power it does. (And no one doubts the power of the school narrative, right?)

I think it’s fair to say that many are losing faith in the traditional story of school, primarily because it doesn’t serve all kids equitably and it’s increasingly out of step with how the modern world operates. But while there are some indications as to what the new story might look like, (more child/learner centered, focused more on skills and dispositions than content, etc.,) we’re nowhere near any “communal belief” in it. It’s not clear enough, yet, that there is a new story to fully “embrace.”

Our current fiction about schools attempts to take the very natural process of learning that is a part of all of us and make it happen in the very unnatural setting of the classroom where few of the conditions that all of us know are needed for learning to occur actually exist. It’s our greatest unpleasant truth that schools are not really built for learning.

It makes a compelling case that the true reform of the original system was the one that was driven by the consumers of education, not the creators and purveyors of it. While we say that schools and education are the most effective way to attain our highest aspirations and ideals as a society, schools are also the primary way that we accomplish our greatest individual ambitions and “stave off our worst fears.” And that last part, in fact, has become the primary motivation behind the story in schools that we’re currently living.

When we choose (or allow ourselves) to be motivated by pragmatism and individualism over idealism and collectivism, we run the risk of ignoring what’s best for our kids and for our society and world.

The vast majority of what we measure in schools, those things that count, literally, are most often quickly forgotten, never again used, and a barrier to the conditions that great learning requires. Our emphasis on “outcomes” and grades creates real emotional stress that is absent when we are learning the things that matter to us. I mean, what kind of emotional stress and anxiety do you feel when you are learning something that you find deeply and powerfully important and useful?

Our greatest challenge as educators is to write a new story of “school” that more effectively serves our students and our society given the moment in which we live and whatever future we can glean. Acknowledging that that too will be a “fiction” may actually make the work easier. But more than anything, understanding and acknowledging the motives of the current story will make that work more urgent, more relevant, and hopefully, more powerful.

As I shared with Blake families and staff last Friday evening, I so appreciate our community’s willingness to walk this path of learning and discovery together.  

In keeping with the theme of highlighting words each week in honor of Women's History Month, these words from Virginia Woolf speak to the importance of finding one’s value and worth within...
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Take care of yourselves and one another.
Nat

Checking In With Blake Families (3/20/20)

3/20/2020

 
March 20, 2020
Please see below for copy of e-mail sent to all Blake families - the post within is wonderful and resonates with me deeply...

March 20, 2020
Dear Blake families,
I wanted to send everyone a note just to check in and wish everyone a healthy and safe weekend.  Hopefully your students have received outreach/communication from their teachers - if they have not received any communication or you have any questions, please reach out.  As I said earlier in the week, our collective focus and priority remains the same for all - to take care of one another and ourselves. So, please just do that and let us know if we can be of any support.  I also wanted to acknowledge some of the 'pressure' that you may be feeling (I know Katie and I sense/feel it on social media as a family in our house with our own children) to recreate school, set up home classrooms, and to 'do things right' so our students do not 'fall behind'.  Please know that we are here for you and my hope is to alleviate any concerns/pressure you may be feeling or experiencing in that vein of thought. We care deeply for all of your children and our commitment is to 'meet them where they are at' and help them (and you as families) to grow and move forward.  There is no 'one right path' and we are ready/willing/able to adapt and adjust, as needed. Brian Gavaghan shared the post below from The New York Times with me last night and I found it to be 'just what I needed'.  I will be referencing it in my weekly blog (and I am sure I will be coming back to it in the coming days/weeks), but I think it is worth sharing as we head into the weekend (along with a quote from Josh Starr that has been shared on social media and in many education circles)...
I Refuse to Run a Coronavirus Home School
by Jennie Weiner in The New York Times
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Thank you for walking this path with all of us together as a community.  Stay safe, adhere to the social distancing guidelines (it sure is tough with adolescents!), and enjoy a nice weekend.
Take care.
Nat

Expert Learners

3/11/2020

 
March 11, 2020

​To help encourage conversations and dialogue about identifying and sharing what we each need to become better learners, our topic/question for the week is:  What support(s) do you need to help you become an expert learner? Share why this/these support(s) will help you along this path. Expert Learners (Week of 3/9-3/13) (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

We have had a full (trying to avoid the ‘mantra of busy’) few days as a family this past weekend - shuffling the kids to their various commitments, trying to #slowitdown and breathe, catching up with a dear friend/mentor, and maintaining the ‘day to day’.  Katie and I are doing our best to embrace the present and take it all in (easier to say and much harder to do). Although I hate ‘losing’ an hour of sleep with daylight savings, I so appreciate and value the extra light that we gain at this time of year - it lifts my spirits, for sure! 
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This week’s Topic/Question (What support(s) do you need to help you become an expert learner? Share why this/these support(s) will help you along this path.) was one that I was asked at a session on Friday with Beth Holland (@brholland) at MassCue’s spring conference.  Beth’s session was entitled Beyond Access & Devices: the Often Ignored Challenges of Digital Equity and she began by asking the attendees that question, along with a few others.  It was a poignant way to open up the dialogue, hold up a mirror, and allow us to think about the implications for learning and equity with our students and ourselves.  Beth’s session and ideas always challenge me, always pushing me out of my own comfort zone with a grounding in science and current research. It was a rich way to end the day of learning - and, that is not an easy task when the session is the one immediately following lunch!

I will be sharing more of the learning in the near and far future with our community - you can see links to a lot of the sessions at this site (MassCue Spring Conference Sched - March 2020) and the hashtag #MALeads20.  The focus of this year’s conference was ‘A Personalized Approach to School Change’, and it was an honor to have the opportunity to present and share the work we have been doing at Blake -- utilizing Standards Based Reporting as a more meaningful and personalized system of feedback to develop and foster reflective learners.  Shawn Rubin (@ShawnCRubin), Chief Education Officer at The Highlander Institute, gave the keynote with a focus on ‘Achieving Aspiration’.  Within his keynote, many ideas were shared - for me, a few stood out…
  • Providing a framework for Aspiration (Voice, Focus, Nurture, Improvement, Scale) with both short and long-term hopes
  • James Nottingham’s work on guiding students through #TheLearningPit (see image below)
  • Diffusion of Innovation Model, particularly the importance of recognizing and then bridging the chasm between Early Adopters and Early Majority (see images below)
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In addition to some mindsets/notes/take-aways that I have outlined below, Jed Stefanowicz’s (@Stefanowicz135) referencing the work of Mitchel Resnick (@mres) and words of Seymour Papert provided a nice way to center and process the learning of the day.  I look forward to exploring more...

“Most schools in most countries place a higher priority on teaching students to follow instructions and rules (becoming A students) than on helping students develop their own ideas, goals, and strategies”
― Mitchel Resnick, Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play

Notes/Mindsets/Take-aways from #MALeads20
** Sessions with Shawn Rubin (@ShawnCRubin), Christine Ravesi-Weinstein (@RavesiWeinstein), Beth Holland (@brholland), and Jed Stefanowicz (@Stefanowicz135)
  • We need to rely on the latest science and research to guide our work
  • ‘What do we do with our change management strategies that are in direct contrast with our goals and aspirational practices’?
  • Understand the messiness that change is
  • Our schools have to get better at taking in new ideas, assess, communicating systems, and then trying to scale them
  • We need to keep aspirations in mind at all times
  • ‘Put a stake in the ground that we want to do it different this time’
  • ‘We have to iterate…’
  • ‘We need to think about the difference between voice and co-construction in schools’
  • We need to define our terms…
    • Name our changes and practices
  • PDSA - Plan, Do, Study, Act
  • Diffusion of Innovation Model
    • Innovators - Early Adopters - (Chasm) - Early Majority - Late Majority - Laggards
    • ‘It’s not about skill sets - it’s about the willingness, capacity, and openness to change’
  • Need to focus on programming for adults…
  • Configure your own learning environment
    • What support(s) do you need to be an expert learner?
    • What helps you to focus?
      • If we can’t attend, we can’t focus
    • What will allow you to make your thinking concrete?
  • What if you did not own the tool(s) that support you as a learner?
  • Dichotomy of being Technology Rich and Opportunity Poor
  • Personalized Learning
    • Approach, not outcome
    • Strategy, not policy
  • Kids or Curriculum:  What’s your focus?
  • Profile of the Graduate?
    • Are we thinking about the profile of the learner along the way?
    • We are 20 years in - 21st Century
  • ‘Be a first follower’

Why share all of this?  Well, I love learning and believe that it is through a shared culture of learning amongst the adults, students, and families that we will be able to challenge and encourage one another to move and provide structures that will help us reach our own modes of aspiration, vision, and mission.  The goal at all times (for students, staff, families, and community), I believe, should be the development of ‘Expert Learners’...

I’ve highlighted a few posts below and a sampling of responses from last week’s Topic/Question with the intention of keeping these thoughts alive in our dialogue to help us steer the narrative towards learning.  It may sound trite and obvious, but we often (and I am speaking for myself here, and possibly others) lose sight of that focal point - the goal is fostering learning in our entire community…

Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 3/2/20):  What needs to be in place to help you learn?
  • Space
  • A fun teacher, a visual lesson that is fun so I keep focused.
  • A quiet corner.
  • Organization of materials so they are easily accessible to students and I am able to import usage in realistic ways.
  • I believe that space, perspective, and time can be helpful.
  • A wide variety of resources (people, documents, visuals, information, etc.. so I can get a wide variety of opinions
  • A strong interest in the topic and a clear understanding of its relevance. Also, the learning environment needs to be free from distractions.
  • Soft pretzels to give me nutrition so I can study up hard and learn lots
  • Practice!
  • A somewhat quiet learning space.
  • I really need to have a quiet place where I’m able to focus with not many distractions.
  • I think it would be so much better if we could bring our backpack to class, I often have to go back to my locker to go get stuff and it takes up time in the classroom, I think it would be better to Just bring your backpack instead.

Low floor, wide walls, high ceiling
by Mitch Resnick (@mres)
As noted within this link, ‘low floor, wide walls’ is the mantra used to guide the design of MIT’s Scratch language.  The ‘addition’ of high ceilings is simply ‘spot on’ and I hope to incorporate this mantra into the vernacular of our culture of learning at Blake.  The focus on serving ‘ignored audiences’ is critical.
When discussing technologies to support learning and education, my mentor Seymour Papert often emphasized the importance of “low floors” and “high ceilings.” For a technology to be effective, he said, it should provide easy ways for novices to get started (low floor) but also ways for them to work on increasingly sophisticated projects over time (high ceiling).  For a more complete picture, we need to add an extra dimension: wide walls. It’s not enough to provide a single path from low floor to high ceiling; we need to provide wide walls so that kids can explore multiple pathways from floor to ceiling.

This gives us a lens through which evaluate tools:
  • Low floor: how easy is it to learn?
  • Wide walls: how inclusive is it? How many different use-cases does it serve?
  • High ceiling: does it scale with growth?
 
  • Lowering the floor — becoming simpler, cheaper, "good enough"
  • Widening the walls — serving an ignored audience or market

Preach What You Practice
By Angela Duckworth from The Character Lab**
This brief note by Angela Duckworth shares a synopsis of an experiment that explored what is more important - our actions or our words.  The results have great implications for our work - they both matter!
What this research suggests is that we should not only practice what we preach, but also preach what we practice.

Don’t forget that you’re a role model for the young people in your lives. Whether you realize it or not, you’re setting an example for how to show up in the world.
Do match your words to your actions. If you’re dropping off bagels at the teacher appreciation breakfast, mention how important it is to show gratitude. If you’re actively trying to appreciate political perspectives that conflict with your own, talk about the value of intellectual humility. Actions may speak louder than words, but actions and words together send the clearest message of all.

** Character Lab - About Us - Character Lab is a nonprofit organization that connects researchers with educators to create greater knowledge about the conditions that lead to social, emotional, academic, and physical well-being for young people throughout the country.

Seven Reasons to Geek Out on Educational Theory
by John Spencer (@spencerideas)
As one who loves educational theory, the title of Spencer’s post popped out at me - he shares the view that we must ground our work in theory - as it is the educational theory shapes our beliefs, and our beliefs inform our practices.  We must stay current, share, and be open to learning.
It’s “just theory,” but knowing this theory at a deeper level has improved my ability to do creative work and to motivate my own students...I began to realize that theory isn’t simply something you study abstractly. It is something you use. Theory provides us with a foundation for practical knowledge and a lens for making sense out of our world.

...here are seven reasons teachers should know educational theory.
1. Theory provides a foundation for practical information.
2. Theory provides nuance.
3. Theory humbles us.
4. Theory reminds us that ideas happen in community.
5. Theory keeps us from mistaking novelty for innovation.
6. Theory gives us a critical lens.
7. Theory gives us evidence for the work we do.

There’s often an anti-theory mentality in K-12 education. I see this when a pre-service teacher works with a cooperating teacher who says, “College classes give you a bunch of theory but this is where you’ll actually learn how to teach.” There are other variations of this, including, “That might work in theory but a real classroom is different.”...As educators, we are more empowered when we understand educational theory. It takes extra time and it requires a good deal of mental energy. However, it is absolutely worth it.

What teenage brains can teach us about thinking creatively
by Steven Johnson in The Washington Post
Johnson’s post highlights the recent science that we have learned about the teen brain, emphasizing the great opportunities that our students have while acknowledging the challenges and risks within.  It is a great read for all who interact with teens and adolescents.
For years, conventional wisdom regarded teens as little more than hormonal waterspouts, swirling from one mishap to another. Then, advancements in neuroscience helped broaden our understanding of teen behavior. The public learned more about research into the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which regulates planning and decision-making and doesn’t mature until about age 25. This went a long way toward explaining adolescents’ often-impulsive behavior — but left adults more focused on the teenage brain’s role in risk-taking rather than its role in learning and creating.

It’s true that the “emotional” and “rational” parts of teens’ brains develop at different paces. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, researchers say, and fixating on the negatives overlooks the very opportunities that can help teens learn and grow. The “fearlessness” that concerns adults, said Adriana Galván, director of UCLA’s Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory, is “exactly what makes adolescents thrive in the space of creativity and enacting social change.”

The teenage brain’s characteristics, including its propensity for taking risks, are what prepare teenagers for adulthood — and what lend them a sort of superpower in learning, skill acquisition and creativity. Teenage brains are at a unique neurological stage. They retain much of the adaptability of childhood, building up new connections and pruning away unused ones. But they’re also starting to gain the adult ability to think abstractly, envision the future and make social connections, Galván said.

In keeping with the theme of highlighting words each week in honor of Women's History Month, these are ones that speak to the processes of learning and iteration...
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat

Environments for Learning

3/3/2020

 
March 3, 2020

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the environments and conditions that need to be in place for learning, our topic/question for the week is:  What needs to be in place to help you learn? Environments for Learning (Week of 3/2-3/6) (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

Between the combination of the ‘full tilt’ reality of getting back in the swing of things and weather we have been having, it feels as though spring has already sprung - the crocuses and daffodils are popping up throughout our garden!  Katie and I enjoyed a quick dinner out last Friday and celebrated a friend’s wedding on Saturday night - great to connect with some friends and people we had not seen in a long time. On Sunday it was fun to watch Owen’s basketball game as he played against the 7th graders in Medfield - the two worlds ‘collided’!
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Turning the calendar to the month of March means that we formally begin looking ahead to the 20-21 school year.  Although discussions and planning have been taking place (with budgets, scheduling, initiatives, etc.), for me it is the incoming informational nights for parents/guardians that makes it all very real.  I always look forward to these sessions as they provide opportunities for reflection, sharing, and engagement with the greater Blake community (beyond the students and staff). A hope I have is that the ‘intent’ of our beliefs match our practices - sharing and engaging with families in an effort to build and grow a true ‘community of learners’.  

I have shared a great deal lately about my ‘obsession’ with podcasts, particularly the Modern Learners and WorkLife with Adam Grant.  Each focus on the environments, conditions, and attributes of ‘work’ and I enjoy them on both the personal and professional levels of understanding.  They challenge my status quo, push me to reflect, and I find ways to apply the thinking and concepts that are introduced - all elements of true learning.  That is our consistent hope for our students, and it is incumbent upon us to have explicit discussions about learning. These discussions happen in different formats, and a recent trip with some Blake teachers to Oak Middle School in Shrewsbury was one such format.  I always value the opportunity to ‘get outside’, observe, listen, and find meaningful implications for our community. Having visited Oak Middle two years ago, it was inspiring and comforting to witness their iterations and evolution of growth on their path towards meaningful feedback for students and parents.  I look forward to the reflections that will come forth from our visit and working collectively to help us make progress with our work.

By perusing a sampling of responses from last week’s Topic/Question, and the four posts shared below** (thinking about the environments we want/need for learning - a willingness to listen, examine deeply, understand thought patterns and systems of beliefs, and a willingness to look internally) we hopefully can be inspired and centered to stay true to our mission and mantra within our mission (‘A Willingness to Adapt’), our core values, and a true spirit of learning...
** Note that the posts this week are ‘rich in nature’ and the selected excerpts for the posts are greater than ‘the usual’.

Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 2/23/20):  What qualities, behaviors, and attributes make someone a good learner? Why?
  • Listening in class, participating, and wanting to learn.
  • When they pay attention and respect others.
  • I believe that curiosity and perseverance are key. They impel and sustain the learner.
  • Persistence, curiosity, able to feel secure with confusion and challenges
  • Hard work and dedication make someone a good learner, but sometimes people are just born good learners, like if they have good memories and are naturally intelligent
  • Taking the time to absorb and digest information before voicing a response.
  • For me and students, I would have to say that transferring language and working with "making" or the other way around, where the learner can make and create and then move into the language area, (some significant artists leave the language area for the viewer to make their decisions), is a great learner and can communicate on both levels: language and material.
  • Knowing when
  • Respect, Flexibility, Focus, and Self Control.
  • You’re not distracting others and letting them learn and work with you.
  • Someone who cares, is attentive to their learning, someone who pays attention and doesn’t goof off.
  • Actively listening and determination
  • Someone that listens wholeheartedly to everything expressed and asks questions afterward. The learner is also persistent in their work....even at times when it is difficult or there is uncertainty in where they are going.

Willing to Be Disturbed
by Margaret Wheatley
This piece is an excerpt from Wheatley’s book, Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, and the phrase ‘willing to be disturbed’ is one that helps to open up conversations.  This mantra will help us to listen to one another and examine our own practices - a key component of a learning community.  I have shared this post before and it resonates every time I read it.
As we work together to restore hope to the future, we need to include a new and strange ally—our willingness to be disturbed. Our willingness to have our beliefs and ideas challenged by what others think. No one person or perspective can give us the answers we need to the problems of today. Paradoxically, we can only find those answers by admitting we don’t know. We have to be willing to let go of our certainty and expect ourselves to be confused for a time.
 
It is very difficult to give up our certainties—our positions, our beliefs, our explanations. These help define us; they lie at the heart of our personal identity. Yet I believe we will succeed in changing this world only if we can think and work together in new ways. Curiosity is what we need. We don’t have to let go of what we believe, but we do need to be curious about what someone else believes. We do need to acknowledge that their way of interpreting the world might be essential to our survival.
 
Sometimes we hesitate to listen for differences because we don’t want to change. We’re comfortable with our lives, and if we listened to anyone who raised questions, we’d have to get engaged in changing things. If we don’t listen, things can stay as they are and we won’t have to expend any energy. But most of us do see things in our life or in the world that we would like to be different. If that’s true, we have to listen more, not less. And we have to be willing to move into the very uncomfortable place of uncertainty.
 
We can’t be creative if we refuse to be confused. Change always starts with confusion; cherished interpretations must dissolve to make way for the new. Of course it’s scary to give up what we know, but the abyss is where newness lives. Great ideas and inventions miraculously appear in the space of not knowing. If we can move through the fear and enter the abyss, we are rewarded greatly. We rediscover we’re creative.

Discovering Learning or Delivering an Education
by Will Richardson (@willrich45)
Within this post are some wonderful resources that delve deeper into where ‘we’ put our emphasis in schools - is it on education or is it on learning?  The structures and trends certainly lead towards ‘education’, but the hope is that we can shift and foster environments towards ‘learning’.  
While I spent 22 years teaching and administrating in a public school, I can’t say that I spent a lot of time thinking about learning during my career, specifically how kids learn. And I don’t remember “learning about learning” in my teacher preparation programs either. It’s taken a decade of being out of schools to finally focus on what is the most important part of schools. The irony is not missed, believe me.
 
In short, I think it’s arguable that we are focused on education at the expense of learning, because the fact is that most of what constitutes an “education” is quickly forgotten and/or never used. An “education” is more about checking a series of boxes than it is developing the skills, literacies, and dispositions to learn. And I get it; an “education” as it’s currently constructed is a heck of a lot easier to assess than that learning thing.
 
An emphasis on education reduces agency for the individual learner, because an education must be “delivered” and the easiest way for that to happen is if the system and the teacher organize it and mete it out in a fairly standardized way. If we set learners free, who knows what type of an “education” they would get? This scares us deeply because it reduces our certainty of the outcome, (even if we may know that the outcome is just a guess to begin with.)...an emphasis on education drives us toward a culture of teaching in schools rather than an culture of learning. (In my experience, many struggle with what a culture of learning even means.) Innovation, risk-taking, learning from failure, using technologies to make things…all of those and more suffer in the process...an emphasis on education sustains old narratives around what schooling should be, and about what learning looks like. In other words, it sustains a “superficial and fuzzy conception of learning.”
 
School as Fiction
by Will Richardson (@willrich45)
This post is one that I have come back to several times since first reading it over February vacation.  As the title of the post indicates, Richardson offers a perspective of school as ‘fiction’ - ‘social constructs’ that were created at a given time.  By challenging the ‘givens’ of school that we have come to accept, we will be able to see schools as ‘stories’ that can evolve and grow.  
The idea of schools as “fictions” is bracing at first. But if you flip the idea over a few times, less so. The narrative of schooling runs deep, but it is simply that: a narrative. A story. One that depends on our “communal belief” in it to wield the power it does. (And no one doubts the power of the school narrative, right?)

I think it’s fair to say that many are losing faith in the traditional story of school, primarily because it doesn’t serve all kids equitably and it’s increasingly out of step with how the modern world operates. But while there are some indications as to what the new story might look like, (more child/learner centered, focused more on skills and dispositions than content, etc.,) we’re nowhere near any “communal belief” in it. It’s not clear enough, yet, that there is a new story to fully “embrace.”

Our current fiction about schools attempts to take the very natural process of learning that is a part of all of us and make it happen in the very unnatural setting of the classroom where few of the conditions that all of us know are needed for learning to occur actually exist. It’s our greatest unpleasant truth that schools are not really built for learning.

It makes a compelling case that the true reform of the original system was the one that was driven by the consumers of education, not the creators and purveyors of it. While we say that schools and education are the most effective way to attain our highest aspirations and ideals as a society, schools are also the primary way that we accomplish our greatest individual ambitions and “stave off our worst fears.” And that last part, in fact, has become the primary motivation behind the story in schools that we’re currently living.

When we choose (or allow ourselves) to be motivated by pragmatism and individualism over idealism and collectivism, we run the risk of ignoring what’s best for our kids and for our society and world.

The vast majority of what we measure in schools, those things that count, literally, are most often quickly forgotten, never again used, and a barrier to the conditions that great learning requires. Our emphasis on “outcomes” and grades creates real emotional stress that is absent when we are learning the things that matter to us. I mean, what kind of emotional stress and anxiety do you feel when you are learning something that you find deeply and powerfully important and useful?

Our greatest challenge as educators is to write a new story of “school” that more effectively serves our students and our society given the moment in which we live and whatever future we can glean. Acknowledging that that too will be a “fiction” may actually make the work easier. But more than anything, understanding and acknowledging the motives of the current story will make that work more urgent, more relevant, and hopefully, more powerful.

Why Teenagers Reject Parents’ Solutions to Their Problems
by Lisa Damour in The New York Times
Damour’s post offers sound explanations and suggestions for helping to facilitate the ‘parental response’ to the problems experienced by their teenagers.  The article offers four frames of mind: They Need a Sounding Board; They’re Seeking Empathy; They Could Use a Vote of Confidence; They Want Ideas, Not Instructions.  Two sound principles ring true - listening and understanding. 
Adolescents, just like adults, may find the best relief from simply articulating their worries and concerns. Indeed, it’s an aphorism among psychologists that most problems feel better when they’re on the outside rather than on the inside, and this holds true whether the difficulties are big or small.

Above all, aim to solve the problem with, not for, your teenager. However inspired we might think our advice to be, it’s best to hold it back until we’ve heard our teenagers out. “When adults offer up a solution too quickly,” notes Isla, the California 15-year-old, “it feels like they’re not really listening or understanding what I’m going through.” And it often turns out that listening and understanding is all that teenagers want or need.

Our mission will serve as our guide with an inherent ‘willingness to be disturbed’ and practices of listening and understanding in all of our endeavors…
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March 1 marks the beginning of Women's History Month and, as we did with Black History Month, I will be sharing some quotes each week in honor of the month...

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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat

A Focus on Learning

2/25/2020

 
February 25, 2020

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the characteristics that foster learning, our topic/question for the week is:  What qualities, behaviors, and attributes make someone a good learner? Why? A Focus on Learning (Week of 2/24-2/28) (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

Hopefully everyone is reading this in a recharged state of mind with a rejuvenated sense of purpose, having enjoyed a nice break from the routines of school.  Our week was bookended by the kids’ sports events, starting off with Grayden’s 4th grade team playing at half-time during Holliston’s senior night for basketball on Valentine’s Day - lot of fun and smiles!  We had a pretty low-key week, mixing in some ‘to do’ list items with time catching up on rest and relaxation. It has been great to see the change in extended daylight in the afternoon over the last few days.
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One of my ongoing areas of growth and learning is that of #slowingitdown and finding a healthy balance (is there such a thing?!?) between home and work.  I cherish the time away from work and being with family, but I would be lying if I said that it was easy for me to step away from work and ‘separate’. I feel very fortunate that my ‘worlds’ of work and home intertwine - education and family/parenting have many intersections with natural ‘overlaps’.  However, it can definitely become a blessing/curse situation and it is important for me to be mindful (and for me to listen to the reminders from others for me) of this dynamic.  

In my ongoing effort/endeavor/struggle (the correct word depends on the day!) with finding the right balance (again, I’m not sure there is such a thing), I tend to lean on the side of learning, reading, and stretching my own thinking.  Through reading, listening, and learning I find myself able to make connections with my own family and with the students at school - child rearing practices, understanding of adolescents, ‘preparing’ students, screen time, the ‘science of learning’, importance of diversity/equity/inclusivity, relationships, etc.  As our own kids are in the span of ages 10-16, it feels like Katie and I are in the ‘sweet spot’ (although it doesn’t always feel sweet, for sure!) of connections and growth.  

I have shared the work of Will Richardson before and this past week I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to episodes from the Modern Learners podcast (a podcast connected to the Change School Community, a network co-founded by Richardson and Bruce Dixon).  The topics vary and touch on all facets of education, with the one commonality of focusing on learning and reimagining the structures of school.  Although this may sound like a common feature of educational podcasts, I have not always found that to be the case. One tenet of this podcast is the frequent refrain and message that we must take the time to define learning before we assess the learning.  As with our work with Challenge Success, it is important for us to define success.  In a similar vein, we often talk about the need for accountability, rigor, and resilience - yet, we (myself included) do not always #slowitdown and take the time to discuss what these words mean.  I highly recommend engaging with this podcast, both professionally and personally.

I could go on and on about what it is we need to do, but the poignancy of these podcasts for me was the sharing and discussions about the process of learning.  And, I look forward to sharing and discussing these ideas and the implications for our work at Blake. In last week’s blog update (Pursuing Learning) I shared my own ‘new learning’ of the term andragogy (copied below) and I really enjoyed witnessing and listening to the sharing out of ‘adult learning’ at our February faculty meeting...
Andragogy - The art or science of teaching adults (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/andragogy)
Having never heard this term it immediately resonated as we need to see our own learning as more than just a practice - it truly is an art/science, and it is one that we should express and articulate via these questions...How are we currently learning as adults?  How are we teaching one another as adults?  Are these questions and answers connected?  

As a learning community, I can not emphasize enough how important it is that we all (students, teachers, staff, families) are actively learning, sharing learning, modeling learning, and challenging our own learning with one another.  There is no end point to learning and that is why we must continually focus on learning as the end point in and of itself - allowing it to evolve and grow. The two quotes below from Cathy Davidson (read a lot of her work this work - inspired from the podcasts) and posts shared below, coupled with a sampling of responses from last week’s question will hopefully help frame the importance of staying true to the purpose of education and school - learning…
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Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 2/9/20):  What are you currently excited about learning? Why? 
  • Finding new glaze combinations to go on bisque, (fired clay) clay
  • More effective ways to engage students in reading novels in the classroom.
  • I am currently excited to learn about the origins and implications of The Free Press.
  • I am excited about learning about black people who changed history for the better.
  • Because only by learning, whether it be in experience or studies, that is the only way you can grow.
  • I like the topics that are taught. The different ways we are taught the lessons are different from each other. The final grade for each lesson differs too. The fun topics and ways of learning them make me excited for some classes.
  • I’ve been looking at an artist’s work and trying to figure out the color combinations using color-aid swatches. It’s very effective in creating my own work using this artist as a springboard for my own interpretation
  • How to work the core muscles because better health means happier person means better everything
  • I am trying to learn how to write basic code using python. 
  • I am excited about learning some more about the Middle Ages because we never got into depth about them before. 

We must reverse the ‘outcome oriented’ educational monster we have unleashed
by Cathy Davidson in The Guardian
As a professor of English at CUNY, Davidson offers a unique perspective about our youth and the education system ‘we’ have put in place for them.  As she notes within the post, ‘Our students need to be content creators, not memorisers. Outside school they have mastered this, and it’s more predictive of future success than test scores.’
With over three decades as a college professor, I believe it’s time educators proposed a more accurate pathology of the problems facing youth today and offered a better cure.

Millennials and their younger siblings know difficulty. They were reared on it. No college generation in recent times has faced greater global challenges or an educational system more in need of redesign to prepare them for these challenges...Students are warned that the “robots are coming” but offered an educational system that seems designed not to combat the robots but to turn students into poor facsimiles of them.

...the “problem” with university students today isn’t the students but the educational liabilities we’ve saddled them with. We have schooled them to believe formal education is where intellectual creativity and complexity go to die...I have restructured my courses to support and challenge students not as content memorisers but as content creators – a skill they have mastered outside of school and that is far more predictive of future success than test scores.

As a lifelong educator, I believe the problem of students today lies in us not in our youth. It is our job to reverse this “outcome oriented” educational monster we have created. We need to design a “new education” that encourages students not just to cram for reductive tests but to succeed in the harrowing world we have bequeathed to them.

The Joy and Sorrow of Rereading Holt’s "How Children Learn"
by Peter Gray in Psychology Today
I heard about this post from the Modern Learners podcast (Are we doing the right thing in schools or focusing on outcomes? Podcast) - it highlights this post by Gray and directly references John Holt’s book, How Children Learn.  The post has led me to reread Holt’s book as well - one that I have not read in a number of years.  
Rereading the book now led me repeatedly to think, How true, How brilliant, How sad.  Sad because these true facts and brilliant insights are still understood by only a small percentage of the population, and our schools are now even worse than they were when Holt was alive.  They are even more anxiety provoking, more wasteful of young people’s time, more insulting of young people's intelligence, and more disruptive of deep learning and understanding.
  • Children don’t choose to learn in order to do things in the future.  They choose to do right now what others in their world do, and through doing they learn.
  • Children go from whole to parts in their learning, not from parts to whole.
  • Children learn by making mistakes and then noticing and correcting their own mistakes.
  • Children may learn better by watching older children than by watching adults.
  • Fantasy provides children the means to do and learn from activities that they can’t yet do in reality.
  • Children make sense of the world by creating mental models and assimilating new information to those models. 
Children naturally resist being taught because it undermines their independence and their confidence in their own abilities to figure things out and to ask for help, themselves, when they need it.  Moreover, no teacher—certainly not one in a classroom of more than a few children—can get into each child’s head and understand that child’s motives, mental models, and passions at the time.  Only the child has access to all of this, which is why children learn best when they are allowed complete control of their own learning. Or, as the child would say, when they are allowed complete control of their own doing.

The Path to Success Is a Squiggly Line
by Madeline Levine in The Atlantic
As the title of the post notes, Levine speaks to the importance of acknowledging and embracing the ‘squiggly line’ and trajectory for our students.  There is a great clip at the bottom of the article - worth checking out!
In the enclaves of privilege in this country, part of the culture is more and more centered on a narrow notion of what success looks like and how to attain it. Money is overvalued, and character undervalued...Too many of us are worried about how our kids will compete globally and are baffled by the desirability of jobs whose titles mystify us: digital overlord, director of insights, growth hacker, innovation Sherpa. We fervently believe that staying “on track” beats wandering around. However, reality suggests otherwise. And instilling this concept of success as a straight line can set kids up for unrealistic expectations and disappointment.

Even if parents ascended a relatively smooth track from school to career success, it’s misguided to assume that what worked for them will be right for their kids, too. (See: the parents who push their kids to apply to their alma mater, for instance.) Encouraging children to follow a linear path makes them cautious and competitive, when what they are most likely to need are curiosity, a willingness to take risks, and a talent for collaboration.

What exactly constitutes success is, of course, open to a world of meaning. Financial independence is one way to measure success, a sense of doing meaningful and fulfilling work is another, and raising a healthy family and contributing to one’s community yet another. Sometimes these varying definitions converge; sometimes they don’t. One of the patterns that I see regularly among people who consider themselves successful is real passion about the work they do: the kind of passion that makes them work harder than others, welcome mistakes and even failures as learning opportunities, and feel that what they do has impact. While money may be inherited, real success always has to be earned.

If a linear progression tightly tied to grades, SAT scores, admittance to selective colleges, and high-­powered internships for well-­known companies were in fact the path taken by most successful people, we still would have to weigh its value against healthy child development, but at least we would have some evidence that our kids would one day benefit from all of the aggressive preparation, coaching, and tutoring. However, reality—that is, real people following real trajectories—suggests that this particular template is only modestly accurate. More often, a meandering and unexpected path is what leads to success.

I'm Not Your Ideal Graduate | Divergent EDU
by Mandy Froehlich (@mandyfroehlich)
Froehlich’s openness and vulnerability is refreshing and centering - modeling her own learning, growth, and transparent evolution as a student and educator.  Her post is one that we should really pay attention to - making sure that we define learning before we assess it. 
I became lost in what I really wanted to do with my life when all my goals began to fall apart. I tried to sell Mary Kay. I transferred to the tech school and started a medical transcription degree. I had a knack for medical terms and what they meant. When I became bored of that, I tried selling real estate. I worked at Walmart. I waitressed. I tried to start a photography business. I worked for a place called Deal Chicken. I quit when they tried to make me dress in a chicken costume and stand on the corner clucking. All of that felt wrong, and because of feeling wrong, that all felt like failure.

My life isn’t anywhere near when I thought it would be. There have been so many times that I’ve felt success or I’ve felt less than anyone around me. So many times where I’ve cried because I’ve had to let go of dreams and goals that I was holding onto way too tightly that in the end weren’t meant for me. I’ve had to make tough decisions to move on and trust that my instincts were correct even when the plunge meant something like leaving a job without another one lined up. I’ve had to mourn the loss of experiences I’d never have. I’ve had to feel lost in order to find myself. Repeatedly.

Now, being much older than eight, I define success as if I would do the same thing all over again. My path hasn’t been a straight shot like others have had, but I would consider it a success anyway because I wouldn’t change a thing. Would I have been a good lawyer? Possibly. But that journey wasn’t meant to be mine.

We can define the ideal graduate. It’s a good idea to know what characteristics we would love our students to graduate with so we can support them in their future success the best way we know how. Resilience. Tenacity. Agency. Self-advocacy. However, we also need to realize that sometimes these characteristics don’t show themselves in college graduates or how society views success. They might instead be found in the journey to get to wherever they belong, even if it’s not the one we would have chosen for them.

In keeping with the theme of highlighting words each week in honor of Black History Month, Malcolm X’s quote below about reading, learning, and curiosity seemed pertinent and appropriate...
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat

Pursuing Learning

2/11/2020

 
February 11, 2020

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the importance of actively pursuing learning, our topic/question for the week is:  What are you currently excited about learning? Why? Pursuing Learning (Week of 2/10-2/14) (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

We welcomed in the weekend together as family, celebrating Katie’s birthday with a dinner out at our favorite spot - Sweet Basil in Needham.  It is an overused saying, but it feels like we never have time with schedules to just be together as a family - it was lovely! Between shuffling here and there for the kids’ activities, we managed to get in a few walks (sunshine was lovely on Saturday!) and enjoyed hanging out with family on Saturday night.  We are all ‘gearing up’ for the last push before vacation - Grayden was hoping for a 3-day weekend this past Monday! :)

The screenshot below is one of the ‘core set’ of slides for our faculty meeting slide decks, serving as a consistent reminder of the importance of ‘collective teacher efficacy’ and culture of learning for the adults here at Blake...
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In order for this to be realized (the realization/actualization of collective teacher efficacy), we need to reflect what we would like to see in our students.  Whether it is through our own reading, course work, discussions, listening, observing, or via experience (amongst many other active modes of learning), as adults we are serving as the models for our students.  I truly feel fortunate that our culture at Blake is one of active learning - there is not a day that goes by that I have not had a conversation, article shared, experience reflected upon, or question posed by a colleague/parent/students that does not challenge or push my own learning.  Within the past five days these examples come to mind…
  • Study group on race
  • Planning for summer reading
  • Black History Month planning and implementation
  • Delving into Power/Priority Standards during our professional afternoon
  • Perusing the responses from the recent Blake staff check-in 
  • Attending a screening of the documentary, documentary I'm Not Racist...Am I?
  • Learning a different way to teach the Quadratic Formula (This Professor’s ‘Amazing’ Trick Makes Quadratic Equations Easier) - thanks, Brian G.!
  • Mapping out future work with Colby Swettberg and Jason Wheeler to support and foster a safe learning environment for all students and families
As with many other reflections, the list could go on and on, and each one of us could offer our own lists - some that overlap, and some that vary.  In reflecting on our culture of learning, I have become interested as of late in the proverbial 40,000 foot lens on the ways in which we can nurture and sustain this culture - with the growing list of ‘tasks’ for educators (and I know I actively contribute to this list), it is important to press pause and reflect.  Through one of the posts shared below by Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby), I learned a new term - andragogy...
Andragogy - The art or science of teaching adults (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/andragogy)
Having never heard this term it immediately resonated as we need to see our own learning as more than just a practice - it truly is an art/science, and it is one that we should express and articulate via these questions...How are we currently learning as adults?  How are we teaching one another as adults?  Are these questions and answers connected?  
 
At our faculty meeting this week we will be taking some time to talk about our own learning as educators, and the posts below are ones that help to underscore the role that relevant and active pursuance of education plays for our students and community.  Mindfulness and the ways we foster our own resilience plays into this as well, and shared strategies/steps offered in response to last week’s topic/question are encouraging and reflect growth…
 
Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 2/2/20):  Share a strategy or ‘step you are taking’ to be more mindful, present in the moment, pay attention, and ‘less stressed’? Be specific.
  • I focus on what I'm doing at that moment. If there is an overriding communication gap with others, I lighten the situation with a sense of humor or empathy towards the situation that might cause stress for me.
  • If I have a phone, pencil, pen, etc in my hand, I put it down and say "I'm putting this down so I am able to be present."
  • Try to know what you are looking for, appreciate what you see anyway
  • I am trying to meditate 3-4 times a week to help!
  • The 3-7-8 method
  • I am trying to get more sleep.
  • Deep breathing
  • I am trying to listen patiently to people with whom I disagree.
  • I like to take naps. It’s relaxing.
  • I sit down for a moment and take deep breaths, and afterwards I read.
  • Hanging with my cats
  • Remembering to breathe, full deep breaths--even for a minute!
  • I have been taking a lot of walks with my dog recently. Being able to get outside, even for 10 minutes has been very relaxing.
  • I try to take a walk or get some fresh air every day.
  • Allow myself to be “not finished” with a task in order to engage unique task-filled moments (unscheduled) Be quick to drop what I am doing without frustration or annoyance

Why Focusing On Adult Learning Builds A School Culture Where Students Thrive
by Katrina Schwartz (@KSchwart) in MindShift
This post focuses on the work of Deb Helsing, Robert Kegan, and Lisa Lahey around learning cultures, specifically cultures and organizations that embody deliberately developmental learning. (An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization).  I have always been a fan of Kegan’s work (‘If we are successful, we are all going to get a little uncomfortable’), and it is a hope that we can continue to be a learning organization in a deliberate manner for our students.
Helsing and her colleagues, Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, found that when adults continue to learn at their jobs they are better at creating that experience for other people. She says if schools are going to be places where students consistently push against the edge of what they don’t know, testing new theories, and trying things out while learning from mistakes, those same qualities must be present for their teachers. It’s difficult for a teacher to facilitate that type of learning environment if they haven’t experienced it themselves.

“If you are experiencing learning that in some way connects to or challenges fundamental assumptions you are making about yourself and the world, that’s when it’s going to be the most powerful,” Helsing said. To get to that place, adults need to be part of a community of colleagues who support their growth. They need to feel safe to be vulnerable, to admit failings or mistakes and to trust that their colleagues are giving feedback in order to help them improve. But it also requires that adults are consistently pushing against the edge of what they don’t know.

“Learning is really the engine here and it’s hard,” said Deb Hesling, the Harvard professor whose work, along with colleagues, inspired this approach to professional development. “You’re getting out to the edge of what you know, and you’re testing new ideas out, and making mistakes and learning from those mistakes.”

Do You Have the Backbone for a PLN?
by Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby)
Whitby’s post speaks to the importance of adult learning and the impact that Twitter has had on his own learning.  Within the post Whitby references posts he has shared in the past (one noted below) about andragogy and Malcolm Knowles.  I share Whitby’s sentiments about Twitter as a true and valuable source for professional learning.
My driving force, in all that I now do in education, hinges on one belief: If we are to better educate our kids, we need first to better educate their educators. Collaboration through technology seems to have been designed for educators to inform, if not educate themselves about their own profession. This includes how to use technology to learn more technology. How to develop a personal learning network through technology should be a course offered in every teacher preparation program.

Twitter is the backbone of my PLN. I developed it by considering my “Followings” as professional sources. I follow educators who inform, engage, inspire, or challenge me. I find them on Twitter as they contact me. I find them in education Chats. I find them from hashtags that I follow. I follow Bloggers, Podcasters, Thought Leaders, and Authors. I also check out Twitter Profiles to see whom those people follow. Easy Pickens! 

The design of this model of personalized learning does require that an educator must believe that learning does not stop after a degree is earned, a license is issued, and a job is secured. The profession requires relevance, but with changes happening faster than any time in history, maintaining relevance requires continuous ongoing action. This is not comfortable for everyone, but it has become a requirement of the profession. As adult learners we may be more comfortable with digital, collaborative if we are familiar with how adults learn. Educators are experts in how kids learn through pedagogy. How people learn as adults, andragogy, is a mystery to most educators.

Pedagogy vs. Andragogy 
by Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby)
In this post Whitby outlines the work of Malcolm Knowles (famous for the adoption of the theory of andragogy), noting the six principles of adult learning, and asking questions about the implications for student learning.  The connection is important and relevant - wouldn’t we want to foster experiences we want as adults for students as well?  
Malcolm Knowles identified the six principles of adult learning as:
  • Adults are internally motivated and self-directed
  • Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences
  • Adults are goal oriented
  • Adults are relevancy oriented
  • Adults are practical
  • Adult learners like to be respected

After considering these principles and observing many of them first hand at these professional conferences, I started to wonder if the reason why these same principles do not apply to kids, at least on the secondary level, is because we prohibit them from happening in our education system. Do we limit our students learning by blocking access to the very things that motivate us as adults to learn? Can Students be self-motivated and self-directed? As adults some might say we are “pursuing our bliss” therefore, we are self-motivated and self-directed. Are our students bereft of bliss, or are we blocking out their bliss?

Maybe as adult learners we need to take a look in the mirror before we resume our role as teachers for kids. In the final analysis, I do not think that there are differences in the way we learn as adults, or kids, but rather the differences lie in the opportunities afforded to learn. If we respected kids more as learners, they might be more self-directed and motivated in their learning. If they are allowed to participate in their learning, they might take more ownership. What learner wants to own something that is not in his, or her interest to own? If we can understand better how we learn best, maybe we can alter how we teach to be the best.

Learning in the Age of Algorithms
by Emily Boudreau in HGSE’s Usable Knowledge
This post introduces work that is being done to help educators adapt to the reality of the current landscape of learning, one that is significantly impacted by ‘algorithmic data collection’.  In order for us to be relevant we must adapt with our own learning and Boudreau’s post provides some concrete strategies worthy of consideration.
...many students are in the middle of an “epistemological crisis,” says Head, a visiting scholar at Harvard Graduate School of Education. These students — members of what the report calls “a pivotal generation born before the constant connectivity of social media” — are deeply skeptical consumers of information. They’ve grown up with the internet, and algorithms have always influenced the news and information they receive. But most educators aren’t well positioned to help students navigate this new world, where information is shaped and filtered differently for different users.

“Democracy calls for an informed public, and yet, students have questions about what to believe," says Head. "The whole issue of credibility and not knowing what to trust is so critically important, as is having the necessary evaluation skills and abilities at a time of dramatic change to what we experience and know. That’s where education comes in.”

Panicking About Your Kids’ Phones? New Research Says Don’t
by Nathaniel Popper in The New York Times
Popper’s post highlights recent research challenging beliefs and previous research about the impact of screen time and device use for adolescents and children.  Some of the research within challenges the causation/correlation relationship that research has shown. By sharing this post, I do not intend to ‘take a side’ on this debate; rather, the intent is to support the need for all of us, as caregivers and educators, to actively learn, stay relevant, and challenge assumptions.

It has become common wisdom that too much time spent on smartphones and social media is responsible for a recent spike in anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, especially among teenagers. But a growing number of academic researchers have produced studies that suggest the common wisdom is wrong. The latest research, published on Friday by two psychology professors, combs through about 40 studies that have examined the link between social media use and both depression and anxiety among adolescents. That link, according to the professors, is small and inconsistent.

They are, however, challenging the widespread belief that screens are responsible for broad societal problems like the rising rates of anxiety and sleep deprivation among teenagers. In most cases, they say, the phone is just a mirror that reveals the problems a child would have even without the phone.

Throughout this month I want to continue highlighting some words in honor of Black History Month - the quote below from Booker T. Washington is one that is inspiring, poignant, and centering...
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat

Practicing Presence

2/5/2020

 
February 4, 2020

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about strategies for becoming more mindful and ‘less stressed’, our topic/question for the week is:  Share a strategy or ‘step you are taking’ to be more mindful, present in the moment, pay attention, and ‘less stressed’? Be specific. Practicing Presence (Week of 2/3-2/7) (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

Turning the page of the calendar to the month of February felt momentous this weekend - in some ways, January can feel like a long month!  It was lovely to gather together on Friday as a staff for our ‘delayed holiday get-together!’ We had a sports-filled weekend with the kids between basketball for the boys and the TVL swim meet for Maggie, and ending with the Super Bowl!

"The best way to create stressed out miserable kids is to surround them with stressed out miserable adults.  But the best way to create mindful and compassionate kids is to surround them with mindful, compassionate adults.”
-- Chris Willard (@drchriswillard)
Last Wednesday Katie and I attended a presentation/talk with Dr. Chris Willard, entitled ‘Raising Resilience:  A Mindfulness Presentation for K-12 Parents and Caregivers’.  It was hosted by Dover-Sherborn’s Challenge Success team, and it was excellent.  The words above were one of his opening slides and they really ‘hit home’ for me.  I have heard similar analogies before (putting on our own oxygen masks), but for whatever reason (could be the timing or just where my head/reality is at) these have resonated and stuck with me.  In an effort to take his words and the message within to heart in regards to a goal I have for myself, I am keeping it brief this week to make room for my own presence in other places this weekend.  I look forward to sharing and discussing some of the learning, strategies, and science that was shared that evening - for now, I am highlighting some notes from Dr. Willard’s talk, a few responses from last week’s topic/question, and some words from Langston Hughes as we begin Black History Month...
 
Dr. Chris Willard - Raising Resilience: A Mindfulness Presentation for K-12 Parents and Caregivers’
(@drchriswillard)
  • Kids are naturally mindful
  • How can we as adults model how to reconnect?
  • We often tell kids to ‘pay attention’ - do we teach them ‘how to pay attention’?
  • Our minds are wandering 47.8% of the time
  • Science shows we are happier if we are ‘in the present moment’
  • ‘I’m having a thought that I can’t do this…’ rather than ‘I can’t do this…’
  • Teens are the most stressed out group/cohort
  • Important to distinguish physical threats vs emotional threats
  • Our breath is like a remote control (recommendation is to try and take 4 to 6 breaths per minute)
  • What do feelings feel like?  (listen to a sad song, angry song, happy song)
  • We need to practice single-tasking, not multi-tasking
  • Neuroplasticity - ability for our brain to change over one’s life (neurons that fire together, wire together)
  • What am I doing? How do I know I am doing it?
    • Listen to your favorite song - what does that feel like?
  • Resilience - building a response system
 
Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 1/26/20):  What helps you to see something (i.e. an idea, perspective, concept, belief) differently or ‘in a new light’?
  • Slowing down
  • Taking time to reflect
  • Listening
  • Asking questions
  • Taking a risk to ask a teacher if I do not understand something​
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Last year I shared the poem below from Langston Hughes at the beginning of Black History Month, and I want to carry them forward as they clearly capture the importance of dreaming to lead and guide our personal and collective efforts...
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat

A New Light

1/27/2020

 
January 28, 2020

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the ways we can allow ourselves to take a new perspective, reflect, and learn, our topic/question for the week is:  What helps you to see something (i.e. an idea, perspective, concept, belief) differently or ‘in a new light’?  A New Light (Week of 1/27-1/31) (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

After Friday night’s 7th/8th grade winter dance, we had a quiet and relatively low-key weekend with a few basketball games, walks, and some much-needed quiet time.  Thanks to Nate Walkowicz, Nancy Deveno, Jillian Shaw, Kelly Campbell, Amy Cuomo, Eileen Buckham, Susan Bycoff, and Stacey Balardini for chaperoning - much appreciated!

At the outset of each week, one of Owen’s (our 7th grade son) teachers sends an update/outline of the curricula/activities/endeavors in class along with any key information that may be helpful for families.  At the bottom of the update is a ‘quote of the week’. Quotations have always resonated with me, but the one from this past week is one from Carl Jung I had never read. It is wonderful...
"If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves." 
-Carl Jung
The words and message are complex, simple, and nuanced all at the same time.  This is true for much of our work - an end-goal when written down/shared often appears so very clear, yet the path to realize or actualize that goal is nuanced and complex.  Starting off the week with those words helped to frame some of my own thinking and actions throughout the week. Having come off a 3-day weekend, I felt energized by the words as they served as a guide for the day-to-day efforts, challenges, and tasks that were scheduled (and unscheduled, of course) throughout the week.  Our topic/question for the week (What helps you to see something (i.e. an idea, perspective, concept, belief) differently or ‘in a new light’?) is one worth keeping as a reflection checkpoint - pushing ourselves and others to identify and hopefully develop systems and space for the ‘new lights’ to be witnessed and observed.  Jung’s words did that for me - it helped me to see work in a new and different light.
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With the hope for encouraging this idea of shifting perspectives through a new light, a small sampling of responses from last week’s topic/question along with four posts provide ample ‘food for thought’.  The posts highlight four areas of great import for our school and community…
  • Systems Thinking
  • Engagement and Meaning - Authentic and Personal Learning
  • Dialogue/Engagement - With Research, Families, and Community
  • Openness to Reflection and Adapt
 
Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 1/19/20):  What commitment can/will you make to support your own learning? What commitment can/will you make to support others’ learning?
  • Focus in class and not distract others
  • Helping others if they need it and asking more questions if I have them
  • I can come to school every day so that I can learn new things.
  • Setting time aside to explore my interests
  • I can continue to read substantial research and philosophy about pedagogy. I will ask others what "projects" they are working on!

“Systems thinking skills are critical for developing a sense of agency”
Interview in BLOG (Blog On Learning and Development)
Within this interview, Leyla Acaroglu (a social scientist, entrepreneur, and founder of the UnSchool of Disruptive Design) shares the need for different skills to be developed and learned for both the present and future.  Specifically, she emphasizes the importance of ‘systems thinking’ and fostering the true ‘iterative process’ of learning. One line, in particular, stuck with me: Teachers therefore have a tremendous influence on the way children learn.
...systems thinking is a critical thinking tool we need to transform our society from one that exploits resources into one that is a regenerative force in this world. Many of today’s problems are a result of externalities and unintended consequences caused by yesterday’s solutions, with linear thinking disconnecting people from the natural systems that surround them…

...systems thinking teaches that we are all interconnected and interdependent on natural systems. It completely changes how you see the world and how you see yourself in it. The world becomes a dynamic, constantly evolving system that you are a part of. This way of thinking therefore develops in learners a sense of agency and gives them confidence that they do have the power to affect change on themselves and the world around them.

It is important for children to learn that there is really no such thing as failure because learning is, at its core, an iterative process. When you make a prototype that does not work, instead of viewing it as a failure, children can discover how to use it as an opportunity to reflect on what they’ve done and figure out what didn’t work. Skills to solve problems such as observation, reflection, and curiosity are also important to develop
 
Student Engagement: Are we focused on short-term results or long-term impact?
by Katie Martin (@katiemartinedu)
Martin’s post from 2018 is still pertinent and ‘to the point’.  She cites the graph from a 2016 Gallup poll (one we have looked at together as a staff as well) - for me, it speaks to the very real need to shift our focus and practices towards meaningful engagement and authentic engagement.
The lack of impact is a result of what he refers to as a focus on “shallow fun” where the focus is on games and enjoyment and rewards as opposed to deep engagement and purpose in their work...In spite of many efforts to reward and engage learners, the 2016 Gallup poll indicates, as students progress through school, they are increasingly disengaged and lack opportunities to build on their unique strengths, talents, and interests.
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If we only focus on short-term, extrinsic rewards to coax kids through low-level tasks and provide technology as games or rewards to motivate learners instead of designing authentic and personal learning experiences that draw on learners curiosity, passion, and interests, we will not truly engage learners.

If we primarily focus on “shallow fun” and rewards while opportunities for creation, exploration, and developing connections between people and ideas are limited, we will fail to develop students as learners and thinkers and continue to get abysmal results in pursuit of shallow fun and “engagement”...The lack of impact is a result of what he refers to as a focus on “shallow fun” where the focus is on games and enjoyment and rewards as opposed to deep engagement and purpose in their work.
 
Show What You Know: A Parent’s Guide To The Global Shift To Competency
by Tom Vander Ark (@tvanderark) in Forbes
This post highlights six problems in education with systemic solutions (Portrait of success; Real work, real feedback; Progress when ready; Equitable outcomes; Better measures; Better communication) that are being implemented in schools - at the core, is the shift to competency-based instruction/learning and feedback.  It speaks to the importance of engaging parents and allowing the time/transition that is needed, while also affirming our efforts at Blake.
We inherited a system of education that has six big problems: it doesn’t focus on important skills, it’s boring, it doesn’t work for most learners, it’s inequitable, it doesn’t measure well, and it doesn’t communicate well. 
 
Letter grades are often a weak indicator of what students know and can do. They are idiosyncratic by classroom, generally inflated (especially at college preparatory schools), and include a mixture of effort, achievement and a lot of random extra credit for attending and complying. Because grades are usually averaged over a semester or year, they disadvantage learners that come in behind but work hard to catch up. (Listen to this great Harvard podcast on all the problems with traditional grading). 

Teachers in leading schools provide feedback against objective standards that are recognized by the community as reflecting quality work. Like a thoughtful work environment, good schools are a ‘no surprise’ zone; students know what is expected, and they know their work will be assessed. In fact, they can assess their own progress accurately. 

Even the most innovative schools in the world are still working on solutions to these six problems. Tools and policies to develop these new practices are still in development. So, be patient and look for ways to be part of the solution. Help your school develop and phase in practices that benefit students and help them better describe who they are, and where they are headed.
 
Why It’s Okay—Even Wise—to Let Your Child Quit
by Phyllis Fagell (@Pfagell) in Psychology Today
When I first read this post back in 2019, the title jumped out at me - the concept of ‘embracing’ or ‘allowing’ quitting can feel counterintuitive, yet Fagell provides a structure and reframing of thought/mindset with five messages:  Reframe quitting; Reassure them that shifting gears can improve their well-being; Give examples of people who successfully pivoted; Come up with an alternate plan; Engage them in problem-solving.  As we continue our efforts to grow and learn, this ‘allowance’ and room for reframing of thought/mindset is critical in all capacities.  This is true for educators, parents, and most importantly - our students.
Whether or not your child excels or is mediocre in the particular pursuit, you may feel stopping isn’t the solution. We’ve all felt that way for different reasons. Yet, shifting gears and yes, quitting, can turn out to be a smart move for kids...there typically are no clear-cut answers, but I've come to believe that the decision-making process matters far more than the outcome. 
 
We have a cultural bias against quitting and tend to view it as “giving up,” but that’s misguided. Quitting can be empowering and free your child to discover new passions. As Simmons says, "wrong turns are rarely dead ends."
 
Systems thinking, authentic/personal learning with deep meaning and engagement, engagement with parents/community/pedagogy/research, while also maintaining an openness to reflect and adjust - these are big picture approaches that beg the question, ‘How can we do this?’  I think we need to stay the course, have conversations, foster the process of learning, and allow room for growth. In essence, we must listen to and work towards our mission...
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat

Purposeful Reflection - Aligning Beliefs with Practices

1/21/2020

 
January 21, 2020

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about purposefully matching our beliefs with our practices, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  What commitment can/will you make to support your own learning? What commitment can/will you make to support others’ learning?   Purposeful Reflection - Aligning Beliefs with Practices (Week of 1/19/20) (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

I did my best to embrace the no homework weekend, trying to take a step back and simply be present.  This is certainly easier said than done for me - for those who may identify or struggle with the work/life balance, I highly recommend Adam Grant’s podcast, When work takes over your life - it does not have all of the answers, but it certainly is a ‘good listen’.  We enjoyed some basketball games, cooking, the fresh snow, and some time to just hang out a bit.  The #dayofservice on Monday is always meaningful and centering - thanks to Cynthia McClelland for her passion and leadership for this work, and thanks to the students and staff who supported and participated in this wonderful tradition of service!
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Our charge as an educational culture is to reflect - individually, in small groups, and as a collective staff - upon the ways we can improve, grow, and further the learning environment at Blake.  A culture of reflection, coupled with a willingness to adapt, is one that needs attention and intention. It often feels as though education is a ‘moving target’ as the landscape is continually shifting.  To help navigate this landscape on an evolving foundation means that we must be willing to look in the mirror, ask some questions, listen to the answers, and evolve. ‘Speaking from the I’, I can share that this work is not easy - seeing and hearing my own practices challenged has humbled me.  However, these challenges have allowed a forum/mechanism for my beliefs to be more solidified or to adapt and change, as necessary. This is one of the hopes I have for our community of learners at Blake (students, staff, parents/guardians, and greater community). I want all of us (myself included) to be given multiple opportunities to learn, grow, evolve, and improve.  This is at the core of our mission and it is through multiple modes of listening and reflection that our mission will be closer to actualization...
 
Listening - Open to New Ideas…
I have always enjoyed Will Richardson’s (@willrich45) work - thought-provoking, centering, challenging, and pertinent.  A selection of quotes below highlight the spirit of openness and transparency that have helped me to reflect and look at our systems in a new light...
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Listening - Individual Reflection...
Taking time - intentionally carving out time - to reflect upon one’s practice has proven to be one of the more effective ways for me to articulate, establish, and develop my own system of beliefs.  In turn, the continued practice of reflection has allowed my beliefs to evolve and adapt. Whether it is through reading, writing, sharing, yoga, and actual practice, individual reflection has been instrumental in my own evolution as an educator.  It has helped me to remain my own reality as that of being first and foremost a learner, and being an educator second. I value the spirit and culture of learning at Blake, as shown in a sampling of responses from our faculty meeting’s opening prompt this past week...
If you had time to learn about anything, what would it be? (Multiple answers are ok!)
  • Repair/Craft (painting, carpentry, automobile, plumbing, electrical)
  • Craft (sewing, knitting)
  • Interior Design
  • Intersectionality of disciplines
  • Learning languages
  • Baking/Cooking
  • Real Estate
  • Robotics
  • Gardening/landscaping/botany
  • Sports/Activities
  • Travel/Cultures
  • Music (guitar, piano, instruments)
 
Listening - Collective Reflection…
Establishing time together to reflect, discuss, and share is key as the intentional time to collectively process gets us out of our own circles of belief (or echo chambers of similar thought).  Although our model is not perfect, the structure of the middle school fosters a culture of ‘checks and balances’, and our work to ‘live our norms’ in these contexts is critical for beliefs and practices to adapt and evolve, furthering the alignment of beliefs and practices.  We watched the two talks below as a staff (having seen each of them in previous years) this past week. Richardson and Sir Ken Robinson are progressive thought leaders in education and their talks are both worthy of further discussion and reflection…
Do these messages resonate?  Are they pertinent? Have we (both 'big picture we' and 'Blake we') made progress?  What are the implications for our students and our work? How does our mission, structures, and practices align or veer from these messages?  It is critical to note that Robinson’s talk was given in 2006 and Richardson’s in 2015 - in 2020, do the messages still hold true?
 
Do Schools Kill Creativity? (19:24)
Ken Robinson (@SirKenRobinson)
  • Unpredictability of school is extraordinary
  • All kids have tremendous talent - schools can squander them
  • Creativity is as important as literacy
  • Kids will take chances - ‘if they don’t know, they will have a go’ - by the time they become adults, they lose this capacity
  • We are educating people out of their capacities
  • Education has a hierarchy of subjects
  • As children grow up, we start to educate them progressively from the waist up.
  • Our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability to meet the needs of the industrial revolution
  • Three things about intelligence are known…
    • Intelligence is diverse
    • Intelligence is dynamic
    • Intelligence is distinct
  • Our hope for the future is to…
    • adopt a new conception of human ecology - to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity. 
    • to rethink the fundamental principles on which we're educating our children. 
  • We must see our children for the hope that they are
 
The Surprising Truth About Learning in Schools | Will Richardson | TEDxWestVancouverED (16:27)
Will Richardson (@willrich45)
  • What do we believe about how kids learn best?
  • Deeper Learning - ‘Learning in a sticky way’ - learning that sticksDeeper Learning
  • Disconnect between beliefs and practices
  • It’s an amazing time to be a learner
  • Moment of abundance in education - Kids live in a time where they can learn about the things they care about
    • They need different Literacies
    • They need different Skills
  • ‘Productive Learning’ - Includes actionable feedback
  • We have a traditional system that's preparing our kids for a traditional idea of work which doesn't exist any longer 
  • ‘Schools were not built for learning’
    • Our kids’ futures are at risk
  • Narrative of traditional schools is beginning to crumble
  • We must act and build upon the conditions for powerful learning
  • The Future of Education:  Why Hawken Has to Lead by Scott Looney:  ‘In my 28 years in education, I have never been more excited or so fearful for the future of education in this world.’
  • Kids want to learn more
  • We can no longer ignore the ‘Elephants in the room’ by admitting that…
    • our kids will forget most of what they learn in school and we know this
    • we have forgotten most of what we learned in school 
    • deep and powerful learning requires a personal interest - it has to be something that we are invested in if we're going to learn it for the long term we have to now
    • deep and powerful learning isn't served by many of the structures that we have in schools
    • the only place we're learning is limited by time and age and by discipline is in school that doesn't look anything like the real world in terms of the way we learn when we're on our own
    • kids with access are learning more productively on their own outside of school then we're allowing them to learn inside of school 
    • our current grading systems and the structures that we create to evaluate kids and teachers are at best counterproductive and at worst harmful to the whole process
  • Policy Makers - are they shifting?
  • Articulate our beliefs → They lead to our Principles → We must act upon them to reach Potential - Align our beliefs with our practices
  • Do we have the courage and commitment to make it happen?
 
Listening - Student Reflection (And Action)...
Listening to our students is simple and complex at the same time, but it is a practice that we must continue.  The key is not just to listen, but to take some steps to act upon the listening. That does not necessarily mean changing things or simply ‘going with their answers’ - rather, the listening will give us information to inform our next steps.  The time spent at this week’s faculty meeting was valuable, as we were able to ‘listen’ by reading the answers that our students provided - I hope this reflection will lead to some steps to inform our practices...
  • Looking at your Term 1 report card, what are you proud of?
  • Looking at your Term 1 report card, what was not a surprise to you? Why was it not a surprise?
  • What surprised you on your Term 1 report card? Was this a positive or negative surprise? Explain.
  • Finish this sentence: I want to keep working on…
  • If you had time to learn about anything you want this year, what would it be?
The intent of our weekly topic/question is to use the format of a question to foster dialogue - hopefully prompting inner and external reflection and dialogue.  The acknowledgement and reading of the responses will, in turn, foster more dialogue. Below are a sampling of responses from the past week...
Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 1/12/20):  What adjustments are you trying to make to become a better learner/student?
  • Helping others
  • To work harder and not procrastinate
  • I’m wanting to make class more fun, and less of sitting and talking.
  • Don’t wait for the last minute for homework
  • I’m trying to ask more questions even if they seem weird or dumb
  • I am trying to see that same subject from newer and older angles.
  • I am trying to define my work times more. My hope is that by defining certain times in which I must accomplish work, work will then not spill into downtime and vice versa.
  • Reading more
  • Making sure I do my homework
  • Focusing on my study

Listening - Reading and Sharing…
Reading and sharing is one of the ways we can be sure that we are listening, engaging, and fostering dialogue.  The two posts below are ones that I have shared before (both from summer of 2019) by Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn) - they offer a perspective that challenge the norms, understandings, and perceptions about school...

Opinion | Why Can't Everyone Get A's?
by Alfie Kohn in The New York Times
The title of this post is a sincere and thought-provoking question worthy of discussion and consideration.  It is one that we should reflect upon when thinking about the purpose of school (to learn!) and the culture of comparison that increases as students transition from elementary to middle to high school.  As Kohn shares at the end, excellence is not a ‘zero sum game’ and we need to remember and live by this understanding.
Here’s a thought experiment. Suppose that next year virtually every student passed the tests. What would the reaction be from politicians, businesspeople, the media? Would these people shake their heads in admiration and say, “Damn, those teachers must be good!”?  Of course not. Such remarkable success would be cited as evidence that the tests were too easy. In the real world, when scores have improved sharply, this has indeed been the reaction. For example, when results on New York’s math exam rose in 2009, the chancellor of the state’s Board of Regents said, “What today’s scores tell me is not that we should be celebrating,” but instead “that New York State needs to raise its standards.”

The inescapable, and deeply disturbing, implication is that “high standards” really means “standards that all students will never be able to meet.” If everyone did meet them, the standards would just be ratcheted up again — as high as necessary to ensure that some students failed.

We have been taught to respond with suspicion whenever all members of any group are successful. That’s true even when we have no reason to believe that corners have been cut. In America, excellence is regarded as a scarce commodity. Success doesn’t count unless it is attained by only a few.

The goal, in other words, isn’t to do well but to defeat other people who are also trying to do well. Grades in this view should be used to announce who’s beating whom. And if the students in question have already been sorted by the admissions process, well, they ought to be sorted again. A school’s ultimate mission, apparently, is not to help everyone learn but to rig the game so that there will always be losers.

Framing excellence in these competitive terms doesn’t lead to improvements in performance. Indeed, a consistent body of social science research shows that competition tends to hold us back from doing our best. It creates an adversarial mentality that makes productive collaboration less likely, encourages gaming of the system and leads all concerned to focus not on meaningful improvement but on trying to outdo (and perhaps undermine) everyone else.  Most of all, it encourages the false belief that excellence is a zero-sum game. It would be both more sensible and more democratic to rescue the essence of the concept: Everyone may not succeed, but at least in theory all of us could.

GENER(aliz)ATIONS
by Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn)
We hear comments about ‘kids these days’ very frequently and it has always rubbed me the wrong way.  Kohn’s post speaks to this phenomena and the importance of stepping back, avoiding sweeping generalizations, and gaining perspective.  It is one I will be sure to reference and come back to for myself and with staff and families in the future.
Baby Boomers were originally lumped together based on the fact that there were a lot of them (the birthrate having spiked after the War) and that they were lucky enough to come of age during a relatively affluent period. The idea that all of them — or, for that matter, all Gen X’ers or all Millennials — are also distinguished by a common political or psychological profile, a set of values or tastes, is an entirely different proposition. It’s an idea that rational people should view with a generous measure of skepticism if only because each of these labels refers to something on the order of 80 million people.
 
Rarely do older folks pause and say, “Wait a second. If these snide truisms about young people that I’m confidently repeating aren’t all that different from what our elders said about us, might that be reason to question their validity?” With respect to the specific claim that “kids today” are spoiled and their parents permissive, I had fun a few years ago digging up multiple examples of how people were saying exactly the same thing about the previous generation, and the one before that, and the one before that, and the one before that. I conducted this backward journey through the decades in a book called The Myth of the Spoiled Child, which also challenged the reactionary narrative about helicopter parents and kids with inflated self-esteem that has become the conventional wisdom.
 
The specific accusations leveled at today’s teens and young adults — that they’re entitled, overcelebrated “snowflakes” — are particularly ugly, empirically unsupported, and often animated by a political agenda. But my larger point is that we should be very cautious about offering any generalizations about an entire generation.  And by “we,” I mean all of us, including Millennials, lest they eventually start to sound like their elders in slinging calumnies at Generation Z (or whatever we end up calling the next cohort).
 
Listening - Aligning Beliefs with Practices via Action
As both implied and stated in each of these elements of reflection and listening, we always need to take the listening (at least) one step further through action.  Hard conversations will ensue and questions will be asked…
  • What are our current beliefs?
  • What are our current practices?
  • Are they aligned?
  • What action steps need to be taken?
We should continue to welcome these questions by ‘holding up a mirror’, reflecting, and adapting in the service of learning for our students.  Dr. King served as a model of alignment of beliefs with practices, and the words below are worth noting, highlighting, sharing, and living... 
​
Words from Dr. King
“So even though we face difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”
“Find a voice in a whisper.”
“There is no such thing as separate but equal. Separation, segregation, inevitably makes for inequality.”
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat

Adapting Our Systems

1/15/2020

 
January 15, 2020

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about adapting and changing to make improvements,  our topic/question for the dinner table is: What adjustments are you trying to make to become a better learner/student?  Adapting Our Systems (Week of 1/12/20) (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

Our Spring-like weekend has been lovely, providing a wonderful ‘boost’ for all of us.  It was fun seeing the kids in our neighborhood playing outside in shorts, running around, and taking advantage of the weather!  The kids and I had a nice couple of days, with Katie and some friends away for the weekend. Maggie got her driver’s permit last week, so that has been the excitement in our house!
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As educators we often talk about the complexity of school, the multiple ‘things’ we must balance, and all the things that comprise an education - mandates, written and unwritten curricula, intended and unintended learning, etc.  Although at times one may try, an education is not something that can always be clearly defined. And, there are varied opinions on the benefits of formal schooling, as Mark Twain’s words are frequently referenced - ‘I never let my schooling interfere with my education.’  I always look forward to the times when we can take a step back (or up, taking the proverbial 40,000 foot view) and take a healthy look at the systems we have in place, asking a few questions:  ‘What systems do we have? Are these the systems we want? Whose systems are they serving? Are they working?’ There are many more to ask, and this past week afforded me (and others, in different cases) the opportunity to have some of these discussions…
  • Monday afternoon’s Study Group on Race met, discussing the first few chapters of Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving
  • Visiting MHS Sociology classes, discussing systems of feedback (traditional grades, standards based reporting, narratives) - positives, negatives, challenges, and ideas
  • Hosting hosting education students from Mary Immaculate College through our partnership with the Lynch School Boston College
Through each of these meetings and visits, we talked about our structures and systems that have both led and helped to define the experiences and trajectories of our students.  Through the discussions that ensued, each of these opportunities led into conversations about change and adaptation. As much as I enjoy the discussions of educational theory and research, we must take a close eye at how they relate to our students - and, it is this ‘marriage’ of theory/research and practice that will benefit our community of learners.  It is critical that we first understand our systems, for it is only then that we are able to move from the 40,000 foot view to the classroom and experiences of our students (slides below are from DESE’s Leading with Access and Equity Conference)...
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Reflecting upon a sampling of responses from last week’s question, coupled with the posts shared below, will hopefully push us to have more conversations about the systems and practices we employ - always being mindful of the adaptations that may need to be made and how they can be supported...
Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 1/5/20):  What strategies do you use to help when you are feeling stressed?
  • I exercise until I can't move anymore.
  • I like to go for a run or walk the dog. Trying to identify what is giving me stress and making a plan to address it can also be helpful. If I carry my stress with me to bed and can't fall asleep, focused breathing exercises often help.
  • Walk away from stress. Go outside and go for a walk
  • Remind myself to take one day at a time.
  • Take a break and paint and take deep breaths; I do stuff that I like to do.
  • I take deep breaths.
  • Make a list of manageable tasks and check things off.
  • When I start to feel stress, I ask myself this: Is there something I can do about this situation? If the answer is "no", then I don't worry about it/If the answer is "yes" then, I don't have to worry about it either! The stressful situation is either out of my control or within my control and I can work toward finding a solution.
  • I listen to music and read
  • Slow down, or taking deep breaths
  • Meditation and definitely reading
  • Take a walk or other exercise, listening to music, or sit quietly thinking comforting thoughts( favorite people, places, things)
  • Taking a warm shower or a relaxing bath or reading a good book in my room on my bed with some lights on.
  • I like to read, or listen to my favorite music. Sometimes I will just relax with my friends to get my mind off what is stressing me.
  • Breathe
 
2019 – Down the Rabbit Hole
By Beth Holland (@brholland)
Beth is a good friend, colleague, and my ‘go to’ for research, current practices, and educational ‘dialogue’.  I look forward to her writings - this year she took a different approach (for the past few years she has done a ‘summary’ or ‘Year of…’ post at the outset of the calendar year), highlighting the ‘web of her work’.  I appreciate the connections and layered nature of our work (one thing leads to another and you can’t talk about anything in isolation) - digital equity, pre-school media, science, Next Generation Science Standards, nature of science, learning ecosystems, inequities within the education system,  effects of race/gender/ethnicity bias on digital equity, artificial intelligence, learning analytics, and adaptive platforms.
I realized that without following me down the rabbit hole, my year could seem disjointed instead of a fairly deep, methodical, scholarly spelunking expedition.
 
Spend More Time Planting Seeds and Less Time Measuring Vines
by Jon Harper (@jonharper70)
Harper’s post acknowledges the frustration we can feel and offers a nice perspective on the importance of planting seeds and letting them grow.
It is important to measure how effective or impactful our work is—in the classroom and out. But measuring takes time. Time that could be used doing other things. Like creating and thinking and working. Getting sucked into the measuring trap is very easy. Yet, what do we gain by measuring so often? Oftentimes a false sense of pride or unwarranted dejection.

Whatever it is I’m doing, I know I am at my best and I feel best, when I am planting seeds. Here’s the cool thing that happens when you spend your time focused on planting seeds instead of measuring vines; sprouts pop up all the time. When you are not even expecting them. Of course, everything you plant doesn’t flourish or even grow for that matter.

If we plant enough seeds, we eventually begin to see the fruits of our labor. But we must not ever stop planting. Because just when you’re ready to hang your head, a bud pops up. One that you had forgotten about. One that you barely remember planting. And you smile as you plant your next seed.
 
The Dangers of Screen Time . . . in 1440 
by Douglas Reeves
This post reminds me of the oft-used phrase ‘kids these days’, as Reeves provides examples of similar concerns of ‘screen time’ going back to the 15th century.  By no means is he saying that we should not acknowledge the concerns; on the contrary, it is important to keep them in perspective.
We've all heard about the dangers of excessive screen time. Students with more than five hours a day of screen time show decreased levels of concentration and empathy. This is especially true of those screen functions that require no engagement or interaction by the student with the media, but simply allow their bodies and minds to become sedentary wastelands...MIT Professor Sherry Turkle makes a compelling case for human interactions and for, on a disciplined basis, closing down electronic devices...former Stanford Professor Nir Eyal, in the wonderful book Indistractable (BenBella Books, 2019), reminds us that this is not the first time that one generation has become alarmed about the media habits of the young. 
 
Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440, and by the late 15th century, his invention was credited with sparking literacy, along with religious and political reform movements throughout Europe. The contests of ideas that followed, along with the decades of deadly clashes they ensured, would have been unlikely without a mechanism for quickly spreading ideas. For some, this was a perfect example of technology accelerating the pace of progress. Others, including the monks who were threatened by Gutenberg's invention, railed against it, labeling the invention a "whore," as if the device, rather than the ideas, were to blame. A few centuries later, an 1883 medical journal suggested that the rising rates of murders and suicides were due to the "educational craze" which was responsible for exhausting the brains and nervous systems of children. In 1936, another new and fast-spreading technology was blamed for limiting the attention span of children who spent time listening to the devil's device – the radio – rather than attending to their studies. 
 
...what all of these have in common is our wish to blame something else – technology, diet, and dimly understood brain development – for the failures of parents and teachers to create an environment that simultaneously accepts technology and also provides appropriate challenges for meaningful work, social interaction, and personal growth. He encourages a careful reading of the claims about technology, many of which contain sweeping generalizations about the dangers of screen time without a thoughtful distinction between the many different ways students engage with technology.
 
What's the Goal of Education?
by Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby)
Whitby (a ‘must follow’ for sure) always pushes my thinking, particularly when it comes to the systems and practices we employ.  We need to keep coming back to the title of this post - adjusting or holding onto the answers (whatever the case may be), but being sure that the implementation of the answer is meaningful, relevant, and pertinent.  The emphasis on the education of our educators should not be overlooked nor underestimated.
As a long-time educator, I am no longer convinced that we are adequately preparing our children with the needed skills to live, survive and thrive in their future life of that real world environment...I also question whether we, as education professionals, have been truly prepared for our present environment...As adults, educated in an earlier time, are we prepared to learn and discern from the information delivered to us from news sources? In an age of instant access, are we skilled enough to analyze and understand what is being delivered to us second by second? Are we prepared to critically think about all that we are bombarded with daily? Are we prepared to accept that, just because things worked well in the past, they may need to be changed in this new world environment? What was once “tried and true” may now be tried, but irrelevant.
 
If we as adults have a say in what we want to learn, then why is this not what we are preparing our children to do. We assume that if we load them up with pre-selected content, that they will have enough preparation to handle anything in their adult life...The world in which our kids will live as adults does not look like the intellectually protected environment of the classroom...They should only be bound by their curiosity and love of learning, and not a lack of skills to retrieve, understand, critically analyze, and assess information.
 
Is this really the world that we are preparing them for? Are we stressing their curiosity? Are we challenging them to be critical thinkers? Are we enabling them with relevant technological skills to access, curate, communicate, collaborate, and create using information dealing with their passion? Are we allowing them to make mistakes and learn and adapt from them without consequences of punishment? Are we maintaining and advancing our own skills as professional educators to enable us to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world?
 
Our goal should and must be to make our students self-motivated learners with all the skills needed to do that in their own world with their own tools for accessing information. Maybe instead of standardizing learning, we should work on standardizing teaching to be more openly supportive of teaching kids how to continue the process of learning in their lives beyond the classroom. If we are to better educate our kids, we need first to better educate their educators.
 
The Grief of Accepting New Ideas
by Rick Wormeli (@rickwormeli2)
As a proponent of change himself, I appreciate Wormeli’s open and honest acknowledgement of the challenges and emotions that change brings forth.  Within the post he shares some concrete suggestions and offers a nice perspective - one that I know I must keep in mind at all times when working with students, parents, and staff.
The way we teach is often a statement of who we are. If someone questions our practices, it's like they're questioning our value as teachers. Our classroom instruction, including assessment and grading, technology integration, student-teacher interactions, and more, are expressions of how we see ourselves; they are our identity. Can we navigate these frequently troubled waters without invoking self-preserving egos and drowning in resentment?...Teacher leaders can cite logical, well-reasoned statistics and arguments for new building initiatives, but nothing really changes in classroom practices unless leaders also appeal to teachers' ethics and the lens through which they perceive leaders' arguments.
 
We are all fellow travelers, and we are all inconsistent with ourselves and one another. No one likes to have protective layers pulled bare, revealing old scars or sensitive places still raw. To survive the day, we tell ourselves that our truths are THE truths, and they form our version of reality. When we're confronted with their illusory nature, we're no longer on solid ground. We grieve for former students we may have wronged, the real or not perceived loss in status among respected colleagues, the time and energy that will be spent in changing who we are, and for the loss of self that was once so sure.
 
Let's help each other: Let's interact in ways that invite thoughtfulness, not invocation of self-protecting egos. Let's give colleagues time and encouragement to pushback and resist new ideas, and rather than be so self-assured ourselves, let's look for new insights we need to hear in our colleagues' arguments. And finally, let's extend the compassion to others we seek for ourselves, and honor the grief process that happens when asked to give up something we've held so tightly all these years—a truth, reality, perception, or practice—as they struggle to accept something new. Instead of leaving them to struggle alone, we can walk that path together.
 
Trying to synthesize and coalesce all of these ideas is overwhelming, for sure - so much so that the ideas of ‘giving up’ and/or ‘maintaining the status quo’ could appear to be a viable option.  (I would be lying if I said I had never felt that way.) That should not be our answer - and it may sound trite, but that simply is not fair to our students and nor does it align with our mission.  For all learners to thrive (students, educators, families), the skill of ‘adaptation’ is important to practice, model, experience, embody, and live.  
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat
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