Nat Vaughn, Blake Principal
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Making Time

12/11/2018

 
December 11, 2018

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the importance of slowing down and making time for our interests, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  What are some areas of interest you would like to spend more time learning or exploring? Making Time (Week of 12/9/18) (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.

We enjoyed a festive weekend, getting together with friends both Friday and Saturday night to celebrate the holiday season.  I am not a ‘social butterfly’ and definitely experience some anticipatory social angst, but these annual get-togethers with friends are always nice and centering in many ways.  They are also great opportunities for me to stretch myself a bit out of my comfort zone! We also enjoyed basketball games with the boys and I was glad to find/make time for some morning runs - something I neglected to do this past week.

As one who often makes excuses for not ‘finding/making time’, I came across this quote from Brené Brown this week and it really spoke to me...
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Channeling John D’Auria’s prompt regarding ‘truth serum moments’ (‘If I were served truth serum, what would I say?), I am one that often utilizes the ‘crazy-busy’ phrase and mantra as a ‘badge of honor’ or accomplishment.  And, yet, I often ‘preach’ about my goal to #slowitdown and to embrace a mindful approach towards balance. Having read Brown’s words, I found myself once again coming back to the work of Marc Brackett, founding Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.  His work has had a profound impact on me and I often think about his comment (articulated in an ironic tone) - ‘If you think you can ignore your feelings, good luck and see how that works out for you!’  Here are some of the notes I took from his presentations (some have been shared before)...
  • What keeps me up at night is how people feel
  • It’s everyone’s responsibility to create a healthy climate
  • Emotions always have a seat at the table
  • It is a disservice to find the ‘quick tool’ to delve into emotional intelligence
  • Emotions are driving people’s thought processes
  • Emotions drive engagement
  • We grossly underestimate the roles of emotion in regulation
  • We need to understand how our emotions and feeling interact with our personalities
  • Introverts and Extroverts need different support systems - we need to understand who we are
  • ‘It’s all about the feelings’

Although I do believe I am one who does take a lot of time to think about feelings and social/emotional learning and how they connect with the greater scope of our actions and environment, I also know that I can often ignore aspects within my own development.  I do not think that is an uncommon phenomenon - ‘we’ can all often give advice better than follow it for ourselves. With these ideas in mind I am sharing a post about the ‘benefits of procrastination’ and a sampling of responses from last week’s question - both have helped me to reflect on a deeper level and they may do the same for others...

Why Procrastination Can Be Good (Unless You Want To Be Productive)
from Knowledge@Wharton
This post is an edited transcript of a conversation with journalist Andrew Santella, author of Soon:  An Overdue History of Procrastination, from Leonardo and Darwin to You and Me.  As one who does not like to put things off or procrastinate, I sometimes have the ‘opposite’ challenge - slowing it down and actually allowing myself to procrastinate!  It is an interesting read/listen.
It’s interesting to find that even great thinkers could become a little more understandable to us, a little more accessible to us, even to regular schmoes like me, because we all share that pretty human tendency to put off the things that we dread doing….When it comes to creative thinking and problem-solving, there’s no one efficient path to follow. Sometimes the ideas will come to you when you least expect it, and sometimes ideas will come to you when you’re doing anything to avoid them.

It might seem easy to blame information technology for our tendency to procrastinate, but one of the history lessons of procrastination is that people have been finding ways to put off what they don’t want to do for as long as there have been things to do. It long predates the internet. It long predates my Twitter account.

I would take issue with the premise of productivity tools and productivity in general. I think procrastination is something that we should tolerate and try to understand better. If we try to use it as a way to get things done, then we’re just falling prey to the same sort of devotion to efficiency that doesn’t work for us in the first place. I think we should listen to the procrastination, try to understand what it’s trying to tell us about ourselves, try to reflect honestly about what we’re putting off and why we’re putting it off. That might help us understand what really matters to us and how we can get things done better and more quickly...I hope that they’ll be more tolerant of procrastination in others and in themselves. We’re all human. We’re all wrestling with the same demons. So, that’s the first thing: a plea for tolerance for the world’s procrastinators. And I would ask them to embrace and understand the history of procrastination.

Topic/Question (Week of 12/2/18):  What can we do as a school community to help students better understand themselves?
  • We can challenge them to see how they are similar to others
  • Answer questions
  • We need to explicitly teach learning strategies and give students numerous opportunities to reflect on the skills they have and the deficits that they still need to address.
  • Mirror them. Repeat what they say and put it in the context where it may belong. Maybe have students mirror the teacher...(in communication or expression), to understand how we are viewed by students.
  • Give more exploratory lessons in our classes so students can experience different aspects of a subject.
  • Having lots of things to do that they are passionate about
  • We can give compliments and encourage students that they are good at what they do so they can become more confident and sure of themselves.
  • Give positive feedback
  • Take time for students to reflect on their learning and seek their input about what kind of learners they are.
As we get closer to the end of the 2018 calendar year, it becomes time for reflection and resolutions.  This can bring about a sense of ‘pressure’ (at least for me) - Did I accomplish what I set out to this year?  What do I need or want to do next year? How did I measure up? Trying to channel some of the ideas from Brown, Brackett, and Santella, I am seeing more and more that it is more about the practice of introspection and reflection than it is about the actual ‘task at hand’.  And, really, it is important to ‘find/make the time’ to do just that. I would love to hear and reflect upon these ideas with others - thinking about our students, our school community, and the environment we are hoping to foster.

I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.​
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat

Understanding Oneself

12/5/2018

 
December 4, 2018

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the importance of knowing and understanding oneself, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  What can we do as a school community to help students better understand themselves? Understanding Oneself (Week of 12/2/18) (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.

After a pretty full week back after Thanksgiving, this weekend has felt like ‘the calm before the storm of the holiday craze’.  Owen and I participated in the Angel Run on Sunday (such a wonderful community event!) and we then enjoyed the Patriots game and dinner as a family - a far too rare event these days with the busy schedules at this time of year.
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Earlier this week a friend and I had a conversation about her high school child - besides catching up about interests and endeavors, the ‘seemingly inevitable subject’ of college came up.  It seems as though it comes up in every conversation about learning in secondary education and I asked, ‘Does he know what he wants or is interested in?’ She shook her head no and shared, ‘I still don’t know what I want.’  It is true for me as well - despite having a job I love and feeling as though my interests and passions match my vocation, that feeling of ‘anticipation, unknown, and wonder’ is still very present for me.

In conversations with friends, family members, and parents I know my friend and I are not alone, either - it is certainly a shared sentiment.  So, if that is the case what is that we should be focusing on for our students? Should we be trying to better hone in on ‘vocational pathways’, defined paths, Myers-Briggs personality exercises, or enhancing the ‘delivery of content’?  Is that the right path? The more I have reflected, read, and listened, I am not sure we are really going to actually find the right answer - but, the work we are aiming to do to help our students understand their own learning and development seems right.  This is incredibly complex work and, like our mission, is constantly evolving. With all of this in mind, our steadfast commitment to a ‘willingness to adapt’ is and will continue to be a key guiding compass point for us.

Through intentional listening and active learning our sense of self will become more defined and that is a lifelong process.  I am struck by how often I find myself coming back to the message from Marc Brackett, founding Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, that I heard at Challenge Success - one I have shared several times...
  • The # 1 predictor of engagement is relevance
  • The # 1 priority is adult development (‘adult development over child development’) - ‘we can’t ask people to do things we don’t do ourselves’
  • The # 1 challenge we face is getting adults to see it as their inherent responsibility to do their own professional development
In the spirit of sharing my own learning (a practice I hope our students and staff continue to do for one another), here are some ‘artifacts of learning’ I have experienced over the last week - a sampling of responses to last week’s question, notes from #MedfieldTalks, and a post by Will Richardson (@willrich45)...

Notes from James McCauley, Riverside Trauma Center
  • Concept of 'gatekeepers' - we can all serve as keepers of the gate
  • Concept of 'environmental impact of care' (a nice mantra for a school environment)
  • For every risk factor there are Protective Factors - We can all be protective factors
  • Resilience: Increase Prosociality, Psychological Flexibility; Decrease Toxic Influences
  • Compassionate Presence - another great mantra to embrace
  • We can build a 'competent community'
  • Resilience as a theme - 'Some day it could be better...'
  • 'If you think something's wrong, it doesn't hurt to ask'
  • Just ask - it does not plant the idea
  • ‘Treat everyone like they are vulnerable’
  • 85% of any type of therapy's efficacy is dependent on the relationship - lots of implications here for all of our work
  • Important question - Who are the adults that really ‘get’ kids?
  • Two stages of grief - who you were before and who you were after
  • Timeframe of hopelessness for adults- 2-3 years; children- 2-3 weeks
  • Distraction and structure are powerful coping strategies
  • ‘If you’re about to open your mouth to make someone feel better- don’t ‘

The Most Important Skill for the Future: Being Human
by Will Richardson (@willrich45)
As we continue to think and reflect upon the skills we want our students to have so that they are prepared, Richardson advocates for the active development and promotion of choice and agency - with the goal of helping our students to understand themselves as humans.
...for all of our flagellation over the skills that our kids will need to thrive in the future, we may be missing the most important yet eternal skill of all: knowing thyself.

...if we don’t have a clear understanding of who we are and how we interact with the world around us at the moment we will be losing an important battle for what it means to be human, to maintain our agency in a world that is increasingly trying to manipulate us through the technologies we use...We seem increasingly willing to let others, people or algorithms, make choices for us. To me, that’s less about technology and more about disposition. We seem increasingly disposed to let others’ choices determine our lives. Maybe because it’s easier, because it requires less bandwidth, or because we’re too scared to make the wrong choice.

Seymour Papert famously asked “Does the child program the computer or does the computer program the child?” I’d tweak that a bit: “Does the school program the child, or does the child program the school?” Meaning, of course, does the child have choice and agency over what happens while in school. If Harari and Rushkoff are right, if truly thriving in whatever world evolves means being fully conscious of who we are as humans and exercising our ability to choose for ourselves based on our understanding of who we are and what’s best for us, we should focus all of our efforts on building our students capacity to be fully human.

Topic/Question (Week of 11/25/18):  How can curiosity and imagination help you to learn and change?
  • It can help us transform what we already have into something that shines!
  • You find new things you never knew you knew
  • They can help us learn better
  • You have more answers and ideas 💡🤯
  • When I was young, curiosity took me out of the usual patterns of the day and the wandering in other areas was not always noticed by my parents. In this case and for those that are curious, we become self-learners which is a life skill and causes us to be imaginative and creative in the self-learning, (wandering, tinkering), process.
  • It is the pathway to humor, and humor is a great learning tool
  • It will help you to think outside the box in ways you never have thought of
  • You can discover new things that help you think about things in different ways
  • If you are more curious and imaginative you will be more successful in life
  • You can become more creative
  • It can help you go outside your comfort zone
  • Imagination especially can drive you a long way. Curiosity can sometimes lead you to knowing things you’ve never learned before. Curiosity kind of connects to education, if you’re curious about something in education, you’ll learn about it and maybe be an expert at it someday.
  • Curiosity and imagination can help you see what you wish to learn or be and then you try to be that way and you change or learn. Using your imagination. Sometimes if you wonder about something you think about that one thing for a while and then you become the thing you want to be or were thinking about without even realizing it.
  • Being curious can help you learn because you’re more interested in what is happening

I have often shared how fortunate I feel that my professional and personal lives intertwine and that growth and learning is two-fold.  A hope I have for our students and community of learners is that we can foster this ‘intersection’ as a reality, no matter what path is chosen.  Through intentional and purposeful reflection we can make individual progress, increase our collective understanding, and allow more doors of learning and opportunity to be opened and navigated.  In turn, these new doors will provide a greater insight into ourselves and growth will take place.
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.​
​Please click here for Blake Updates.
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat

Curiosity, Imagination, and Change

11/27/2018

 
November 27, 2018

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the ways that curiosity and imagination help us learn, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  How can curiosity and imagination help you to learn and change? Curiosity, Imagination, and Change (Week of 11/25/18) (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.

Our Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful respite, with some family time (both nuclear and extended), downtime, going to the Celtics-Knicks game, Holliston’s holiday stroll, and the official beginning of winter sports with Owen’s basketball tournament in Natick.  Now that I am writing all of this down, I realize that it sounds much busier than it was!

One of my goals this weekend was to intentionally unplug and take a break from school, trying to practice the ‘no homework weekend’ for me and my family - I think that is one of the reasons it felt ‘less busy’, despite all of the activities noted above!  However, I do want to share two quick reflections that synthesized for me on one of my runs…

First - thinking about last Wednesday...
Over the weekend it was fun to look through pictures from our Celebration of Voice assembly (#bmsed Celebration of Voice 2018), as we gathered together as a community to share our thanks, enjoy performances, celebrate, and have some fun.  I believe this assembly is a hallmark of our mission and embodies these tenets...
  • Every individual at Blake (students, staff, parents, and the greater community) matters, is cared for, and is an important piece of the Blake fabric.
  • We are a community of learners who must 'practice what we preach'.
  • We must always be present and continue to be here for one another.
It was wonderful and affirming to see the ‘unveiling’ of ADL’s new mural for our school…
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Second - some thoughts about curiosity and imagination…
On our way into the Celtics game the night before Thanksgiving, our family reminisced about our trip to Disney World four years ago as a family.  We took the trip over the Thanksgiving holiday and had such a good time talking through our favorite memories - feeling very grateful for the time we had and the fortunes we certainly have as a family.  The wonderment of that trip was, and forgive the oft-used phrase associated with ‘all things Disney’, truly magical.
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The two posts below that I am sharing this week bridge these two reflections (a sense of community, coupled with the curiosity and imagination of Walt Disney’s vision), and filled me with a genuine sense of hope and direction for our students and community.  We often discuss our goals for our students in this ‘ever-changing world’ and I think the ideas within these articles are ones worthy of consideration, while also building in some time for intentional gratitude (sharing a sampling of responses from last week’s question of the week)...

Topic/Question (Week of 11/18/18):  What are you thankful for this year?
  • Perspective, and having a great summer last summer
  • I am thankful for being here on the planet and enjoying LIFE!
  • My Animals and Family
  • I am thankful for the laughter of my students!
  • Friends
  • Everything I have
  • I am thankful for school, Medfield, and my family and friends
  • Food, shelter, family
  • Family, friends, pets, clean water, shelter, and sports
  • My family, my health, my co -workers, and the students
  • My life, technology, student council, my friends, families and people who care about others
  • Having the luxury/privilege to be able to give to others this season. It's humbling to know how much I have while others have so little.
  • My home and good schools
  • I am thankful for advancements in medicine and technology in our lives that other countries don’t have
  • My family, friends, shelter, heat, food, and extras

Adapting An Imagine-It-Forward Mindset
by MaryLee Sachs (@maryleesachs) in Forbes
This post references Beth Comstock (former Vice Chair of GE) and her book, Imagine It Forward - Courage, Creativity and the Power of Change - it is aimed towards a ‘business audience’, but the ‘imagine it forward’ mindset is one that certainly applies to our students.
Comstock talks a lot about permission, giving yourself the permission to take ownership and create waves. “People who effect radical change have to exhibit an uncompromising faith in experimentation, a bias for novelty and action, and a sense that disruption is something you cause, not observe.” She uses “the term ‘fog flyer’ to describe … navigating ambiguity”, a trait that is becoming increasingly important for all members of the C-suite.

Many of Comstock’s nuggets of wisdom stem from experiences and collaborations in Silicon Valley: “What I learned about Silicon Valley is that its success does not arise from the genius of a few individuals but from a connected collective that integrates technologies, funding, and ideas from across the spectrum. That requires resisting the pull of rigid hierarchical order and capitalizing on the collective, chaotic, self-governing intelligence of groups and networks.”

The Most Important Skill at the Office Isn't Being Taught in School
in Entrepreneur
In one of his more recent posts (Where Curiosity Will Lead Education), Geroge Couros (@gcouros) referenced this article, along with Will Richardson’s (@willrich45) posts about the importance of Curiosity.  Several strategies and benefits are listed within, such as developing interests outside of work, continuing to learn, being mindful, and broadening one’s network.  
Behavioral scientists have found that it’s one of the most valuable attributes in the workplace. Yet, curiosity often is not fostered in schools, especially those driven by test-based performance standards, said Andrew Minigan of The Right Question Institute in Education Week. Businesses don’t always encourage it in employees, either, even though curiosity is one of the signs that you’re doing better at work than you think.

Being curious means stepping out of your comfort zone for a lot of people, Koraca said. So, it’s important to take small steps.

Looking ahead to the very busy stretch before our holiday break, one of my intentions is to #slowitdown and build in time at work and home for more curiosity and imagination.  In the post referened above by MaryLee Sachs, she shares two quotations from Beth Comstock’s book about uncertainty...
The pace of change is never going to be slower than it is today. - Beth Comstock
To be innovative you have to learn to be comfortable with some level of ‘maybe’. - Beth Comstock
Embracing this uncertainty with imagination and curiosity will help our students and one another to learn, change, and adapt with an eye 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.
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat

Gratitude 2018 - An Annual Message

11/23/2018

 
The message below was sent to all Blake families 11/20/18...

November 20, 2018
 
Dear Blake Families,

I am reaching out to the Blake community to convey my wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving and to express my thanks.  Tomorrow we will be gathering as a Blake school community for our annual Celebration of Voice assembly, and I always look forward to and enjoy our time all together as we celebrate, share sentiments of gratitude, and have some fun.  The last few years I have taken time as we begin our time together at the assembly to share some words about both the history and importance of the Thanksgiving holiday, including the advocacy of Sarah Josepha Hale leading up to President Lincoln's proclamation in 1863 during the Civil War calling for a national day of thanks.  I will be doing the same again tomorrow and wanted to convey some ideas that will be conveyed to students tomorrow.  As I shared in my blog post today (Time for Gratitude), the thoughts and message may/will read familiar and repetitive from prior years, but I promise that the sincerity of the message continues to grow in depth.
 
First and foremost, every individual at Blake (students, staff, parents, and the greater community) matters, is cared for, and is an important piece of the Blake fabric.  Over the last couple of years we have discussed and I have conveyed the difficult challenges educators face as we attempt to 'appropriately navigate the lines of politics and personal beliefs to model an even and balanced approach to our students' education so that they may grow and discover their own beliefs'.  As we have all seen and heard, both locally and beyond in the recent news, communities - school-based and community-based - have been witness to behaviors that do not reflect the core values we have and practice at Blake.  Tomorrow I will once again remind and assure our students that Blake is a safe school for all students and adults and our efforts and expectations remain steadfast to both welcome and embrace all learners.  Ours is a culture of acceptance and inclusivity, regardless of one's race, color, gender identity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, national origin, or ethnicity.  We welcome and embrace all learners.  
 
Second, we are a community of learners who must 'practice what we preach'.  At this time of year it is important to remember and exercise the words of President Kennedy - 'We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.'  Each year I ask our staff to share their thankful thoughts and it is always heartening to have a window into our collective thanks.  They have been collected (with names removed) - Thankful Thoughts from Blake Staff 2018 - and they are worthy of your time, as they highlight the care, thoughtfulness, and gratitude our community shares and has.  I have also attached a 'world cloud' of the document, providing for a nice visual representation of thanks.  Several staff members have offered to share their thanks at tomorrow's assembly as well.  In the spirit of modeling, here are the thanks that come to mind about our community...
  • I am thankful that our Blake staff and community is willing to name, acknowledge, and reexamine our assumptions
  • I am thankful for our collective willingness to reexamine our practices and adjust accordingly
  • I am thankful for the energy, commitment, and professionalism that our staff brings every day - viewing challenges as opportunities and creating their own change
  • I am thankful that we are a community of learners who are future-oriented and are continuously looking to adapt to acquire and learn ways to best work with and serve our students
  • I am thankful to have the privilege of being an educator and working in this wonderful community
Third, we must always be present and continue to be here for one another.  When we are at a loss or are unsure of the steps to take, listening and being present are critical practices...
Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but don't have to do anything else. We don't have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen. - Margaret J. Wheatley  
Simply being together tomorrow as a community affords us the chance and opportunity to do just that - be present, listen, and be there for one another.

Jon Harper's post (@jonharper70bd) is one that I have shared with our staff and community the past few years and it resonates and holds true for me each time I read it.  I want to thank our staff once again for their continued presence for our students, parents, community, and one another - it is the foundation of all of our work.
Presence
Our days are busy, stressful and oftentimes we go home feeling as if we could’ve accomplished more. But at the end of the day we must ask ourselves one important question.  "Do the people that we serve want to be in our presence? If the answer is yes, then we can accomplish most anything. If the answer is no. Well then we have work to do. Starting tomorrow.”
 
My annual hope at this time of year is that we can maintain a culture and spirit of eternal vigilance for learning, listening, acceptance, and gratitude.
Enjoy the well-deserved time off and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Take care.
 
Nat
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Time for Gratitude

11/19/2018

 
November 20, 2018

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the practice of gratitude and Thanksgiving, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  What are you thankful for this year?  Time for Gratitude (Week of 11/18/18) (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 arrival of the wintry weather last Thursday evening came on quickly and certainly felt like a major wake-up call that the seasons have indeed changed!  The weekend for us was full and wonderful - attending the Learning and the Brain Conference (see some notes below) in Boston, attending a Guy Fawkes Day party with our British friends, and the highlight was celebrating my mother and father’s 50th Anniversary together as a family - with my siblings and their families, including all 7 grandchildren!  Here is a picture of my parents with the grandchildren…
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We are all looking forward to gathering as a family once again this Thursday to officially welcome the holiday season.  I have been thinking all day about this holiday of Thanksgiving and our work with students. A few things have come to mind…
  • It is so important to reflect and convey our thanks
  • We need to act on our gratitude
  • We must practice, adjust, listen, circle up, and stay with our work - it will help us foster a culture of gratitude and support
  • Gratitude is an intentional practice
  • I hope we can learn and give thanks to one another
  • Giving thanks is something that we all an do

It may sound trite, but I really do have a lot to be thankful for.  As we enter this week of Thanksgiving, my sharing is grounded in some gratitude - some tangible ‘artifacts’ of recent learning, reflective/active learning, and learning as a community with some ‘annual sentiments of thanks’…

Recent Learning - I am thankful that we are a learning community that is willing to share and listen to one another
Thanks to MCPE (Medfield Coalition for Public Education), I was able to attend the Learning and the Brain conference this past weekend (#latb51) - a wonderful conference that ‘connects educators with the latest research on the brain and learning and its learning implications for education’.  The focus this year was: ‘Reaching for Greatness: Unleash Potential, Passions, and Creative Talents in Students with Cognitive Science’.  I will be sharing more later, but here are a few ‘mindsets/notes/take-aways’ from a few keynotes...

Yong Zhao (@YongZhaoEd) - Education Professor
Through his talk, Zhao underscored the importance of challenging two assumptions that are currently made in schools that have a significant impact on our structures and practices...
  • The notion that there is one system or practice that works in all settings, all the time, for all people
  • The notion that currently all students have the same opportunities, talents, and interests to learn at the same pace

Robert Sternberg - Professor of Human Development
Sternberg shared the two motivations he has that drive his work - both are worthy of embracing and understanding at all levels of education.
  • Primary Motivation - Some students learn and test well when taught/assessed in conventional ways, but others do not. They are intelligent, but not in the usual way. There is intra-individual variability as well. The goal of instruction and assessment should be to reach all students equally and equitably.
  • Secondary Motivation - Moreover, traditional memory and analytical skills correlate highly with SES. Low-SES children (or children from non-traditional backgrounds, or children with diverse learning styles) are often disadvantaged by traditional instruction and assessments.

Sir Ken Robinson (@SirKenRobinson)
  • We must be thinking about developing systems of education that are faithful to the talents of our children - formal education that align with natural pathways of children’s development
  • Whole world depends on people having a passion for their skills and interests
  • There are big differences between learning, education, and school
  • Learning is a natural process - we have made the process unnatural
  • If you have a narrow view of ability, what you have is a broad view of disability
  • We all have hidden abilities - we may never know the talents we have - they have to be discovered, nurtured, and applied - It’s all about the conditions in which we grow -
  • Schools are based on conformity, compliance, and linear development
  • Talent is highly diverse - we need to adjust the system, not the people; Once talents are discovered, it takes considerable efforts to develop them;Once they are developed, it opens up possibilities
  • Aims of Education:  To enable students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active, compassionate citizens

Reflective/Active Learning - I am thankful that our community seeks out learning and reflects upon our experiences
Reflection is at the heart of active learning, and I appreciate the interactive nature of engagement that we aim to promote and practice at Blake.  The post below from Colby Itkowitz keeps our learning in a contextual framework, and the weekly sampling of responses from last week’s question of the week help with relevance...

The science behind why you shouldn’t stop giving thanks after Thanksgiving
by Colby Itkowitz in The Washington Post
This post highlights the importance of gratitude, including an interview with gratitude expert, Robert Emmons.  I came across it last year and it clearly had an impact on many readers, as at that time it was being ‘republished’ - Editor’s note: This post is being republished. The advice is timeless.
On most days, gratitude manifests as an emotional reaction to a favorable event or outcome. But it also can be a way of life. People who consciously choose daily to seek out things in their lives to be thankful for are, research has shown, happier and healthier.

The best way I practice gratitude is to continually think about those people who have done things for me that I could never do for myself. Who is looking out for me, who has my back, who has made my life easier because of their sacrifices? Who and what do I take for granted?  Then gratitude becomes, real, concrete, personal. We all have people like that in our lives. I make a mental list of these, and try to think about ways in which I can give back some of the goodness I have received. Basically, I try to practice being non-self-absorbed. Non-grateful people are self-absorbed. Grateful people are absorbed by the good that others are doing for them. Focus on the other — this is the best gratitude message we can give people.

Indeed, gratitude rescues us from negativity. Left to their own devices, our minds tend to hijack each and every opportunity for happiness. Negativity, entitlement, resentfulness, forgetfulness, ungratefulness all clamor for our attention.  Whether stemming from our own internal thoughts or to the daily news headlines, we are exposed to a constant drip of negativity. Doom and gloom is on the horizon, as financial fears, relational turmoil and health challenges threaten us. Weighed down by negativity, we are worn down, worn out, emotionally and physically exhausted.  To offset this chronic negativity, we need to continually and perpetually hear good news. We need to constantly and regularly create and take in positive experiences. Gratitude is our best weapon, an ally to counter these internal and external threats that rob us of sustainable joy. In gratitude, we focus on the giftedness of life. We affirm that goodness exists, even among the rancor of daily life. This realization itself is freeing, liberating, redeeming. Gratitude works!

Topic/Question (Week of 11/11/18):  How can down time (stepping away from your work) help you learn?
  • Helps me understand balancing work and down time so they fall into equal time zones.
  • I am under so much pressure to ace every test that comes my way. And also excel in my sport. Doing well in orchestra. I just need a day off.
  • You can rest and let the ideas have more time to sink in
  • You can have new perspectives on the earth and nature
  • I can relax
  • Taking time away from work can show you a different perspective of what you doing
  • It can help you focus more
  • It can help me clear my mind.
  • Down time gives you a break so you are excited to start working on your task. This way, it doesn't seem as tedious.
  • I start to think about what is really important in life. Much of it relates to "human experiences and interaction". I look at what students create and then I ride with ideas, (like a wave), to match up with what is important to their learning and creating.
  • You can see what happens in the real world when you don’t always have to be doing work. Having fun relaxes your mind so you don’t hurt your social status, helping you smile every once in a while when someone makes a joke or just smiles, you don’t have to say hello to everyone you see but a smile is all it takes.
  • It can let us relax and process everything
  • Good regrouping and refreshing time makes it easier and better to meet school challenges.
  • Down time allows me to do other things. From that, I can gain new perspectives; which allows me to bring something new to my work.
  • I think down time can help you clear your head of unnecessary information. Taking a break from work can also allow your brain to process information and help you come back to it with a new lens. Whenever I am struggling with something if I take a break and go back to my work later I have fresh ideas on how to solve the problem.

Learning as a Community - I am thankful that our community cares for one another as learners, students and adults alike
This year I have the good fortune of facilitating our New Teacher/Mentor program with Susan Bycoff and we met this past week as a large group.  This work is so important as it bridges our schools together, brings educators together, and provides an important forum to examine and share practices.  This month we talked about the critical role ‘vulnerability’ plays in our work as learners and educators.

Some Thankful Sentiments - Shared and modified a bit from years past...
Although they most likely read and sound familiar and repetitive each year, I promise that the sincerity of these sentiments continue to grow in their depth.  We will be coming together as a Blake community for our annual Celebration of Voice assembly on Wednesday to share our gratitude and have fun! As I share each year, Thanksgiving is a holiday that holds great significance for me and my family since an accident I experienced while running nine years ago.  Katie and I find ourselves, both individually and collectively, filled with gratitude and appreciation for the response of our Holliston and Blake/Medfield communities for the care and support that we received at that time. I will be sharing my gratitude Wednesday at the assembly, but I also know that I can not share it enough - thank you.  It is a privilege to work in a community that has both fostered and encouraged my growth while also showing deep care for my family. I have shared these words from President Kennedy and the post below the last few years and will be sure to continue bringing them to light each year...
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The Science of Happiness - An Experiment in Gratitude
(7:13)
I encourage everyone to find seven minutes this week to watch the clip and share with others.

In Praise of Gratitude
from Harvard Mental Health Letter
I have shared this brief post the last few years - my very dear friend Mike Norton, who has done extensive work on happiness, sent it to me two years ago.  It provides a nice explanation for why gratitude is important and also offers tips to be more grateful.
In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in the hopes it will make them happier, or thinking they can't feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack. And, although it may feel contrived at first, this mental state grows stronger with use and practice.

Each year it is equally important to to recognize and remember that this time of year can be a particularly stressful and emotional one for students and adults.  Personal situations, the loss of loved ones, or memories can bring forth many emotions, so please be sure to look out for one another and also rely on the community for support.  Although I wish I could, I know it is not realistic for me to have the opportunity to personally wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving before Wednesday afternoon. So, Happy Thanksgiving!  I am incredibly grateful to be a part of the Blake community and believe we are making a difference. Let us be sure to maintain a culture and spirit of eternal vigilance for learning, listening, and gratitude.

I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat

Fresh Perspectives

11/14/2018

 
To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the benefits and need to carve out down time in our busy lives, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  How can down time (stepping away from your work) help you learn? Fresh Perspectives (Week of 11/11/18) (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.

I hope that the ‘No Homework Weekend’ was embraced by everyone, providing some down time or simply time to catch up, relax, breathe, or simply do something different!  We did our best to do that as well, amidst the ‘normal craze’ of weekend activities. I want to express a sincere thank you to our entire staff for embracing and supporting these efforts - thank you!  

As I shared in my e-mail Friday afternoon, I did my best to  ‘practice what I preach’ this past weekend by trying to unplug and take a step back.  When I am able to do that by setting the intention and following through with it - certainly not an easy task for me - my reflections run deeper and I gain new perspectives.  In this vein of stepping back and allowing time for reflection and thought, I am sharing a sampling of responses to last week’s question (keeping learning at the forefront of our collective work), a post by Jessica Lahey, and some words that resonate from Peter Drucker and Karen Bass…

Topic/Question (Week of 11/4/18):  Share one (or more) change or adjustment you have made this year as a learner.
  • My learning happens on the fly, so one adjustment I have made is to incorporate into the class time individual and small group conferences. Now, I am learning how to have productive efficient conferences, while at the same time learning more ways to keep the rest of the class focused on the task at hand; or in other words, helping them make the effort to participate in the process to prepare for what comes next.
  • When I'm unhappy with something someone else is doing, I try to imagine being in that person's shoes.
  • I think more positively now. :)
  • I have started taking pictures of what is written.
  • I don’t know if this sounds too simplistic, but this year I’ve tried to be less hard on myself. As a learner take the class as it comes and quite that voice that screams at me to “pay attention you have to get the A”. This change has helped me enjoy the learning process.
  • I do a lot of walking

Why parents need to be patient with their school-age kids
by Jessica Lahey @jesslahey) in The Boston Globe Magazine
Lahey, author of How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success , shares a healthy and centering perspective about parenting and supporting middle schoolers.  The words at the end hold true for my hopes for our students and staff - that we continue to become our ‘very best selves’.  
These middle school students, like all adolescents, are on a long and arduous journey of what’s called individuation, a normal and necessary process of becoming one’s own person, of constructing a sense of self that’s theirs and no one else’s. Becoming this person, whoever that may be, can be painful, particularly when the emerging adult does not match the parents’ vision. You should be smarter. You should smile more. You should be thinner. You should have a passion. You should be more driven. You should be more like him, more like her, more like me. We offer the “shoulds” because we want the best possible lives for our children, but when we focus all of our effort on who they should be, we inadvertently invalidate who they are.

Admittedly, seeing kids for who they are rather than the people we wish they’d be can be terribly difficult, especially when the combined pressures of grades, sports, and college admissions, not to mention the weight of our own hopes, dreams, and regrets, cloud our vision. It’s important to recognize these moments, however, to question whether the goals we have for our kids are truly for them, or for us.

...remember that our children’s achievements don’t define our parenting. What does matter in the final accounting is our children’s trust in us to support and love them as they become their very best selves, no matter who that turns out to be.
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.​
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat

Incremental Gains

11/6/2018

 
November 6, 2018

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the steps we each can take to adjust our learning, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  Share one (or more) change or adjustment you have made this year as a learner. Incremental Gains (Week of 11/4/18) (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.

After attending the wonderful performance of Dracula: A Comic Thriller Friday evening, we had a very full weekend - sports games, MCPE Fall Ball Saturday evening, and trying to fit in ‘family time’ and plug away at our ongoing ‘to do’ lists.  Seeing the students come together for our theater performances always affirms and renews my beliefs and admiration in and for our students - coming together as a community for a common interest in an inclusive manner.  Special thanks to Tracy Allen and Maureen Doctoroff for leading this work with our students and bringing it all together along with the help of Nancy Deveno, Nancy McLaughlin, Kerrie Krah, Amy Ferry, Karen Shaffer, Melissa Landis, Melissa Zilinski, Carrie Traub, and Bruno Joline.  It was great to see many families and staff at the shows supporting our students - thank you!

This past week was an invigorating one full of personal and professional engagement with learning on many, many levels - I would like to say that this is true every week (and in many aspects it is), but this felt deeper for me.  From meetings and discussions with teachers at Blake to conversations to readings to formal professional development, I was happily immersed in learning…
  • Engaging with Blake educators at our faculty meeting and our Site Council
  • Learning about Norfolk Aggie at the presentation for our 8th grade students
  • Meeting with professors from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education (Christine Power and Nathaniel Brown), engaging with our department chairs in discussions about assessment, feedback, and the endeavors we are currently involved in at Blake - Calibration and Coherence is key!
  • Attending DESE’s Leading with Equity and Access conference and learning more about SEL curricula and Implicit Bias
  • ​Listening to Yong Zhao speak as part of the Diane Ravitch lecture series at Wellesley College - both provocative thinkers and educators
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Trying to synthesize this learning and engage in a thoughtful manner, this proverb has been in my head a great deal over the past few days.  Over the last few years I have seen it from time to time (referenced in articles/blogs, in presentations, or shared by friends/colleagues) and it resonates with me every time I see it.  As one who is often frustrated with the ‘slow rate of change’ we experience in schools, it is important for me to keep Denise Pope’s words (‘we need think of our work as steering a cruise ship and not a sailboat’) or the metaphor of ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint’ in mind.  That said, I also recognize that we must take some tangible action steps each day to actively help move the cruise ship along. In order for this to happen, I believe we must continue to reflect and identify the ways we learn and help our students to articulate those as well.  Last year I was fortunate to hear Andy Hargreaves speak about ‘Teaching for Good’ and I shared some of these reflections in this blog post, Exploring, Accepting, and Embracing Change.  What resonated most with me was one of his opening lines - ‘I love to learn’.  Wouldn’t that phrase be a great way to start every day, lesson, meeting, and experience?  

As I reflect upon Andy’s words, I know that my learning comes from listening, sharing, and experiencing.  Thinking about the ‘sense of urgency’ or ‘time is now’ mantras, coupled with the notions of ‘steering the cruise ship’ or ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint’ mantras, I am sharing some of the learning I have experienced below over the past week.  The mediums below (articles, blogs, lectures, engaging with students/educators/community for their perspectives, and conversations) all help inspire me to take action steps - both small and large - to embrace change and move forward with the hopes of enhancing the learning environment (as always, I welcome questions and further dialogue - my door is always open)…

Leading With Access and Equity Notes/Thoughts/Mindsets
(Keynote by Eric Gordon - @EricGordon_CEO, Implicit Bias Workshop, and SEL Workshop)
  • There is no excellence without equity
  • Where are we doing these things and where are we not?
  • SEL should be part of cultural norms - ‘not one more thing’
  • ‘Not One More Thing’ - it’s all on the ‘Continuum of Learning’
    • What do you know already that you will find?
  • #1 For Some Report - ‘Massachusetts is Number One in education — but only for some students’
  • Think about policies, structures, and programs that enable or promote inequities
  • People who think what they do about marginalized kids are smart enough to hide it
  • People are smart enough to hide their biases - don’t wait for them to change thoughts; change the structures so they do not have the choice
  • Lack of intentionality can be just as damaging as intentionality
  • Time to ask - ‘What is it that we did not anticipate?’
  • Mindsets vs Behaviors; Programs vs Structures
  • MA is a leader in public education
  • Shift ‘design for the average’ to ‘designing for the margins’
  • ‘They only get one third grade’ - I don’t have the patience
  • What are the behaviors you allow? What are the behaviors you don’t allow?
  • Race is a social construct that was not borne out of reason or science
  • We deal with ‘all or nothing’ - there is a spectrum
  • Shift blame from students to practitioners
  • Shift from ‘sympathy mindset’ to ‘empathy mindset’
  • ‘Being good is a practice’, engaging with our imperfections - We must re-conceptualize how we define being a ‘good person’
  • Pedagogy of the Plenty vs Pedagogy of the Plentiful

What Works May Hurt: Side Effects in Education Lecture - Yong Zhao (@YongZhaoEd)
(With an introduction by Diane Ravitch - @DianeRavitch - these three notes)
  • We have the obligation, duty, and responsibility to pursue truth and facts - burden of scholarship
  • We must speak on behalf of those who do not have a voice
  • If people in privatization weren’t paid, they would move on - they are not invested

Yong Zhao (@YongZhaoEd)
  • We have become a ‘creativity killing machine’
  • Data and tests have instilled fear in United States
  • A long history of bad test-taking in US (look at slide)
  • Side Effects in Education - Should be warnings for education - may improve reading scores, but might make your children hate reading forever
  • High stakes testing sorts people - trying to become a very intolerant system
  • When schools become intolerant, you suppress diversity and stifle growth
  • Diversity is biggest driver of prosperity
  • ‘Kindergarten Readiness’ - as if kindergarten is a job!
  • NAEP has not changed - it has ‘hurt kids’; NCLB - never closed the gap and we have hurt children a lot more while doing so
  • We can’t run schools like a country club (selection criteria) - you weed children out
  • NCLB has hurt kids
    • Poor testing and system has deprived kids of other opportunities they might have succeeded
    • Public schools are only place they may have access to arts, music
    • We have hurt more than helped
    • Good intent - but not good results
  • Side Effects
    • Need to make a choice - what are we sacrificing?
    • Homogenizing students kills diversity
  • Positive for some means negative for others
  • Medicine may kill 3, but will save 4 - is that worth it?
  • Big Questions in Education…
    • Is evidence having a positive effect or negative effect?
    • What are you really looking for in the end?
  • Everybody is valuable and has unique personalities
  • Best environments rely on biodiversity
    • Schools should be a nature reserve - every talent grows in its own way
  • To address achievement gap, move away from deficits models to strengths-based models
  • Intrinsic motivation is driven by choice
  • Any test misses more information about a person than a test will report
  • ‘What makes us more human can not be measured by any score’

Topic/Question (Week of 10/28/18):  How have you grown as a learner this year?
  • I think I have had more practice
  • I think I am spending more time asking students questions that relate to sports and their life in general. I have told them that I learn as much as they do every day. There are many areas that I have limited information.
  • I'm learning how to create a "routine" in the art room so that students look to a routine when they come to class and have an agenda established ahead of our meeting.
  • social emotional learning through project happiness, social thinking, and other resources
  • I am learning more about mindfulness and mindful practice. I am reading 10% happier to continue to learn more
  • I’ve learned and understood things I was confused in.
  • I now know a bunch of stuff like what middle school is like
  • I have been able to learn how to manage my time wisely.

Small Tweaks, Big Impact
by Katie Martin (@katiemartinedu)
Orla Berry shared this post with me earlier in the week and it is a nice framework for our work with students and one another - naming and articulating the steps we are taking towards change, while grounding all of our work in a ‘personalized learning’ environment.
Many educators understand that by structuring the process so much, we often short change the learners but it is difficult to change our practice without clearly understanding what it could or should look like. Designing powerful learning experiences that meet the diverse needs of the individuals in your classroom is rarely a matter of finding the right curriculum or the best “program.”  It is much more about knowing your students and having a clear sense of the skills, knowledge and dispositions needed to be developed. This is not something that can be scripted in a textbook and very skilled teachers have different ways of doing this effectively.

Having a clear understanding of the vision is critical, yet shifting our practice requires small steps to get there.  Each tweak teaches us more and allows for a continuous evolution of our practice. Getting from point A to point B is more about a series of small tweaks rather one dramatic shift. Effective teachers are always assessing the students they have in their class creating experiences that meet the needs of the students they serve. They set high expectations and create safe learning environments as they model and guide diverse learners.  But to foster mindsets that empower creativity and innovation, they know they must step back and let students grapple with problems so they can truly own their learning.

The two posts below are written by Beth Holland and Justin Reich, educators and friends who inspire me and push me to be a better thinker, educator, and leader.  These posts are their ‘farewell posts’ to EdWeek - their words encourage me (and hopefully others) to keep asking questions, use research to inform thinking, and to be open to change.

Farewell and Thank You to EdTech Researcher
by Beth Holland (@brholland) in Education Week
After a lot of reading and writing, I have grown to realize that deeply understanding the system of education requires examining not only what happens in schools but also in the broader social, economic, and policy environments that impact teachers and students. As I have written in a few posts recently, we need to consider the history of education and how we got to where we are today; the perspectives offered when examining education through multiple lenses; the role of digital equity; and even our agreed upon purpose of education.

There is a tendency in education to look for a single solution or an easy-to-implement strategy when reading blog posts. Most times, as a writer, I feel pressured to deliver concrete "take-aways" for teachers and leaders. However, through EdTech Researcher, articles often conclude with more questions than answers, opening the door for new lines of inquiry and encouraging diverse ways of thinking about how to bring academic work into the reality of classrooms and schools.

Farewell to EdTech Researcher
by Justin Reich (@bjfr) in Education Week
In 303 posts on this site, I've tried to look at these technologies as they've passed through their moments in the sun, examine the evidence that we have about their use and effectiveness, and question the narratives around these technologies as transformative...The real challenge for educators is figuring out exactly how a new technology or technology-mediated approach might be productively integrated into the complex, political, multifaceted world of schools.

...research can help answer these questions. The patient, inquisitive exploration of new technologies, finding connections between a new innovation and its historical antecedents, looking at patterns in data about who has access to technology and how they use it, examining measures of effectiveness and learning--from these kinds of activities we can take steps towards understanding where new technologies might lead to useful new strategies for learning. To say that any new technology has potential educational value is not the same as saying that these values will be obvious.

Scrutinize new tech skeptically, but be open to potential ways that new technologies can support learning in new ways. Most of these gains will be modest, but piling up incremental gains is how we make progress in education.

We have a responsibility as educators and individuals to be truly invested in our most precious ‘commodity’, our students, and to tangible steps as we make incremental gains in the interest of learning and growth.  In order to do this (and I am talking to myself right now, too!), I think the words below from James Ryan, Ted Sizer, and Justin Reich will help us on our path - reminding us that this is an ‘imperfect journey’ that requires change and coherence…
I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.​
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat

Continuous Growth

10/30/2018

 
October 30, 2018

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the ways we foster and continue our own learning, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  How have you grown as a learner this year?  Continuous Growth (Week of 10/28/18) (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.

It was wonderful to welcome our 7th graders and teachers back from their excursion to Nature’s Classroom Friday afternoon!  A special thanks to all of the chaperones for their willingness to support the experience: Kelly Campbell, Matt Millard, Deb Manning, Juli Dalzell, Jon Haycock, Lucas Mihalich, Mark Nickerson, Greg Keohan, Michael Gow, Judy Silva, Diana Mileszko, Mike Gibbs, Kristin Buley, Lisa Matthews, Jen Dondero, Kathleen Caprio, Kaylie Bourgeois, Kerrie Krah, Maura Batts,, and Amy Cuomo.  And, of course, a very special thanks to Judy Silva, Kelly Campbell, Jen Dondero, Aimie Keigan, and Tricia Williams for their thoughtful planning, care, and preparation for a safe and successful trip!  With the ‘hunkered down’ feel on Saturday with our Nor’easter, we had inside sports and a relatively lazy day as a family and enjoyed family dinner and the Red Sox game Sunday evening - a late and exciting outcome!  I can’t believe that November is 3 days away - where does the time go?
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With our 7th graders out of the building on Thursday and the 8th grade visiting Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School that morning as well, the building certainly had a different ‘feel’.  After settling into the day I took a walk around and found myself looking at the school in a different light - nothing profound, just an opportunity to see things a bit differently and reflect. Without getting into the nitty gritty of the specific thoughts and reflections, I was struck once again how reflection is a critical aspect of learning - and, that is our ultimate goal for our school community - learning.  
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I find myself the reflecting on the message from Marc Brackett, founding Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, regarding a culture of learning.  A couple of weeks ago I highlighted Brackett’s ‘# 1s’ from his keynote and workshop at Challenge Success in a blog post (Developing Learners)...
  • The # 1 predictor of engagement is relevance
  • The # 1 priority is adult development (‘adult development over child development’) - ‘we can’t ask people to do things we don’t do ourselves’
  • The # 1 challenge we face is getting adults to see it as their inherent responsibility to do their own professional development
Taking Brackett’s words to heart, the key is for each of us (taking a broad view of ‘us’ including students and adults) to find and articulate the ways we are seeking and receiving professional development.  Sharing my own learning is one way I have found that keeps me in a ‘reflective mode’ to further my own growth as a learner, and I hope the items below will lead to some reflections for others:  some words from Roland Barth and John Hattie, a sampling of responses to last week’s question (seeing conversations as a reflective process), and two posts - one espousing an openness to discomfort and detours’ and the other promoting ‘divergence’ as a mindset...
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Topic/Question (Week of 10/21/18):  How do conversations help us learn?
  • When you are in a conversation if you open up you may be able to see another's side, perspective, you've not seen before.
  • They teach us understanding of how others speak and how to talk
  • Conversations are a great way to really dig deep into a topic with another person. It is great to get different perspectives on a topic and gain ideas from others. It helps to not always expect a huge, direction altering change from a conversations, but I try to look for three small takeaways that might nudge my thinking in different directions. I often feel that some of my best learning comes from good conversations with peers / colleagues.
  • Real life experiences and especially from conversations help all of us recognize what it is to be human and is one of the greatest learning tools in life.
  • Conversations help us learn by teaching us about others feelings and other ways of learning things we didn’t know of.
  • It helps you really focus and process words which is a skill we will always need.
  • Conversations help us learn by engaging us to use more words.
  • We learn about other people and our relationship between them. For example I had a BFF, we were never separated, but one day we figured out that we weren’t just friends, we were COUSINS.

Not just high schoolers anymore: My middle school students are feeling the pressure to succeed
by Phillis Fagell (@Pfagell) in The Washington Post
Fagell recognizes the various paths we take as adults for learning and development, and offers some strategies for parents as we aim to support ‘detours and discomfort’.
...as a community, we are not making it easy for kids to take the risks that lead to self-discovery. The stress level among my 13 and 14-year-old students approximates what I saw several years ago when I counseled high school seniors. There is a sense that they need to follow a prescribed path, to perform well in every discipline. Parents and students fear that even middle school choices might have an impact on college admissions. As a result, when students earn a low grade or don’t like their math placement or get cut from a team, they can become unmoored. Intellectually, we know that no one needs to be good at everything. In practice, it can be hard to take the long view.

I empathize with parents who are trying to control as many variables as possible and become concerned with issues like course rigor or grades. It’s an understandable reaction to uncertainty, but unfortunately there are no clear guidelines. To be sure, the path after high school was a bit more predictable in the 1990s. The world now seems to be in constant flux, and that is unsettling.

By thinking holistically about our priorities for our children, we can give them a sense of control over their present and their future. If we can honor what makes them unique and help them develop self-awareness, we will lower their stress level...As I have discovered in my own life, it’s okay to experience detours and discomfort. Our children’s lives will be richer for it, and even the dips will provide helpful information as they find their way.

Five Characteristics of the Divergent Teacher
by Mandy Froehlich (@froehlichm)
Along with Elisa Bostwick (@elisabostwick), Froelich offers a framework for educators with an eye towards embracing ‘divergent teaching’:  The ability to recognize our own assumptions, look for limitations and challenge our own thinking in regards to teaching and learning. It’s taking an idea and creating new thinking that will facilitate student learning in new, innovative directions for deeper understanding. It is diverging from the norm, challenging current ideas, looking for a variety of solutions, and being willing to fail and grow. (Divergent EDU, 2018)  The five characteristics they outline (deeply reflective, voracious learner, tenacious, mentor, and courageous) are ones I hope to embrace and are reflected in our mission for our students, educators, and community.
Divergent teachers create experiences that encourage learners to consider and explore new ideas within a culture where all individuals (educators and students) are supported to step beyond their zone of comfort by developing new ways of thinking and promoting more in-depth learning.

More than ever, in today’s world, we need to empower learners to explore new possibilities and ideas by fostering divergent thinking, expanding on creativity. Carving out time for learners to ponder their curiosities and explore their wonderings inspires our youth to stretch their thinking to ideate.
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Are our practices reflecting a spirit of continuous learning?  Are we providing opportunities for students to reflect and grow?  Do our practices reflect our beliefs? I hope we -educators, students, families, and community -  all are (and remain) open to considering and reflecting new learning - the spirit of ‘deep reflection’ will get us there.  And it helps me to think about the clip from Jack Uldrich’s talk, The Future Requires Unlearning, encouraging all of us to be willing to reflect and unlearn.  At the heart of this talk is a mantra rooted in our mission - ‘a willingness to adapt’.  ​
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.​
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat

Starting With Conversations

10/23/2018

 
October 23, 2018

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the ways we actively develop ourselves as learners, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  How do conversations help us learn?  Starting With Conversations (Week of 10/21/18) (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.

Having spent the end of the week at #MassCue18, it was great to go for a run on Friday afternoon before the 7th/8th grade dance.  Special thanks are expressed for the staff members who chaperoned and helped provide a safe and fun night for the students:  Lisa Matthews, Jillian Shaw, Kath McCullough, Kelly Ruminski, Kelly Campbell, Kristin Corcoran, and Matt Marenghi. We had a nice weekend with the kids, taking in some of their games, getting our pumpkins (feels late for us this year!), and starting to put the garden to bed.
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Attending #MassCue18 is always a fruitful experience, not necessarily for the ‘tangible learning’ that will inevitably take place but for the connections that are fostered, developed, renewed, or begun.  I look forward to sharing some of the learning that I experienced and the ideas that percolated over the two days, but I think my most significant ‘take-away’ (really more of a reminder for me) is the importance of connections, conversations, and relationships.  One of the more meaningful ‘experiences’ over the two days was some dedicated time with Beth Holland (@brholland) - she had reached out to me ahead of time so that we could connect and catch up. I first met Beth through our work with EdTech Teacher back in 2012 and our friendship has grown since then.  I highly respect Beth and appreciate her thoughtful approach to education, pedagogy, and learning - after each conversation I have with her (in person, on the phone, or virtually through social media or other means) I find myself in a more grounded place with my own beliefs and practices challenged and affirmed.  

In an effort to take a step back and ground this thinking in conversations with an eye towards growth, below are a few items that connect - a few ideas from #MassCue18 (always happy to talk them through), a sampling of responses to last week’s question (seeing conversations as an additional way that we can seek, foster, and develop our own learning), and two posts - one highlighting attributes for teachers to grow and one regarding the importance and power of conversations...
 
Some #MassCue18 Notes, Ideas, Mindsets, and Thoughts
  • How can we make more connections with one another?
  • ‘We the People’ - student voice
  • Ideas with Beth (Isomorphism, morphism, concept mapping, Richard Elmore - the ideas!!!)
  • Kids today have the same needs we had, but they have more opportunities to change the world
  • Culture is everything
  • Culture is built 30 seconds at a time - 30 seconds (Joe Sanfelippo)
  • More opportunities to change the world
  • Sometimes our own lens gets in the way
  • Pedagogy is the driver - technology is the accelerator
  • ‘Digital Use Divide’ vs ‘Digital Divide’ - an important distinction
  • ‘How will you fail forward?’
  • ‘Today’s technology is the worst technology that our kids will use moving forward’
  • ‘What is Your Why?’ - Would others recognize your why?

Topic/Question (Week of 10/14/18):  How do you seek, foster, and develop your own learning?
  • Visually
  • Naturally...thinking every day, listening to my inner teacher's intuition
  • I just do it.
  • I do math and school to develop and get better at subjects and I seek learning in sports and friendships.
  • Digging deeper, reading, talking to others, listening to others, asking questions
  • Listen and watch students and how they go about learning. Spend time experimenting with materials to find new solutions in using. Read George Couros' blog.
  • Courses, articles, and other teachers
 
8 Things Every Teacher Needs to Grow
by Terry Heick (@terryheick) in TeachThought
The image below is a ‘snapshot’ of these attributes, but I encourage everyone to read this brief article as the ideas within apply to all educators on all levels.
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The Brain-Changing Power of Conversation
by Bari Walsh in Usable Knowledge (HGSE)
Although this post is focused on the conversations and ‘interplays’ between parent/caregivers and children, the implications are important.  We need to make sure we are present with students and one another, taking time to have conversations and learn.
A study in Psychological Science shows how conversation — the interplay between a parent or caregiver and a child — ignites the language centers in a child’s brain. It’s the first study to show a relationship between the words children hear at home and the growth of their neural processing capacities — showing, in effect, that how parents talk to their children changes children’s brains.

The “conversational turns” are key here, the researchers say. Conversational interplay — a verbal version of the serve-and-return caregiving that helps kids thrive — “involves not only a linguistic exchange, but also a social interaction that we know is crucial to cognitive development as well,” Romeo says. This work suggests how important it is that caregivers “not just talk to your child, but talk with them,” says Romeo. “Even from infancy, we can consider children to be conversational partners. Obviously, a ‘conversation’ looks very different with much younger children: with infants, it might be taking turns exchanging giggles or coos; with toddlers, it might be repeating and expanding their sentences; and with older children, it might be asking ‘who, what, where, and how’ questions. “Either way, it seems to be the interaction that best supports children's language skills and the underlying neural development.”
 
Each day we have many opportunities for learning, both formal and informal, and I hope that we can help our students and one another #slowitdown (certainly one of my ongoing goals) to have the necessary conversations to keep these opportunities present and moving forward.  

I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat

Developing Learners

10/16/2018

 
September 16, 2018

To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the ways we actively develop ourselves as learners, our topic/question for the dinner table is:  How do you seek, foster, and develop your own learning?  Developing Leaners (Week of 10/14/18) (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.
 
This past weekend felt like a blur as we went from one event to another, trying to mix in some much-needed yard work, exercise, and relaxation - I can’t necessarily say that we were successful, but we did our best!  I’m looking forward to (hopefully) more typical fall weather this week to truly enjoy the pumpkins, apples, and colors of fall - one of my favorite times of the year.
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Last week I shared some thoughts and reflections around the centering question, ‘Are our students and children going to be prepared?’  Thinking through this question a bit deeper, I think it’s important to look back to our essential question - checking to see if we can get there and if ‘we are on a path’ towards ‘preparation’:  ‘How can we cultivate and curate the progression of student learning and growth?’  I do believe it is through the process of cultivation and curation of the learning that we will make progress - and, in the end, do what we aim to do, namely foster lifelong learners who ‘...seek and respect knowledge, integrity, character, wisdom, and the willingness to adapt to a continually evolving world.’  To do this we need to dive in the deep end of the pool, try some things out, reflect, and outline a plan of action.
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Last week I shared some thoughts and reflections around the centering question, ‘Are our students and children going to be prepared?’  Thinking through this question a bit deeper, I think it’s important to look back to our essential question - checking to see if we can get there and if ‘we are on a path’ towards ‘preparation’:  ‘How can we cultivate and curate the progression of student learning and growth?’  I do believe it is through the process of cultivation and curation of the learning that we will make progress - and, in the end, do what we aim to do, namely foster lifelong learners who ‘...seek and respect knowledge, integrity, character, wisdom, and the willingness to adapt to a continually evolving world.’  To do this we need to dive in the deep end of the pool, try some things out, reflect, and outline a plan of action.

So...are we on track?  The practice of holding up a ‘proverbial mirror’ to ourselves and one another is one that has spoken to me through some reflective questions...Are we doing what we say we aim to do? Do our practices reflect our beliefs? Where are the gaps?  Can we be honest with ourselves with one another (i.e. ‘If we had truth serum…’, as John D’Auria often says)? Are we actually holding up a mirror? Are we trying it out? On Monday night (10/15) and Wednesday morning (10/17) of this week we will be having an information session for the Blake community, highlighting our work with feedback, namely Standards Based Reporting and our systems of feedback.  The preparation, dialogue, and discussions have served the purpose of this ‘reflective mirror’ - identifying progress, areas of strength, and areas of growth - where we have come and where we need to go. Our work is far from perfect and we have some serious work that lies ahead (and always will) - that said, our process is developing and we are growing. And, in so doing, we are indeed living our mission - with bumps, disagreements, progress, and setbacks along the way - and learning.

Looking to keep some of these ideas in mind as we work to develop lifelong learners for our students and one another, I am sharing a sampling of responses to last week’s question (fostering strengths in others is a key attribute of a learning community) and a post from a ‘must follow’ educator, Rick Wormeli (@rickwormeli2)...

Topic/Question (Week of 10/7/18):  What can you do to help support and foster the strengths in others?
  • Create a safe place and give people the chance to shine or experiment
  • Get to know the person as best you can - focus on their strengths with them and find ways to encourage development of those strengths. Can also notice a strength that the person doesn't realize they possess then name and encourage it.
  • You can shine a light on them. Sometimes people have a difficult time perceiving their own strengths, and pointing them out can help them focus on developing them further.
  • By truly listening to others and respecting and accepting their opinions.
  • Be positive when giving feedback and provide opportunities for success.
  • Recognizing and reminding students of their strengths. Giving them opportunity to grow and show leadership in small and large ways.
  • Share experiences built off of others in network circle. Share optimism. acknowledge and inspire!

The Problem with, "Show Me the Research" Thinking
by Rick Wormeli (@rickwormeli2) in AMLE Magazine
Wormeli’s thoughtfulness and understanding of the culture and dynamics of education shine in this post, as he reminds us to put research in appropriate context.  He is not negating the importance of research and studies; rather, his recognition of the uniqueness of the nature of schools, learning, and students provides a framework for professional development and growth.  His reminders and directions are important and timely: Avoid Physics Envy; Develop a Critical Eye for Education Research; and Accept a Little Professional Humility.  With this framework in mind he encourages us to stay current, seek our own PD, and ‘dive in’ (my words, not his) - the learning is in the process.
To my knowledge, there has never been a full scale, amply sized, inclusive of all elements, random-selection, double-blind, causal relationship, official study of standards-based grading or differentiated instruction. And why is that? Because it's physically impossible to conduct either one, as there are too many confounding variables and intersecting elements for which we could control. It's prohibitively expensive, requires so much inference and extrapolation as to be functionally inconclusive, and in some cases, is unethical to control group students. To demand such studies and full proof of positive effects of either one before discussing their potential use in the classroom is toxic contrarianism for its own sake, and not helpful.

Let's read and respond to the research that is there–seriously, there's a lot out there that gets read only by other researchers, not classroom practitioners. Once we've read and discussed what's out there, let's get more invested in the research ourselves, conducting teacher action-research, forming Critical Friends Networks and Professional Learning Communities, and sharing what we find with each other and inviting its critique.

We are imperfect, and our field is imperfect. We'll shake apart, though, if we can't accept the ambiguities and messy evolutions that form our enterprise, or if we lose interest in keeping up with an ever-changing profession. Too much is at stake to remain aloof or instructionally impotent. It's unsettling to not have a clear view of the path ahead, but that's an enticing challenge—to boldly go. The successful among us see the merits of informed discussion and the limits of argument from myth. Though we might lack the tools to get it right every time, we are attentive to others' research while contributing research of our own. We make the most conscientious decision we can, given our growing expertise and the context of any given moment. For most of us, that'll do.

I continue to find myself coming back to the learning I gained from our Challenge Success training and the insight from Denise Pope, Madeline Levine, and Marc Brackett.  Wormeli’s post and the emphasis on shared adult learning connects directly with Brackett’s insight and his ‘# 1s’:  
  • The # 1 predictor of engagement is relevance
  • The # 1 priority is adult development (‘adult development over child development’) - ‘we can’t ask people to do things we don’t do ourselves’
  • The # 1 challenge we face is getting adults to see it as their inherent responsibility to do their own professional development

Circling back to some thoughts I shared last week (Fostering Strengths) from Madeline Levine help to provide some context for our need to ‘try things out’ and look forward, even when things are uncertain and unclear...
  • We need flexibility, agility, take risks, try and try again
  • VUCA - Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous - that is the world
  • In times of uncertainty, we go back to status quo - that’s not good
  • No consensus on what students are going to need (scary, worrisome)
    • Used to be coding - there might be automated coding
    • In times of uncertainty, we tend to go back to status quo - that’s not a good thing
    • Need to encourage ‘safe risks’
      • Could be framed as ‘an apocalypse’ or as ‘an opportunity’
      • ‘Man, are we living in interesting times’
  • ‘We must educate and develop young people for the world they will be entering, rather than the one we have known.’

It’s important to keep sharing the ways we find inspiration and, to continue this spirit of sharing learning this week, I am highlighting some images/quotes that help me - maybe they will do the same for you?
​Grounding ourselves in the philosophy with a vigilant eye towards our ideals is critical.  Although the path is not linear I have found James Ryan’s reference to an ‘imperfect journey’ The Imperfect Pursuit of High Ideals) along with our mission to be compass points, reminding us to embrace a collective ‘willingness to adapt’ - in so doing, I believe the ‘development of lifelong learners’ will come to fruition...
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I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Enjoy the week and take care.

Nat
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