Month: April 2023

Caught this article this morning It talks about student led discussions. It also reminded me of the great quote, “Whoever is doing the talking is doing the learning.”

Hard to hear, but Tip #1 is, “Stop talking so much and make time for inquiry.” This also reminds me of another quote, “Is talking teaching, is listening learning?”

Kind of amazing how many tangents a challenging article will create.

Kids getting ready to do the talking.

Speaking of tangents. I recently did a word cloud of 3 of my favorite blogposts. Ten Tips for New Teachers, Ten Tips for Principals, and Top Ten Learning Quotes. Here are the results. Lots of words about teachers, kids, students, principal, classroom, learning, and for some reason, the word ‘always’. I don’t think of myself as an ‘always’ kind of guy. In fact, I always bristle when I hear someone refer to something has always been a certain way in our district. Our district has been around for over a hundred years. Something has always been? I have the same reaction to the word ‘never’. We’ve never done this? Really?

I digress.

The odd word cloud result of ‘always’, got me thinking about a verbal word cloud over the course of a typical day in the life of an educator.

What would our top ten dominant words be? Would they match up with what we would hope or want them to be?

It would be great if my word cloud was: love, patience, grace, caring, dedication, kids, students, teachers, families, hope, and so on.

I am curious to know what it would actually show. I would be willing to bet I wouldn’t be super proud of what it showed. Need to think about that some more.

Somewhere in a box is a poster my dad gave me when I was in junior high. It was one of those kind of glowy, 70s posters, with sunlight coming through a twisty tree. The message, however, sticks with me to this day. “Be patient with yourself. Grow in your own way, in your own time.”

Caught the message below yesterday. Kind of the same idea. Thanks to Rita Wirtz for sharing.

Sometimes it does seem like we’re in a rush. We have so ‘much to cover’, ‘so much to do’. I like reminders that arrive to remind us to slow down as adults. And to let a kid grow at a personal pace.

I’m a grandfather now. Being a grandfather sure lets one see things through a different lens. A slower, less frantic lens. Time is a gift for a grandparent. I like a reminder that it’s a gift for a kid too.