CONNECTIONS: Now What?
Today’s guest post comes via Marita Diffenbaugh (@MDiffenbaugh) author of L.E.A.R.N.E.R. Finding the True, Good, and Beautiful in Education More info below, under “What’s New.”
The final camping trip of 2020 offered an exceptional and lingering sunset that my husband and I enjoyed on a calm warm night in August, as it mirrored on the lake we were visiting. We had no idea that the next morning, we would be running for our lives, as a microburst developed through a sudden summer storm. We went from peaceful sleep to the chaos of wild wind, dozens of falling trees, and scrambling to get ourselves to an open area to find safety. As other campers joined us, we all had the same questions in our eyes, “Are you OK? Is everyone in your group safe?” It’s a miracle that all people were safe, however, most cars, RVs, and camping trailers were damaged from falling trees and broken limbs. For those thirty minutes, the group of campers huddled in this parking lot were like a family, caring for each other and expecting the storm to stop.
The storm eventually stopped and families and friends returned to their camp spots to assess the damage. Every trailer, car, tent that we saw nearby our campsite had trees or limbs on top of them, except for our trailer; it was unharmed. As we checked on our camp neighbors to see if they had help on the way, the campground hosts had a group of volunteers out visiting each site to get their information and provide help. We were asked the same questions that we had been asking each other, “Are you OK?” “Do you need help?” and were given some instructions on how to safely leave the park, if we were able to. As the storm calmed, so did the people. However, something was different. We were connected in a way that we had not been connected prior to the storm. As we got in line to leave the park, people made eye contact, smiled, and provided words of encouragement. This group of campers went through a storm together and while the damage from this experience looked different for each person, we all shared one thing in common: HOPE.
When offered the opportunity to share my learning and experiences by writing a book, it was much like that beautiful sunset moment, and I had no idea that I’d be gathering my thoughts while experiencing a global pandemic. In many ways, the challenges that we’ve been through in the last year have helped shine light on what we have in common, along with issues that we need to address. It is with great honor that I have the opportunity to share this book with you now, as you work to provide hope to the learners that you serve. I’m grateful to provide stories, resources, and strategies to encourage you in your next steps.
L.E.A.R.N.E.R., Finding the True, Good, and Beautiful in Education is for hope givers who thrive when helping others develop their full potential. You will find seven essential components to consider when providing education as a service to learners, along with a remix for measuring learning success. I’ve shared my lessons learned through my professional education experience in classroom, school, district, and state roles, along with my personal learning journey as a learner, mother, and grandmother through the L.E.A.R.N.E.R. acronym.
If you are looking for a culture building resource for teams working to provide education as a service, this book will provide support. Consider inviting families and community members, along with district and school staff to reflect and respond to the following questions while reading this book together:
Where is Your Attention?
What is Learning?
Who is Learning?
How Will Learning Continue?
What Will Support Learners?
What is Valuable to Learners?
How Will I Connect With Learners?
This book takes an in depth look at each word in the L.E.A.R.N.E.R. acronym, identifying key components of the word, why it matters, and how we can best address it in our classrooms, schools, and homes. This acronym can be used as a tool to help teachers sort content, processes, and tools to ensure that relevant and responsive learning opportunities are available for all learners. To help a learner, we need to be learners ourselves. A learner’s job involves curiosity, courage, knowledge, skills, willingness to ask for help, willingness to receive and act on feedback, and the willingness to work with others.
Throughout each chapter, look for the true, good, and beautiful, for when all three of these are present, we can be sure that students are learning how to learn, learning how to help others, and learning how to contribute in their communities and in our world. This book was written for difference makers like you who strive to create an education service that Listens, Empowers, Analyzes, provides Resources, understands students’ Needs, designs Experiences, and offers caring Relationships.
Educators, parents, and students have weathered many storms in the year 2020. Some have experienced more damage than others, and some are currently in the middle of a storm. Wherever you find yourself today, we all need hope to be able to answer the question, “Now What?” Hope is a great place to start. When you are filled with hope, you can offer hope to others. Learners help learners, and hope is a prerequisite for learning. While this work takes time and progress can seem slow, never forget helping learners find hope is life-changing and deeply rewarding. It is worth your time.
Thanks to Marita for sharing her wisdom; we HOPE you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Teach and Lead with Passion,
Jeff and Jimmy
DAILY INSPIRATION EDUCATOR
(Please let us know about an inspiring educator you think we should highlight in a future newsletter by completing this brief form!)
WHAT’S NEW?
L.E.A.R.N.E.R. Finding the True, Good, and Beautiful in Education by Marita Diffenbaugh
We are so excited to announce that our most recent book is now in print! This book is for hope givers who thrive when helping others develop their full potential. Marita Diffenbaugh identifies seven essential components to consider when providing education as a service to learners, along with a remix for measuring learning success. Throughout each chapter, look for the True, Good, and Beautiful, for when all three of these are present, we can be sure that students are learning how to learn, learning how to help others, and learning how to contribute in their communities and in our world. This book was written for difference makers like you who strive to create an education service that Listens, Empowers, Analyzes, provides Resources, understands students' Needs, designs Experiences, and offers caring Relationships.
We think you will really enjoy this book; let us know! Check out more here
WHAT’S HOT?
Eyes On Culture: Multiply Excellence In Your School by Emily Paschall
In this recently-released book, Emily Paschall supplies the recipe for success in today’s schools. School culture is the hidden curriculum that drives a school forward or backward, and when strong relationships and relentless passion are at its root, this is when excellence multiplies. This book is filled with a wide range of authentic stories and lessons, as well as tangible takeaways that will culturize your classroom, school, and community. Emily provides you with the necessary tools to not only live your own excellence, but to multiply excellence in others. In this book, you will learn:
How to use your lived experiences to help someone else
How to unlock the key to connecting with all kids, even those who seem unreachable
How to build partnerships with families so that they desire to work with you
How to make difficult conversations not so difficult
How to help every student, parent, and colleague achieve excellence
Check out more here
CONNECTEDD’S TAKE FIVE
Thought for the Day: “No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.” Peter Drucker
Podcasts to Ponder: Kindsight 101 is the podcast where you’ll hear from world renowned educational leaders about the mobilizing power of kindness. Together, by challenging our assumptions and venturing beyond the status quo in education, we can make a BIG impact...one small act at a time. Learn more here.
Videos Worth Viewing: Kids on Leadership Wisdom from the mouths of children. Take a few minutes to watch it here.
Teaching Technique to Try: Close Reading: The Close Reading Protocol strategy asks students to carefully and purposefully read and reread a text. When students “close read,” they focus on what the author has to say, what the author’s purpose is, what the words mean, and what the structure of the text tells us. This approach ensures that students really understand what they’ve read. We ask students to carefully investigate a text in order to make connections to essential questions about history, human behavior, and ourselves. Skillful close reading is also an important foundation for helping students develop the ability to justify their claims in class discussions and writing assignments with specific evidence. Check out this link from Facing History and Ourselves for a step-by-step process for using this technique.
Eyes On Culture: We believe that culture is a true difference maker in any classroom, school, district, or organization. As a result, we focus much of the work we do on creating and maintaining positive and productive cultures. Culture Focus: Results Oriented. In high performing schools with strong cultures, all adults are passionate about the results they get related to student learning. They focus on social-emotional wellness and the whole child and they also do not shy away from striving for the highest scores possible on academic achievement assessments. They know that test scores matter, yet they do not focus on test scores. Instead, they focus on daily instruction aligned to standards and building relationships with students so that students are motivated to perform at their highest potential. Teachers work together to analyze assessment results, make data-driven decisions, establish SMART goals for specific learning, identify improvement strategies, and adapt instruction to meet student needs.
Please share your thoughts about culture via Twitter: @ConnectEDDBooks We would love to hear from you!