When we nurture the conditions needed for people to show up as their best and biggest selves, we make it possible for people to do their best work.
Generous with Our Emotions
Serious & Enjoyable
n travel situations, there are a lot of variables, a lot of necessary safety precautions, and a lot of people. This is also true in schools. But it's the people who manage to keep safety and order while also ensuring the experience is enjoyable that make us want to come back.
Burnout or Boreout?
No judgement here. Only love. Your feelings are your feelings. But I want you to know that you deserve to feel better. You deserve to find your work meaningful, manageable, and even fun. Our students are relying on us to bring green flag energy to school. We deserve it and our students deserve it too.
Buried under Shoes
On the other side of these piles of shoes is a beautiful, more calm life filled with sunrises and present moments and self-compassion.
Happy Accidents
In our effort to innovate and lead and make our marks, let's make sure we don't miss the opportunity to learn from those unexpected little happy accidents and instead of hiding them or running from them, embrace them and allow ourselves and others to be transformed by them.
From Fixing to Walking Alongside
So, I'm simply asking us what it would look like to spend a little less time focused on what we are doing and what other people are doing and more time genuinely interested in being. Being together. Being present with others. Being interested in people and their stories and their childhoods. Being interested in our stories and childhoods too.
Sincerity in Learning
If you want to inspire meaningful learning for students, inspire meaningful learning for staff. Sincere classroom learning begins with a sincere and consistent effort to trust and inspire the educators who work hard every day to make a meaningful impact on students. When we take good care of adults and their learning in schools, it allows them to take great care of kids and their learning. - Legacy of Learning
The Parasite
In his book, Better Days, Neil Allen describes what he playfully calls our parasite or superego. You know, that voice that tells you things are not enough, not good enough, and therefore you are not enough and not good enough so why bother trying? He explains how essential it is that we view that voice as separate from ourselves, so we can become critical consumers of the messages we receive. One strategy for doing so is to give your superego a name. I was talking to my friends Kelly Croy and Joe Miller the other day on The Wired Educator podcast, and I asked them what they would name their superegos. Kelly playfully remarked that he didn't know but it would be a bad name, haha. I love that! Anne Lamott calls her parasite, "The Governess."
Disciplined about the Good
So, in our efforts to commit to systems, processes, and structures that grow academic achievement, let's not forget to create an environment that is disciplined about noticing and nourishing the good in others. As Elizabeth Gilbert says in her book, Big Magic, “The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them." Let's help people find them. And let's create an environment that helps us find the beauty in others too.
Super Bounce
As we bring 2023 to a close, many of us will be focused on our own resolutions and that's wonderful. But I have to wonder if the way to truly create a new reality inside and outside of our schools is to start thinking about how we are going to grow and learn together. Less bounce. More super bounce.
MEGHAN LAWSON 