To help encourage conversations and dialogue about listening, connections, and relationships, our topic/question(s) of the week are: What can you do to be a better listener? What will that look like? Real Listening (Week of 3/18/18) (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.
This past weekend as I was drafting my weekly memo to the staff, I enjoyed the sunlight beaming through the windows and hoped that the warmth of the sun would actively combat the temperatures to melt more snow! I hope that this was a nice weekend for all, after a busy and eventful week at school (aren't they all?!?). With only a few kid commitments this weekend (the joy of 'between seasons'), we were able to take it down a notch or two - watching some March Madness games and finding time to 'just be'.
It was wonderful to welcome the weekend this past Friday with a run after school and the #bmsed science fair. Seeing students, staff, and family interacting with one another, sharing their learning (successes, challenges, and failures), and taking pride and ownership - it's just what we want for all of us! Thanks to Orla for her leadership and to all of the science teachers for encouraging our students to participate, and big thanks as well to our high school students who helped out and were so supportive of the Blakers - a wonderful community event!
This past Tuesday during our snow day Katie and I found some time to watch our DVR'd 60 minutes episode from last Sunday evening - it was nice to find the time as we do not always find it once the busyness of the week begins. We had heard great things about the segment on trauma-informed care (Treating Childhood Trauma) and I highly recommend finding the time to watch it. We often talk at Blake about the different lenses that we are experiencing and learning (lens of the student, lens of the parent, lens of the educator, lens of the administrator, lens of a community member, etc.) and each are critical. Watching this segment was one that struck me on all of the levels and, specifically, there were two mindsets/take-aways that really struck a chord...
- Dr. Bruce Perry's words: 'Really it boils down to something pretty simple. And it's relationships.'
- Shifting the question from 'What's wrong with you?' to 'What happened to you?'
The Five Purposes of Listening
by Dan Rockwell (@LeadershipFreak)
This brief post highlights 4 reasons people 'hate to listen', along with the 5 purposes of listening: Mattering - Listen to let others know the matter; Humility - Listen to humble yourself; Clarity - Listen to help others find clarity; Effectiveness - Listen to act effectively; Curiosity - Listen to ask a question.
The most neglected work of leadership is listening. The reason? It’s hard work.
Employers Find ‘Soft Skills’ Like Critical Thinking in Short Supply
by Kate Davidson in The Wall Street Journal
Tony Wagner (@DrTonyWagner) referenced this 2016 post on Twitter and the content within directly relates to the importance of communication skills - not only valuing them, but also the importance of intentionally teaching them.
The job market’s most sought-after skills can be tough to spot on a résumé. Companies across the U.S. say it is becoming increasingly difficult to find applicants who can communicate clearly, take initiative, problem-solve and get along with co-workers. Those traits, often called soft skills, can make the difference between a standout employee and one who just gets by.
In a Wall Street Journal survey of nearly 900 executives last year, 92% said soft skills were equally important or more important than technical skills. But 89% said they have a very or somewhat difficult time finding people with the requisite attributes. Many say it’s a problem spanning age groups and experience levels.
To determine the most sought-after soft skills, LinkedIn analyzed those listed on the profiles of members who applied for two or more jobs and changed jobs between June 2014 and June 2015. The ability to communicate trumped all else, followed by organization, capacity for teamwork, punctuality, critical thinking, social savvy, creativity and adaptability.
Do Educators Really Want Parents to Be Held Accountable?
by Peter DeWitt (@PeterMDeWitt) in Education Week
DeWitt's recent post is in response to a tweet from a principal who wanted parents to be 'more accountable'. I admire DeWitt's steadfast desire to push all of us a bit deeper to get to the root of the question by holding up the mirror to our own thoughts, beliefs, and actions. We need to make sure we are willing to thoughtfully engage with one another and be willing to answer our own questions - and, to listen.
Social-emotional learning is not a political argument, nor is it the job of just one person or organization. It's actually a societal issue that we all need to take on. It's not about one side versus another. Social-emotional learning is about teaching children how to self-regulate, deal with stress, work through moments of trauma, and it's about teaching how to get along with others.
...parent accountability is often a very complicated topic, especially when it comes to schools. We often say we want parents to be accountable, but what we really mean is that we want parents to be accountable when it comes to getting their children to do their homework, showing up for parent-teacher conferences, and supporting our school efforts at home.There seem to also be times when we would like parents to be a little less accountable...Parent accountability is a double-edge sword. Leaders and teachers want parents to have it, until it actually works against the needs of the school.
Do we, as educators, want parents to be accountable only when it serves our purposes or do we want to work in partnership with them even when they want to hold us accountable as well?
As noted above, I welcome your thoughts, reactions, ideas, and questions - and, I will do my best to listen.
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Take care.
Nat