August 2020 - Spirit of Teaching

August 22, 2020August 22, 2020 Linda Markley

PAY ATTENTION!

calling to make a difference, Essential questions, Maslow before Blooms, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, teacher vulnerability, Wholehearted teaching

We ask our students all the time to “pay attention”. Why?

What is our intention behind the request?

What results are we expecting?

What does attention look like, and how do we know/measure it?

What purpose does “paying attention” serve?

Attention-attentive-attend to… 

from attendere "give heed to," literally "to stretch toward," 

from ad "to, toward"  + tendere  “stretch."

As teachers, we have to pay attention to a lot of things. One of the first things administrators look for when evaluating a teacher is “with-it-ness”. Are they paying attention to the things that we think they should be paying attention to?

“With-it-ness” is really just another word for “awareness”. To be aware of something is to be awakened and open to what is going on, and then, from there to make choices. What choices are we making as teachers?

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August 7, 2020August 8, 2020 Linda Markley

Enough is enough!

i am enough, Maslow before Blooms, Spirit of teaching

Teachers and students are going back to school. There is still uncertainty about so many things, and an underlying, pervasive feeling of fear. When we are in fear, we may armor up for the perceived battle ahead, and then, strategically try to control all outcomes. We may run away and hide or shut down because we feel we cannot handle or control all outcomes. We are human, and this is our fight our flight response.

 When we feel like we are not enough, don't have enough 
or can't do enough to handle the situation that arises, 
fear takes over.

When I was walking the Camino de Santiago, I struggled with fear in every step I took. Thoughts of not doing enough or not being enough permeated my every thought and fueled my fears. Why didn’t I prepare and plan more carefully? Why aren’t things going as planned? Why was I so slow compared to others on the Camino? Why is it so easy for everyone else?Why aren’t other people suffering like I am? What would happen to me if I got lost? Why couldn’t I control the blisters or the pain or the people around me or the outcomes for the day? What if I can’t finish, and I have to go home as a “failure”? Streaming “what if’s?’ in my head.

It reminded me of the same fears that came up in the classroom.

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