All For 1:1 and 1:1 For All!

Our first week of the 2013-14 school year is under our belt, and from the buzz around our building, it seems that most educators are feeling very excited. I, too, am walking around with an abnormally large spring in my step; I am having some of the funnest conversations with my colleagues at the start of a school year that I can ever remember having! Brainstorming ways to tap into students' creativity, providing them with appropriate but myriad choices, developing a community that extends beyond the classroom walls, figuring out ways to modify, rather than add to, the classroom work flow, etc.

I've also had other conversations, just as informative, but with a different level of energy. These made me think of an article I recently shared with my colleagues, "Empathy: The Most Important Back-to-School Supply." I find this a pertinent article, not only because I believe it should be the foundation of developing a constructive classroom climate, but it should be the foundation of our interactions with colleagues. Empathy. And although many of us are feeling excited to explore and play and live spontaneously during this new 1:1 paradigm shift, others are feeling overwhelmed, confused, frustrated, and yes, quite lonely.

I see you. I hear your concerns. And I want you to know that your feelings matter. And I'd like to help, if I can.

I hope that the following ideas provide you with some comfort and a needed sense of calm as you journey through the "buzz" of this school year.

1. You're not alone. I feel these similar levels of anxiety with this 1:1 adoption. I really do. All of us do. When I hear someone share a really exciting, innovative lesson plan using the new 1:1 environment, I feel happy for the teacher, and I feel excited for the students, and I feel this sense of defeat and pressure envelop me. "How did s/he make that happen? Where did the idea come from? I'll never get there!" But then I remember...
2. ...It's not a competition. Perhaps if we all remember that each of us brings a different perspective to the classroom, unique ideas and ways of experimenting, we can calm down, take a deep breath, and simply try something. Try anything. And remember, students like freedom, so...
3. ...Let your students help. Throw them an opportunity and see how they might help create a collaborative learning environment using their Chromebooks. You can then learn from the experience, formulate some questions about both the mechanics and content of the lesson. And with those questions...
4. ...Reach out. Get feedback from colleagues who teach the same class. Or brainstorm with your Instructional Tech Faciliators. Or contact me. I'd love to sit and work/play with you! I'll learn as much as you do! 
5. Lastly, and most importantly, let's remember, that the best 1:1 "device" is a caring and curious teacher. Don't let go of the things you do that so brilliantly and uniquely communicate your sincere concern to your students. Whether you are gifted at storytelling, or have a fabulous sense of humor, or you generate lively, engaging conversations, or you inspire kids with new opportunities, or your presence floods a room with a needed sense of calm now and then, or...whatever the case may be, bring THAT with you every day. And...

...The rest will follow. Each of us possesses talents that might be getting lost in the shuffle right now: through your passions, you've already figured out how to reach your students. As long as you remain as playful and curious as you have in years past in order to connect with your students, anything you try in this new learning environment will be beneficial.

And know that we really are all in this together.

The Classroom, Our Playground

"We all need empty hours in our lives

or we will not have time to create or dream." ~Robert Coles

For the 24th time in my career, I find myself bidding adieu to a wonderfully

Biking through Sonoma!

adventurous summer break. I took a glorious vacation to California—Santa Cruz and Napa Valley. I sat in my back yard/garden reading an assortment of books on my Kindle. I jogged, worked out, kayaked, and biked as often as I could. And my favorite part? I got to spend quite a bit of unstructured, connected time with family and friends.

As I purposefully floated through summer, partaking in as many spontaneous events as possible, I realized how much happier I felt, how much more creative I felt, how much lighter I felt as I dove into my days' explorations without having a "lesson plan." And then I read the book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, by Stuart Brown. Fascinating. And quite ironic. When I came back to school last week, the first word my Director of Instructional Technology (Ryan Bretag) used to describe our 2013-14 school year was "PLAY!"

"It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self." ~D. W. Winnicott

Play. A carefree, beneficial mentality that eludes adults way too often. I don't remember a time in my youth where I didn't feel like I was playing. Exploring the creek in my backyard, making up yard games with my siblings and neighborhood friends, playing hours of basketball in my driveway, etc. What followed those moments of pure joy included creativity, human connection, utter freedom and laughter. Lots and lots of laughter.

Picking pomegranates in Napa.

Of course, as an adult, the art of play becomes more difficult. "I don't have time." But sometimes, I think it's more that we've forgotten how to do it. We've forgotten how to let ourselves go, how to play. Isn't that unnerving? It certainly might be due to running out of time in a given day. But it also might be that play involves failure, falling, frustration. It has to. Because without those pieces, you wouldn't get to the creativity, the sense of community, the feeling of flying, and the treasure of having a sense of humor.

So how will I play during this school year?

1. I will embrace the unknown. I don't know where the 1:1 Chromebook adoption will take my students. Nor do I know where it will take me and my teaching. Nobody does. But that's the FUN in it! That's FREEDOM! It's the curricular version of Lewis and Clark! It will be an experience that will bring our district closer together if we allow it to. We need to take the time to laugh and joke with one another. And we must respect the myriad of perspectives and stories that will blossom out of our classroom playgrounds.
2. My students will be just as instrumental in mapping this journey as I am. It can't be about control and shutting down. It has to be about exploration. And watching them explore is fun for me! All the research in the world won't tell me how our Glenbrook students will benefit from this newness. Because our students haven't tried it yet. If they don't play, we'll never be able to see the benefits that lie on the other side of play!

"Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn." ~O. Fred Donaldson

Here's to 2013-14! Have a fabulous start to the year!

(Two more enjoyable, informative resources below.)

An article that summarizes Brown's work. The Importance of Play for Adults.
And...

Boston Marathon Tragedy

We will all be grieving for a while. Appropriately so. This is an incredibly sad day. But when the news starts sucking you into the drama of "evil," when you don't think you have any tears left, look at the images and the videos again and notice all the people running TO help one another. All the CIVILIANS grabbing those without energy or those in shock to bring them to a safe place. Notice those who stop and provide physical, pychological and spiritual support to people on the ground until the professionals can arrive. Putting others before themselves. Notice that. Perhaps that will help. A little.

Looking for Answers

Dearest Students,

I am so deeply sorry that our community is going through such a tough year and that we have experienced yet another loss. As a mother, you have no idea how badly I wish I could wave a magic wand and take this struggle from all of you. I would willingly carry the burden if I could. As a teacher and, well, a member of the human race, I know that these experiences, however painful, however tragic, happen. And that these life lessons, as cliché as it may sound, will make us stronger and hopefully more appreciative of and connected to those around us.

So what’s next? What’s the answer? How do we prevent such tragedies from happening again? What’s the magic formula? And how do the survivors move forward?

I don’t know. And what’s more disconcerting, nobody does. There is a process, for certain. But just as certainly, there isn’t ONE answer.

So here’s where I spend my time. Here’s where I find a great deal of comfort. I know what the answer isn’t.

1. The answer is NOT in comparing my feelings with others. Of course people have different relationships with the loved ones we’ve lost. But feeling insulted or annoyed  because a stranger might break down more than a close friend or family member is pointless and harmful. I did not know Ryan or Kyle, two of the young men we lost last summer. Yet I haven’t stopped having bouts of tears for them since I heard the news of their loss last summer. Why? I don’t know. Why do I need to answer? Those are my feelings and I own them. They are sincere. I am not looking for attention. I simply need to go through whatever process my mind tells me to go through. I do not compare myself with the way a colleague might be dealing with these experiences. I do not assume that because others aren’t crying that they feel less pain than I. We are not the same people. We all process life experiences differently. So why compare feelings?

2. The answer is NOT in accepting statistics and moving into a world of indifference or defeat. I have lost many people in my life. I have lost family members to cancer, to blood clots, to car accidents, to heart disease, to Parkinson’s disease, to Alzheimer’s, to doctor’s negligence, to old age, and yes, to suicide. All of these loved ones have become a statistic in the eyes of others, professionals and actuaries, etc. But I don’t care about the numbers. Yes. I’m a science teacher. And I don’t care about the data. I won’t allow the distant discussion of percentages and probabilities to mess with my heart and my being. These were people. These were people I loved. Unique, extraordinary, flawed, loving and loved people. And although the cause of their death has inspired me to act constructively to try to prevent those losses for others, the cause does not reflect the level of the loss I feel for each. They are not stats to me.

3. The answer is NOT in pretending that there is ONE answer. That one way of grieving is the right way. The sensible way. The healthy way. Why is this thought comforting? Because it automatically means we can connect. We can be ourselves. We don’t have to be self-conscious of our tears, our smiles, our silence, our laughter, or our confusion. We can stop ourselves from offering advice, in telling others how they should be behaving, (unless of course, you’re a professional, like Mr. K, Ms. L, Ms. H, Mr. W, Mr. E., etc.) We can instead, connect. One answer is that there’s comfort to be found in no “right” answer.

How do I close this letter? How do share with you my confidence that over time, the pain will subside? The confusion will dissipate? The anger will diminish? The memories will provide strength?

I give you the three P’s.

Patience, Persistence and People.

Give it time.

Keep moving forward.

And surround yourself with your family and friends.

Patience, Persistence and People.

And know this. And here’s where I have a great deal of expertise.

It gets better. It gets so very much better. If you trust me at all, please believe that.

And that I am here for you. Always.