Monday, May 27, 2013

5 Days after Day 80: 10 Things I Want My Sixth Grade Students To Know (And You)

1.  I care about only 1 thing.  It's not whether or not you get an A on the next quiz.  In my 15 years as an educator, I know that if you fail a quiz today, you'll eventually get the concept later.  The light bulb may go off in a subtle, small moment where no one is grading you, but you will know and no one will be able to take it away from you.
What I care about is if are you allowing your excellence or not.
Every time I push you for more, ask you to step outside, or write a note home I am simply trying to get more excellence out of you.
Clarification:  Excellence is not perfection.
Suggestion:  Get comfortable being excellent.
Warning:  It might be uncomfortable at first.

2.  There is no creativity without failure (Thank you Bene Brown).  Yes, failure is just part of the journey not a label that gets stuck to you forever.  So do yourself a favor, when you fail, learn the lesson and move on.  Obsessing about failure just creates more failure.

3.  Who you are to others is more important to you than to others.  In other words, people want YOU not what you think they want you to be.  Yes, you will impact people.  But you can't do things based on what other people's opinion.  You have to start with you.  Be who you are and that wonderful person will make a big difference to your circle and even the world.

4.  Playing is the MOST important.  Bill Gates was just messing around with computers when we was in high school.  It was fun for him.  Play is the gateway to greatness.

5.  The outside world is not as powerful as you think.  In the classroom, I would say no one has the power to get you into trouble.  YOU always have the power.  As a teacher, I don't even mind giving you a consequence because I get to show you how powerful you are.  When you leave the classroom, you will realize that your main teacher has always been LIFE and it, too, always wants to show you how powerful you are.

6.  Anything that feels icky is you off track.  That's right, those guts of yours can serve you well.  Something seem off?  Listen to it.  You are probably right.  I'm not just talking about your safety.  This includes when you feel bad about yourself.  Do you feel bad when you tell yourself that you're not smart enough?  Good!  Your bad feelings are life's way of telling you that you are not thinking truthfully.

7.  Right now is more important than the past or future.

8.  YOU, YES YOU, HAVE A GIFT!  All YOU have to do is DECIDE to give it.

9.  As Florence Scovel Shinn says, "Words are wands."  Yes, how you speak about yourself, your life, and others will ultimately dictate your life.  Pay attention to what you say.

10.  You have nothing to prove, but you will always have something to learn.


Chapter 3 starts in June.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Chapter 2, Day 66: Be Mythic

Historical events happen once and are gone forever.  Mythic events return like swans each Spring.

-Ridington

Wednesday, May 1, 2013