To help encourage conversations and dialogue about focus points, dreams, and vision,
our topic/question of the week is: What helps you stay focused on your goals and dreams? Refining (Redefining?) the Vision (Week of 2/3/19) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
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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 cold weather at the end of the week made the weekend feel balmy and warm! After enjoying watching the boys play basketball on Saturday, Katie and I had a nice evening in Cambridge for dinner and seeing Rayland Baxter sing at The Sinclair - music really is a connector in so many ways. We had a Boston sports-filled Sunday with a trip to the Celtics game (boys had the luck and good fortune of being able to be ‘ball kids’!) and a fun Super Bowl celebration at night!
As I ask myself (and others) these questions, I need to make sure I am focusing first on my own ‘practice’ towards my dreams and goals. By practice I mean the way in which I am acting and living my fundamental beliefs. The word ‘practice’ is important here - it’s not finite and fixed - rather, it’s an ongoing process towards progress. One key goal that I am continually refining and practicing is that of ‘stepping back’ and ‘slowing down’. By doing so (when I have found some success), I have been able to gain clarity and purpose in my ‘work’. In turn, the vision has been honed and my practice has improved.
With a continuous effort to learn and grow in a community at the heart of our mission, as educators and students we must always be willing to be part of this process of growth and refinement. The post below is one that speaks to this - an articulation of a problem, a refocusing of areas of focus (learning vs embedment, an examination of practices, and acknowledgement of ‘broken models), and an eye towards progress.
Learning vs. Embedment: The Core Problem for 21st Century Learning
by Todd M. Warner
As learning professionals, we should all be terrified. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that what we’ve been doing under the banner of “learning” is wasteful and ineffective. We need to fundamentally rethink how we conceptualize what learning is and what it does in organizations.
For learning to work in the 21st century, we have to move beyond our fascination with content and start to develop a deeper fascination with the context of how work gets done. Leverage exists for learning in every organization, and we need to prioritize making learning more applied as a means to enable new ideas and ways of working to flourish.
Learning is critical to competition in the 21st century. Unfortunately, we are relying on broken models and assumptions that are keeping us from focusing on where learning can truly transform how organizations operate. The step toward a focus on embedment is critical for us to begin this journey.
In looking at some of the responses from last week’s topic/question, it is clear that the qualities and characteristics that we want/need from our teachers are important indicators for our vision and refinement of focus points...
Topic/Question (Week of 1/27/19): What qualities and characteristics in your teachers help you learn?
- When I look back on the classes in middle and high school where I felt the most success, the teachers were funny, personable, and I felt like they really liked me. Subject matter didn't matter!
- It is their ability to both preach and practice!
- Respect
- The teacher leaves me with open ended responses to questions. The teacher has a sense of humor about life and learning in "good ways".
- A caring, knowledgeable attitude and making an effort to connect with me as a person.
- openness to different ideas
- Excitement around the curriculum.
- Ability to make learning fun.
- To be better at listening 👂
- They are very kind, and they never yell at you or are disappointed from you when you get something wrong.
- They are funny and chill about things. They will print you copies of the homework if you don’t have WiFi
- Perseverance and Confidence
- They are funny, smart, nice
- Humor and kindness
- My teachers help me learn teamwork, cooperation, forgiveness, and gratitude.
February 1 marked the beginning of Black History Month and also the birthday of Harlem Renaissance leader, Langston Hughes. Social Media was full of poems and quotes from Hughes on Friday, and his poem entitled Dreams resonated with me. It speaks to the importance of keeping and holding on to the dreams - they guide our work...
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Take care.
Nat