To encourage dialogue and reflection about the future and the ways that we can allow ourselves to grow and learn, our question for the week is: What are you looking forward to in the near future? Why? Embracing the Future (Week of 11/7/21) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
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Our Students
Blake's Core Values: Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Reflection
Our Essential Question: How can we cultivate and curate the progression of student learning and growth?
Our Mission: Blake Middle School believes in a living mission statement, based on the concept that our community seeks and respects knowledge, integrity, character, wisdom, and the willingness to adapt to a continually evolving world.
The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning. - John Dewey
You cannot teach today the same way you did yesterday to prepare students for tomorrow. - John Dewey
The chilly November weather has certainly arrived and I hope everyone enjoyed the extra hour of sleep/rest/time with Daylight Savings. Our weekend began with MCPE’s Fall Fest on Friday evening, and we then did our best to be outside in the sunlight while plugging away at the never-ending leaves in the yard!
Last week I shared some thoughts about the ways we can help to adjust our mindsets (Shifting Our Thinking) and this is definitely a work in progress for me. These two posts offer different perspectives on the importance of embracing the future and allowing learning and exploration to take place. The concept of the ‘invisible staircase’ in Pasricha’s post is one that I hope will allow me to move beyond some anticipatory angst and allow the changes and growth to simply happen. And, in a similar vein, Gopnik’s recent post speaks to the ways we can learn from our children - I am reminded of this every single day.
Why are we so bad at predicting what will happen to us in the future?
by Neil Pasricha in Ideas.TED.com
We all think that the way things are now is the way things will continue to be...When we’re at rock bottom, we are certain that there’s no way up. We think we’ll never get out of our parents’ basement. We think our divorce means we’ll never meet someone new. If we’ve lost our jobs, we think we’ll be scrolling online postings forever. The researchers called this the “end of history illusion.” We think everything will remain unchanged from here on out.
Inevitably, everything we go through in life really is a step to help us get to a better place.
You think because you can’t see up the staircase there aren’t any more steps. But there are more steps. And change will come. It always does. That’s why it’s so hard to see change as a step. To see this failure, this flop, this difficult life experience as part of a process, as part of a greater whole. It’s hard to see it as a step because you can’t see the next step. And you sure can’t see 10 steps after that.
So be kind to yourself. When you’re there, when you’re stewing in the shock of failure and loss, when you’re convinced you’re stuck, when you’re convinced there’s no way forward, just remember: There’s a staircase you’re not seeing. Trust that it’s there, right in front of you, and that it leads to exciting new places. Have the courage to believe in this one thing that you can’t see. There are so many steps ahead. So many steps. Don’t stop. Shift the spotlight, and keep moving.
Why Children Learn Better Than Adults
by Alison Gopnik (@AlisonGopnik) in The Wall Street Journal
Young children seem uniquely, insatiably, marvelously curious, even at risk of life and limb. You might think that this drive to explore helps children to learn so much so quickly. But is it really true that children explore more than grown-ups and that this helps them to learn?
Computer scientists talk about a fundamental trade-off between exploration and exploitation, and learning traps are an excellent example. We grown-ups are often so anxious to exploit that we don’t explore, so afraid of losing stars that we miss the chance to learn something new. Children, in contrast, are natural explorers, willing to sacrifice stars for the sake of information. You need both types of thinking to thrive, but we grown-ups might learn something from those insatiably curious kids.
Sampling of Responses from Last Week’s ‘Question of the Week’: What problem(s) do you want to solve? Why?
- I want to solve global warming so the future generations won't be harmed by what we do.
- I want to solve the problem of crowded hallways.
- A problem to solve is a return to conversation norms and a willingness to listen. There are too many examples of argumentative posturing today that erode the sharing of thought and ideas.
- Homework because I need to work on that
- I want to solve logistics problems. A clear way forward is beneficial for mental health and productivity.
- I would like students to take ownership of their mistakes. And in my opinion, there are two kinds of mistakes - 1/ Most mistakes are perfectly understandable, 2/ The "Draw a Line" mistake. Singular - Every mistake can bring the decision "Draw the Line". Before coming to that, I have added so much evidence in class, talked to so many people, even changed some of my teaching, but I have to give up and I need to find help outside of what I can do.
- Global Warming
- Global warming, I like cold weather more than warm weather and plus I hate the endangerment of animals that can cause them to go extinct.
As we look at the practices and systems we put in place for our students, it will be important to hold ourselves and one another (myself included) to the science of learning, growth, and reflection. Adam Grant’s words below can serve as a compass point and mantra as we continue to adapt with purpose.
As always, let me know of any questions/concerns.
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Take care.
Nat