This Year I'm On a Journey!

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The Last Night.....A Call for Passion!

Tonight was the final night of teaching the "Computers and Instructional Technology" class. If you haven't been following this, it is a course for undergraduates who will be teachers.

I struggled with what to say on the last night and I think I ended up getting a little preachy... That happens when I get fired up, the passion comes pouring out. Yesterday, I watched the video of the Texas student who gave the keynote for the opening convocation of Dallas schools. I read about it on Karen Janowski's Blog. I was so moved by this fifth grade student who spoke in front of 18,000 students with a passion that is unmatched with kids his age. I understand that he was coached as a speaker and the actual speech may have been written by the school district and, to be perfectly honest, absolutely none of that matters to me.

If I had to identify one problem with the generation of kids who are in school now, it is that they lack passion. Yes, that is a generalization.....but it is based on my observation. So, how can we inspire passion in students??? The easy and honest answer is that we can't....or can we?

What I think we can do is share things WE are passionate about. If you have ever seen Peter H. Reynolds speak about his passion for creativity and kids, you can't help but get swept away. I leave each talk with Peter wanting to go out and light fires of creativity. WE can also be the voice that motivates others.

I personally LOVE what I have witnessed watching kids use technology. Watching a kid 'get it' for the first time is an amazing thing....I get very passionate in sharing those stories. I share the stories with my college students....I share them using this blog. We must be determined to not let the people who are not so passionate about kids and teaching to weight us down! We must find people who are equally inspired and feed on each other. One of the greatest parts of Twitter / Plurk is finding a group of people who are equally passionate.

How do you share your passions?

The Great Assignment of All Time!

If you want to see how kids think, sometime try giving out an assignment that has no answer. For example, in a few days, I will be having fifth graders decide who was/is "the greatest jazz musician of all time." Think you know the answer??? Not so fast.

Try doing a web search. You might get any number of different results, depending on which search engine you use. The students will be on fire to get the 'right answer,' but the trick is that there isn't a right answer. Then, as the teacher, you go through and have student build a list of criteria that could be useful.

What I do is start out by asking who is the best kid in the class. They come up with a list that might include: looks, grades, money, etc. Then, we brainstorm a list that uses that as a guide. They learn, for example, that looks are subjective and don't make good criteria.

I think, most importantly, the student learns how to break apart an assignment and along with some higher order thinking, come up with a solution that is well-reasoned.

This year, I am hoping to get some schools other places in the world to do the same activity and then Skype video conference between the two classes and compare findings. If you might be interested, email me! My class meets from 1:05-1:35 central time.

Hope One Mile Ahead

I have always been propelled by hope. But I never relied as much on hope as I have this year.

This sign is on the way to Minneapolis on Interstate 35. What a great thought..."Hope One Mile Ahead." So, if you lose your way on the journey...if things didn't seem to turn out how you wanted them to...if all seems lost... Hope comes in and saves the day.

So where do you find hope? That's the thing, it's is everywhere.

The laughter of a child.....the promise that in the darkest time, you will laugh again. There is something about being around children and listening to their gleeful laugh. I spent Friday night with me great nephew....I left filled with hope.

The random email from a friend.....brings back a memory a smile and something to hold on to.

The smile from someone who loves you...you know you are not on the journey alone, even if it feels like it.

A book, blog, video, tv show.... yep, hope can be found in the strangest places....if you look for it.

The sweet note or text message from a new friend.

Inside you.....even when you can't feel it or see it, lurking in you is a strong hope. A guiding light. Hope is one mile ahead...if not closer!

And if you have abundant hope, pass it around! Share something you have seen or read that inspired you. Take care of your friends or even a stranger. Share what you have learned and share hope!

"Together, we will journey beyond the darkness. The star of hope will guide the way." Gerda Weissmann Klein. The quote appears on one of the last scenes in the video of "Wings of Epoh"
If you haven't read "Wings of Epoh," I guarantee you will love it. I have spoken of it a lot on this blog...I framed the story before on this blog with its true intention, it's about a boy who is autism. But, this week, it was about me and it was about hope. You will understand when you watch it or read it. "Epoh" is hope spelled backwards!

You can buy the book and video from my friends at FableVision. Use AMBSHAY for 10 % off..... and while you are there, maybe you want to pick up "The North Star" "The Dot" and "Ish".... Make it an inspirational school year!

Might as well make a disclaimer here for skeptical people. I don't work for FableVision.....I just love what they do and the people they are.

Appreciation

I have now survived two days with kids and four days before that at school. It was so good to see the kids again. I am grateful to some wonderful people in my life who have helped me get my journey back on track. This post is a thank you to everyone who has said nice words, direct messaged about my blog, sent a text message, sent an email, Skype chatted, sent me a video link, or sent sweet Plurks. You have helped me more than you know.

Picture from "The North Star" Mini-Posters, by Peter H. Reynolds

Where Is It You Want To Be?

I have to say the graphic above is one of my FAVORITE from the North Star book! Absolutely a perfect representation of life. The 'signs' we see sometimes point us in different directions. Today was the first day of school. My new schedule is a killer and adding in extra 'first day' activities have left me absolutely exhausted.

There have been many signs lately that have left me questioning if where I am right now is where I should be. The smiles and hugs from students today helped me realize that I am where I belong for this part of the journey. Who knows where the signs will point tomorrow, but for today....I was exactly where I needed to be.


Graphic above from "The North Star" by Peter H. Reynolds. Used with gracious permission! Please go read the book online, or better yet, buy a copy. It is a beautiful book that you will look at time and time again!

I don't think I have mentioned this lately, but you can always get 10% of all things FableVision with my code: AMBSHAY

The Journey Begins...

Unless you are new to this blog, you know I am a huge fan of Peter H. Reynolds and all things FableVision... I must admit that my attitude this year has not been great because of scheduling issues, but five things that happened today helped to get me ready for the new school year journey to start tomorrow....

#1 - I got a message from Peter Reynolds recommending a video for me to watch. It was a great video that featured animation and it was great that he shared it. Beyond that, hearing from him reminded me of my time with the Fable group this summer, which I have talked about often...and in the middle of a very stressful day, I smiled. Thinking of FableVision reminded me to leave the struggles of the beginning of this school year behind and focus on what matters.....And what really matters comes bounding in the door tomorrow morning at 8:15 a.m.

#2 - At one of the darker moments of the day, I received an encouraging text message from my special Plurk friend I spoke of two days ago. Wow, that is one amazing person!

#3 - I hosted a viewing of "Wings of Epoh" which is the story of a boy with Autism and a butterfly named, Epoh. It is a beautiful book and video illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds and written by Gerda Weissman Klein that should be required reading/viewing for teachers. A few teachers came to watch it with me. Even though I have read the book many times and watched the video a few times, it was different for me today. It is the story of hope....Today, it was MY story. I felt like it was speaking to me. Not because I have autism, but because it describes the boy being in a very dark place and then being brought out in to a beautiful world.

#4 - Late morning, I received a thoughtful voice mail from my beautiful wife. Just when I needed it!

#5 - During my night class this evening, I was fortunate to bring the amazing Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns into my class virtually. I was honored that she agreed to visit with my students. Sometimes when you meet someone, you know immediately that you have met a truly great person....that is the exact feeling I had the first time I met Peggy.

Tomorrow starts a new page of my teaching journey... I do not have every single thing ready, but my heart and mind are ready. I am now more focused on navigating my journey by watching my guiding stars.... the guiding and wonderful stars. Thank you to all who have made my life richer. I am one very lucky man!


Graphic from "The North Star" by Peter H. Reynolds. Read the story here!