I went down to the forest today. My daughter and I, both students at Simon Fraser University (crazy, right?) have been immersed in our studies on a delightful Sunday and she invites me to go on a walk. "We need a break, mom." Now, you have to understand that we live 5 minutes from a wondrous forest, which we walk regularly and have done so for the past twenty years. This is our 'go to' place, our refuge and replenishing of the spirit. So, off we go. My daughter shared something she'd found on a previous walk and she was correct in assuming I'd be uber-excited to see it. A mushroom hugged by a tree. It was awesome (in the real meaning of the word) to sit and marvel at its beauty. Yes, a mushroom. On the way back, I said that I needed a picture of 'reflection' for a school assignment, so we walked down to the river and when I got there, I shouted to Elyse, who was a ways down the path from me. "It's too rushing for a reflection." I stopped in my tracks. too rushing. I spend too much time rushing. I'm reading, writing and talking about reflection, pausing, taking the time to go deep and all this while, I rushing, too rushing for reflection. So, I'm taking this time to ponder the lessons of the mushroom and the river. Quiet splendour and too much rushing. Over the past three years, I've been involved in discovering my own identity, a strange quest on the face of it. Such an endeavour takes precious time. I was not alone on this journey, accompanied by friends, family, co-workers and scholars. The fruit of my labours is becoming evident: renewed passion, authentic learning, joy and...more questions. The last image on this post raises some of those inquiries. Perhaps they too are your questions. My hope is that I can help to facilitate this kind of journey with my fellow teachers, if they will let me. The journey is far from complete, but I feel I am on the road to 'becoming'. What a lovely thought to sit with. "Classroom Culture is the Shadow of the Teacher I thought my friend liked me, until she invited me to her exercise class. It was an invitation designed to undermine any thoughts I had of being 'fit'. An exercise in exhaustion and humility. As I lunged and jumped and leapt and burpied, my body started to tell me that this was ridiculous. It struck me that I was out of my league. I needed scaffolding to get me from my current baseline toward this exercise class. This class was not in my 'zone of proximation'. I suddenly gained an insight and appreciation for that grade five boy who operates at a grade one ability in math and language arts. How overwhelming his day must be. Just as I looked around at all the other participants, so must he, measuring and weighing his abilities and possibly, his worth. I'm experienced enough and have done enough self-searching to be able to own my strengths and weaknesses, yet still was aware of how I stood in relation to the other huffers and puffers. How can I build his resilience as he is faced with school day after day? I don't know, but today reminded me that it is important to remember. Yup.I do. Research tells teachers that if we want to improve our practice, we'd better start doing some critical reflection. Well, I reflect all the time , but that's not exactly what the researchers mean. They mean something more rigorous and disciplined (Yikes), something that leads to growth and change. And the literature tell us that the best way to do it is in community, but not just any community, a community built up people or a person you trust. It takes trust to take risks, be vulnerable and feel safe enough to hear true feedback. If you have such friend, I'd encourage you to solicit some feedback. I've found that usually I'm the one standing in my way, with a great big blind spot. Thank you to my critical friend. You know who you are.
I'm reading an article by Russell N. Cassel called Primary Principles of Learning from the Peabody Journal of Education. In it, he argues that two main things influence learning: the learner's ability and the influence of their past experiences. I'd imagine the first is generally considered to be more fixed (nature) and the latter not so. (nurture) By the time we meet someone, they are filled with experiences, experienced through their perception, cognition and senses. They have arrived at each conclusion based on the experience before it. It we cast that thought forward, the experience you are currently having had better be considered as it's contributing to your future understanding and future self. It's how we head down slippery slopes and how one decision steps into another. So, if that' so, choose wisely. :) For who knows where this moment will lead?
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April 2015
Janet---constructed and constructing along the way--- Categories |