Fanning the Flame

Perfectionism can be a killer. It can bring a passionate and motivated person to a dead halt. Don’t get me wrong — ideals are great. Not settling for less than the best is also louted; yet living in the Pinterest world with that kind of pressure can be way too much to bear.  

Have you ever put together what you thought was the perfect presentation, lesson, or even gift, only to find that it wasn’t received the way you were expecting? It can sting a little bit, but hopefully you learn and move on. 

It takes a sort of resilience to bounce back from these things, which can be difficult to cultivate. How do we find the balance to push kids to do their best while making sure they don’t take on more than what they can reasonably handle? I recently had to read an article for my professional learning community that confirmed what we all suspect: depression and anxiety are on the rise, while at the same time, social media has become more prevalent and everything we put out there is filtered and retouched to look “perfect” — this isn’t a coincidence. Face-to-face interactions are an effective strategy to combat this problem, and it reinforces a truth that we know but so often lose sight of: relationships are crucial to human growth. 

So how can we use these relationships to find that optimal place between aspiration and frustration? How can we encourage failure and risk-taking as benchmarks of growing and learning? How do we watch students that we care about fall? I think the answer lies in unfinished things and the power of a single, simple word that carries significant meaning: “yet.”

We say you might not be able to finish that “yet,” but let’s see how we might get there. Maybe you didn’t quite master it “yet,” but I can see what must be revisited to clear up your misconceptions. All of this sends a message that it’s okay. It’s okay to have to put down whatever it is you’re working on and walk away.  It’s okay not to know right now.  It’s okay to take a breather.  Remember: we are warriors.  We will train.  We have a team — an army — to support us.  We will live to fight another day, only we’ll be wiser and stronger.

While I don’t personally identify as a perfectionist, I’ve certainly had my moments.  I’ve experienced times when I found myself sucked into the false allure of perfection, and it was exhausting. It left me always reaching, always wanting more, and never feeling fulfilled. I hated it. I just didn’t know it until I was forced to step back. The fall wasn’t pretty, but it taught me a lot about myself. 

Imperfection is important. It is unique and beautiful and it teaches us to appreciate our means and not simply our ends.  Seriously — Google “unfinished things” and you’ll find so many beautiful partial buildings and half-written pieces of writing and music. There are real stories there worth exploring. There is so much to learn in the mistakes, and we have to learn to embrace them so we can better prepare our students not to live in fear of where they may go wrong. Who knows — it may just be one of the most powerful and important lessons we teach them. 

This is why I struggle with imposing deadlines and ascribing grades to activities like my Genius Hour projects. When students really buy in, they’re taking a brave and bold leap of faith — not in me and my “system,” but in themselves and their potential.  They are documenting everything — triumphs, failures, feelings, and everything in between. It’s vulnerable, and theirs are such powerful messages.  Maybe it won’t all work out exactly as they’ve planned — they might not finish the video they set out to film or they won’t perfectly play the song they’ve been learning. Maybe they can’t manage to achieve lofty goals like world peace. Fine! But you can’t tell me it’s a meaningless endeavor, and I can’t tell them that either. Just because the original goal wasn’t achieved, there’s no reason to believe that valuable lessons weren’t learned in the process. In fact, I believe what it teaches them is that the best is “yet” to come. And it’ll be worth the wait. 

Communication is a tricky thing. It’s one of those skills that’s widely regarded as supremely important, and while many curricular domains cover “communication” broadly, it rarely seems to warrant its own dedicated corner of the academic landscape — at least at the secondary level. Communicating, to many, is merely a “soft skill,” a term that undermines its importance and undervalues how it can serve our kids in all of their scholastic and social pursuits. In my experience, I’ve found that it can be difficult to find authentic opportunities to allow students to cultivate their voice. Most of the communication in a math classroom like mine is technical — primarily focused on vocabulary and procedure. The language of the subject matter and how to apply it in context is critical, but it doesn’t usually offer much in the way of starting a meaningful dialog. That’s why I’m thrilled to have Genius Hour as a medium for my students to effectively communicate their thoughts and ideas.

This article from Edutopia offers helpful advice about what to focus on in the realm of communication and how to support all students, even the quiet ones. I especially like the observation that, “what ‘good’ looks like depends on the context.” That is so true, and so far has proven to be the beauty of Genius Hour. It gives students the opportunity to convey their findings in a medium that’s most conducive to their topics.

This week, I’m trying something new as a Genius Hour check-in, and it takes me entirely out of my students’ direct line of communication. It could be completely epic or a total flop — who knows? Either way, I truly believe it’s worth the risk because I often find that some of the best ideas start this way. It happens to be the case that I have to miss a day of classes for a training pull-out one day this week, and — as it also happens — I desperately need to catch up with my students about the progress they’re making with their Genius Hour projects. I typically wouldn’t leave anything to do with Genius Hour as a substitute plan because I honestly just love it too much to share! It dawned on me recently, though, that involving someone else might open up a unique opportunity.

I’m going to leave a plan for the substitute to ask each student a few key questions about their projects and jot down some notes for me based on the feedback. Not only will this serve as an accountability check-in, but it will also help me to determine if someone who is far less familiar with the students, their backstories, and their projects is getting the same message about their progress as I am. By giving students a chance to discuss their work with someone who isn’t me — essentially negating that casual familiarity and shorthand — it gives them the freedom to share with someone that doesn’t have any defined expectations of what they have to offer. 

Communication is an integral part of this project, and — quite frankly — it’s an integral part of life outside of the classroom.  The way we convey our ideas is important. The way we talk about our work, frame our goals, and measure our successes and failures are all important. We communicate in so many ways, verbal and non-verbal alike. We communicate in what we say and the manner in which we say it. We communicate when we choose not to say anything at all. It’s so important to learn and to teach the value in that. There is no end-game there — even as adults, it’s a skill that we continue to develop and hone.

In this specific scenario, my students have a leg-up because the topics are ones they’ve personally chosen and, therefore, are at least theoretically eager to explore. They made their decisions based on interest and then found an outlet best suited to sharing their findings. In reality, of course, this type of personal ownership could potentially work against them.  They might assume that the person they’re talking to has some degree of background knowledge about their topic and gloss over key points when they should be providing a more thorough explanation. Alternatively, they might have simply petered out and not have as much to share about their projects as they hoped to at this point. Regardless of the overall outcome, I believe an outside perspective can be hugely impactful and provide both me and my students with some sorely needed insight. 

I often find myself thinking about the power of communication. It’s what draws me to quotes, it’s what fuels my passion for this blog and for reaching others who are curious about the same kinds of things that I am. Not long ago, after a particularly tiresome inservice presentation, I was debriefing with a colleague whose major takeaway was that the presenters that day had fundamentally missed the mark. It turns out, they didn’t adhere to the basic skills that we try to teach students about effective presentations: know your audience and keep it short and sweet. That resonated with me, and I try to keep that thought in mind in every communication that I have.  I try to reinforce that idea with my students as well. I want them to remember that what most people ultimately want is the bottom line. They want the upshot. How will they connect and buy in? Why is it important to you and why should it be important to them?  It’s an immensely valuable skill to convey your message this way, and I know my students are equal to the task because they do it all the time with me. The difference is that they already have the assurance of knowing that I’m invested and that I can read between the lines. What I’m hoping my experiment proves to them is that they’re just as capable when faced with an audience that doesn’t know them. I’m eager to see how it goes. After all, maybe a fresh set of eyes is just what we all need.

So I changed the background on my phone today.  Small change, I know; yet, it’s amazing how great an impact something like that can have on your whole mindset. The new wallpaper has a cute little message that acts as a reminder to be, see and do good. It may not sound earth shattering, but for me, by changing what I see each time I reach for my phone, it got me thinking about the “background” elsewhere.  What other small, seemingly inconsequential things impact our daily lives in ways? What other kinds of messages are we sending?

I have small signs around my classroom; quotes and sayings that are meaningful to me. I hope they send the intended message, primarily that I am here, that I want to be here, and that it might not always be easy, but we’ll learn and grow together.  It’s part inspiration and part reassurance…plus a little bit of fun, silly, and nerdy along the way, which never hurts. I followed the example set by Joy Kirr’s tweet about messages on pencils and recreated those. I even had students get in on the action.

Taking inventory of my deliberate messages got me thinking about my unintended ones. I wonder if I’m sending any of those, too.  It may be time for a reflection to that end (kind of like the Genius Hour check-in I did at the beginning of the new calendar year). I don’t need to wait until the end of the year to see how anything worked out.  Although, in case you’re interested, here’s an example of the kinds of questions I ask when that time of year rolls around. I wish I could remember the original source where I adapted this. I love that it ties back the learning process to what’s meaningful to individual students. I hope that the anonymity of the survey helps me to collect honest feedback. My goal is to use the students’ experiences reflectively and thoughtfully so I can troubleshoot what didn’t work and keep improving my practice for them.

Good intentions, however, can only take us so far. The things we “subscribe” to send messages and we absorb those, intentionally or not. One of my former students recently wrote an article for the school paper, positing a similar idea. She wrote about music and how it can be internalized. I don’t disagree with her at all. I believe our experiences help us to interpret the world around us, and it’s always uncanny how art imitates life, or, at the very least, reveals the larger picture of what we’re piecing together at the time. For instance, it’s ironic that Pandora would bring up Emilè Sande’s song, “Read All About It Part III,” as a suggestion for me.

You’ve got the words to change a nation

But you’re biting your tongue

You’ve spent a lifetime stuck in silence

Afraid you’ll say something wrong

If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?

So come on, come on

Come on, come on

Emeli Sande – Read All About It Part III

I want to encourage students to find and tell their story, to share what is important to them.  Genius Hour has helped me show students that they have the tools to set goals, find resources, solve problems, and ultimately put their own story out there.  There is a peace that come with that, and I want my students to know what that feels like. 

So what’s your story? Is it the same as what people are reading and interpreting…or is it something as yet unwritten? 

“Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”

Martin Luther King Jr. , speech before a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia, October 26, 1967

Mindset is a funny thing. I’m sure we’ve all heard that perception is reality – even if it isn’t. It can be extremely overwhelming to think that success is all about the grand gestures. With those, you’re simply either capable of pulling off the big moment or you’re not. It’s all very black and white — no nuance, no gray. Seeing anything through this lens can send someone into a tailspin, worried about and fixated on whether they’re equal to the task. But this is exactly why I love an underdog story. There’s no logical reason why someone whom everyone has counted out should persevere and prevail, and yet they do. All it takes to achieve that outcome is one drop of light and kindness. Just one tiny drop to cast doubt on the negativity until it’s lost in the shadows. At that critical moment, the underdog forgets about the stacked odds. “It could never be me” turns into “Why not me?” I believe that this is the very point Dr. King was trying to drive home. So what if you aren’t the next trailblazer with your name in lights? “Be the best of whatever you are.”

That’s why I love kids. I appreciate their honesty and even if they take a misstep, they glow with the thrill of accomplishment. They cannot be convinced that they aren’t the best at solving math problems or the best at telling jokes. Likewise, they tend to see the best in others. My kids are convinced that I’m the best dancer. It didn’t take anything other than a few family dance sessions to convince them. It was that simple. Guard down, dancing like a fool with my kids. I haven’t won any awards, nor have I been recognized in any way outside of their accolades. Doesn’t matter. I invested a little bit of myself, and the return was immeasurable.

It’s not about being flashy or coming up with something that’s never been thought of.

It’s about trying to make your school just a little better in your own ways as often as you can.

It’s not about perfection it’s about improvement and growth.#NextLevelTeaching

— Jonathan Alsheimer (@mr_Alsheimer) January 19, 2020

I came across this tweet over the weekend, which reiterates that point. It’s not some flashy program. It doesn’t promote the latest and greatest tech or claim to reinvent the wheel or anything else. It’s not about novelty. When you get down to it, really all the way down, it’s about remembering the basics. The fundamentals. How are you making things better? How do you treat people? What message are you sending?

We can get lost in all of the “no’s”, we can get discouraged by the long odds, and we can get weighed down by the pressure. Or maybe —  just maybe —  we can keep looking for the light. We can hear something nice and share it. We can be concerned, we can check in. We can smile. These small things add up and they have a cumulative, snowball effect. Take a minute to listen and catch the pulse of your environment. How are you contributing? Is it your best?

For me, this year, that’s what I’ve learned from Genius Hour. I’m not the best blogger. I don’t have any “new” voice or a brand to sell. I’m not flashy or gimmicky. My readership is still in its infancy; yet, I know I am positively impacting some people on a regular basis. That’s all that matters.

I suppose I’m really feeling the MLK vibe, which is perfect given that the purpose of this day is to honor a man whose life’s work was to promote equality toward the realization of a better world. He encouraged people to stand up for what is right. When we get down to it, his was a request to get involved, to serve others, and to make everything better just by being our best selves.

What is your legacy?

I somehow managed to stumble upon two gems this weekend. One was a TED Talk and the other was an article written by a high school student.

The video was entitled “Are you a give or a taker?” I’m a naturally curious person, and anything that promises to offer some sort of insight into who I am always manages to pique my interest, so — naturally — I watched it. If you don’t have about fifteen minutes to devote to that yourself, I’ll summarize it for you.

Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist, explains that people fall into three broad categories — giver, taker or matcher. “Takers” are always looking for what they can get from people; “givers” are always looking to see how they can make a situation better by bringing something helpful to the table; “matchers” fall somewhere in the middle. If you scratch their backs, they’ll scratch yours.

In any scenario, the givers are the most valuable asset, but they also tend to be in the most precarious position. Their willingness to dedicate much of their time and effort to helping others achieve their objectives often leaves them with little time to manage their own. Although this can relegate givers to the least personally successful ranks, it’s reassuring to note that these individuals can be found at the top of the social order too. The key is to ensure that they don’t burn out. In order to avoid that pitfall, Grant endorses the idea of a “five minute favor.”

 You just have to find small ways to add large value to other people’s lives.

Adam Rifkin,

Another powerful takeaway from this video was the pressing need to encourage people to ask questions and to seek help. Isn’t that what we want in our classrooms? It can be a vulnerable thing to ask a question or to reach out to someone for help, but if we encourage both, then they’ll become the norm. We can change the cultural expectations of our classrooms and schools by promoting and modeling the behaviors we want to stick. The good news is that you, as the teacher, shouldn’t be the only one asking or answering the questions. We want our students to get in on the action so that they, too, can become givers.

In a school setting we can’t exactly “weed out the takers.” We can, however, convert the takers into givers, or — at the very least — into matchers. Changing this balance is critical because it deemphasizes competition and redirects that energy to collaboration and contribution, at which point we’ve arrived at the creation of “pronoia.” The TED Talk ends with this explanation from Grant:

“Pronoia is the delusional belief that other people are plotting your well-being. That they’re going around behind your back and saying exceptionally glowing things about you. The great thing about a culture of givers is that’s not a delusion — it’s reality. I want to live in a world where givers succeed, and I hope you will help me create that world.”

He had me at “plotting your well-being.” That’s precisely the world I want to create.

On the other hand, what I want to avoid at all costs is the present reality that the young high school student writes about in an article entitled, “I’m a loser because of school.” She sums up her argument in the excerpt below.

I love those “aha!” moments that make my brain feel big and adrenaline course through my body, but they usually don’t happen in school for me.

Karen

GAH! This rocks me to my core. I don’t want my students to feel that way. I don’t want them to feel like they are “doing school” — going through the motions and not truly learning anything. For her part in helping me realize my greatest professional fears, she goes on to describe her experience as a high achieving student and cites some compelling evidence to advance the argument that conforming to social standards isn’t beneficial to her learning. She got my attention, and I certainly intend to look into her reading list. (The irony that she cites Adam Grant, and that I discovered both of them in the same weekend is not lost on me…)

The good news is that the student author — discouraged as she may seem — doesn’t simply live in the problem; rather, she offers a few simple solutions that might serve to change the nature of school as we’ve come to define it. She contends that school should foster constructive and open communication between teachers and students. She argues that imperfection should be celebrated as a learning experience, perhaps drawing on inspiration from the #failforward movement. Finally, she promotes reflection and argues that the emphasis on outcomes rather than processes is disproportionate. The bright side is that all of this is entirely doable.

This is yet another reason I am so grateful that I’ve been able to try out Genius Hour in my classroom this year. It encourages students to ask questions and engage with each other by both seeking advice and offering counsel to one another. It doesn’t entail any rote practices and it conforms to almost none of the prevailing wisdom of the traditional classroom environment. It affords students the opportunity to have those “AHA!” moments. To be sure, it isn’t perfect, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. It allows conversations to take place that otherwise wouldn’t, and that’s as good a start as I could hope for.

I want to create the world that Adam speaks of and not perpetuate the one that Karen describes. To that end, I want to model the behavior of the “giver,” I want to give my students the confidence they need to help one another, and I want to make “five minute favors” a routine and not a novelty. I know it all seems a bit idealistic, but — hey — it can’t hurt to try. 

The week after winter break was a short one for me. Two days to be exact. I took advantage of that opportunity and tried to catch up with my students and check in with them about the status of their Genius Hour projects. I asked them to partner up, and I gave each pair a white board. I wanted them to share their responses to my questions but in a strictly low-stakes, non-binding sort of way. I didn’t want my students to be able to “hide” behind a cloak of anonymous feedback, but I wanted them to discuss their progress in a way that didn’t put them on the spot. To temper that potentially threatening vibe, I decided that a low-pressure, self-interest question and a self-selected partner would help to take the edge off. I started by asking them to list their favorite snacks. Fortunately, they were all too happy to oblige, and now I have a better sense of what sort of food-for-thought I can bring in to serve the creative process and to make them happy.

(Spoiler alert: chips, popcorn and Oreos topped the list.)

The food question achieved my goal of loosening them up, which gave us a chance to casually interact and get reacquainted as a class. At that point, though, it was time to move on to the agenda at hand. I gradually upped the ante by asking questions about Genius Hour, soliciting their thoughts and feelings, what they believe they’re doing well, and where they’re struggling. It was incredible to observe as the student-pairs listened to each other and offered thoughtful advice and feedback; however, despite the supportive and productive conversations taking place throughout my classroom, I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing something. To fill that void, I made the choice to turn to paperwork. I wanted to supplement the verbal exchanges they were having with their partners, so I asked each student to write down the highlights of what they had just shared. To my great surprise, this elicited more substantive than one-word answers, which was amazing. I was astonished to see how the students had helped each other hone in on what was really important. It was a slight gamble to ask them to pick a partner and get right down to the business of talking about school work immediately after a break, but they certainly rose to the occasion and exceeded my expectations.

I was also floored to discover that they had very real –and very adult — concerns. The most common requests were for help with time management and stress relief. <insert mind blown emoji here> WHAAAATTTT???!!! These kids — yes, kids, despite the fact that many of them are already 18 years old — coming off of a twelve-day break, feel stressed out and are anxious about falling behind. YIKES! Frankly, that is absolutely the last outcome I wanted for them as this process continues to unfold. It was a good reminder for me not to make assumptions about how they’re working or feeling, and it definitely made me more conscious of how much support is truly needed on any student-directed endeavor. 

Needless to say, I have since embarked on a mission to research time-management and stress-relief techniques. Feel free to drop a comment if you know of any good resources! So far, I’ve come across some interesting finds. Apparently, it shouldn’t come as any great surprise that my students are stressed. It turns out that lack of sleep, undergoing transitions, and school (in general) are some of the most common causes of student stress; yet, relieving stress can be just as easy as diagnosing its causes, which is hard to see when you’re feeling the weight of it all. Although many of the stress-relieving approaches I found are either out of my control (e.g. ensuring that they get enough sleep or more routine exercise) or beyond the scope of my classroom (eg. progressive muscle relaxation and self-hypnosis), I do believe that I can help them manage their stress with music, organizational skills, and positive thinking.

I would love to play music more often, especially while we’re working on our Genius Hour projects. I’ve heard that playing instrumental music can be helpful, and I know firsthand that classical music can have a particularly calming effect.

In order to help with organization, I always ask students to anticipate and write out their next three steps at the end of each Genius Hour session. By having them keep a to-do list that enables them to see what lies ahead and not worry about losing their direction, I hope to be setting them up for success. I also make copies of all of my students’ submissions, which are kept in personalized folders that they can access at any time. 

Lastly, I want to promote positive thinking as much as I can. I’ve noticed that maintaining a positive mindset has had a profound effect on me, and I want to encourage that regularly. I don’t want students to dwell on setbacks and to feel the weight of the disappointment that comes along with that. Instead, I want them to use those opportunities to look for ways to improve and to focus on what they can do moving forward. I’ve read that suggesting phrases like, “I am not afraid to try,” or, “I can do this,” can help drown out the negative self-talk. I can get behind the #failforward movement and embracing imperfection. Redirecting students from negative to positive language can hugely impact their perspective and their output.

The bottom line is that people do not thrive when they are under duress. Under those conditions, it becomes difficult to process and, therefore, to produce your best work. Even though we all tend to think of Genius Hour as something enjoyable, any student can hit a point of uncertainty in their project that causes stress and challenges them to see it through. No matter what we’re doing in our classrooms, it’s critically important to consider that and to give them the tools they need to move past it. After all, those are simply the tools they need for learning, and isn’t that the business we’re in anyway?

This past week was Hour of Code. Hour of Code is an amazing initiative that aims to have every student everywhere experience coding in some shape or form. Students can participate in any number of ways — from completing unplugged activities, like cipher coding, all the way to coding apps or websites. The range of possibilities is endless, and so are the opportunities to explore and learn. 

My personal journey with coding started with a mandatory computer science class in C++ that I took as an undergraduate. I found it to be frustrating even though I fancy myself a puzzle- and problem-solver. Thanks to my experience at KTI last summer, my robot enthusiasm hit a resurgence and grew exponentially. I love how the new technology is so user-friendly and truly enables anyone to code.

Ahhhh!!!! More robots🤖! They do so many awesome things with data!!! Geeking out right now.#kti2019 @Sphero pic.twitter.com/Ca6oxgnDoz

— Danielle Sabato (@DSaturdayE200) July 25, 2019

Last Friday, my class participated in Hour of Code and their feedback was amazing. The sheer joy they found in interacting with each other, the robots and the coding websites genuinely astounded me. Several students even asked where they could get the robots for themselves because they weren’t interested in a one-off experience. They were eager to find a way to gain more access.

Having so much fun problem solving! #HourOfCode #UMASDistheplacetobe #Robotfever @JBauerUM pic.twitter.com/HLNRUFgZ03

— Danielle Sabato (@DSaturdayE200) December 13, 2019

It was so nice to see high school students be playful and curious. They were using all of the most coveted skills — creativity, problem solving, and collaboration — without even thinking about it. They were just in the moment, having fun.

It was so nice to see my students laughing and collaborating with each other. They were inspired by working together, and they got especially creative with coding the Sphero — programming it to move like a golf ball that had been struck and configuring the Ozobots to socially engage and then face off against each other. They were amazed at how the Merge Cube could help them interact with a human heart and display museum artifacts on a whim. The enjoyed coding games to suit their interests, and when all was said and done, they didn’t even mind reflecting and sharing their thoughts and the importance of coding on Flipgrid. 

I’ve discovered my geeky love of robots. They appeal to me because they’re intuitive and they can be incredibly useful tools for acquiring data. They also encourage play and problem solving. They are just flat-out fun! I believe my enthusiasm helped when I introduced these opportunities to my class. They knew I didn’t expect them to be experts, or even very comfortable at first. I just wanted them to try and to be okay with making mistakes and embracing the learning that comes from that. They knew I wasn’t an expert in any of it either, but that I enjoyed tinkering. That was enough to give them permission to explore for the fun of it. When you focus on the fun, the learning just happens.

If you’ve been following along, you probably know by now that I am occasionally silly, endlessly curious and…very well-stocked in dresses. However you envision me through this blog, I hope it’s clear that I’m constantly trying to see the good, seek new information, and lift up others whenever I can. This often takes me in so many different directions, and each one – wherever it leads – has proven to be fascinating.

Every opportunity speaks to me, which I love because I happen to be a firm believer in the power of words, and, for me, getting to the point is important. This is why I love quotes. I love all of the wisdom and meaning they possess. Bonus: they often pack a whole lot of punch in just a few short words.

Through my travels down the rabbit hole, I came across a website, word genius, that sends a “word of the day” to my inbox. I get so excited every day to open my mail and discover each new word that awaits. I look forward to adding it to my repertoire and using it casually in a sentence. The current word of the day is aphorism. Fitting, right? 

This idea or general theme seems to be all around me on this particular weekend. To illustrate that point, take a moment I recently had with my oldest daughter, who is currently in second grade. In order to help students make connections between home and school, her teacher sends each one home with a family journal in which they summarize the events of their week and share with parents who are then invited to write back. This week, my daughter wrote all about author’s purpose, which really seemed to resonate with her. It was an especially nice reminder to be conscious about what I’m trying to convey through this blog.

A little later on, I began scrolling through Twitter. There can be so much to wade through, but I still managed to stumble across this gem.

I can’t help but feel that through the quotes, the family journal, and the timely “word of the day,” – maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.

Once I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know! For now, however, I think it’s important to be clear about the messages you send, whether the medium you choose is action, the written word, or speech. Each time you express yourself throughout the day, you show people who you are (consciously or unconsciously) and what matters to you. It’s important to keep all of this in the forefront of your mind so that you can live purposefully toward that end.

So keep on sharing the positivity and continue to build people up. Don’t let your message get muddied by other messy things. That message is one I’m trying to share with my students. I ask them to keep their message in mind as they persist  in their Genius Hour projects. After all, if the goal is to share the goodness with the world and we all do our part to contribute to our small corner of it, then we’re doing the best we can, and that’s all we can ask of ourselves and each other. 

That’s what teaching can be like at times — one prolonged game of Simon Says. “Mrs. Sabato says…today we are going to learn about the Addition and Multiplication rule of probability!” <Insert eye-roll here.>

Fortunately, I found Genius Hour, which has helped me to break that teacher-centered cycle. What I’ve also found is that affording students the leeway to choose their own topics and pursue projects based on their own interests isn’t simply a magical or carefree gateway out of monotonous pedagogy. It takes an intensive amount of energy and a lot of work to get twenty eight students to not only plot out their unique paths but to continue pressing on toward the achievement of their personal goals. The key is to get them to buy in with a bit of vulnerability, which makes it a particularly hard sell.

Kids are wise. They can be perceptive and they pick up on authenticity — and on inauthenticity — more readily than many adults. They respect truth and honesty, even when it isn’t exactly what they want to hear. In order to honor my students’ quest for truth, I knew I had to practice what I preach. I couldn’t merely convey my enthusiasm for their creative self-direction without setting myself on that very same path and experiencing the triumphs and pitfalls with them. When I decided to pilot Genius Hour with my class, I knew I was going to have to walk the walk, but that wasn’t too much of a departure for me — I’ve always told my students that I try everything that I ask them to do, and it’s absolutely true that that’s always been my practice. It’s important to me to try to anticipate their difficulties and frustrations. I want to know how long I expect something to take and if there are shortcuts that can be employed. Knowledge like this helps me guide my students and get a better sense of how they relate to and engage with the material. I didn’t want Genius Hour to be any different. I wanted to experience this with them. Thinking about it, I struggled with what to do. Thankfully, Joy Kirr stepped in and unknowingly provided me with the springboard I needed by asking me to write a blog about Genius Hour. I couldn’t be happier that she did. 

When you lead by example, you create a picture of what’s possible. People can look at you and say, “Well, if he can do it, I can do it.” When you lead by example, you make it easy for others to follow you.

Bruna Martinuzzi,  “The Leader as a Mensch – Become the Kind of Person Others Want to Follow.”

Through that inaugural post, I began to simultaneously develop my voice as a writer and become more reflective about my experience with Genius Hour.  I am pushing myself through the vulnerability that comes with writing while maintaining the authenticity that my students have rightly come to expect. It isn’t easy to lay bare the struggles and tribulations, but embracing the whole process allows me to have real conversations with my students about their own ups and downs. We can celebrate successes together and brainstorm our way out of the inevitable — but not immovable — roadblocks.

So, if you’re thinking about Genius Hour, I highly recommend that you begin by finding your own project. If you aren’t sold on giving class time for something like this yet, I still believe it’s beneficial to put yourself in the students’ shoes every once in a while.  You’d be surprised at what you’ll see from their perspective. You never know…maybe it couldn’t hurt to let them be Simon for a change.

Being grateful can take work. Like a lot of work. I’m sure that everyone has lived through a time that took all of the energy one could muster just to push through to the other side. To say that this past year has been trying for me would be an understatement; however, with just a little bit of perspective and a whole lot of gratitude, I was able to change my vibration. 

Once you make an effort to focus on the good things — before you know it — that’s all you can see. To be sure, there are some days where you’ll find that easier than others. On the days when you manage to, though, it becomes evident that it is entirely worth it. It changes how you interact with people, and that can totally transform the path you’re on or even the one you choose to take from there.

“Gratitude is happiness recognized after the fact to be caused by the kindness of others.”

-Dr. Robert Emmons

There’s a growing need to measure the impact that gratitude and kindness have on the world around us. Whether we’re managing fleeting social interactions or developing meaningful personal relationships that challenge us to get to know ourselves and one another on a deeper level, the increasingly digital landscape threatens to isolate us more and more in our technology-dependent comfort zones, even as it promises to make us more interconnected than ever. How can we work toward achieving a balance between our own private hubs and the broader community? How can we focus on inspiring kids to pay it forward so they believe that the return on their investment in kindness will pay dividends? The answer, it turns out, is academic. 

Amazing research can be found on the topics of gratitude and kindness right on the campus of UCLA. A professor of psychology, Dr. Robert Emmons, is is said to be the world’s foremost scientific expert on gratitude. In September, UCLA opened the Bedari Kindness Institute, which is the first of its kind in the world. Much of the research shows that gratitude can improve everything from personal well-being and relationships to immune function, sleep quality, and resilience to stress. Who doesn’t want that?

I can say that a small shift in perspective did, indeed, change my path, and I am so much happier for it. I am beyond grateful for so many people and so many things in my life that — if pressed — I could type until my fingers fall off. Instead, I’m going to leave you with just a few highlights from this week. I encourage you to do the same. You’d be surprised at how much just recounting it will cheer you up in the days that follow.

• I am grateful for stickers on my refrigerator because that means I have two vibrant little girls with a zest for life and spreading cheer.
• I am grateful for Starbucks cups and cotton balls that will allow me to bring attention to pediatric cancer and the need to find a cure.
• I am grateful for collages that remind me how much I love and am loved by my fierce little tribe.
• I am grateful that I get to interact with some of the coolest kids around who are just as excited to see me as I am to see them, even when my role is to teach them math.
• I am grateful for other kind souls — like this amazing human — that chose this medium to recognize kindness and return it.

Finally, I am humbled and incredibly grateful for all of you that kindly choose to read my words each week. I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday.