What Inspires Me

Last week I mentioned Danny Steele, an administrator with a Twitter account of educational encouragement.  Occasionally, he does a few posts called "What Inspires Me?"  Since I don't do New Year's resolutions, I thought I would use the typical end of year reflective time to think about the things that have inspired me in 20 years of teaching.  Here are some things that inspire me (and just a few of the people who display them).

- Teachers who challenge their students and then spend their time helping students meet that challenge. (Zane and Meagan)
- Students who give their best to meet challenges. (They're minors, so I won't use their names, but they know who they are.)

- The energy and enthusiasm of first and second year teachers. (Hannah and Emily)

- Veteran teachers who still spend time reading and learning from the latest research. (Kristin)
- Teachers who keep using techniques they know to be effective, not being swayed by fads. (Kellie)
- Teachers who come to our school from other places and give us a chance to see it with fresh eyes, reminding us what we have. (Melanie and Julianne)
- Colleagues who generously share their best practices. (Too many to name)
- Media specialists who help me think through new things. (Laura and Daniel)
- Colleagues who give me great ideas and then help me implement them.  (Kellie, Elizabeth, Jaime)
- Administrators who problem solve so that everyone gets the best they can have. (Mandy, Eric, James, Pascale, Isaiah)
- Office, lunch, and maintenance staff who give their best every day even though their work doesn't get talked about. (Karen, Kathleen, Willa Bea, Beth, Vivian, BJay)
- Educators who take to Twitter to share their wisdom and encourage strangers. (Danny Steele)
- The memories I have of my best teachers (I wrote about them in November)
- Alumni who return to share their lives with us. (Harrison, Will, Jay, Caroline, Cassidy, Rhea, Alex, and dozens of others)

Thanks to all of you for inspiring everyone you influence.

Counting Your School Blessings

My twitter account exists as a professional learning tool.  I follow Scientific American, CERN, Fermilab, and some other things that keep me up with current science.  I follow Buzz Aldrin and NASA.  This year, I have made the effort to follow other educators, thinking I would find some interesting ideas.  What I have found are people who are reaching out for encouragement.  This year, I have spent more time talking education with educators outside of my school than ever before, and so many are feeling alone in their schools. 

Since I had a year like that in my career, I have reached out to a few.  They are generally idealists who adore their students and want to do what is best for them.  They feel their hands are tied by systems of testing over-emphasis, unsupportive administrators, or schools in which student compliance is valued above learning.

What I have also found on Twitter is a group of teachers and administrators who seem to be made of encouragement.  If you need some online boosting in your job, try following Fixing Education (@WhyTeaching),  Dave Stuart, Jr. (@davestuartjr), and Bethany Hill #JoyfulLeaders (@bethhill2829). 

These are all great, but the account that drips with enthusiasm, love, empathy, and encouragement is that of Danny Steele (@SteeleThoughts).  Just to give you an idea, here's a screenshot from a few days ago.

On December 19, @SteeleThouts tweeted this:  "Do our students know we love our job?  I hope so."  Some of the replies he got to this tweet were amazing teachers showing how they communicate their enthusiasm to their kids, even a principal dressed up as a Christmas tree.  Other replies were heartbreaking, like this one from @JeffcoEducation - "Danny, my son comes home and tells me about his teacher sitting in the corner, reading her book..... he asks: “if she doesn’t want to be here.... why should I want to be here?”.

The one that stuck with me was from @EthanAdshade.

Aside from how sad it is that a person in his position (his organization pairs experts and educators so that students will be exposed to people in higher education) has not observed many positive school cultures, he reminded me to be grateful that I am in a supportive and encouraging school environment.  Here are a few things that spring to mind.

- I laugh with my students every day.

- I laugh with my colleagues every day.

- My administrators pray for/with me.

- I am trusted and respected by my administration (a fact that a teacher who came from a different school reminded me of on Friday)

- My administration asks for my input on important decisions.

- My administration creates space for us to encourage each other.

- My administration and colleagues help me solve problems.

- My colleagues share ideas and resources.

There's more, but I would like to say based on Ethan's reply, "I consider myself blessed because I do love my job."

Magic of the Mundane

Do you know what a miracle walking on two feet is?  No, you don't.  It's okay that you don't.  You aren't crazy enough to think about things like this while just living your regular life.  I'm the person who thinks about physics all the time and how, while we think of friction, as a negative thing, we could not walk, swallow, or write with a pencil if it didn't exist.

Okay, let's talk about bipedal walking.  First, have you noticed that we are the only species (besides non-flight birds) that use it as a primary form of movement?  I'm not saying nothing else can walk on two legs, but they do it for short periods and then drop back down to four for actual travel.  My cat will get on his back legs to swat at something with his front paws, but he doesn't walk to the kitchen that way.

Why?  Because bipedal motion is inherently unstable.  Most animals keep three points of contact with the ground most of the time (exceptions when running fast or for defensive reasons, but for most regular activity, they keep a tripod on the ground).  Keeping three points of contact means that if the center of gravity shifts a bit, it is still supported (physics, just roll with me).

Now, let's look at the way we humans walk.  We stand on two legs, which means there is a much narrower range to how far our center of gravity can move before we lose our balance.  Then, we pick our foot up, shifting all of our weight to one foot and make ourselves fall forward!  The other foot comes down to support our shifting center of gravity and just as soon as it does, we repeat the process with the other foot.  How are we not falling down multiple times a day?  We aren't.  We walk without even thinking about it.  If you aren't amazed by that, adjust your sense of awe.  Even atheist researcher Steven Pinker,  in his book How the Mind Works, calls it miraculous.

Your hand is even more amazing.  It can open a vacuum sealed jar, turn a key in a lock, type, lift a fork, operate a pencil or chopsticks, stroke someone's hair, and pinch.  These are massively different skills involving different sets of muscles.  Have you had this experience?  You are on the way out of the house to get in your car when you realize the trash bag is full and needs to be taken out.  While still holding your car keys, you reach down and hook the bag with two fingers.  When you get outside, you lift the garbage can lid with your one free finger and drop the bag in without letting go of the keys?  What?  Do you realize how many different kinds of muscle maneuvers that involves? 

I could keep going, but here is my point.  We live our lives every day with awe-inspiring incidents all around us that we don't notice because they are so common.

This week is going to be stressful.  We are getting close to Christmas.  For some schools, that means there are exams.  For others, it means kids getting rambunctious.  For all, it means there will be tons of sugar coming into your building.  I haven't even mentioned the non-teacher related stresses of the holidays.

When you need something to destress during this week, look around.  Look at your hand while it holds a pencil or types on your computer.  Be amazed at the quick movement across the keys and how your brain and fingers work together without your even noticing.  Look at the paper you are writing on and think about how incredible it that it was once an actual tree with bark and leaves that there is no way you could write on with a pen.  Marvel at your calculator, which has more power than the computer that took us to the moon.  Be amazed by your stapler, your copy machine, or any of the other astonishing things that surround you in everyday life.  It will make you smile to recognize the magic in the mundane.

Reacting to Someone Else's Thoughts (You May Be Wrong)

I am going to start with a story that happened while I was in Boston for the Learning and the Brain Conference.  This has nothing to do with the conference.  It happened while I was walking from my hotel to the convention center at 7 am on Sunday morning.

I am a single woman, walking alone at an unusual time in a city with which I am not familiar.  For that reason, I was experiencing a little nervous energy.  I wasn't super anxious or afraid; it was just that low level of nerves that makes you alert to your surroundings and likely to evaluate every sound, shadow, and person on the street.  If you are a man reading this, you may not understand, but women do this any time we are out alone.  This level of alert vigilance is a gift of God that helps with our safety.

I was in this process of heightened evaluation when a man who I was about to pass on the sidewalk came to a complete stop.  My anxiety level spiked from the low level that makes you alert to the level of "I don't know what is about to happen, and it could be very, very bad." I quickened my step to get away from this situation a little faster, and I heard behind me a very irritated, "You're welcome."

Why am I sharing this story?  There are two reasons.

First, it is an interesting illustration of the differences between men and women.  When a man is walking alone, he is trying to get to a destination.  When a woman is walking alone, she is trying to not get attacked.  Women are not being paranoid; men are not being reckless.  It is just a function of how our experiences and environments differ in the world.  We probably can't understand this about each other, but we can accept it anyway.

Second, I think this could have a valuable application in our classrooms.  Let's revisit the thought processes of the two people in this story.
Context
- I was a single woman in an unfamiliar city and was, therefore, on the lookout for danger.  This was a thought that was already in my mind as I walked down the street.
- He was walking home on a Sunday morning.  There were no thoughts on his side that I might pose a threat to him.

Motivation
- He was attempting to do something nice (although I will say I think that is undercut by his expectation of being thanked for it).
- I was attempting to get to the convention center unharmed.

Assumption
- I assumed he had the potential to be dangerous.
- He assumed it was clear to me that he was not a danger (if he thought about it at all).

Timing
- It took me an extra 0.5 seconds after I passed him to realize that he was, in fact, stopping for my benefit.  I had to reverse directions in thinking and that takes a moment.  I would have certainly thanked him at that point if I had been able to.
- He already knew his motivation, so it took 0.0s for him to decide I was rude.

So, how does this apply to the classroom?  When conflicts arise, the reactions of both teacher and student are always based in context (which we usually think we are sharing but might not be), motivation (which are different between the two parties), assumptions (which we may or may not be right about), and timing (perhaps it takes the student an extra half-second to process what you meant, not just what you said).  Just like this man on the street and I had very different reactions to the same experience because neither of us knew what was going on in the other's mind, students and teachers may have very different reactions to each other.

Did you know that there is a part of your brain solely responsible for helping you construct a representation of other people's thoughts?  It helps you know when you have upset someone or see that the boy in your class likes you.  When it is accurate, it is quite helpful; but it can be wrong.  Sometimes, we process the input from a student incorrectly, and they interpret us incorrectly as well while both of us absolutely believe we are right. 

As the adult in the room, I am the one responsible for moderating my reaction.  I have the maturity to act, rather than just react that my 8th-grader may not have yet.  Perhaps, I should slow down and ask a student why they are reacting the way they are.  It will give me insight into, not only the conflict of that moment, but it might help me avoid future conflicts as well because I will have a better understanding of how they think.  Let's have the humility to doubt or own rightness is every situation.