At the beginning of the summer, one of my meditations described two kids making a sand castle on a beach. They were in the moment and joyful as they built their castle, only to have it washed away by a wave. One of the kids picked up a shovel and started rebuilding while the other broke into tears, devastated by the erasure of the sand castle. This has been a beautiful metaphor for me with an end of the school year filled with many changes. It has helped me remember the importance of showing up with my full self, being in the moment, and relationship building.
Coach as Learner
Joy: I’m a Published Author!
I’ve been writing this blog for two years! Writing is one of the ways I show my creativity and honor my core value of sharing what I have learned with others. One of my dreams has been to be a published author, and that dream came true last week when my first article was published on Edutopia. Today I am celebrating this goal, and looking forward to my upcoming writing projects.
Please check out my article:
Fostering Identity, Joy, and Skill Development
Feedback to Pedagogical Change: Focus Student to Teacher
We know that, as educators, implicit biases show up in the ways we teach. We also know that the best feedback we can get is from observing and reflecting on practice with a critical lens and, more importantly, asking our dreamers for feedback. (Note that I am using the term Achiever instead of Scholar to honor the funds of knowledge and expertise each student already has.) In this post I want to synthesize what I am learning about the “Focus Student” process. Engaging in a Cycle of Inquiry around a focus student can increase a sense of belonging, which leads to an increase in learning and a change in teacher practice adapted to the achievers with whom we engage.
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The Power of Story
With my core values of Justice, Belonging, and Gratitude, the power of story comes up often and resonates with me as a human and as an educator. Story is a means of creativity, healing, resilience, learning, community, and belonging. Recently I read the article Strengthening Resilience Through The Power of Story, by Jude Treder-Wolff and want to discuss this powerful read in today’s post.
A First Try: Unit Planning With Cultivating Genius
I’ve been studying the work of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad for several years by watching webinars, reading and re-reading her Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally Responsive and Historically Responsive Literacy, and this year by working alongside her in a year long in-depth study of her work and how to use the Historically Responsive Literacy framework. In the past I’ve integrated the framework into lessons and last week I started my first unit plan using the tool. I’m excited to share some of my thoughts in this post.
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Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture (R.A.I.N.)
I just finished reading another incredibly informative book, Radical Compassion by Tara Brach. In the book Brach takes the original R.A.I.N. technique (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Non-Identification) and modifies it to include Nurture rather than Non-Identification. Today I focus on a very brief summary of Brach’s R.A.I.N. because I think it has huge implications for how I show up as a coach, a facilitator, a colleague, and a teacher.
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Thanks for the Feedback: The Conversation
In the last post, I summarized tips for giving and receiving feedback, and triggers from Thanks for the Feedback, by Stone and Heen. In this post I will continue using the book as a resource and will cover the components of an effective feedback conversation.
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Effective Feedback
Three months ago I started learning to play the piano. I’m using an app that listens to what I play and gives me feedback. It slows down if I need a slower pace, and has me repeat sections that are difficult. I also get emails indicating if I haven’t practiced in awhile and congratulating me when I’ve completed a practicing streak. Reflecting on this positive experience and how quickly I’m learning to play and reflecting on the conversations in which I have received valuable feedback, I decided to reread and synthesize a few books on giving feedback to educators. Today I will summarize one of the books: Tell Me So I Can Hear You, by Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano.
The Importance of Play
In April I wrote about the importance of play and my intention to read Stuart Brown’s Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. This post is a synthesis of what I learned from reading the book, about what play is and why it is so important.
Building Resilience: Create and Play
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about play, creativity, and nurturing oneself. We are over a year into the Covid Pandemic and many schools have shifted instructional programming several times this year. I am tired, yet find it sometimes challenging to shift to downtime and self-care. I am in need of some respite and fun. In Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, Stuart Brown states that:
“Play is how we are made, how we develop and adjust to change….But in the end the most significant aspect of play is that it allows us to express our joy and connect most deeply with the best in ourselves, and in others.”
Brown’s book is on my “next read” stack and for today, I am going to share some of Elena Aguilar’s suggestions about play and creativity.