To help encourage conversations and dialogue about what we would each like to learn and our abilities to influence our own learning, our topic/question for the week is: If you had one week to learn about any topic or subject of your choice, what would it be? Why? Choices in Learning (Week of 4/6/20-4/10/20) (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
Despite the busy nature of our forced ‘working from home’ conditions (I’ve always struggled with balance, as you know), I have also made sure to find intentional time each day for reading and reflection. I know I am not alone in sharing that the rainy weather this past week made things tough, literally putting a damp feel on top of my otherwise vulnerable emotions. Seeing the sun peek through the windows of our house as I write this post feels like a gift!
As conveyed to staff and families at the end of this past week, I truly appreciate the collective willingness I have felt to support our students, our families, and one another. And, this applies to me as well. I know I tend to feel deeply about our work and my own actions, and this has been a challenge as ‘letting go’ and ‘giving grace to myself’ do not come easily for me (I can give the advice, but have a heck of a time following it). In many ways I have learned more about myself as a learner over the last three weeks than I knew before - and, as a harsh self-critic, I am working on practicing what I preach in allowing the discomfort of my own learning (professionally, personally, relationships with others, communication, etc.) to simply happen. As may be evident, I tend to focus on my mistakes and missteps more than successes and want to fix them so quickly - I am learning to try and slow it down and remember that learning is never just one ‘fixed point in time’. I so admire and feel pride in our community and appreciate the willingness to simply ‘dive in’ and make/walk this path together.
Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (Week of 3/30/20): What brings you joy and what do you like to do to have fun?
- Walking around and watching everything in bloom. Drawing and Painting while listening to Al Bowlly music
- Anytime that I am with my kids brings me joy. Whether it be playing in the yard, reading a book, or watching a movie together, those are the precious moments.
- I like to paint. It brings me joy.
- I play soccer and that brings me joy and that’s what I do to have fun.
- I like to do art journaling, and these days, virtual meetups with friends make me happy!
- Drawing and being outside
- Play outside
- Being outside!
- What brings me joy is my family and my dog. I write and play frisbee to have fun
- My joy comes from spending time with loved ones, creating, and spending time outside!
- I usually bake
- I like to hang out with my friends
- What brings me joy is Baking with my mom. I have made brownies and cookies!
- I LOOOOOVE to read!
- hiking or playing video games
- I love to swim and play lacrosse, sometimes if I’m really bored I love to just go outside and use my wall ball for lacrosse. I love to bake too.
- I like to FaceTime my friends when we are quarantined and I like to dance and ride horses when I am free.
- Listening to music and dancing
My ‘go to’ podcasts…
TeachLab with Justin Reich Podcast (Investigating the Art and Craft of Teaching)
Modern Learners - Podcasts about Reimagining Change
Unlocking Us - Brene Brown's Podcast
WorkLife with Adam Grant: A TED original podcast
Some recent posts that resonate (as an educator and father)…
These posts (some I have shared already) speak to what we at Blake and in Medfield are trying to do right now - do what’s best for kids, foster relationships/learning, and support our students and families. Yes, these things are always true and the connections between the initiatives and areas of focus we have as a school and our current efforts have been affirming, enlightening, and encouraging. I hope the reflections we are making right now will continue, sustain us, and guide our efforts both in the present and future for our students and community...
The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning
by Charles Hodges, Stephanie Moore, Barb Lockee, Torrey Trust and Aaron Bond in EduCause Review
The temptation to compare online learning to face-to-face instruction in these circumstances will be great. In fact, an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education has already called for a "grand experiment" doing exactly that.3 This is a highly problematic suggestion, however.
What becomes apparent as we examine examples of educational planning in crises is that these situations require creative problem solving. We have to be able to think outside standard boxes to generate various possible solutions that help meet the new needs for our learners and communities.
The threat of COVID-19 has presented some unique challenges for institutions of higher education. All parties involved—students, faculty, and staff—are being asked to do extraordinary things regarding course delivery and learning that have not been seen on this scale in the lifetimes of anyone currently involved.
Too Much, Too Quick? The New Educational World of COVID-19
By Sean Slade in Education Week
We have entered a new educational world—one which is online, one which is full of great recommendations and suggestions, and one which is also overwhelming...So what to do? Here is some advice which—as we've all never been in this situation before including myself—you should read with a small grain of salt.
- Allow yourself to not be perfect.
- Own your mistakes and show your vulnerability.
- Turn your classes into learning centers.
- Assume agency from your learners.
- Take a break from tests and take ownership.
- Narrow your choice.
A Message to our Challenge Success Family during COVID-19
by Denise Pope (Challenge Success)
During these uncertain times with school closures and significant shifts away from normal routines, many people have expressed concerns about the impact on students’ academic journeys. I want to encourage parents, educators, and students in the Challenge Success family to remember the big picture. This is a time to focus on — and be grateful for — your family’s safety, health, and well-being. Make building strong family relationships a priority. Reach out to neighbors, friends, and others in your community to check in, offer support, and connect virtually. We will get through this together.
For families concerned that their children are missing out on academic content, remember that at a time like this, less is more. I encourage you to broaden your definition of learning and focus on playtime, downtime, and family time. Think about how to help your kids continue to develop skills rather than trying to re-create school content by assigning extra worksheets and flashcards.
As a family, discuss and agree to a routine that might include the following: Reading for Pleasure...Personal Interest Projects...Social Time...Family Time...Chores...Service...Exercise and Meditation/Deep Breathing...Good Sleep...Sensible Screen Time
If you set up a routine that includes the suggestions above, your child will be learning important academic and social and emotional skills that will prepare them for returning to the classroom and help them thrive in school and out. So be gentle on yourself. Be patient with your kids and your partner. Have empathy for teachers and express your gratitude for them and others. Try to embrace and enjoy this family time and stay healthy.
This Is the Time
by Dean Shareski (@shareski)
The spread of the Coronavirus is one of the most challenging things to happen to us as a society in a few generations, but it very well could turn out to be the best thing to happen to education in 100 years. While that’s a very difficult idea to process at the moment, looking ahead this could be a true turning point in education.
My life in education has been built around two main ideas: Technology and Joy. These two themes have been tied together in my mind for the past 30 years and during the current crisis, as we consider the role of learning in our lives, I would argue that these concepts are more important than ever…
This is the time to explore the advantages and disadvantages of learning online.
This is the time to foster community.
This is the time to explore joyful learning.
This is the time to begin to address issues of equity.
This is the time to give up control and embrace personal learning.
This is the time to rethink assessment.
This is the time to extend grace.
This is the time to prioritize well-being over all else.
Above all, be safe my friends and colleagues, do what you can, and most of all take care of the human side of your children and students by bringing even just a modicum of joy into their lives – it’s needed now more than ever.
Teaching Without Compulsory School
by Chris Lehmann (@chrislehmann)
What does it mean to be a school when work is no longer mandatory?
We want to make sure we are creating the conditions by which kids really do want to continue doing the subject-specific learning because we do value the work we ask kids to do, and we’re going to see what kids show us that they are doing beyond the traditional boundaries of what we think of as school. And the hope is that that process of reflecting upon it and sharing it will elevate the learning as well. The more we can help kids see themselves as empowered learners right now, able to tap into their agency, the better chance we have of helping them through to the other side of this crisis.
The Parent Opportunity
by Will Richardson (@willrich45)
For progressive educators who are looking to this “crisis” as a way to make real change happen in schools, the opportunity right now is not to change practice but to change minds. Now is not the time to figure out what parts of the school experience are truly broken and what we need to create as an alternative. As an old friend reminded me recently, now is about “getting thru,” about making sure that we survive the disruption not just in a curriculum outcomes sense but in a health and wellness sense as well. People are grieving. Forced change like this is stressful to the max. We need to minimize the upset, not create more.
...I think all of us would be remiss if we didn’t use this moment to begin to build a different conversation around learning. Again, all these millions of parents in close proximity to their kids, observing “learning” right in front of them. It’s a moment that will be relatively (I hope) short-lived, yet it’s also a moment where we if we seize it, allows us to reflect deeply as school communities about the central commitment that we share for our kids, that they become powerful learners in the world. It’s a moment where we can begin to change the larger story of school.
Whether through survey or live Zoom discussions or email or whatever else, right now is when we need to be asking these questions and engaging in these conversations:
- When is your child most engaged with their online school experience? Why? What drives that engagement?
- When is your child bored or disengaged? Why?
- When do your children feel joy in learning? What circumstances lead to that?
- What are you learning about your children during this experience? How does that learning happen?
- How are your children’s learning skills improving during this time? What’s changing about them as learners?
Let me say it again: we need to do this work now. I really believe this is the real opportunity of this crisis for those who have been itching to reimagine school. Real change has to start with a community-wide, shared understanding of what learning actually is, how it happens, and what constrains it. This moment, when so many families are huddled inside together trying to make sense of school, we can be creating a powerful conversation about learning that will serve us all when we’re done “getting thru.”
I have shared that music has been a great source of solace and comfort for the last few weeks, both playing piano (wish I made more time for that) and listening to music. Music has always been a big part of my life and I can mark my stages of learning with music - different songs/genres during stages of growth, development, and learning. Reading the news on Friday morning that Bill Withers had passed away brought tears to my eyes as I have such deep memories of listening to his songs and music. His voice was simply beautiful and magical. I have been spending a lot of time listening to his music - in particular Lean on Me. I’ve copied below some links below to performances that have struck a chord (pun intended) with me along with posts from The Washington Post and Rolling Stone. As noted in the post in Rolling Stone, Lean on Me is an anthem of both togetherness and resilience - sentiments and actions that I am fortunate to be experiencing both personally (friends, family) and professionally (Blake, Medfield) during these uneasy days...
Bill Withers' 'Lean on Me' Is a Song for Every Crisis -- Especially This One
By Daniel Kreps in Rolling Stone
The West Virginia-born Withers once told Songfacts of “Lean on Me”: “That’s probably why somebody from New York did not write that song, or somebody from London, or somebody from a large city. It’s a rural song that translates probably across demographical lines. Who could argue with the fact that it would be nice to have somebody who really was that way? My experience was, there were people who were that way.”
In 2006, in an interview with American Songwriter, Withers hit on why the song connects with people in tumultuous times. “Romantic love you only wanna touch people because they’re pretty and they appeal to you physically. The more substantial kind of love is when you want to touch people and care for them when they’re at their worst.”
Bill Withers, On Repeat
by Chris Richards in The Washington Post
Withers is exalting the universe, yes. But he’s talking to himself, too. Just like on “Ain’t No Sunshine.” When we sing along, the repetition in his music becomes a mantra that we use to convince ourselves that this life — in all its loneliness and bliss — is real.
Lean On Me - Bill Withers
Performance from Soul Train (3:40)
Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, John Legend perform "Lean On Me" at the 2015 Induction Ceremony (4:32)
Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder and John Legend perform "Lean On Me" at the 2015 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
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Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat