To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the practice of gratitude and Thanksgiving, our topic/question for the dinner table is: What are you thankful for this year? Time for Gratitude (Week of 11/18/18) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
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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 arrival of the wintry weather last Thursday evening came on quickly and certainly felt like a major wake-up call that the seasons have indeed changed! The weekend for us was full and wonderful - attending the Learning and the Brain Conference (see some notes below) in Boston, attending a Guy Fawkes Day party with our British friends, and the highlight was celebrating my mother and father’s 50th Anniversary together as a family - with my siblings and their families, including all 7 grandchildren! Here is a picture of my parents with the grandchildren…
- It is so important to reflect and convey our thanks
- We need to act on our gratitude
- We must practice, adjust, listen, circle up, and stay with our work - it will help us foster a culture of gratitude and support
- Gratitude is an intentional practice
- I hope we can learn and give thanks to one another
- Giving thanks is something that we all an do
It may sound trite, but I really do have a lot to be thankful for. As we enter this week of Thanksgiving, my sharing is grounded in some gratitude - some tangible ‘artifacts’ of recent learning, reflective/active learning, and learning as a community with some ‘annual sentiments of thanks’…
Recent Learning - I am thankful that we are a learning community that is willing to share and listen to one another
Thanks to MCPE (Medfield Coalition for Public Education), I was able to attend the Learning and the Brain conference this past weekend (#latb51) - a wonderful conference that ‘connects educators with the latest research on the brain and learning and its learning implications for education’. The focus this year was: ‘Reaching for Greatness: Unleash Potential, Passions, and Creative Talents in Students with Cognitive Science’. I will be sharing more later, but here are a few ‘mindsets/notes/take-aways’ from a few keynotes...
Yong Zhao (@YongZhaoEd) - Education Professor
Through his talk, Zhao underscored the importance of challenging two assumptions that are currently made in schools that have a significant impact on our structures and practices...
- The notion that there is one system or practice that works in all settings, all the time, for all people
- The notion that currently all students have the same opportunities, talents, and interests to learn at the same pace
Robert Sternberg - Professor of Human Development
Sternberg shared the two motivations he has that drive his work - both are worthy of embracing and understanding at all levels of education.
- Primary Motivation - Some students learn and test well when taught/assessed in conventional ways, but others do not. They are intelligent, but not in the usual way. There is intra-individual variability as well. The goal of instruction and assessment should be to reach all students equally and equitably.
- Secondary Motivation - Moreover, traditional memory and analytical skills correlate highly with SES. Low-SES children (or children from non-traditional backgrounds, or children with diverse learning styles) are often disadvantaged by traditional instruction and assessments.
Sir Ken Robinson (@SirKenRobinson)
- We must be thinking about developing systems of education that are faithful to the talents of our children - formal education that align with natural pathways of children’s development
- Whole world depends on people having a passion for their skills and interests
- There are big differences between learning, education, and school
- Learning is a natural process - we have made the process unnatural
- If you have a narrow view of ability, what you have is a broad view of disability
- We all have hidden abilities - we may never know the talents we have - they have to be discovered, nurtured, and applied - It’s all about the conditions in which we grow -
- Schools are based on conformity, compliance, and linear development
- Talent is highly diverse - we need to adjust the system, not the people; Once talents are discovered, it takes considerable efforts to develop them;Once they are developed, it opens up possibilities
- Aims of Education: To enable students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active, compassionate citizens
Reflective/Active Learning - I am thankful that our community seeks out learning and reflects upon our experiences
Reflection is at the heart of active learning, and I appreciate the interactive nature of engagement that we aim to promote and practice at Blake. The post below from Colby Itkowitz keeps our learning in a contextual framework, and the weekly sampling of responses from last week’s question of the week help with relevance...
The science behind why you shouldn’t stop giving thanks after Thanksgiving
by Colby Itkowitz in The Washington Post
This post highlights the importance of gratitude, including an interview with gratitude expert, Robert Emmons. I came across it last year and it clearly had an impact on many readers, as at that time it was being ‘republished’ - Editor’s note: This post is being republished. The advice is timeless.
On most days, gratitude manifests as an emotional reaction to a favorable event or outcome. But it also can be a way of life. People who consciously choose daily to seek out things in their lives to be thankful for are, research has shown, happier and healthier.
The best way I practice gratitude is to continually think about those people who have done things for me that I could never do for myself. Who is looking out for me, who has my back, who has made my life easier because of their sacrifices? Who and what do I take for granted? Then gratitude becomes, real, concrete, personal. We all have people like that in our lives. I make a mental list of these, and try to think about ways in which I can give back some of the goodness I have received. Basically, I try to practice being non-self-absorbed. Non-grateful people are self-absorbed. Grateful people are absorbed by the good that others are doing for them. Focus on the other — this is the best gratitude message we can give people.
Indeed, gratitude rescues us from negativity. Left to their own devices, our minds tend to hijack each and every opportunity for happiness. Negativity, entitlement, resentfulness, forgetfulness, ungratefulness all clamor for our attention. Whether stemming from our own internal thoughts or to the daily news headlines, we are exposed to a constant drip of negativity. Doom and gloom is on the horizon, as financial fears, relational turmoil and health challenges threaten us. Weighed down by negativity, we are worn down, worn out, emotionally and physically exhausted. To offset this chronic negativity, we need to continually and perpetually hear good news. We need to constantly and regularly create and take in positive experiences. Gratitude is our best weapon, an ally to counter these internal and external threats that rob us of sustainable joy. In gratitude, we focus on the giftedness of life. We affirm that goodness exists, even among the rancor of daily life. This realization itself is freeing, liberating, redeeming. Gratitude works!
Topic/Question (Week of 11/11/18): How can down time (stepping away from your work) help you learn?
- Helps me understand balancing work and down time so they fall into equal time zones.
- I am under so much pressure to ace every test that comes my way. And also excel in my sport. Doing well in orchestra. I just need a day off.
- You can rest and let the ideas have more time to sink in
- You can have new perspectives on the earth and nature
- I can relax
- Taking time away from work can show you a different perspective of what you doing
- It can help you focus more
- It can help me clear my mind.
- Down time gives you a break so you are excited to start working on your task. This way, it doesn't seem as tedious.
- I start to think about what is really important in life. Much of it relates to "human experiences and interaction". I look at what students create and then I ride with ideas, (like a wave), to match up with what is important to their learning and creating.
- You can see what happens in the real world when you don’t always have to be doing work. Having fun relaxes your mind so you don’t hurt your social status, helping you smile every once in a while when someone makes a joke or just smiles, you don’t have to say hello to everyone you see but a smile is all it takes.
- It can let us relax and process everything
- Good regrouping and refreshing time makes it easier and better to meet school challenges.
- Down time allows me to do other things. From that, I can gain new perspectives; which allows me to bring something new to my work.
- I think down time can help you clear your head of unnecessary information. Taking a break from work can also allow your brain to process information and help you come back to it with a new lens. Whenever I am struggling with something if I take a break and go back to my work later I have fresh ideas on how to solve the problem.
Learning as a Community - I am thankful that our community cares for one another as learners, students and adults alike
This year I have the good fortune of facilitating our New Teacher/Mentor program with Susan Bycoff and we met this past week as a large group. This work is so important as it bridges our schools together, brings educators together, and provides an important forum to examine and share practices. This month we talked about the critical role ‘vulnerability’ plays in our work as learners and educators.
Some Thankful Sentiments - Shared and modified a bit from years past...
Although they most likely read and sound familiar and repetitive each year, I promise that the sincerity of these sentiments continue to grow in their depth. We will be coming together as a Blake community for our annual Celebration of Voice assembly on Wednesday to share our gratitude and have fun! As I share each year, Thanksgiving is a holiday that holds great significance for me and my family since an accident I experienced while running nine years ago. Katie and I find ourselves, both individually and collectively, filled with gratitude and appreciation for the response of our Holliston and Blake/Medfield communities for the care and support that we received at that time. I will be sharing my gratitude Wednesday at the assembly, but I also know that I can not share it enough - thank you. It is a privilege to work in a community that has both fostered and encouraged my growth while also showing deep care for my family. I have shared these words from President Kennedy and the post below the last few years and will be sure to continue bringing them to light each year...
(7:13)
I encourage everyone to find seven minutes this week to watch the clip and share with others.
In Praise of Gratitude
from Harvard Mental Health Letter
I have shared this brief post the last few years - my very dear friend Mike Norton, who has done extensive work on happiness, sent it to me two years ago. It provides a nice explanation for why gratitude is important and also offers tips to be more grateful.
In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.
Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in the hopes it will make them happier, or thinking they can't feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack. And, although it may feel contrived at first, this mental state grows stronger with use and practice.
Each year it is equally important to to recognize and remember that this time of year can be a particularly stressful and emotional one for students and adults. Personal situations, the loss of loved ones, or memories can bring forth many emotions, so please be sure to look out for one another and also rely on the community for support. Although I wish I could, I know it is not realistic for me to have the opportunity to personally wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving before Wednesday afternoon. So, Happy Thanksgiving! I am incredibly grateful to be a part of the Blake community and believe we are making a difference. Let us be sure to maintain a culture and spirit of eternal vigilance for learning, listening, and gratitude.
I look forward to the work that lies ahead for all of us.
Enjoy the week and take care.
Nat