What Culture is Doing to our Kids

Thank you Chris Sturdy for sharing this TEDtalk on Twitter today. How do we teach both girls and boys to be the best versions of themselves, not to succumb to our cultures obsession with image? And teach the parents the same?


I always worried about this when my girls were going through elementary, junior high and high school. To this day I tell them how beautiful they are, inside and out. I know they don't believe me, because I'm "the mom". But you tell me, if they put a video out there and asked "am I ugly?" how would you respond?

 

Jordan & Shelby
November 2014

And still I wonder, would my own girls ask that question of themselves?

Trust is the Most Powerful Tool

I have started 2016 by dedicating some regular to professional reading. If you saw the books in my office, all on teaching, classrooms, students, mindset, etc., and knew how few I got to read cover to cover, you might think I were nuts to ever purchase another book again. Each purchase was made with a thought, goal, or hope in mind, and it's time to achieve these.  So each "lunch time" I get at school (which really, for me, is covering the media center) I read my education book. Currently I am tackling "The Innovator's Mindset" by George Couros.

I am engrossed in this and look forward to my 30 minutes of reading each day. I am a slower reader than most when it comes to technical or educational reading (something I want to learn or retain), I recognize this about myself, and I know I should highlight or take notes of the key ideas I want to remember. I think I would be accurate in saying that the color of the pages in my book are pretty much highlighter yellow. There are so many ideas and thoughts and quotes I want to keep in the forefront of my mind.

I just finished (twice mind you) the chapter on relationships and trust. Now whether it was the frame of mind I was in, the weather, just coming back from Christmas break, I have no idea, but those pages are burned into my memory. Having trust in any working relationship is vital to the success of the business/job/project/classroom. From the classroom teacher perspective, I have to create an environment where students feel trusted. It's OK to make mistakes, if you forgot to do your homework, if you failed a test, all of these scenarios have (and will again) happened in my classes. If there is a feeling a trust, my students know they just need to come and talk to me and we'll work together to find the next step and keep moving in a positive direction.

OK, I understand that and work on that with every new class. But that is only half of my day. The other half I'm working with teachers helping them to integrate technology into their classroom. I'm not only introducing them to new technologies and helping them learn to use it in the classroom, but I also need to build trust with them to try these new ideas, that might be completely out of their comfort zone, and know that if it doesn't work out as planned, THAT'S OK! This cannot be done in a building staff meeting.

For one, we're talking PreK-12th grade. The needs, wants and abilities are so completely scattered, I don't think I could even accurately chart it. And I am primarily located in one building. There are many staff members from the other building I only see at workshop in August. So how am I going to do this with only half of the school day? How can I build a one-on-one relationship that is essential to me to be able to help with tech? This has been a struggle for me three years running.

There were a couple of quotes in particular that hit me. The first was:

"As leaders in education, our job is not to control those whom we serve but to unleash their talent"

Don't I need to know their talent first in order to help unleash it? Then a few pages later I read:

"But to move people from their point A to their point B, I believe it is necessary, as Gawande mentions, to create regular opportunities for human interaction that help build relationships and spur innovation."

Create regular opportunities, huh? That's my next goal, create these opportunities, during the school day, not on their own time (possibly mine) because that's how important this is.

Welcome 2016!

I know we had a Holiday break. I'm sure of it. I have recollections on being curled up in my recliner under a quilt, in my PJ's, watching Netflix, on multiple days, DURING THE WEEK! Was it all a dream? Could I have imagined the comfort of drinking HOT coffee all day long, not putting on make-up and saying "I did my hair today" when in reality I only got as far as using a hair tie to pull it out of my face.

Oh yes, I remember it well, as does every teacher who gets those few but brief days to recharge over a short break. To solidify the fact that I didn't do much was the 10-12 inches of snow we got in about a 24 hour period. Not only did this add to my workout routine (can't tell you how many times I went out and shoveled the driveway to stay ahead of the snow) it also prevented my out of state travels to see my family. Needless to say I got in a funk. I didn't touch my computer, check emails, or think about school work until Sunday came and "Crap, I have to teach tomorrow" went through my head.

Now that I've got half a day in, I am glad to be back, truly. I missed my students, my colleagues, my schedule. But I was right there with all the other teachers in denial on Sunday night. I had enjoyed being at home, I found time to do some things for me, that I enjoy, not related to school. I got to sew quite a bit and clean up my sewing area (which had me finding many more projects and quilt kits than I thought I had). I'm glad I took the break to "unplug" and do something for me. I feel much more rejuvenated today, relaxed, and ready to tackle the next three months (our next day off is not until Easter break!).

Bring on 2016! It's going to be a great year!

It's Not What You Do, But Why You Do It

Everyone in education has at minimum heard of TED Talks (if not.......yeah, I got nothing, how have you not?) Anyway, with so many moving and inspirational videos out there, I have had to be someone particular about which ones to watch. I know I would love them all. I know they would all move and inspire. I know I could spend hours watching every one of them.

BUT ..... I know I need to keep my job (so I can't spend all day watching the newest and greatest video). And I know I need sleep (routinely need sleep) so I can spend every night, all night try to catch them. I have had to create some variables to follow before I watch a new TED Talk. For instance, if I randomly see someone share a link on Twitter, I may check out who is speaking and the topic, but I won't just right in and invest 20 minutes. Now, if I see that 5 or 6 people I follow on Twitter are personally posting about a TED Talk video, that gives me reason to find a time to talk a look at it.

Now, there are a few people I follow that I extremely admire and that push me outside of my comfort zone and to work to inspire others. These are the people that could convince me that chicken and waffles actually DO go together. When one of these "mentors" recommends a video, I watch it. My latest is actually an older one, from 2009, but I absolutely love the message. It's as true now as it was then.

It features Simon Sinek and is titled "How Great Leaders Inspire Action." I have been lucky enough to have worked with people who I consider to be great leaders. Some in education, some when I worked in the private sector. These great leaders are the ones I would work for with blood, sweat and tears. Tell me to jump off a cliff? Sure! Which one and when? That's all I would have asked because I felt that much respect and admiration for these people.

Every person, at least once in their life, should be lucky enough to work with/for a great leader.

Restored Faith in Humanity

I don't use my blog to talk about my students. I respect their role and mine and try to generalize our experiences for the world. But what happened last week is not something I can overlook and it needs to be shared, but I have changed the names to protect those I'm mentioning.......

This is one of the best group of kids I've had the honor of working with. I don't worry that these students will grow up lacking values, or empathy, or compassion. I know first hand what these students can do. I am one of three teachers that helps with the Student Council at Fairmont High School (my role is quite small compared to Sara Gudahl, she thrives as their advisor). Last week we, the advisors, counted the ballots for homecoming. The senior class votes for 10 students (5 girls, 5 boys) to represent them on the homecoming court.

Now I must admit, I'm not always a fan of homecoming. I love the tradition of coming back to your high school, the week long activities, ironman volleyball, powderpuff football, and then topping it off with the football game on Friday night. What I don't like are the tears of not getting on the court, the drama between those that did and did not. Every girl should get a crown just for surviving to their senior year of high school. Every boy should be king for a day.

We counted, double checked, and compiled approximately 140+ ballots this year. In doing this, we compare names that seem to be receiving larger numbers. As the dust settled and final candidates surfaced, the integrity of this class of students was evident. John was voted to be one of the candidates. I have know John  since 7th grade. I have watched him grow up, mature, develop into an amazing human being. He has built relationships with his teachers and the student body. John is loved by his classmates, teachers, anyone that knows him. In fact, in one of my classes, before the ballots were distributed, a fellow senior stated "I want to get him on the homecoming court" and instantly the rest of the class piped up in agreement. And know we know they did it!

Now you're probably thinking he would be the obvious choice to be chosen by his peers. I'm sure many of you have a "John" that comes to mind, and you're probably thinking to yourself he's the stereo-typical candidate, and you're right, he is. So what makes this story so special and brought tears to all our eyes? John is autistic. Does that change your thoughts?

How Can We Disappear from Our Phones Today?

I enjoy Saturdays. Not a big surprise, most people view this as the best day of the week. My best Saturdays are spent at my home, enjoying my surroundings, recharging, and on the occasional day, tearing into cleaning my house (aka the cleaning "nazzi" has shown her ugly face.)

I take tackling the house cleaning duties not as a chore but an opportunity to put right all that has been torn apart during the week (or weeks depending on long it's been). For me, it also mean jammin' to some tunes as well via Apple TV and iTunes, and I'm sure my new neighbors are just loving this!

So on this particular Saturday, as the tunes are radiating throughout the house, Billy Joel's tune Vienna came on. Now I've listened to this playlist more than a dozen times, but as I listened more closely to the words, these rang out:

slow down you crazy child

and take the phone off the hook

and disappear for awhile

I remember what it means to take the phone off the hook (showing my age a bit here). No one can contact you, peace and quiet, you could truly disappear. Why can't we do that today? Well, let's think about it, what happened when you called someone who took their phone off the hook? You heard a busy signal. Assumption: the recipient of your call was on the phone, you figured they were home, but you can't reach them or leave them a message, you just have to keep trying. I can't do that with my cell phone.

Sure I can let it ring and go to voice mail. Assumption today: Your phone is somehow permanently attached to some part of your body 24/7 and the recipient is ignoring you. I can shut my phone off entirely, but then it goes directly to voice mail. Assumption: The recipient forgot to charge their phone so I'll just keep calling and leaving voice messages. So when I turn my phone back on, the disappearing act I tried to do has created a task of returning calls, answering message, and doing what I was trying to avoid by disappearing.

While I can't say I miss having a landline, I do miss the disappearing act that came along with it. I have sympathy for my own children that will never know what that's like. 

We Want To See Who You Are!

My school district is embracing the Google+ world, in particular the communities. My principal has created a community for the teachers & staff in our building and shares announcements, weekly calendars, common core information, staff birthdays, etc. I will say it has cleaned up my email inbox immensely, and I love that the information is always available and organized (there's my Type A coming out again, dang!)

One positive is being able to put a face with a name. Most would not deem our staff extremely large, but our building is, and I can go for weeks, sometimes months, and not see my co-workers, or necessarily know who all the new staff are. So we strongly encourage having actual pictures in our profile, and not clip art or avatars. Because of this I've been paying closer attention on Google+ and Twitter to those that I connect with and what their profile picture says about them. Could I pick them out of a group if I saw them? Does it portray who they are? Or what they teach?

It's easy to do, just click on your profile picture in Google+ (or the blue man if he's still hanging around) and choose Change Profile Photo. Whether you use a school photo, selfie, or random shot of yourself doesn't matter. Just make sure your profile picture is clear and allows others to recognize who your are, because I know you're not a Fighting Irish (aka Segar)!