To help encourage conversations and dialogue about joy and having fun, our topic/question for the week is: What brings you joy and what do you like to do to have fun? Finding Joy and Having Fun (Week of 3/30/20-4/3/20) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
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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
Having referenced numerous times over the last couple of weeks the blurred sense of time I am experiencing, I find myself feeling that way over and over again - what day is it? Is it the weekend? As one who finds comfort in routines and norms, it is hard when that ‘norm’ is ever-changing. I have certainly experienced a wide range of emotions and feelings (sometimes within a few hours) - as I shared with staff earlier in the week, last Monday was a ‘tough one’ for me. Through different conversations, texts, and follow-up e-mails it sounds as though others felt the same, or experienced sadness or grief on different days. Coupled with this sense of loss/sadness was the awareness of the support and care around me. As time moves forward, I hope you will help me remember that our ‘new reality’ is continually changing for all of us - and that our culture of care will be present and in place for all. I shared with everyone that my love for music has been kindled/rekindled, both listening to music and playing the piano, and it has been a source of happiness, ‘play’, and solace. John Fogerty singing Long as I Can See the Light within this post (John Fogerty: 'In My Room' Video Series) at about 5:00 is one that I have played at least once per day. Music has been a real source of joy as well - and, I hope we all can make time and room for joy - it is so very important.
I also find joy and a spirit of ‘play’ in reflection, reading, and learning. As such I am sharing some thoughts that have come out of this ‘source of play’ with the hopes that ideas will spark, conversations will be had, and we will learn together. In addition to some notes/thoughts, the responses to our most recent Topic/Question and posts below have served as centering points to reflect and grow - I hope they may do the same for others (some have been shared over the course of the week and others may be new)…
Education - Roots and Principles...
I feel as though I have been a broken record as of late, referencing the TeachLab with Justin Reich (Investigating the Art and Craft of Teaching) podcast to anyone I have talked to or had any correspondence with about ‘remote learning’ and education. Justin is a researcher and deep thinker, always pushing my own boundaries and awareness while also honing in on sound pedagogy and care for students. The two most recent episodes (Michael Pershan and Facing History with Laura Tavares provide great insight into our current reality of ‘remote learning’ and are worthy of listening and consideration. In the episode with Tavares, Justin shares these words from Kurt Hahn (founder of Outward Bound) - they speak to me and I think they speak to the culture we are aiming to establish for our students, staff, and families at Blake...
** These notes/ideas/thoughts are from different segments from the Modern Learners (The Modern Learners community was established by Will Richardson and Bruce Dixon) podcast and also some notes from a weekly edchat hosted by Will. Many of the notes are more salient and poignant than ever - they speak to this rare and pivotal time in education. While maintaining a full awareness and understanding of the scary nature of this pandemic and cause for ‘remote learning’, this is a time in education to capture, be creative, and move forward...
- We need to build in reflection for students/families - this is a pivotal and critical
- If there ever was a window of opportunity, it is now
- What have we learned about learning? What is our new normal going to look like?
- Asynchronous learning is really ideal for agency and empowerment
- What do you want to do differently now that we can?
- This a time that begs us to engage our communities in explorations re: the purpose of education; we should acknowledge the ways school folks have stepped up to engage in addressing the needs for feeding kids and confronting issues relating to our most vulnerable students and families
- We train them and prepare them in an unnatural learning environment like school - and then throw them out into the real world which is a natural learning environment - and we expect him to thrive? Where should we look? Where is the blame? Where is the responsibility?
- Question to consider: How do we not let the need for comfort/normal allow us to “do school” as we always have? Will we revert back to 'normal' when we return?
- Walking a lot, at least 5 miles a day now, eating a lot of plant based food, chicken and fish, avoiding sugar, painting, and responding to student drawings with encouragement.
- Regular exercise
- Going for a run on a regular basis is important to my well-being. If it has been a few days without working out or getting some exercise, I just don't feel right.
- Take some time for reading and a walk outside everyday
- Take walks outside, enjoy nature and notice the beautiful things! Eat well and get enough sleep
- Lots of outside time. Walking (I haven’t had this much exercise in months!). Cooking with my kids. Looking forward to emails about the check in conference calls at Blake! Helping my kids with school work they are being assigned (thank goodness for this!) and my son has an online school day that ranges 8:30-2:45 and that has been so important for him.
- I find that time outside is very helpful!
- Deep breaths, doing something I enjoy doing and taking time for some type of exercise.
- Exercise, Eat Right & Rest
- Going outside
- Take showers often, brush me teeth and hair, wash my face, practice sports, eat fruits and vegetables
- walk every day for about 5 miles..paint...listen to others.
- I make sure to have plenty of sleep and eat healthy. I think this is very important to self care and overall well-being.
- I've been trying to practice yoga just about every day. I've also been enjoying taking my dog for long walks in the park. Getting outside is key for me!
- These days—going for looooong walks.
- I make my bed in the morning
- I drink water so my throat isn’t dry, I’ll stay away from others that are sick, I’ll stay at home
- I stay calm and read
It's Time to Keep School Alive When We Shut the Doors
By Ewan McIntosh (@ewanmcintosh)
Orla Berry shared this post with me towards the end of last week - I think it is ‘spot on’. McIntosh references different schools and the importance of always prioritizing ‘connection over learning’ - within, he also emphasizes the importance of joy and the hope that putting joy and togetherness at the heart of learning will become a legacy.
Ask any kid why they go to school, and the first thing they’ll say is ‘learning’. Good girl, good boy. Now dig just a little deeper and there’s a plethora of reasons, but most circle around one key ideas: “Seeing my friends and teachers” is the key reason most students give for their love of school, and working with young people is at the top of the list for teachers, too. I know, because over the last six years I’ve asked the question, in person, to tens of thousands of teachers, and hundreds of thousands of young people, across five continents. They’re unanimous. So what happens when school closes its doors as pandemic and pandemonium spreads? You lose the key reason that both adults and students show up: to see each other.
Our children need connection, discussion, challenge from peers and from their teachers. Our teachers need to feel that they are valued leaders in their community, not marking drones or office workers there to shift parental emails. Parents need to feel like parents, not pseudo teachers.
In Beijing, we added a purposeful addition to the sense behind their purpose: learning should be joyful. That doesn’t mean “ha ha fun”, but rather the kind of joy you might get from achieving a longer bike ride than you’ve done before, or climbing a new munro.
At a time when the world is already feeling quite uncertain or downright grim, the world doesn’t need another worksheet, nor a haughty claim that “it might not be fun but the kids have to learn it.” To that, I say “wake up and smell the coffee”, only less politely if you actually say it. For teachers and students alike it is vital that we put that sense of joy, and togetherness, at the heart of the learning and teaching experience for the weeks to come.
Where's the Silver Lining for Education?
By Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby)
Tom Whitby is a must follow - every time I read what he writes, I learn. While respectfully acknowledging the very dark period and reality of the pandemic, his post conveys the ‘silver lining’ many educators (myself included) are experiencing at this time. As he says the ‘ready or not, here we come’ circumstances have brought many things to light that must change for our students in the educational system - ‘We need to reassess, reevaluate and prioritize. This opportunity is the silver lining of that very dark Coronavirus cloud hanging over us.’
The consequences of our nationwide quarantine however, may be having a profound positive effect on our education system. From an education perspective, there may be a silver lining to one of the darkest clouds to ever cover this country.
This nationwide experience exposed and underscored a number of deficiencies and shortcomings in the system that can now be addressed in many positive ways. How we respond to what we now know may very well evolve the education system in ways not possible before the nationwide lockdown blew it up. From chaos we now have opportunity.
Probably the biggest takeaway from this crisis in education is the absolute need for social and emotional learning for kids. We need to address physical and emotional needs before kids can learn. Maslow must always come before Bloom. Priorities need to be readjusted. We see schools adjusting their grading policies. Maybe grades aren’t what we have believed them to be for centuries? It may be time to reassess and adjust. Many schools have cancelled their need to give standardized tests. Again, maybe they need to move down on the list of education priorities. Let’s take the opportunity to talk it through and consider our experiences.
Beyond the obvious health and safety issues that must be addressed, we need to address the issues of education. The kids who we are educating today will make the decisions of health and safety moving forward. We can’t educate them with the knowledge and skills that brought us to this point. They need more knowledge and more relevant skills to get beyond our limited capabilities. They will be living in a different world. This horrible event that we are now facing has actually given us the greatest opportunity yet to evolve our education system. We need to reassess, reevaluate and prioritize. This opportunity is the silver lining of that very dark Coronavirus cloud hanging over us.
That Discomfort You're Feeling Is Grief
by Scott Berinato in Harvard Business Review
This post features an excellent and centering interview with David Kessler, an expert on grief. It is an assuring acknowledgement of what we are all experiencing - grief. Kessler articulates the stages of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Sadness, Acceptance) and a sixth stage - meaning - and emphasizes the importance of naming our feelings - ‘feel the grief and keep going.’
...we’re feeling a number of different griefs. We feel the world has changed, and it has. We know this is temporary, but it doesn’t feel that way, and we realize things will be different. Just as going to the airport is forever different from how it was before 9/11, things will change and this is the point at which they changed. The loss of normalcy; the fear of economic toll; the loss of connection. This is hitting us and we’re grieving. Collectively. We are not used to this kind of collective grief in the air.
Understanding the stages of grief is a start. But whenever I talk about the stages of grief, I have to remind people that the stages aren’t linear and may not happen in this order. It’s not a map but it provides some scaffolding for this unknown world. There’s denial, which we say a lot of early on: This virus won’t affect us. There’s anger: You’re making me stay home and taking away my activities. There’s bargaining: Okay, if I social distance for two weeks everything will be better, right? There’s sadness: I don’t know when this will end. And finally there’s acceptance. This is happening; I have to figure out how to proceed.
Acceptance, as you might imagine, is where the power lies. We find control in acceptance. I can wash my hands. I can keep a safe distance. I can learn how to work virtually.
...I believe we will find meaning in it. I’ve been honored that Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s family has given me permission to add a sixth stage to grief: Meaning. I had talked to Elisabeth quite a bit about what came after acceptance. I did not want to stop at acceptance when I experienced some personal grief. I wanted meaning in those darkest hours. And I do believe we find light in those times. Even now people are realizing they can connect through technology. They are not as remote as they thought. They are realizing they can use their phones for long conversations. They’re appreciating walks. I believe we will continue to find meaning now and when this is over.
There is something powerful about naming this as grief. It helps us feel what’s inside of us...When you name it, you feel it and it moves through you. Emotions need motion. It’s important we acknowledge what we go through. One unfortunate byproduct of the self-help movement is we’re the first generation to have feelings about our feelings. We tell ourselves things like, I feel sad, but I shouldn’t feel that; other people have it worse. We can — we should — stop at the first feeling. I feel sad. Let me go for five minutes to feel sad. Your work is to feel your sadness and fear and anger whether or not someone else is feeling something. Fighting it doesn’t help because your body is producing the feeling. If we allow the feelings to happen, they’ll happen in an orderly way, and it empowers us. Then we’re not victims.
There are many questions that remain and many more to come - and many that we simply can not answer at this time. I look forward, however, to the continuous spirit of community, flexibility, adaptability, and growth that is clear and evident at Blake (with students, staff, and families). Relationships come first and we will continue to work to engage, empower, and support all learners. There have been ‘mirror moments’ over the last couple of weeks that I have found encouraging, namely our understanding of the messy reality of learning, our efforts towards a concerted focus on learning skills, and our aim to provide meaningful feedback in the service of learning. And, at the heart, is our willingness to adapt. The three quotes below speak to me - Michael Cohen and Dwayne Reed’s words have been circulating on many social media platforms and Sizer’s words are certainly among my favorites - they both push us to think about what we are experiencing and learning at this time, and how these experiences should inform our planning and the experiences for students in the future…
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Take care.
Nat