Inspirational Videos

Each year at about this time I start to work on my back to school presentation for staff. I want that first staff meeting on the first morning to go well and I also want it to be inspirational. YouTube has made this task so much easier as you can pick a category such as curiosity or teacher inspiration and if as by magic, several videos pop up for you to look at. I have spent my morning watching videos trying to find the right one(s) to kick our year off right. Right at this moment I have such a sense of optimism for the upcoming year because of these uplifting videos. I am curious to know which videos any of you use.

Here are some videos I have used in the past and some I found this morning (several were recommended by George Couros on his Principal of Change blog):

How Quickly Things Change

Did You Know 2028 (Students entering 3rd grade this year will graduate in 2028)
Blockbuster Museum Offers Glimpse of Movie Renting Past-The Onion

Curiosity/Creating Spark

The Power of Why-Ted Talk by Simon Sinek
Three Rules to Spark Learning- Ted Talk by Ramsey Musallam
Little Girl Experiences Rain for the First Time
Motivational Short Story of Two Seeds

Inspirational

Every Kid Needs a Champion-Ted Talk by Rita Pierson (This is a must watch!)
Girl Takes First Ski Jump
First Follower: Leadership Lessons From Dancing Guy
Why Are So Many of Our Teachers and Schools So Successful-Ted Talk by John Hattie
Starfish Story
Top Motivational Video for Teachers-Speech by Jeremy Anderson

A YouTube Channel to checkout is INSBRIGHT.

I would love to hear from you on some of your favorites! Please share in the comments!

Solitude

Twice in the last week I have played 9 holes of golf  by myself. I am not one that normally likes to play golf by myself as I see it as a social time, but I had a enough time to squeeze in the 9 holes before the start of the golf league and my normal partners were not available. I actually found the time to be refreshing. I had plenty of time to reflect on items from work and home with no distractions. I had a few brainstorms that I was able to jot down on my phone and walked away feeling good and even played some decent golf.

It got me to thinking about how much time that I actually have in solitude with no distractions. As a the father of four and the principal of a 750 student building, I really do value the solitude! I feel better about my actions at home and school when I have time to process, reflect, and let things go. I am not always able to find the time to golf for the solitude, but I do have a commute that is just under an hour each way from school to home. It is amazing how often I get home and my stresses from the day have been placed aside for the short term. When I was a principal in Eden Prairie, I once told some co-workers that there was a tree just outside of Delano (the approximate half way point of my commute) that I would throw my stressors at on the way by and then pick them up again the next day. I rarely bring my school stressors home or my home stressors to school. The time to decompress, reflect, listen to podcasts or music, and preplan is pretty great. I need to find a better way to record my "aha moments" though as that is not always easy to do when driving. It would be better if I could find more time for solitude doing something I am passionate about more regularly, but for now the drive time will have to be enough.

I hope that you all can find time for yourself! I would love to hear ideas that you have for carving out the time and for keeping track of your wonderful brainstorming.

Lost My Way

I started this blog a shade under four years ago, but sadly I have not contributed to it in almost four years as well. It started out as part of a summer learning series as I first moved to my current position. I had great intentions of reflecting and writing more, but sadly I lost my way. It is easy to come up with reasons to not write, especially when one is the father of four great kids! It had been so long, that I had almost forgotten that I had a blog.

Yesterday I started to read Culturize by Jimmy Casas, and was reminded of the importance of writing. He shared the following:

• Be sure to share these helpful tips with your students or colleagues when it comes to writing:
• Start writing and keep writing your thoughts down on paper.
• Once you see your thoughts written down, you will be able to piece them together.
• Get the negative thoughts out of your mind and believe in yourself.
• Don’t be afraid of what others will think; everyone has something to contribute.
• Forget about what it looks and sounds like. Just write.
• It only takes one person to relate to your story. Honor your impact.
• Embrace your vulnerability. Give of yourself and don’t be afraid to share your story.
• Reach out to others whom you trust to “check you back into perspective.
• It is normal to experience writer’s block. It happens to everyone, even the best writers.
• Write for you. Reflection is powerful and necessary for individual growth.

Excerpt From: Jimmy Casas. Culturize. iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/culturize/id1341053060?mt=11

I have followed his advice and decided to fire up my blog again. I may not have anything earth shattering or deep to share, but at least I will be taking time to reflect and write again. 

This weekend while mowing my lawn, I was catching up on a series of podcasts by Brad Gustafson and Ben Gilpin titled UnearthED. I had about six episodes to catch up on, but luckily that was exactly how long it took me to mow my lawn. While I enjoyed all of the episodes and learned at least one thing from each of them, there was a quote from Simon T. Bailey in the episode How Education Leaders Can Effectively Disrupt the Status Quo that really stood out to me. Mr. Bailey was talking about how he often asks his kids what they want to grow up to be, but shared he should really be asking them, "What problem have you been created to solve?" What an amazing way of basically asking the same question, but putting it on a much deeper and meaningful level! I have been thinking about that line for three days now. How different would our students'/children's critical thinking skills be if we all took the time to reframe questions that way? It makes me wonder how often I ask the simple question instead of the deep one. Something for me to ponder for a few more days!