To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the ways that we impact one another, our question of the week is: Share an important or impactful ‘life lesson’ you have learned (or re-learned) this school year. Why is/was it important or impactful? 'Life' Lessons (Week of 2/28/21) (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
The first week at school following a vacation certainly has an adjustment period - but, as I think more about it, the past 12 months has simply been full of an ongoing pattern (or non-pattern) of adjustment periods! As one who loves getting outside and taking in the sunlight, I do not always feel this way, but the wet/gray weather on Saturday was welcomed for me as it seemed to give ‘permission’ to have a quiet day. One area of growth for me is for that permission to be ‘internalized’ rather than waiting for ‘external’ permission - a work in progress, for sure!
The prompt came to me that day at lunch as I was thinking about the focus for our meeting - capturing/archiving the ‘learning/re-learning’ over the past 12 months. Last week I shared Adam Grant’s insight regarding ‘post-traumatic growth’ as a framework to ‘help articulate and implement systems and practices from our own learning (and more importantly, the learning of our students)’...
Post-traumatic growth is about recognizing that these challenges do make us stronger in some ways. If you break down post-traumatic growth, the most common forms of growth in the face of tragedy are gaining perspective and strengthened gratitude. Saying,“Okay, I got through that. I can get through almost anything.” Appreciating things that you might've taken for granted before. There's also, for many people, a sense of new possibilities or new meaning around saying, “Okay, you know what, I need to take a step back and really figure out what matters in my life and what's important to me.” Now again, that's not to say that anybody is going to appreciate the pandemic and all of the struggles and tragedies that have come from it. But recognizing that once we make it through this experience, there are ways in which we're going to grow from it, I think that gives us a chance to at least see some silver linings that we might've missed otherwise.
As with the discussions in breakout rooms, the collective responses about ‘memories in school’ spoke to greater or meaningful learnings - the kind of learning that we ‘hold on to’ and carry forward. They also led me down a path of reflection with our mission statement as a guide…
Which Content Is Most Important? The 40/40/40 Rule
The question was simple enough. Of all of the academic standards you are tasked with “covering” (more on this in a minute), what’s important that students understand for the next 40 days, what’s important that they understand for the next 40 months, and what’s important that they understand for the next 40 years?
I often wonder what answers I would give today to students if I could go ‘back in time’, as I reflect upon our ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ teaching and learning as a school and learning community. A number of years ago (2016) I shared some similar thoughts in a blog post entitled Reflecting Forward - and, as I read them today, they still hold true...
- What is most important for our students?
- What are the key conditions to provide the greatest opportunity for students to access those keys?
As we begin and continue these discussions I find it is important to listen to all perspectives, try and better understand opposing viewpoints, listen, and engage in the conversations on a frequent basis. One principle/frame of thought that has really resonated with me is the 40/40/40 framework for our work - Is this (fill in the blank - assessment, curricula, test, fact, etc.) that will be remembered and applied 40 days from now? 40 months from now? 40 years from now? The increments can change (i.e. minutes, days, months), but the idea remains the same. My steadfast hope is that we are not limiting our work to the first increment of 40 - rather, I hope we are working towards the larger increments as our overarching goals. And that can bring us full circle - how do we get there? From my perspective we need to make sure we focus on the 'learning skills' of our students, and helping one another to not get too focused in a myopic manner on the content and scores as we aim towards the skills. Don't get me wrong - I care about the frameworks, content, and standards - they are incredibly important as they establish a fount of knowledge and understanding. But, what I care more about is what skills the students will acquire and hone to better understand, synthesize, and apply that knowledge/understanding.
It is hard to believe that we have the Incoming 6th Grade Information Night for families this week - it is one of my favorite nights/events, and I have to admit I am mourning the fact that it will not be ‘in person’. However, this night provides an opportunity for sharing, connecting, and reflecting upon the values of our learning community. Similar to the responses from the opening prompt and the learning we have all had over the last year, what ‘we take’ and move forward with from our experiences is very individual and also different. My responses to the 40/40/40 may be different from yours, but it is in the collective sharing, listening, and reflecting that we can grow, push, and support one another - the key is simply that we are each learning and growing.
Below are a few posts that ‘spoke’ to me over the last week and certainly provide some applicable ‘lessons’ for my own learning and growth. The prompt from last week is one I hope to continue to ask one another (students, families, colleagues) as they will shed light on the ways that we can support the learning that sticks (40/40/40)...
Sampling of Responses from Last Week’s ‘Question of the Week’: What are some ways that we can help others succeed? Be specific.
- To help others succeed, start by listening. What does the person want? What are they struggling with? In what ways are they asking for support? Sometimes all they need is a sounding board. Starting with listening will inform your next step.
- Listening
- Making connections
- Uplifting them and celebrating their accomplishments
- Empathy
- Offering support
Parents can care about education and still be OK writing this school year off
by Christine Koh in The Boston Globe
I read this post the morning it was published (2/24) and received several texts from friends and colleagues with the link as well. It spoke to me both personally and professionally - the sentiments align with my own experiences this year, and I believe the ‘lessons within’ are worthy of carrying forward into our day-to-day practices with all of our learners, our families, and ourselves.
...I achieved neither excellent SAT scores nor stellar upper body strength. Instead, for a variety of developmental and emotional reasons that became clear to me in adulthood, I was, by conventional standards, a terrible middle and high school student: mostly Cs, some Ds, and As only in music, the one graded subject that brought me joy during those challenging years. Whenever I relate these facts, people are shocked. Why? Because academically speaking, I ended up becoming a highly functional adult, culminating with a doctorate in the brain, behavior, and cognitive science track from Queen’s University and a triple appointment postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard Medical School. Prestigious grants from the National Institutes of Health paid for my degree and fellowship.
Add a pandemic and remote learning to these mixed feelings and I am left with two seemingly opposing conclusions: My empathy and appreciation for educators and administrators has soared to new heights, while my expectations about academic achievement have completely bottomed out. Yes, you read that correctly. This child of Korean immigrants who used to pore over flashcards and multiplication tables, and who collected academic accolades like precious gemstones, has zero expectations this year when it comes to grades and standardized tests. Let me be clear, this is not a reflection on my kids’ teachers or school administrations; their efforts have been herculean. Instead, I believe that our kids’ current experience is so far afield from normal that carrying on with academic evaluation and standardized tests per usual feels ridiculous.
Do I still want my kids to put forward their best effort and be active, respectful students? Yes, but I don’t care about the metrics. Instead, I’m focused on how my kids can become stronger through their non-school life. I look for small moments where they can level up their life skills. I support their pursuit of what lights them up and where they find self-direction. I try to help them develop a deeper understanding of what is happening in the world despite our inability to actually move much in it. And I’m not alone.
The pandemic has shown us that not everything is going to turn out the way our kids want, and while painful, those limitations and disappointments can be learning experiences, too. A couple of years ago, I worked on a project with the Centers for Disease Control Injury Center and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and learned from Dr. Andrew Garner that joy — and finding things you are passionate about — is a crucial lever to mitigating stress and preventing toxic levels of stress hormones that can lead to negative changes in genes and brain form and function.
While life as we know it is on hold, now is a time when we have a little more space to encourage our kids to figure out how to be humans beyond grades or standardized test scores. It doesn’t mean you give up on education; it simply means you level-set your quantitative expectations based on the current circumstances. And that you encourage your kids to process the losses of the year by learning how to be functional human beings who are tuned into passion, creativity, and the world beyond their doorstep.
The Most Important Lesson of 2020
by Will Richardson (@willrich45) and Homa Tavangar (@HomaTav)
Description of this brief post that is worth reading and ‘bookmarking’: This is an excerpt from the free ebook “9 Big Questions Schools Must Answer to Avoid Going ‘Back to Normal’ (*Because ‘Normal’ Wasn’t That Great to Begin With)” from the BIG Questions Institute co-founders Will Richardson and Homa Tavangar. The book provides extensive context for the disruptive moment that we now find ourselves in, and it offers practical steps to reflect on who we are now as individuals and institutions, and to begin a process of reinvention to make sure our students can thrive in an increasingly uncertain future. The ebook can be downloaded from the link above.
...what we learned about learning over the last 12 months offers us a powerful model for what classroom learning might become, virtually or face-to-face. The most important lesson from 2020 is the reminder that deep and powerful learning only happens when it’s relevant, real-world, collaborative, driven by inquiry and passion, and shared transparently. That captures the learning that we adults did this year.
... real change will require us to leave many of our old ideas about school behind. And the pandemic gave us a kick start: Cancelled SAT, AP, IB and state and national exams. Pass/fail assessments. Reduced time on task. Less homework and fewer tests. In these ways, the pandemic has already lightened our luggage. Now, as we begin to emerge from lockdowns and quarantines, will we fall back and add on the dead weight that we already shed? Or will we choose to leave it and other aspects of school behind?
To have survived the immediate though prolonged crisis of the pandemic is one step. Now the question becomes: how do we thrive into the future? To arrive at an honest and realistic answer, we must take stock, reassess and recalibrate what the fundamental purposes of school are in an age of deep uncertainty and change. Now is the perfect time to ask whether the learning environments our students need today are the same as the ones schools offered them pre-pandemic.
To even entertain the notion of reimagining schools for this new age, we have to be willing to think “radically,” to pull up at the root as the definition of that word suggests. To truly thrive, we need to rebuild our foundations at the same time that we widen the aperture of what children need to flourish. We believe that means going back to and spending time interrogating the more fundamental questions about the way we think about not just the practice of school but the idea of school itself. To that end, we offer nine big questions to start us on that journey:
- What is sacred?
- What is learning?
- Where is the power?
- Why do we _____?
- Who is unheard?
- Are we literate?
- Are we ok?
- Are we connected?
- What’s next?
We are convinced that as we enter 2021, the work not to go back to normal starts with these fundamental questions. The answers we articulate will form the foundation for our collective work to reimagine the experience of school for children not just in a post-pandemic world but in whatever future may be on the horizon.
How Learning Science Is Catching Up To Mr. Rogers
by Anya Kamanetz (@anya1anya) in MindShift
Kamanetz’s post came into my Twitter feed this week - Mr. Rogers is the ultimate teacher for me - full of ‘life lessons’ and a model of vulnerability and care. I hope we can continue to hold on to the ‘learning science’ that Mr. Rogers lived and shared.
His shows, books and songs were carefully designed to give kids the tools to deal with what he called "the inner drama of childhood" — from sibling rivalry to loneliness, anger and edgier topics like gender expression (as in the song "Everybody's Fancy").
Today, the science has caught up. Research tells us social and emotional skills, including self-regulation, and being able to recognize emotions, are as important to success as academic achievement.
The good news is that Mr. Rogers left us enough episodes that there is one to fit almost anything that might come up in the news today.
Meena Srinivasan on Mindful School Leadership
Interview with Sarah McKibben in Educational Leadership
Although written with an intended audience of school leaders, the ‘lessons within’ apply to all - emphasizing the role that mindfulness plays in our learning, growth, care, and leadership.
To be present, we have to pay attention in real time to what is unfolding internally and externally. But our attention has to be infused with what I call the four Cs: compassion, connectedness, curiosity, and care. They remind me of the late, great Maya Angelou, who felt that at all times, we are unconsciously asking each other: Do you see me? Do you care that I am here?
Mindfulness isn't another thing you have to do on top of everything else. It's really the foundation of being an effective leader. One of my teachers, Larry Ward, who is a senior student of Thich Nhat Hanh, said that if you're a revolutionary at heart (and you are if you're in this work of educational leadership), you can live like a comet—be a brilliant light and vanish quickly. Or you can be like the sun, always returning. So attending to our inner work enables us to continue to return like the sun. Transforming our educational system requires leaders to have a long view: It isn't possible with comets. We must all be like the sun.
I think self-compassion is key, especially when you're in a service profession. Self-compassion means being warm and understanding toward yourself when you suffer rather than ignoring what's arising or engaging in self-criticism.
I think for those of us who are working in schools, one of the most powerful ways in which we can offer compassion to others is seeing our students, colleagues, and the parents of our students as we see ourselves. That increases compassion, altruism, and prosocial behavior—essential qualities for a thriving school community.
I look forward to continued conversations and defined action steps as we adapt, grow, and learn from our individual and shared experiences. March 1 marks the beginning of Women's History Month and I will be sharing some words each week that resonate, hold meaning, and bring forth ideas/ideals that speak to potential and realized ‘life lessons’ for me and (I assume) others as well…
As always, let me know of any questions/concerns.
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Take care.
Nat
#willfulhope #willfulaction #longasIcanseethelight