Learning to Grow Every Day

In a moment of vulnerability, I would like to explore the idea of self-belief. This has not always come easy to me. Self-doubt so easily creeps into our minds on a daily basis and can cripple our productivity. When we believe the lies about ourselves, it is difficult to move from the impossible to the probable. Rather than thinking about ourselves as not talented enough, not athletic enough, not smart enough, we should focus on our strengths and developing the right habits. I have always been fascinated by grit and persistence, which I will blog more about later. However, I recently came across a tweet by author and motivational speaker, Jon Gordon . Gordon speaks in great detail about positivity and using our strengths to propel us forward. As you can see from the screenshot include in this post, Gordon speaks to those habits we can control rather than the arbitrary skill that is assigned to each of us by the world. Even if you don’t have the most skill, you can be on time, ...

While my reading life has slowed down some in the past month with the business of home and school, I am still really enjoying the process of selecting books and listening/reading with a purpose. I am learning so much about myself and about different cultures, and ideologies with some of the books I have read this year. That journey continues with my most recent selection, Hillbilly Elegy . Hillbilly Elegy was written by J.D. Vance whose family originally hailed from rural Kentucky coal country before moving to Middletown, Ohio. He mixes the stories of his youth with an argument that affixes the blame of the poor “hillbillies” on themselves. He claimed that it was largely “learned helplessness” that has led to the plight of many poor working whites, who have taken advantage of the welfare system and feel that no matter what they do, they cannot improve their condition in life (Vance). When I first started reading the book, I was taken aback by the premise that we should be taking...

In any career, we need time to “re-fill our bucket” so to speak. It is so easy to get bogged down in the little details of the teaching profession and it is not uncommon to get stale. That is why it is important to do something to reset and give ourselves a spark. This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend the GAR Educator’s conference . It was such a great conference and gave me some ideas to think about. 1. One of the main speakers spoke about the need to understand the unconscious bias that we all carry with us when it comes to race, gender, religion, etc. It is so important to recognize when it is happening and be more intentional in our thoughts and actions. 2. The first breakout session I attended was about Growth Mindset. While I have read many articles and books about Growth Mindset, the speakers brought home the point that it all starts with the teacher. If the teacher does not demonstrate a growth mindset on a consistent basis and really mean it, it is going t...

This week’s blog covers two different topics because I did not want these topics to slip through the cracks. The two topics are not really related but so vitally important to what I am doing with my character-building curriculum for my 12th-grade English curriculum. UCLA Establishes Kindness Institute Yes, I will admit it, I googled “kindness” to see what articles might spark some inspiration for me this week. I was thrilled to have come across the following article about UCLA establishing a legitimate research institute to study kindness. Their goal is to research all aspects of kindness within organizations and people and determine how those characteristics can transfer to real-life applications on spreading kindness. Daniel Fessler, the appointed director of the institute, will be focused on, “...exploring how witnessing acts of remarkable kindness can cause an uplifting emotional experience that in turn motivates the observer to be kind” (Abraham). I love that the univers...

Like many kids from my generation or younger. Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood was a staple in our household. There were so many lessons to be learned from Mr. Rogers: one, we are all unique and loved two, kindness and compassion are so important three, understanding our feelings and knowing how to deal with them is a crucial aspect of growing up. When I came across, The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers on my Libby app I knew immediately that it had to be my next read. An added bonus was that Lavar Burton, host of Reading Rainbow , another childhood favorite of mine, was the reader. What follows is a brief review and recommendation. Written by Maxwell King in 2018, The Good Neighbor gives the reader a glimpse into Fred Rogers's childhood, college years, and finally his introduction to television, which is where he found his purpose in life. It was certainly enlightening to learn the background into what made Fred Rogers who he was as an adult. I was surprised to fin...

When I set out to write about positivity and kindness, I had been trying to think of ways that I could get my students thinking about putting others before themselves. I love that the 12th-grade Learning Strategies class has a year-long project that requires the students to “pay-it-forward” and to complete several random acts of kindness throughout the school year. My goal, sometime this quarter, is to have my English students think of ways they can do this in their own school community in order to tag along with what they are doing in learning strategies. This could even be an opportunity to develop some ideas for how they will approach their acts of kindness for Learning Strategies. Recently, CBS posted a story on their website that showed how two students decided to give new clothes and shoes to a 9th-grade student, Michael, who had been bullied for wearing the same outfit every day because that is all his family could afford. Students had laughed at him and mocked him for hi...

In a previous blog post about having a positive mindset , I referenced an article by psychologist Angela Duckworth in which she suggested that reading can make us more empathetic. That notion was reinforced this week by a short New York Times article by Tina Jordan in which she encouraged her readers to begin reading again. Her article referenced a study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that found that Americans between the ages of 15 and 54 read for an average of 10 minutes a day or less (“American Time Use Survey News Release”). My positive thought for this week’s blog revolves around what we are trying to do at Lawrence with the juniors and seniors in regards to encouraging that reading and using reading to help us develop empathy and understanding. Mrs. Janamanchi and I started a challenge at the beginning of the school year, where our goal is to read at least 40 books each-which would be a book per week for the entire school year. We have also recruited our classes to help ...