98. Inspirational Improvement





98. Inspirational Improvement

Continuing on my list of my personal 100 Things of Awesomeness, is something that I call inspirational improvement which is, fortunately, something that I see quite regularly as a Principal.  It comes in all shapes and sizes, some of which are easy to see and some of which are far more subtle.  It’s the kind of stuff that fills your soul.

The easy ones: 

·         academic achievement

·         athletic championships

·         superb fine arts performances

The subtle ones: 

·         a student setting a goal and then meeting or exceeding it

·         a teacher tackling the challenge of a new teaching area or teaching style, then mastering it, and then sharing it with a colleague

·         an anxious student making a friend

·         passing a math test

·         a behaviourally challenged student having multiple “good days” in  a row

·         the best teacher/student/leader that you know putting in the blood, sweat and tears to improve something that they already do better than anyone else

·         public speaking for the first time

So here’s my thing:  no matter how great or seemingly small, as leaders we need to make a point of not only seeing these improvements but by acknowledging them in a meaningful way.  Sure, it’s easy to congratulate a provincial winning team or a prestigious scholarship winner, but sometimes—many times—those little victories, the math test, the public speaking and the appropriate-enough-to-arrange-a-play-date-with-a-new-friend type of conversations—are equally worthy of praise and recognition because often they require the same amount of pre-planning, effort, blood, sweat and tears as the biggies do.  Last year, the fact that a student actually TRIED his public speaking assignment was a huge victory.  Sure it was way too short, and yes he was nervous, but he wiped the sweat back—literally—announced his title in a clear voice and read his notes, something that was an impossible challenge a week earlier.

As a father, I also get to see inspirational improvement every day with my own kids.  Sometimes it’s academic, sometimes it’s emotional, sometimes it’s through kindness to others, and sometimes it’s just that they finally “get it”.  This weekend, however, it was all about the snow.  I have two young skiers and one young snowboarder in my family.  The oldest is 11 and the youngest is 3, so their learning curves are all very different.  It is quite a moment when a child moves from “pizza feet” to “French fries” over the course of an entire ski season, and then, in three days, can keep up with me, parallel skiing through trees and powder, at the start of this season.  The same is true for my little snowboarding shredder.  He spent the better part of three seasons grinding down the mountain on his back edge, regular and goofy-foot, before he finally started linking his turns.  Now?  His confidence is through the roof and he is willing—wanting—to try anything that I can throw at him on the hill.  The youngest?  Making it though an hour of getting bundled up, clipped into skis, sliding down the bunny hill and home to the hot tub without tears is improvement enough to be proud of.

Popping Our Bubble Filters

Those who know me know that I have been a very active participant and proponent of using technology in the classroom.  I have designed and taught multiple models of online learning in multiple subject areas, I have integrated digital technologies into my own classroom, and promoted digital technologies into my schools.  I have participated on the design teams and in pilot projects with electronic portfolios, tablets, lap top projects, synchronous and asynchronous lesson design, blended approaches to online learning and .  I am well read on educational technology philosophy.  I blog, I tweet, I text, I use Facebook, participate in online forums, and use a blog aggregator to accumulate the feeds that I want to read for me.  I have done this as teacher, as a learner and as an administrator.

In his TED Talk, Ali Pariser presents a very thought-provoking point of view into the way that electronic information is manipulated for us (and at us).  His pointed discussion on our filter bubbles was full of barbs for me that stuck, at first, but that were quickly pinched off.  I think that it is very easy to fear the Big Brother(s) out there as they customize the information accessible to us, and his “balanced information diet” is a clever way to remind us about those things that we learned in school from our teachers:  to research a topic and research it well from multiple sources, and then to sift through that information critically as we move through the process of forming our own opinions.  I loved his analogy of eating a balance of information vegetables and information dessert.

Below are some of my personal nuggets from Ali’s talk, followed by my own beliefs in italics:

·    What you click on first [on the Internet] drives your information diet. Instead of eating a healthy and balanced diet, you may only get served information junk food.  Teachers serve a balanced information diet, and—more importantly—they teach students how to prepare that balanced diet for themselves by helping them to grow into learners that can see when their diet is imbalanced.  It is so important to develop that sense of personal, self-reflection and regulation.

·    Who is our new curator of knowledge?  Teachers are trained, apprenticed and masterful curators of knowledge.  More importantly, they are versed in teaching people how to use that knowledge.

·    [We are living in a time when we are] passing of the torch from human gatekeepers to algorithmic ones.  These algorithms have no embedded ethics.  Teachers have embedded ethics.

·    Information cannot be keyed solely to relevance.  Well-rounded, credible opinions are always based on information that is important, uncomfortable, challenging to us and containing other points of view.  I just can’t see how a computer program can “understand” what is relevant and important, or if something is uncomfortable and challenging to our own points of view.  Isn’t that the beauty of debate, that it illicit, by nature, thorough discussion from multiple sources and from multiple points of view?

I embrace technology-embedded learning because it’s the right thing to do and because I believe that we have a moral obligation to teach children in the medium of their time.  Not to do so, in my opinion, should be considered malpractice.  That’s a strong word:  malpractice.  I do not use it lightly. Yet, I strongly believe that all of the wonderful gizmos and gadgets will never replace the organic warmth of a classroom teacher, that key cog who facilitates the puzzle.  If there is ever a point of view advocating for the role of the teacher in the classroom, this is it.  We need discussion, we need teachers, and we need the ability to think critically.  So far, I haven’t found an algorithm that gives me all of that.

Do I Even Dare?

Alright, it’s January 5^th and I have put off my first post of 2012 long enough.  Every time I start to put something down—no matter how intriguing or personally fulfilling it is—the evil and dreaded hint of another New Year’s resolution begins to creep in and take over.  I try, really try, to push those dreaded New Year’s resolutions away;  they just seem empty to me. 

To lose 15 pounds.

To exercise more.

To find better balance in life.

New Year’s resolutions, at least the ones my friends seem to make, seem like empty promises...wishes that they want but aren’t prepared to work for.  And, because of that, I tend to push them away.  I am simple that way. 

When I want to eat better, I do, and feel better.  When I want to sneak a treat, I do, and enjoy it without guilt.

When I need to exercise more, I do.  And I enjoy it.

But, maybe, I am missing something because I am finding myself really looking ahead this year.  I am feeling a real sense of optimism for 2012 and have one of those deep-in-my-gut feelings that 2012 is going to be a significant year for me.  My evidence:

I will be hitting an age milestone, for sure, and I that excites rather than scares me. 

I feel more in balance that I have before. 

I see myself spending the time to grow myself rather than the things around me.

So I think that I am ready to jump in, both feet pointed down, and make some “year commitments” for 2012 as follows:

·         I will live my life large by taking advantage of opportunities and experiences to make it fuller.  Big Bites continue!

·         I will keep my body and my brain active.

·         I will dig in and complete some of those things that I chronically put off, and instead of listing them I will use my gut and my procrastination alert to guide me as to what I need to get up off of my butt and do. 

·         And I won’t just stop to smell the roses, I will savour them.

There, I did it.

Sort of.

Savouring the Bites

It all started with the duck terrine.

It was January 8, 2011, and my wife and I were enjoying a weekend getaway right after the Christmas break.  Perhaps it was this unlikely decompression, planned because of a full calendar and not because it was the weekend of choice, that helped things change for me.  The funny thing is, it took almost one full year for me to figure out what the change was.  I certainly knew that it was there, that something had happened...was happening.  But I wasn’t sure just what it was. 

Until last night.

But, it all started with the duck terrine.  Terrine is a wonderful, coarse sort of pâté, and for some reason, that terrine, that day, pulled some kind of emotional response out of me.  I had never experienced that sort of a reaction from food before, and it was wonderful.  While my wife sat back, laughing, my back turned to jelly and I felt my knees get weak.  And it has happened since.  Not just with food, but with other good experiences, and I have noticed that it usually happens when I get a quiet moment—that quick chance to sit back and reflect—so perhaps it is something that I create myself.  It has happened with at home with my wife and kids, at my school, while fishing and hunting, over meals and snacks, and during visits with friends.  And always, I catch myself sinking into that chair a little deeper than normal and enjoying things a little more, never quite sure why I was feeling so good, just happy I was.

But, last night, that all changed.  We decided to enjoy some of our venison steaks for dinner (yes, food again...), and as I got the steaks ready I decided that I really wanted a glass of red wine with them.  This is unusual for me; as the only red wine aficionado in the house I don’t ever open up a bottle so that I can have a glass.  I always wait for company. 

But this time it seemed right.  I poured the glass and let it sit so that the bouquet could open up while I grilled the steaks outside on the BBQ.  I got everyone’s plate ready, and then tried to get 5 seconds of quiet so I could enjoy a small bite of the steak with a sip of wine.  I didn’t get the 5 seconds.  I probably didn’t even get one.  My wife called me melodramatic—and she was right. 

But here’s the thing, here is the “moment”:  I didn’t need quiet.  It tasted wonderful. 

Even better than I remembered.

I became aware, for the first time, that I was savouring that bite.  I was savouring that sip.  I was savouring that moment.  I used to need a campfire, and exhausted body and a cold night on a mountaintop to make a meal taste that good.  Now it seems I just need the right food, the right people...the right attitude. 

Maybe, just maybe, I can make my moments instead of bumping into them.

This is a change in my life.  For so long, I have used the motto:  Eating Life in Big Bites.  It was a way for me to remember to enjoy the things around me, to experience all of the experiences.  And while I still am having those big bites—seeking out those experiences and really enjoying them—I am starting to truly savour them. 

That is what I realized the other night.  Instead of chasing the good things, I am enjoying them all:  the big and small bites;  the delight of a treat;  relishing a moment.  I think that I am hitting a point in my life where I am really appreciating, well, my life.  I am not chasing a career, trying to collect more things, worried about the things that I don’t have.  I am enjoying what I do have and the things and experiences around me. 

I am savouring the moment, and it all started with the duck terrine.

Christmas Tree Hunting

99.  Christmas Tree Hunting

There is nothing quite like jamming your family into the truck with a hand saw and hot chocolate at the ready and a permit to harvest a Christmas tree in your back pocket.  We did just that this last weekend, and what a great time we had.

School is so busy at this time of the year.  Reports cards are being done (or not), classes are busy preparing for the annual Christmas Concert, and everyone is busy sharing flu and cold bugs, dealing with the challenges of buying Christmas presents for everyone, fitting in all of the staff parties and socials, and of course all of the emotional “stuff” that comes up in the lives of our friends and family at this time of year.  Whew, how do we make it through December every year? 

Of course, this is why it is so important to pull together with your family, whether it is a trip up into the mountains to find that perfect Christmas tree, a visit with Grandma or just 15 minutes to sit together over a cup of hot chocolate on a cold afternoon.  Take the time to recharge your body and your soul.  For us, the Christmas tree adventure was amazing.  We dragged along a family from the UK and headed up into the snow.  We had blue skies, hot chocolate and a wonderful time.  We found the perfect Christmas tree, all 15 feet of it, and headed down the mountain Grizwald-style with the tree leashed to the top of the SUV.  It was quite a sight, and something that the kids will chalk up into their memories as one of the important things that we need to do at this time of the year.  And that, it what it all should be about.

Bon Bon Ice Cream



100.  Bon Bon

Inspired by the Book of 1000 Awesome Things, I have started a list of my own 100 Things of Awesomeness.  Coming in first on my list has to be this special seasonal treat.  We have been eating Peppermint Candy Ice Cream since we were kids, and now I have my own kids hooked on it.  It's like the new Christmas orange.  Do you remember, looong ago, when it was such a treat to have those special Christmas oranges?  They were small and so sweet, and always came wrapped in that green tissue paper.  And then, they started to become called Japanese oranges, and they were still special, and the most expensive ones (always at your friend's house) were wrapped in white tissue paper.  You still had to wade through seeds back then, even on the white paper-wrapped ones.  But now, you can get them anywhere almost any time of the year.  The "special" has long disappeared for me, and that's exactly what makes Bon Bon so special for us; if you blink, you miss it, for a whole year!

Our tradition is to call Peppermint Candy Ice Cream in our house "Bon Bon"--from the francais-langue side of the carton, and somehow--unbelievably--we missed out on it last year.  I can't figure out why other than that we traveled away for the days before Christmas, and that I detest shopping after work on those crazy last days before the Christmas break.  You can imagine my sheer delight yesterday, when rounding the corner passed the produce isle and toward the cocoa powder, I saw it.  It was on one of those end-of-the-isle displays, and I would like to say that I caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye.  But, I didn’t.  I saw it a mile away, and it was like time and all noise stopped, the clouds opened, and a beam of light came straight from heaven and shone, golden, on our Bon Bon. 

A bit dramatic?  Yes, but that is really how I felt.  You see, you can’t just find this ice cream anywhere, and you can’t just get it anytime.  That is why it is so special.  It gets to be one of those small little pleasures—all creamy and minty, always with the chance of getting a small piece of peppermint candy in any spoonful—that we so look forward to every year.  My wife and I because it was a special treat when we were kids, and my kids because they see that it was a special treat from back in the olden days when mom and dad were little (if that could have ever happened!).  My grocery store is the only one that seems to sell it, and it comes from Island Farms, that wonderful dairy on Vancouver Island.  Thank you Island Farms, I don’t know what I would do without you (and I will give you a second shout out in the summer when I go back to my hometown to the only ice cream parlour that still sells your cherry custard!).

And the best part of this story?  It was on sale.  $8.99, cut down to $5.99 a carton with your membership card.  I have a membership card, so guess what?  I bought two.

There was no way I was missing out this year!

Ten past eight is too early to sigh...

I got some great advice from a friend today.  We'd both been at work for a while, but connected around 8:10 am.  I looked up and sighed, and she said "Come on, it is way to early in the day to start sighing!"

I started to recount all of the reasons for me sighing, but she was right.

I was thinking about the a challenging conversation from the day before, and two new ones that I expected today.  I was thinking about yesterday's expensive repair bill on my new truck, the work that needed to be done to re-arrange our Cub Scout evening for next week, and having to travel out of town twice on the upcoming weekend while still finding time to go and cut down our Christmas tree.

And, she was right.

These were all things that I didn't need to be worrying about.  Half had happened already, and the other half would happen whether I wanted them to or not.  The challenge from yesterday was predicted, unavoidable and over.  The truck bill was of my creation, and--really--I was just happy to have it back after 10 days.  The Cub Scout meeting, well, they always work out and we have 7 leaders to share the load.  And the first of the challenging conversations happened today, and--if I am honest with myself--went very well.  I should have predicted that based on past conversations.  As for this weekend?  Yes, we were traveling out of town, but 1 hour on Saturday and 30 minutes on Sunday.  Both are for family birthdays, and both will be a lot of fun.  Almost as much fun as bundling the kids up into the car and driving up the mountain with permit and saw in hand as we search for the perfect Christmas tree.

She was right, and I thanked her.

And, then I went into an assembly with the students and watched a wonderful performance from a traveling groups that had us on their tour calendar.

And, I had a great time.

And, my day needn't have started off with a sigh.