Tips for Recovering from Hurry Sickness

Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention. 

Be Astonished.

Tell about it.

---from Mary Oliver's poem Sometimes

After a middle of the night Emergency Room visit for my son and the hurry to create sub plans for my students earlier this week, I found myself asking--why am I always rushing around?  Always is hyperbole because I have managed to slow down the mental rush in the past three years. Even still, it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of to-do lists, tasks to accomplish, and goals to tackle on a daily basis.

Learning to slow down and become more mindful has not come easily for me, yet the more I've learned to embrace life and enjoy every moment, the more I have lived with joy, hope, peace, and optimism, even in difficult moments.

Tips for Recovering from Hurry Sickness

1. Be mindful of that rushed feeling. Pause and listen. Pay attention to the moment.
In my classroom, I use at Pause and Listen as a call and response technique when I need to gain students' attention after they've been working collaboratively. I say "pause" and they reply "and listen." Prior to this year, I had never used a call and response technique, but I'm liking it because it works and it reminds us all to literally pause and listen for a minute.

2. Be realistic and accept help from others when it's offered, and set guidelines for what you can do instead of layering on more. In other words--say no more often. Three years ago I was stressed to the max with work, networking, and professional pursuits, caught up in the rat race that even educators succumb to at times. (e.g. If I could just get one more conference proposal accepted, schedule one more PD webinar, fly to one more meeting across the country, facilitate one more workshop, speak at another convention, write one more contract, draft one more article, etc.)

3. Create a gratitude list. Be specific with it. Something as simple as noticing the beautiful sky on a cold morning can change the way you feel at a given moment. Driving to work one day this week, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a gorgeous sunrise. I took that moment and allowed myself to feel grateful for the beauty and that gratefulness led to more feelings of gratitude as I noticed how much I appreciated the solitude on my drive, and then when I arrived at school, someone held the door open for me, and then a student brought me artwork she created for our kindness and gratitude bulletin board. One moment of gratitude led to many more moments of gratefulness throughout my day. 

Releasing Judgment

Standing in the hallway of my new school, on a break during a professional development day for new teachers, I listened to the nurse navigator as she relayed the news “you have cancer... I know you’re starting a new job and have limited time available, so I set up appointments with a surgeon and an oncologist for after school...”  I called my husband and knew there were others to call, but I needed to get back into the PD session.  I returned to the classroom and went through the motions for the remainder of our day while in my mind asking “why me? Why now?”

And then the self-judging took over. I compared myself to others, and I continued to ask why this was happening. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I run half-marathons. I eat nutritious foods. I lost 50 pounds in 3 years and maintain a healthy weight. I go for my annual check-ups. I am healthy and I feel better than ever. Why me?

Instead of trusting that it was all part of the plan for my life, I let fear rule, and I judged myself and my journey. It’s easy to do, and difficult to stop. I’ve been thinking more lately about judgment and ways and reasons for releasing it. Releasing judgment is an ongoing process, one in which I cycle in and out.

When we judge ourselves, we bring more stress and suffering thinking we’re not doing enough, being enough, etc. We “should” on ourselves, telling ourselves what we should or should not do. Judgment comes from fear, a fear that we are not worthy, but we are worthy. By surrendering ourselves to a higher power, we can find inner peace and freedom from judgment.

How do we release judgment?

• We understand that we don’t have all the answers.
• We remain flexible and open-minded, accepting of ourselves and others.
• We change our language and avoid dwelling on our mistakes.
• We practice compassion and remember that compassion and judgment cannot co-exist.
• We remember that we can't always believe what we think, especially about our need to be right.
• We value individuality and uniqueness.

What happens when we forget to do these things? We avoid dwelling on the negative or the fact that we believe we've fallen off track.  We acknowledge it, accept it, and move forward, forgiving ourselves and releasing judgment.

#ChooseJoy

5 Important Lessons Learned in 2018

If this best nine image looks a bit sloppy, it’s a perfect representation of 2018. Beautiful and messy. We often showcase the best "Instagram worthy" images to represent our lives, and I would contend that's fine as long as we remember there's always more to an image than meets the eye. Life is about perspective.

From switching teaching jobs, to supporting a son with an often debilitating illness, to surviving treatment for breast cancer, some might say 2018 was a tough year for me, and I wouldn’t disagree. But, I’ve also learned deeply about life.

Here's my perspective on what I learned in 2018.

1) Life is messy and beautiful and worth living.

Amidst the day to day living, you really never do know how much time you have on earth, so make the most it. Love fiercely, take risks, and say “no” if you don’t or can’t really do something.

2) Inspire others by being the best version of yourself.

Live authentically. Define your values. Keep an open mind. Remember, who you are evolves and changes because you are a work in progress, so you can only be the best version of yourself that you are at any given moment, and that's okay.

3) People you never expect to help often step forward to offer support, and people you expect to help might not.

When life obstacles come our way, keep your expectations for others in check because unrealistic expectations of others can lead to more hurt or over-thinking. Why didn't _____help out? I never would have expected ___to be so generous.

4) Commit to process over an event/milestone.

When life is going well or not going well, it's easy to get excited or to become eager about the next event or milestone. If, however, you commit to process rather than the event/milestone, you can develop a system of healthy habits and daily living that helps you throughout life. This means you need to understand your WHY (your motivation) for what you are doing. Why are you training for a half-marathon? Why are you saving money for a family vacation? Why are you cleaning up after the dog for the umpteenth time today? Why are you taxiing your kids all over town to meet up with their friends over Christmas Break?

5) The greatest gift you can offer others is your own joy and inner peace. 

Remember that you are uniquely and wonderfully made. You are loved. You are supported and protected. Remember that JOY is an attitude that requires courage, commitment, and strength. Even if you feel like you're lacking in those areas, you can choose where you place your focus. You can choose to be grateful for small things and in those small things you find more courage, strength, and commitment. #ChooseJoy

Coding in December

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My thirteen year old tech-savvy son thought it was a hoot that I was the parent advocating for his middle school to participate in Hour of Code this year. Since my boys started school nine years ago, I've been volunteering in the public school system. I've chaperoned field trips, baked goodies, and sold refreshments at middle school dances, but the volunteering I've enjoyed the most has been the times I have been able to work directly with students. When I sign up for committees, I try to sign up for committees that might afford me the opportunity to interact with students. Maybe it's my former teacher self who misses regular interactions with students. Maybe it's my parent self who wants to know the kids my own children attend school with. Or, maybe, it's my school improvement advocate self who wants to know what students really think about school, and the best way to know is to be there with the students.  Regardless of the reason, I set my plan in motion in October when I first heard about Hour of Code via Twitter.

By working with the head of technology at the middle school my sons I attend, I was able to gain access to two teachers who felt they had room in their curriculum to squeeze in an hour of coding during the official week December 8-14. These teachers opened their classrooms to me, and I spent each hour working directly with students as they tried out the various tutorials on the Hour of Code site. The best part? Hearing kids say "hey miss--I got it! I figured it out!" None of the students with whom I worked had any previous experience with coding.

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Whatever field our children choose to enter as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly hinge on understanding how computers and other technology work. Nearly 9 out of 10 schools do not offer any computer science classes. Yet, the demand for skilled workers to fill computer science jobs will continue to increase. Supposedly by 2020, there will be a million vacant computer science jobs. When I shared this statistic with some eighth graders, I saw their faces light up a bit.

Across the globe, schools are beginning to see the benefits of teaching coding. While jobs in the future might motivate some people to teach coding, I can imagine others are less motivated by jobs and more motivated by other benefits. Coding teaches students problem solving and forces them to pay attention to details, and if you have students work in teams on coding, they are also learning valuable skills as members of a team.

Business and community partners have everything to gain by volunteering time and resources in our public schools. Microsoft sends their engineers to schools to teach courses and volunteer, and several other organizations (including Facebook, Google, and the Ford Foundation) partner together as part of the #yeswecode movement. One of my favorite holiday activities this year was following Google's work with lighting up Christmas trees (an initiative aimed at getting more girls to code) and encouraging kids to use the Santa Tracker to code. Certainly, these activities are specific to people who celebrate Christmas, but since I celebrate Christmas, I found it fun to see the opportunities to make the holiday a continued learning experience.

Whether you are a parent, teacher, administrator, or community member reading my blog, I want to encourage you to support more coding opportunities in the area where you live because it's interesting to kids and it provides them valuable skills and experiences in life now and for their future.

Earlier this month, I attended and presented at the Achieve Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. so my colleagues and I took a walk the first evening to see the Christmas lights. We were excited to see the trees that were lit because students wrote computer code to light them up.

 

Seeing my world come full circle this December along the Christmas Pathway of Peace delighted me to no end. Kentucky's ornaments this year created by students from the Warehouse After School Program in Danville. This is the very program co-founded by Kendra Montejos, the young woman I interviewed for a Cake and Whiskey magazine article. You can read more here.

May Love And Peace Prevail

Last night close to midnight I finished reading Gabby: A Story of Courage, Love, and Resilience by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly. This hope filled book was also a reminder of violent acts against humanity often committed by individuals who don't have hope themselves or who carry so much anger they feel it's necessary to take lives or harm innocent people, including children. You might recall Gabby's story in the news a few years back.  As a young Arizona congresswoman at a congresswoman on your corner event in Tuscon, she was shot in the head, and others around her were killed or injured.  One of those killed was a 9 year old girl with a curiosity and passion for learning about democracy and government.  While reading about the congresswoman's resiliency and survival was difficult and hopeful, reading about the death of Christina Taylor Green was terribly sad.  I found myself asking when these crazy acts of violence will end. It happens all too often.

This morning in Troutdale, Oregon there was another senseless act of gun violence in one of our country's public schools, and last week there was a shooting at Seattle Pacific University. My mind is peppered with so many questions--

Why do we need guns anyway? Ah-I know the reasons many will give, and I suppose if you can be responsible with your weapon, then fine for you, but I'm a no gun kind of woman. In fact, it took a good friend telling me I was too extreme (and it could backfire) before I let my young sons even play with plastic orange toy Nerf guns.

Why do teens have access to guns? Why don't we have stricter gun laws? Why aren't we creating better health systems to help the mentally ill? Why are children being murdered?  How can we feel safe in the schools and universities where we teach and send our children to school? How can we stop the violence? How can we promote more peace and love? 

I'm sad tonight as I think about the family who sent their fourteen year old son to school this morning, a place that should have been safe, yet tonight their son is dead at the hands of a murderer with a gun.  I'm sad when I think about the teacher who was injured by a gun while at work in a school today. I am sad to think this could happen again tomorrow or the next day or the next school year at schools across our country.

Tonight I will hug my sons tighter as I wish them a good night of sleep, and I will feel grateful for life, love, and hope.  

One School's New Focus on Literacy

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On December 14th I was looking forward to the weekend and the opportunity to write about my full week of literacy team planning with one of our middle schools in the district, but in the immediate aftermath of the Newtown tragedy my reflections on our literacy work didn't matter that weekend.   More pressing issues were on the minds of everyone.  Several education bloggers I follow posted thoughtful responses and reflections.

In a twitter exchange, one teacher shared  with me that he processes through writing, and so do I, usually.  For the past two weeks my thoughts have come in fragments typed into my phone or on my iPad, whichever I had available at the moment the thoughts arrived.  Two weeks is longer than I've ever waited to pull those fragments together into one cohesive unit for a blog post.

While adults across the United States argue about much needed gun control, I am hopeful for the kids at the middle school where I worked the week of December 14th because their new literacy leadership team is celebrating the work ahead with reading, writing, discussing, learning new vocabulary, and creating remixed poems.  In a thank you email, the principal of the school where I spent my week leading to December 14th, sent a modified version of 'twas the night before Christmas.  She and her staff (known as staffulty) wrote it and read it to students on the last day of the semester before they left for winter break.

The best part about my time spent in this school is that under new leadership they are focused on literacy and student success not just band-aid fixes to improve test scores.  They are changing their culture and making it cool to read and succeed.  Check out a few lines from their poem--

He was dressed in maroon, and white you can see.
With this LMS attire, a Charger he must be.

A bundle of books he had pulled from his case.
He handed them out and picked up his pace.

His eyes—how serious, His demeanor, how humble
His expression had everyone ready to crumble.

He started his speech about vocabulary and reading,
Things Chargers must do, to be succeeding.

...and a few of my favorite lines are here--


Specifically he spoke about the reading left to do,
By everyone there—students, staffulty, and administrators too.

The reading and vocabulary I will definitely support,
And I will see great results as I analyze reports.
To hear these sweet words, how they caused such delight.
LMS  students read and achieve, with all of their might!

But I heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight.
Merry Christmas to all and read every night!

What a fabulous way the leaders of this middle school ended the semester--reminding everyone to read over winter break.

 Peace~Joy~Love~Hope

Ruminating on Aki Kurose and Seattle

Generally when I travel out of state for work, I fly in to the destination, spend time working and meeting with colleagues and fly out with little time for exploration.  Last week, however, my friend/colleague and I traveled to Seattle, Washington for work.  Since it was my first visit to Seattle, my friend decided to utilize her hotel points so we could arrive a day early and do some exploring. 

We visited many of the Seattle tourist spots including Pike Place Market and the Space Needle.  Still trying to keep our spending low, we skipped the ride to the top of the Space Needle and instead walked around the perimeter of the attraction, taking in many of the gardens and sculptures surrounding the Space Needle.

One of my favorite observations of the day was in a garden where we saw a stone with a quote by the late Seattle educator and peace activist, Aki Kurose.  “If you don’t have peace within yourself, learning cannot take place.”   Aki Kurose lived from 1925-1998.  Her rich life included time as a teenager in a Japanese internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but she learned not to harvest hatred toward the guards at the camp.  According to Jennifer Ott, writing for HistoryLink.org, Kurose spent much of her adult life teaching children and learning from children, and she became excited about what she learned from them.  This sounds to me like a woman whose work to embrace differences, create peace and promote justice is work from which we could all learn.