To encourage dialogue and reflection about our day-to-day work in schools in the context of our mission/vision, our question for the week is: What do you believe is the purpose of school? Why do you believe this? Grounding Our Work (Week of 10/8/23) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
Blake's Guiding Lights
Our Students
Blake's Core Values: Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Reflection
Our Essential Question: How can we cultivate and curate the progression of student learning and growth?
Our Mission: Blake Middle School believes in a living mission statement, based on the concept that our community seeks and respects knowledge, integrity, character, wisdom, and the willingness to adapt to a continually evolving world.
The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning. - John Dewey
You cannot teach today the same way you did yesterday to prepare students for tomorrow. - John Dewey
Hopefully everyone has been enjoying the fall weather that we have had as of late! Maggie came home for the long weekend which was a last-minute change in plans - it was so good to have her home with us. We also celebrated my mother’s 82nd birthday with my brother and sister’s families on Sunday afternoon - we felt very grateful for the chance to be all together.
Designing a Better Student Experience
by Tim Fish in NAIS Online
…Our missions ground us in a higher purpose. Yet, when we honestly look at the daily lived experience in our communities, we often see a gap between what we do and the purpose we aspire to live. The machine often seems to get in the way of the magic.
So, how do we design school to realize our aspirations, to be more about transformation and less about what Stanford’s Denise Pope refers to as “doing school?” I’ve been obsessed with this question for more than 20 years. NAIS’s New View EDU podcast was created to explore this idea. What is the purpose of school, now in this moment, and how do we design it to ensure that we are living fully into our purpose?
After 40 podcast episodes and hundreds of school visits, I’ve come to believe that we can live into that purpose we so often describe when we design a student experience that weaves together four unique and interconnected strands. These four strands, intentionally considered and working together, help schools transform lives, give students the skills they need to thrive no matter what they decide to do, and make the world a better place.
Strand 1: Curricular Learning
Strand 2: Flow Learning
Strand 3: Interdependent Learning
Strand 4: Learning in Community
Building School 2.0 with Chris Lehmann
from New View EDU podcast
(43 min)
Chris Lehmann worked in a school that matched his vision of education by about 75% – and that other 25%, he says, was what gave him “license to dream.” What would you dream of if you had the opportunity to design a school from scratch? The founder of Educon, the Science Leadership Academy, and Inquiry Schools talks with host Tim Fish about his quest to create a fully inquiry-driven, human-centered learning model where citizenship and science shape the direction of the school.
In This Episode:
“I want their heads full of thought. I want them to have the wisdom to apply those thoughts in meaningful ways. I want them to have the passion to push through when the world tells 'em it cannot be done. And I want them to be kind because I think we need more of that in the world.” (15:49)
“We don't give anyone else agency, right? We as human beings, you have agency because you are a human, because you are alive, as do I. Now lots of institutions in our society, school being primary among them, take away agency. But what actually we try to do is not give students agency, but help them unlock their own.” (23:10)
“If a high school science education does not help students understand fundamentally that the way in which they live their lives, the products they buy, the kind of house they build or live in, you know, the way they use power, the car they drive, that all of these things have a profound impact on our world, right? Then you have failed children. Because the ability to apply a scientific lens to the choices we make every day as human beings is a fundamental part of being a citizen.” (26:51)
TEDxYouth@SanDiego - Liz Murray
(12:25)
With an extraordinary story of triumph - going from homeless to Harvard - Liz Murray changes our perspective of hardship and despair by celebrating the opportunity and possibility of renewal that comes with every drawback in life. Her infectious attitude and fresh perspective on adversity are the highlights of this inspiring talk.
** Love of Possibility
** The ‘What if?’ Voice
** Fall in Love With Possibility
Sampling of Responses from Last Week’s ‘Question of the Week’: What needs to be ‘in place’ for you to contribute and find success on a team? (team/group in the classroom/school, sports team, team at work, etc.)
- Collaboration
- I need to feel safe and that others will respect what I say and not judge.
- the people
- Rules/agreements
- Have good sportsmanship
- Feeling comfortable
- Kind, caring people need to be in place for me to contribute
- You need to work together
- Compassion from everyone
- Everyone on the team contributing to our goal
- Kindness. You need kindness to work together in a group/team. If you aren't kind, things won't run smoothly.
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Take care.
Nat