Pure Genius: Be KIND, CURIOUS, & CREATIVE

"I am not an educational expert; rather, I am a passionate educator who wants to bring about positive and meaningful change." 

Me, too, Don Wettrick! Me, too!

"I challenge myself to pick up new skills that will make an impact on my students and feed my own curiosity."

Me, too, Don Wettrick! Me, too!

Since introducing 20Time several years ago, I've struggled with students to help them find what they are passionate about; we've dug deep to help unearth creativity; I've shaped and reshaped my project expectations trying to find the BEST practice; and I've also gotten frustrated about the stuck and stagnant mindsets of both students and the education world. Wettrick talks about in his book that "constraints lead to creativity." Well, that is definitely true. The reality of our current system is "Teachers must be innovative in their approach to teaching, learning, and designing new experiences" because the standardized tests, mandated learning standards, and politically oscillating world are not going to end anytime soon. There are so many constraints put on teachers (and students) in the educational journey, that we are going to have to get creative if we are going to develop innovative problem solvers instead of good test takers.

In the early chapters of this book, Wettrick encourages us to create a culture of creativity and
innovation, "find the key concept for your class." I realized that the three underlying emphases in my lesson plans, relationships with students, and ideas for the future, revolve around KINDNESS, CURIOSITY, and CREATIVITY (which are essentially what the signs on my door to my classroom say--what a fabulous coincidence!). I want students to be good people, really listening to others; I want them to ask questions and pursue ideas; and I want them to make the world a better place by innovatively solving problems. This also explains why I get so frustrated with standardized tests: they can't measure these fundamental ideas.

I'm only halfway through the book, but here's what I want to do in my classroom:

• Start the year in a creative and challenging way: maybe build Rube Goldberg machines the first week; watch TED Talks; something that encourages my 3 key concepts. 
• Also, starting the year with smaller 20Time projects so they understand what the process looks like before we devote an entire semester to one project. Maybe in the fall students do one 20Time Project per month, allowing them to try out different passions they have, not feeling like that have to get locked into one idea, and teaching them how to ask engaging questions, manage time, and present well. 
• Students choose the standards they are going to work on. Or they develop the expectations for what a "Mastery level" or "Exceeds Expectations" project looks like for each standards. I love the idea that they tell me how they are going to be assessed and what those standards look like. 

I'm so pumped to continue reading this book and making my classroom and my students better:

"Is education about earning a grade, or is it really about fostering learning and creative engagement? We need to put the focus on the process of creativity and development, not on earning a grade for compliance." 

YES. YES. YES. 

More places to pursue these ideas:
Daniel Pink's TED Talk "The Puzzle of Motivation"
Tina Seelig's book, inGenius
Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelly of IDEO

Start With Why: My Version; What's Yours?

Why do you do what you do? For some, like my husband, this is a fairly easy question to answer. He wants to "make things awesome." For me, I struggled to articulate it. Partly because I'm an English teacher and perfectionist and I didn't feel like my vocabulary accurately expressed it. But partly because I thought it was way more complex that it actually is for me. But it's a REALLY important question.

Simon Sinek's book "speaks to me," as he suggests we say when our worldview matches someone else's. I love it. My blog is called "Heart Deep" because I want to focus on the root, the foundation, the meaningful, and that's what his book is all about: starting with your cause, your purpose, your WHY. What is so powerful about The Golden Circle is that the WHY can be consistent and unchanging, and yet the WHATs can be numerous. Sinek says "a WHY never changes." So no matter WHAT you do, if you have a strong sense of WHY, you can be a leader, start a movement, feel successful.

So here's my Golden Circle in a nutshell:
WHY: to make the world a better place by giving people something to be passionate about
HOW: doing the right thing; expecting top results; think outside and challenge the norm; take risks
WHAT: English teacher, Hope Acres Owner, church volunteer, mom/wife (and future Joanna Gaines of Ash Grove...*wink wink*)

This is why I do things like run a equestrian program: give people an opportunity to be passionate about horses. Why buy Toms shoes: my purchase helps to make the world a better place. This is the reason I started doing 20Time in my classes: inspire kids to be passionate about something. It's why I donate money to organizations like Compassion and A21: I am hoping, through them, to make someone's world better. And is why I get frustrated when people are destructive to others: they are not making the world better and I want them to be compassionate.

Why is the WHY important?

"Those with an ability to never lose sight of WHY, no matter how little or how much they achieve, can inspire us. Those with the ability to never lose sight of WHY and also achieve the milestones that keep everyone focused in the right direction are the great leaders. For great leaders, The Golden Circle is in balance. They are in pursuit of WHY, they hold themselves accountable to HOW they do it and WHAT they do serves as the tangible proof of what they believe." -Simon Sinek

To me: It's about inspiring others. It's about using your time on Earth well. It's about about being successful. It's about being a person who lives with conviction and influence. It's about leaving a legacy and making a difference.

But that's just me. I would LOVE to hear your WHY! What gets you pumped? Why do you do what you do? Please leave a comment and share!

Courageous Edventures: Pursuing the Horizon of Innovation

"We must be courageous. We must be bold." To really make a difference in our world, in our lives, in the lives of others (e.g. students), it's about "embracing the possibility of failure, preparing for potential storms and inevitable rocky shores. It means taking a set of fresh eyes to chart a course around the many challenges, the naysayers."

In a world of insecurities, plenty of reasons to be fearful, and lots of criticizing opinions, sometimes we have to be willing to set sail on our own to find better and more beautiful places. Magiera maps out succinctly and transparently just how teachers (or really, professionals) can go from frustration to innovation.

So often people don't like their situations. But we must be people who do not just complain--be solution finders! And balance that with goal of innovation, newness, betterment with sound judgment about what the goal is and should be: "my goal shouldn't simply be to do something new for the sake of it being new or to get better using these new tools. Rather, my focus should be to solve existing problems with new methodologies--and in the process, to reimagine how teaching and learning could look and feel like."

I've been on a journey to really try to innovate in my classroom for about the two years. It's been a process. It's a good thing I watched Zootopia and connected on a pretty spiritual level with the bunny Judy Hopps and her approach to life-- "Try Everything" -- and her mantra, "Ready to make the world a better place?" I started finding ideas I thought were really cool, tech-forward, stretched my kiddos and decided I'd give things a try no matter if the success was guaranteed or not. I've had several projects or ideas that would be considered fails, but my goal was simply to learn something and help someone.

Magiera's book journeys from a "Gripe Jam," a time to throw out (but also problem-solve) frustrations, developing organizational plans, to overcoming common obstacles, and ideas to innovate. Her ideas can be adjusted to fit classrooms of kindergarteners to seniors. She mentions 20% Time (Yes! My fav!), student-led tech teams, problem-based learning (something I want to do more), Makerspaces, digital portfolios, and how to inspire with Rube Goldberg machines (ARE THESE NOT AMAZING?).

As I read through this book, I realized that in order to truly soak this in, to put Jennie's ideas into action, I need to slow down. Don't rush through her read. Some of the chapters are wonderfully practical--take time to stop for a couple of days, process, write down your own experiences and reflections, and then pick the book back up to continue the journey.

At my core I'm a teacher, a opportunity-door-opener. I can't help it, it's just in the fiber of my being. Many of my colleagues are the same. I challenge you, whether you are a professional educator or a restless soul longing for more, to go on a "Courageous Edventure," setting sail into the unknown, willing to reach out for the horizon despite the fears and obstacles. Because don't you know, life is better when we are moving forward, chasing awesome, and pursuing purpose.