Learner. Human. Joyologist.
I hope you have an opportunity to be new to something this summer, and I hope you are able to enjoy the learning process along the way too. I believe new experiences have much to teach us and many of those experiences are transferable to the classroom.
Certainly, the song and the waves are moving to see. But in the moments before the light drop, when the graduates are sending their text messages to loved ones, that’s my favorite part. Because if you look closely, you can see many of them are brought to tears, overcome with gratitude for the adults in their lives who have loved, cared for, and guided them over the years. It’s as if they are meeting the magnitude of that love and this moment for the first time. It’s so raw and honest and human.
You are human. And so is everyone else.
Our homes, neighborhoods, and our schools serve as the center of every child’s universe, and we get to make that universe as good as it can be, so they can go out there and create an even better world for all of us, seeing what can be and what every living creature deserves. George Couros wrote about this yesterday, “Instead of preparing our students for the ‘real world,’ how do we help our students make the real world better?” What a tall order and yet what a profound honor. May we never forget what a powerful privilege it is to faithfully and dutifully serve our communities to the best of our abilities with joy and hope for the future.
Thank you, PAATA, you inspire me. Keep shining.
It could mean any number of things but instead of assigning meaning to it, I focus on what people can’t take away from me: my learning.
In all the doing, I’m grateful for the reminder of being. Human beings not human doings. Without the being part, the doing is pretty hollow.
So, I’m simply asking us to really think about making sure we prioritize what matters in our curriculum and small moves to measure those somethings that matter along with time for teachers to collaborate and learn from each other in this work.
So, this week, be on the look out for your something wonderful and if it was made possible by someone else, please be sure to let them know. Thank them three times. Make it weird, haha. Overdo it.
As destructive as bad gossip can be, imagine how powerful good gossip can be. What would happen if kids caught us hyping them up to another adult. What would happen if teachers caught each other raving about their contributions at the lunch table just as they entered the room. What would happen if principals overheard district office administrators marveling at the way they facilitated their most recent staff meeting
MEGHAN LAWSON 