Brie's SOL Day 10-Daily Commute

I smack the garage door opener and throw my backpack, lunch, and purse into the car.  My smoothie tucks between my arm full of objects and safely makes it into the cup holder.  There is a moment when I hope it doesn't spill on me and result in an outfit change. 

Once in the driver's seat, I turn on the car and glance back in the rearview mirror.  Troy is gone so there is no large truck in the driveway to avoid.  I can quickly reverse out but stop at the sidewalk to make sure there are no walkers or cars.

There are two routes.  One takes me by my favorite Starbucks which I will not visit while the other takes me through the neighborhood for a slightly shorter drive.  I choose the second.  Drinking my smoothie, I try to be thoughtful about the speed limit in the neighborhood and remind myself that there is no rush.  I have plenty of time.

The drive involves smoothie drinking and a bit of makeup at the stoplights.  Traffic is not too bad this morning and I am able to slip on to the highway with little frustration.  On the highway, traffic is a bit slower so I turn off at Alameda rather than 6th Avenue.  From there on out, it is all smoothie and Audible book.  The book is nonfiction and keeps me interested although I wonder what I have missed when I daydream about my to-do list. 

Stoplight, go forward, stoplight, go forward, stoplight, turn right, stoplight, turn left.  Roundabout!  It is the first and easiest of the two I hit.  The second roundabout has a higher possibility of newbies and the need for defensive driving.  No problems at either and I roll into the parking lot to finish my smoothie before I gather my belongings to haul up to the classroom.  The day begins!

Brie's SOL Day 9-For my older self

What advice would I give my older self?

Hmmm, this one is tougher.  I am watching as my parents age and seeing how their minds and bodies deteriorate.  Also, their struggles to accept those changes.  So, as I watch them I suppose my suggestions would be these...

1. Enjoy those who you love.  They are the most valuable people in your life.
2. Find joy in your creativity and creations.
3. Accept your changing body with grace and humor.  It happens to everyone.
4. Do work that satisfies you.  Find ways to use your skills to help others.
5. Build and maintain a community of family and friends.  Spend time with them.
6. Take time to prepare.  For retirement and healthcare.
7. Choose your location wisely.  See #5.
8. Let go of the things that don't matter. 
9. Pass on opportunities to younger people.
10. Look back at this list and see how much was true.

Brie's SOL Day 8-For my younger self

What would I tell my younger self?

First off, you have no idea what the future actually holds.  All those predictions will turn out to be different.  Sometimes better, sometimes worse.  The big predictions will be better because you will learn from them.

Secondly, when you are having a hard time, you are growing.  It can be painful and unpleasant, but there will be learning that will make you a better person.

Third, give yourself time and space.  Slow down and don't rush.  Many things will work themselves out without your worry and pressure on yourself.  You cannot always control the future and you are more at peace when you let go of the things you cannot control.

Fourth, stop saying you will never do something or other.  You end up doing those things.

Fifth, let go of judgment whenever you can.  Judgment of yourself and of others.  You will learn from your own life that we all bring our own experiences to each situation and rightfully so.

Last, breathe.  Each moment is just that-a moment. Take a breath and enjoy the ride.

Brie's SOL Day 7-Rainy day!

My first indoor recess happened today.  It was a cool and cloudy morning.  We have had several like that lately and I have been enjoying the rainy spring weather.  The clouds were getting darker as the morning went on.  As a student prepared articles for her discussion, the thunder began.  Another student caught the perfect glance at lightening and many of us were transfixed. 

I remember thunderstorms in Missouri.  My family would sit in my grandparent's garage, with the garage door up, and watch the lightning and thunder put on a show.  My grandparents are long gone, but I remember those times with my grandfather, just enjoying the show of mother nature. 

Today did not let us down.  As only Colorado can do, hail joined in on the parade.  By the time I headed out for lunch duty, I was getting soaked and pelted as I walked to the cafeteria.  It wasn't particularly cold, but not particularly pleasant either.  I watched as a few students gave up their umbrellas and motivation to eat on the patio.  Nonetheless, I look forward to the rainy weather my app has promised for tomorrow!

Brie's SOL Day 6-Empathy

I've been thinking about empathy today, what it means and how to do it.

 or



While the first definition is true, what I like about the second is the recognition of understanding and still disagreeing.  That definition fits better with my worldview.  I find value in understanding the perspectives of others, in listening to them carefully.  In order to fully understand, I don't need to agree.  It seems easier to let my ego and perspective take over, but I am able to collaborate more easily with those who I understand than push my agenda on them.  Yet, sometimes, my empathy is seen as agreement.  So I continue to work on that balance.

Brie's SOL Day 5-A Day in the Life

I got up and when for a run/walk this morning.  Despite my recent posts, this is not actually that common.  My app got glitchy and was annoying, but it was a nice morning and the neighborhood was quiet. 

I tried not to rush getting ready for work even though I was anxious I might be late for work.  I wasn't.

At school, getting things printed and organized for morning meeting.  Talking with Mallory about her weekend and the concert she saw.  I saw the headliners in college.  I feel old and laugh about the bands I have liked that Mallory's husband is now introducing her to.  When will I get to go to a concert again?  When will there be a concert I care enough to go see? 

Morning meeting.  So much information, but we get through it quickly.  Lots of excitement about the prank.  I remind myself that part of our work is to have fun.

Agenda meetings.  Each is different because each student has different ideas and thoughts about what they are doing.  I love love love the time to talk with each student individually.  The clock is ticking and suddenly it's lunch and I still have too many students I want to meet with.

It is a beautiful day and I eat outside.  Matty joins me which I really enjoy because I don't get to talk to her much and I enjoy her perspective.  She is calm and thoughtful.  I am excited and have to slow myself down so I won't over talk her with my excitement.

Another couple of agenda meetings and I realize I have not communicated well about meeting with the girls in our class about                              .  I am amused because they are worked up about what it could be.  It really isn't my intention to make it suspenseful or drag it out, but here we are.

I go to a meet and greet for an EE candidate.  I enjoy meeting our candidates and hearing their perspective.  It reminds me of how much I have learned about Logan this year, particularly when I feel like there is still so much to learn. 

Wrap up for the end of the day.  Despite the 3:05 arrivals, we are out of butterscotch.  No sugar reward.  Such is life. 

Loop goes off without a problem.  I decide to go to the last ultimate frisbee game and am glad it did.  It continued to be a beautiful day to be outside.  I don't know much about ultimate, but it is interesting to learn and watch our team work together.  I like the spirit of the game.  They make it look easier than I'm sure it is.  

And that's my day.  Maybe tomorrow will be an evening in the life...

Brie's SOL-Day 4-Questioning Part 2

"Lastly, of course, what conspires against questioning is knowledge.  If we feel we know something, then we don't have to ask...  We've got it figured out.  What I discovered is that innovation is about being the person who asks those questions instead of going through the routine."

"The question enables us to ask the unknown... Questioning is a tool that enables us to organize our thinking about what we don't know."

"Awareness of what you don't know is one of the measures of intelligence."

Link

Ok, so I could keep quoting this podcast for my entire blog, but I will pause to share my thoughts.  This idea that our knowledge prevents us from asking more questions is interesting to me.  I am listening to a book that has been explaining the value of active listening and I think they are related.  When I make assumptions (well, we all know what assuming does, see me if you are unsure) then I close off myself to gaining new information because I feel like I have it.  My assumptions are based on the knowledge I already have.  The role of active listening is to put all of your focus on listening and gathering information from the other person.  So when I feel like I know it all already, I stop actively listening and lose the opportunity to learn another perspective, information, etc.  I can think of times when I have done this and missed either something verbally spoken or nonverbal messages from the other person.  I see this most frequently happening when I am tired or in a hurry.  When I am able to keep focus and calm myself (oh-look, mindfulness), I am able to give all my focus to the other person and I get more out of the conversation.  Does happen to you? 

Brie's SOL day 3-Saturday morning run

Another beautiful Colorado day!  I wake up at 7:00 am, but let myself fall back into luxurious sleep.  Eventually, I wake up enough to know that I won't fall asleep again.  Even then, I lay, half asleep, ponder what to do with my morning before we begin to run around to the social events planned for the day.  I was exhausted last night so I am pleased with my nine hours of sleep and excited to do some of the things I don't have time for during the week.  I want to run!  Well, run and walk.  I have a gym membership these days to fend off excused about the weather, but I have a wide variety of excuses to pull from.  This morning is looking like perfect running weather-low 60's and cloudy. 

After some tea and conversation, I pull on my shoes and head outside.  My playlist starts off with a little Taylor Swift to get me going.  I walk to warm up.  I investigate my neighbors' yards as I go.  Green lawns, nicely manicured.  A jump rope in a tree.  I don't think they even have kids.  I must be wrong.  Oh, the corner of dandelions.  I may not win the dandelion war in my own yard with the abundance of seeds that can travel to us.  Here's the Fivekillers house.  I have no idea why they had that sign above their door.  Could it be their last name?  Above the garage, it reads, "Hawaiian parking only."  The SUV in the driveway sports stickers such as "Island Girl" and "SURF."  I always find this amusing in landlocked Colorado and wonder if they miss island life.  After our recent Hawaii trip and the unexpected volcanic lava flows, I feel a connection to these people I have never seen.

Beck and Ween accompany me as I circle the neighborhood.  Only beaty music for my runs, to keep me motivated and moving a little faster. 

I love running past the flowering trees and take deep breaths through my nose to inhale the sweet smells of spring.  Fresh cut grass.  Two women stop with their boxers on leashes to let me pass, but I see the dogs would rather be running with me.  I pass the quiet elementary school with no cars in the lot and no students on the playground.  Back to the border of the park.  More dog walkers and neighbors to smile and nod at. 

I am sweating and breathing heavy, but not killing myself. There is too much happening in my day to expend all my energy on my morning run.  Back home, I enter through the back gate rather than the front door, to stretch and inspect the grass seed laid out before the rain.  Still there.  No sprouting grass yet. 

Being outside is so much better than inside. 

Brie's SOL Day 2-Questioning Part 1

First off, grammar Nazis and editors, please read and inform me in the morning.  I do appreciate it :).  Secondly, I was feeling uninspired and then I read some of the posts out there and I continue to be blown away by the creativity and thoughtfulness of the people that surround me every day.  Thank you all for that.  I have not found that in such abundance beyond the classroom.

So... today's thoughts.  Listening to the rest of the questioning podcast I mentioned yesterday, several points were brought up that I was intrigued by.  The dialogue I will share today talked about the decline in curiosity and questioning as we get older.  The speaker shares, "We will do whatever we get rewarded for doing, and we do not get rewarded for questioning... The message we send to children at a very young age is that the reward goes to the person who has the answer, not to the person who asks the question."  He goes on to talk about questioning being perceived as inefficient and reflecting ignorance.  While this is only one of the messages, it strikes me as true.

As a teacher, I see inquiry and wonder as the stimulus for creativity and learning.  I have no doubt that I have shut down questioning in my role as a teacher, but I hope I have also opened doors with questions (my own and others) and encouraged my students to ask me questions.  I find that there is an expectation that teachers have all the answers.  I have long known that I am in a shortage of answers.  I can make up some good stories, but the more I learn, the more aware I am of the many answers I don't have.

Personally, I am a question asker because I get so much more out of dialogue when I ask questions.  I have gotten a variety of different responses to my question asking, not all of them pleasant.  I am careful about timing and audience for my questions to avoid the judgment or save time.  Yet... I still ask questions.  I am a seeker of information and perspectives to ponder in developing my own ideas and understandings.

So, to any and all of you who read this, I encourage you: ask your questions!  They are courageous and important.  They build a broader perspective and encourage thinking.  They encourage and result in innovation.  They won't always have answers...

Brie's SOL-Day 1

So... this is my first blog ever!  In my head, I am a writer of young adult books that are action-packed and engaging.  They are well loved by my fan base and soon to be an exceptional movie.  In reality, I am a writer of notes to and about students, directions, texts, emails, information, handouts, the occasional poem, love notes, birthday cards, feedback, to do lists, recipes, and more.  So this first blog is an exciting addition to the list!

To warn my readers, I am an avid over-user of exclamation marks!  I feel they convey my inner enthusiasm appropriately, so be prepared.  Other favorite tools of mine... the ellipses.  The purpose being to denote thinking, sarcasm, a thought within a thought, or the opportunity for others' thoughts.  Undoubtedly, not the most academic use, but I am pleased with the opportunity to share thoughts without academic scrutiny.

As I ponder the line a month of blogging could follow, my mind is all over the place with ideas for a purpose.  Listening to podcasts yesterday, I was confident of my ability to share my thoughts and links to others' good thinking.  (If you are interested in interviews you can learn from, I recommend The Knowledge Podcast.  I have been listening to the one about improving the questions you ask.) As I roll out the blogs, I hope to ponder the value of questioning and consider some questions of my own.  Onward and upward, my friends.  There is always more to learn.  We will see what really happens...

Brie's Test Post

Hello, all! 

I am one of the AS Core teachers.  We were dancing together Friday night! :) I am excited to blog with you all.