Morning, all. Thought maybe I’d find my muse this morning, but she ain’t having it, so I am going to wish you all a happy–hopefully restful–three-day weekend. It will be June the next time I meet you here. The end is near.
Happy Friday. Have a great weekend.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
I am uncomfortable. And I couldn’t be happier. For I am learning. Actually, I am unlearning, and that is the source of my discomfort. Willingham’s book Why Don’t Students Like School? has knocked me off course, challenging my thinking, and I am a bit lost right now. But really that’s the Project 180 goal. To turn myself upside down, so I can find my feet again, as I chase my next better.
So, what’s got me off my feet? Too much–way too much–to dig into right now. And, to be honest, I am not done digging. There’s a fair amount of backtracking to do as I will have to go back and read and reread some sections to fully find my feet. But I have the energy to do so, and that’s a bit of a rarity for me at this time of year. So, I am going to embrace my disCOMFORT. It’s where I learn. It’s where I grow.
I will share when I reach some greater clarity. Happy Thursday.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
I have never been a great finisher. Conversely, I believe I have always been a great starter. I jump at the gun, and I run, and I run, and I run. But I am often too soon done. And I struggle to the finish.
Part of it is that I get bored with what is, and I get eager for what’s ahead, what’s to come. I have ideas and ambitions for the next year, and I feel like I get stuck in a holding pattern with the current year, especially near the end. And that is where I am right now. It almost feels like I am limping through December to get to that resolute day where we get to try again.
We get to try again. We get to make and do better. And while this seems perhaps a right and noble thing (and it is), it also suggests a struggle to live in the now, to be fully present. And I struggle with that. I always have. Maybe that’s the “better” burden. Maybe when one is always chasing better around the bend, he will sacrifice the present. And so, aware, he tries to better this, too. And he’s off, running at the gun, trying to be better at better to get better. Alas, the beauty and the burden of better.
So, then, do we not chase our better? I hope not. I don’t know how to do it any differently. And more, even though I know the pitfalls on the path ahead, I will choose and chase better. It’s the race I run.
Happy Wednesday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Earlier this year, during “distance,” I started something I called “Why, Sy?” With each day’s Learning Experience, I would attach a screen cast to answer the question, “Why are we doing this?” I came to call it “Why, Sy?” Some days the answer was readily found and easily communicated, but other days, I struggled a bit to come up with at least what felt like a legit reason for why we were doing the day’s work. And then, for some reason, when we shifted to “hybrid” in February, it got away from me, and I never got back to it. But next fall, I will return to why.
In fact, I will return to it and publish it each day on YouTube, not only for my kids but also for the world of education out there. It will be part of my new 180 commitment to my next better. I want to be a model for the struggle of “why” on a daily basis. But from my struggle, I expect to learn and grow as I become more practiced and intentional about finding my why in all that we do. It will not be rehearsed–well, at least not formally. I expect it will be rehearsed in my reflections about my daily dives into doing, reflecting, and doing better. I want to capture it in a 180 days of “why.” All of it: the good, the bad, and even the ugly as I chase better around the bend.
Happy Tuesday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
My count is off. It’s actually day 161, but our snow day and “power” day, messed my count up because I had already posted before school was officially called those days, so, like last year, there will end up being 182 days in the Project 180 year.
And so, what are we doing for the final 19 days of the year? Two big items: Passion Paper and Night. I hope these two will keep us engaged and motivated in what will likely end up feeling like the longest few weeks of our already longest ever year. And though it has been a long year, I am just going to enjoy the short time I have left with my little humans.
Anyway, that’s all I have on this final Monday morning in May. Have a great day, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
I have a lot to learn about learning. So, recently, I’ve begun to dig into the brain a bit, and I started here.
Of course, the title was the initial draw for me. I have long known and long wondered why kids don’t like school. More, I have wondered why wouldn’t/shouldn’t/couldn’t kids love school. I think they would/should/could, but that’s gonna take some serious work on our part. And, to some degree, I believe that’s been–at least a behind-the-scenes–part of Project 180, a part of the “better” classroom.
I believe kids can love school, and more, I believe we can make it a place (and experience) they love. And maybe in our doing, we can make it a place and experience teachers love, too. I believe, and not for different reasons necessarily, he could have called his book, Why Don’t Teachers Like School? Maybe, I’ll write that one.
Anyway, only three chapters in, and I am finding lots to chew on. At some point, I will share some of my innovations for the next leg of the Project 180 journey.
Happy Friday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Morning, all. My 10 minutes of screen staring is up, and nothing’s presented itself today. Seems I am stuck between having too little to say or too much to say. The little seems unworthy of your time, and the much starts me down a path for which I haven’t the time or the energy. So, in light of that, I am simply going to say good morning and accept what is–or isn’t.
Happy Thursday.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
As we near out final act, I want my kids to understand their roles, so when take our final bow, they feel like they are the stars of our show. And while I may not say this explicitly every day, I try to create a community, a culture where it’s understood implicitly. It is our show. It has to be. Learning is a shared responsibility in a community. And yesterday, I wanted to call attention to that as we continued to rehearse our roles in our show.
I stopped seeing our roles in black and white a long time ago. I grew wary and weary of the stock roles of teacher and student and the transactional script we were forced to follow. So, I began to ad lib and improvise, trusting my innovative instincts to find the between where we become connected in the blend, where we discover our messy middle–that place where humans live and live and learn. Our show.
Happy Wednesday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Universe was listening. Been struggling a bit lately. And yesterday’s late afternoon email from a former student was just the pick me up I needed on a mid-May Monday. Someone heard and answered my mayday.
I think as long as someone reminds us that we are making a difference, we’ll be okay. And sometimes mid May is when we need it most. Thank you, Sabrina. I needed this.
Happy Tuesday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
This is usually a semester-long project, so I am not sure how it’s going to go. As I shared with my kids, we will do the best we can with the little time we have left. And that’s only twenty-two days. But I wanted something that was not going to weigh too much at the end of this heavy year. We already have the heavy of burden of finishing with Elie Wiesel’s Night (still working on how we might do this differently this year), so I wanted something else to carry us through to the end. So, today, we will finish our move-forward plan with our Passion Papers.
I will share some of my kiddo’s work when the time is right. For now, I just want to move forward with my kiddos. Figure if we can just keep moving we’ll be okay.
Happy Monday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.