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!