To help encourage conversations and dialogue about finding, developing, and using strategies to improve and learn, our topic/question for the dinner table is: What strategies do you use to help when you are feeling stressed? Making Progress (Week of 1/5/20) (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
It was certainly a ‘sleepy re-entry’ back into school last week, after the lovely and restful break over the holidays! After a sports-filled Friday afternoon and evening (Maggie’s swim meet in Westwood and then watching the Medfield-Holliston basketball game at Holliston High), we had a very low-key Saturday with ping-pong, reading, some errands, and watching the Patriots. Our Sunday will be a mix of basketball and hopefully a family dinner before re-entry into the 5-day schedule - an exciting week as Maggie turned 16 today (Tuesday)!
Right around New Year’s Day I came across the words below via e-mail, and I have shared them with a few groups of people, friends, and family...
Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
-- Hal Borland (writer, journalist, naturalist)
I appreciate the sentiment and phrasing of ‘a going on’ as the new year can serve as a transition or continuation of something, rather than as a distinct point in time. It also helps to alleviate (speaking for me) some of the pressure that can come with resolutions, intentions, and ‘fresh starts’. As one who processes with a tendency to think things through (or, overthink at times), Borland’s words reminded me that the process of making progress is one that is a reflection of everything. It is hard to look at resolutions, the past, or the future in isolated increments - as we have often discussed, we must look at everything together (as represented via the image below about our collective work at Blake)...
I hope that the sharing of responses from last week’s question (resolutions for 2020), my own resolutions/intentions for this calendar year, and the highlighted posts (selected as they represent different aspects and perspectives on ‘making progress’ and reflection) below will help to foster reflection, encourage dialogue, and help plant/grow seeds for our students, ourselves, and our community…
Responses from Our Last Topic/Question (January 1, 2020): Please complete this statement: For 2020, I am committed to these 1-2 resolutions…
- Finishing! (Meaning: completing things rather than allowing other things to get in the way of their completion)
- Spending more time “making” and creating images.
- Going for runs on a more regular basis and eating better.
- I intended to focus on clarity and value of instruction.
- Connection - both building & strengthening. Change- embracing & being open to it
- For 2020, I am committed to these 1-2 resolutions: Better grades, eat more
- Eating healthy
- - Get to bed/ sleep earlier. I hope to do this by putting my phone away earlier to tune out distractions and put in place a few other routines to simplify the nighttime activity. - It sounds odd but I would like to treat myself more often/ be a little more selfish. I’d like to do this so that I don't become resentful of others or feel burned out. 2019 was a very busy year, as they all are, so I'd like to have a better balance between 'work' and 'play'.
- Not making a resolution
- Have a better sleep schedule
- 1 minute of reflective time a day
- I want to spend more time with my family/friends, and I want to work on exercising more and helping my diet.
- Raising my hand, and completing my homework earlier in the day.
- Be hard working and helpful.
Resolutions/Intentions for the 2020 calendar year (some carry-overs from 2019)...
- Practice intentional time for self-reflection, mindfulness, and growth - defining ‘personal time’ and ‘professional time’ (an uphill climb for me)
- Adopt a mantra of ‘Assuming I don’t know’ in conjunction with ‘Assuming Positive Intent’
- Articulate and practice #feedforward in the #serviceoflearning focus (for students, staff, families, community, and myself)
- Broaden and redefine some methods of sharing and growing (networking, connecting, collaborating) within Blake, Medfield, and beyond - i.e. Podcasting, Presentations
- Embrace hope (#willfulhope)
- Explore musical interests (playing and listening)
- Listening to understand rather than listening to respond
- Explore ways to 'go deeper' and find more meaning
- Think about ways to connect more directly with students and community (focus groups, check-ins, discussions)
My Annual Resolutions/Intentions
- #slowingitdown
- Be open to the ideology of those who do not share my thinking and better understand those views (ask questions and be genuinely curious for feedback)
- Be a mirror for others and ask others to do the same for me
- Articulate and focus on the 'good problems' - building off what we/I do well
- Embrace and model authenticity and vulnerability
- Foster leadership at all levels (students, staff, parents, and community), balancing ownership with healthy delegation and growth for others
- Stay the course and keep the 'big picture' in mind at all times
- 'Lean towards yes' and maintain the mission of our mantra, 'a willingness to adapt'
Hindsight is 20/20: Using Personal Reflection to Shape Your Focus
by Ross Ricenbaw in NASSP blog
Ricenbaw encourages all leaders and educators to use the method and practice of reflection to shape and guide one’s focus for the coming year, offering four steps: Carve Out Time; Hold Yourself Accountable; Make it Purposeful; Set Realistic Expectations. The one aspect of the words below I would ask more questions about (from an inquiry stance) is his use of the phrase ‘perfect vision’ - although I think I understand the intent, I often struggle with the notion of a ‘perfect’ anything as I believe in continually evolving a focus, project, or endpoint.
As you consider your school goals for the new year, don’t forget to build in time to focus on your own growth. Some of the best educators I’ve worked with not only have a passion for learning, they also take the time to use their experiences to get better. Having a perfect vision is not just about knowing where you’re going, but also acknowledging where you’ve been. Take time this year to pause, reflect, and appreciate the opportunities life gives you to get better.
The Worth You Hold On Your Own
by Mandy Froehlich (@froehlichm)
I have always appreciated the open and honest vulnerability offered by Mandy, and this post is a personal one - sharing the struggle she has in articulating her own self-worth. It is a process I can certainly identify with and is worthy of time, reflection, and awareness.
You need to understand you’re worthy on your own. When you strip everything else away… mother or father, daughter or son, teacher, administrator, podcaster, blogger, author, counselor, speaker – when you’re standing there label naked, do you still feel worthy?
Being human and vulnerable can set ourselves up for so much pain, but at the same time that’s also the beauty of a journey like this. I can choose to continue to live in this space, but I can also make the choice to figure it out and heal and discover my worthiness that has nothing to do with anyone or anything else. And when I get there, I would imagine that it’s an amazing feeling.
A Nobel Laureate’s Mind-Blowing Perspective On The Ultimate Outcome Of An Education
by Brandon Busteed in Forbes
Busteed shares results from asking 32 leaders this question - ‘What is the ultimate outcome of an education?’ It was the response from Nobel Laurate Daniel Kahneman that had the greatest impact. The power of belief is worth exploring - for ourselves and for the implications of learning for our students.
Ironically, his answer hit me both “fast and slow,” in a fashion similar to what he describes in his best-selling book “Thinking Fast and Slow.” My immediate, emotionally-driven reaction was “wow” and my slower, more deliberate reaction in the seven years since has been the same: “wow or more accurately double wow.” Kahneman answered my question without hesitation: “Well, I think that’s quite obvious. It’s to change what you believe.” To change. What you. Believe.
...a college graduate who strongly agrees they had professors who cared about them as a person or a mentor who encouraged their goals and dreams is twice as likely to be engaged in their work and thriving in their well-being later in life. These findings were irrespective of where they went to college or what they majored in while there. It wasn’t the content or knowledge they learned, it was whether an emotional attachment was created through the learning. To believe is also to be sure. It requires self-attained proof. And to be sure comes from applying what you learn. Graduates who had a job or internship where they were able to apply what they were learning in the classroom or work on a long-term project that took a semester or longer to complete were also twice as likely to be engaged in their work and thriving in their well-being.
To believe means you must also be open to new information, challenges to that belief, and ultimately to the potential of changing what you believe. Feeling sure of the truth is not a static position, but one that must be revisited.
To believe means you must also be open to new information, challenges to that belief, and ultimately to the potential of changing what you believe. Feeling sure of the truth is not a static position, but one that must be revisited.
To be known or to be impressive? #2020oneword
by Amber Teamann (@8Amber8)
Kelly C. shared this post with me and it resonated right away - Amber’s openness to transparency and focus on being seen is one that holds meaning for me. I never felt as though I was a ‘flashy’ teacher and have often struggled with naming a comfort with my identity. The post encourages me to ‘be ok’ and reflect, and encourage the same in others.
It’s also why I’m so anti “cotton candy leadership”. The notion that our jobs are all about riding tricycles or how giving up our offices is the right & easy thing to do…just kills me. Our jobs are hard! (and amazing and rewarding and filled with the VERY best of lil’people!!) but also, HARD. Recognizing the multifaceted role that we are charged with…never letting any of those balls drop…being able to be SEEN in the role…means more to me than being impressive. It’s recognizing that sometimes it’s more important to let people see the struggle than just to assume the success. Otherwise its a misrepresentation of the MOST important things we do…change lives. It means being KNOWN. Sharing the good, the bad, the struggles. Sharing the flaws and the failures…always being real. And being ok with it.
Isaac Asimov on Optimism vs. Cynicism about the Human Spirit
By Maria Popova (@brainpicker)
Popova’s brief post highlights excerpts from a letter that Isaac Asimov sent to one of his friends, along with words shared in an interview with Bill Moyers. The focus on positivity and optimism is one that holds meaning for me - we often are inundated with negativity, skepticism, and cynicism in school and maintaining a positive lens will not only serve others, but serve ourselves in the process.
To me it seems to be important to believe people to be good even if they tend to be bad, because your own joy and happiness in life is increased that way, and the pleasures of the belief outweigh the occasional disappointments. To be a cynic about people works just the other way around and makes you incapable about enjoying the good things.
It’s insulting to imply that only a system of rewards and punishments can keep you a decent human being. Isn’t it conceivable a person wants to be a decent human being because that way he feels better?
When sharing my resolutions at the beginning of the last two calendar years, I wrote this -- With resolutions, goals, and new beginnings, I am still working on realizing that this is always a process. This process is one I am still working on remembering, embracing, and living. A future-oriented approach rooted in reflection is helping me with this...
Please click here for Blake Updates.
Please click here for District Community Notices.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat