Category: Passion

Linda Markley

Magic and Sparkles

calling to make a difference, communication, creating community, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Wholehearted teaching

Everything is better when magic and sparkles are included!

And I mean that is true for both in the classroom and outside in the real world.

It’s not just found at Disney World or Disneyland.

To hook students and to also encourage them to keep trying when they were struggling or stuck on a concept or problem or content to learn, I break out my Disney Magic Hat and magic wand and wave it in the air above the student.

I tell them that I am creating happy “Disney Magic” to help them get over any obstacles or hurdles that they are experiencing.

Do you remember as a kid how magical the effects of sparklers are during the Fourth of July or when they are placed upon a birthday cake like they do in other countries.

It creates awe and inspiration and celebration and hope in our hearts.

It is magical.

I don’t allow glitter, which does indeed sparkle, in the classroom because it is too hard to clean up.

So, how do I create “magic sparkles” in the classroom for my students

 as well as outside the classroom for myself?

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Are You Listening?

calling to make a difference, communication, creating community, Learning Lessons, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Podcasting, professional development, Resources, Spirit of teaching, Teacher Appreciation, teacher hero, teacher self-care, teacher vulnerability, Wholehearted teaching

Along with all of the resources provided by the Spirit of Teaching, I have also been doing a podcast called Teacher Tales.

The purpose of the podcast is to let teachers share their stories or “tales” of teaching with the hope that their stories, insights, words of wisdom and experiences will serve as lessons as well as sources of inspiration to other teachers.

It is also a form of advocacy and legacy-building effort for the profession as these stories serve as insights to what it is really like to be a teacher. The public often has a skewed viewpoint, and the podcast can help those who are not teachers see things more clearly and realistically.

As each podcast guest teacher shares their story, a theme of main ideas and some really inspiring lessons seem to come through for the listener.

For example, in Teacher Tales Episode #5, I talk to Meredith, a dear friend and fellow conference “junkie”. Meredith is an amazing teacher and human being whose positive energy, authenticity and sense of humor lifts you up and takes you away on a magic carpet ride to a “whole new world” of teaching (a little Aladdin-style), but at the same time she reminds teachers to stay real and set one priority in this moment that will help us find balance and sustainability in what we do.

It is a little like reminding us that wherever we go, Abu is always along for the ride. You remember Abu, right? That mischievous little monkey who is a kleptomaniac, gets frustrated rather easily and hates to be made a fool of. At the same time, Abu is loyal, unselfish, big-hearted, empathic and benevolent.

Hmmmm, sounds like a metaphor for teaching. As teachers, we want to take those students on that magic carpet ride of learning. We want to help them see the world in a whole new perspective that will uplift their efforts and their view of themselves.

However, we also need to remember Abu is always with us on that journey.

What, you say? How is that? (more…)

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Linda Markley

Please help a Teacher

calling to make a difference, Can do's, creating community, Joy, making connections, Passion, Purpose, Resources, Spirit of teaching, Teacher Appreciation

It is that time of year when teachers and children are going back to school.

A new school year.

A new beginning.

When we start something new, we may need help, support, encouragement, inspiration, resources and materials.

We are building bridges to new connections, new relationships, new learning adventures, new pathways, new opportunities…and so on.

And we may need help doing this.

Teachers do this every.single.year.

They have a reset, restart, renewal to start building those bridges, connections, relationships, etc. again.

They need help. They are “looking for the helpers”, as Mr. Rogers says, for support, encouragements, inspiration, resources, materials, and so on.

Please HELP A TEACHER.

Here are some suggestions:

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Imperfections

calling to make a difference, communication, creating community, i am enough, Learning Lessons, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Resources, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, teacher vulnerability, Wholehearted teaching

A little like Bruno, from the Disney film, Encanto, we don’t talk about imperfections in the classroom.

We are all aiming for and expecting that A+, perfection, right?

Even though we say “C” is “average”, we don’t accept nor strive for average.

Everything is about competition and being the BEST!

In the movie, Encanto, which, by the way is a brilliant film with so many underlying meanings and symbolism (like most Disney films) there are several themes addressed: identity, power dynamics, family, generational trauma, healing and forgiveness.

Just a side note, Disney films originated with taking fairy tales, fables and myths from other cultures and turning them into films for story-telling purposes of teaching lessons (like the original intention of these genre of literature).

So, let’s talk about Bruno, even though “we don’t talk about Bruno”!

Bruno represents the perceived “imperfection” of the Madrigal family, and he is willing to talk about it. 

Unfortunately, he is perceived as “not a good person” because of that and is villainized by his family. So, he exiles himself from the family and lives in fear of his own potential.

Identity crisis, power dynamics, generational trauma…

Think of how much this plays out at home and in the classroom every day…with students and with teachers, especially since the pandemic.

Why don’t we talk about these issues? Why can’t we be vulnerable?

When we perceive that we have imperfections or we are told that we do…repeatedly…

we begin to believe them.

Then, what?

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Travel as Teacher

Essential questions, Learning Lessons, making connections, Passion, professional development, Resources, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, teacher self-care, Wholehearted teaching

School is out for the summer, and there is a massive movement of people heading out on vacations all over the world…especially teachers!

Travel is one of the greatest teachers there is. 

I never traveled until I was eighteen-years-old, which is hard to believe in this day and age.

No, I didn’t grow up in the Stone Age when travel consisted of putting one foot in front of the other. Ha! 

However, I did travel the Camino de Santiago in Spain, which was one of the greatest and most life changing experiences of my life. 

It was basically putting one foot in front of the other.

BUT…it was also about getting out of my head, out of fear and into faith and believing in myself….that I could figure things out and overcome all obstacles.

I once read that travel does that, and that is why so many people love to travel and do so often. 

It makes us use all our senses to live in the present moment in order to take in all the sights, sounds, sensations, emotions, etc. and to experience life to its fullest.

So, how does that work? 

AND more importantly, do I have to travel far or internationally 

or even physically to have this life experience?

Of course, as a language teacher, I am a big fan of travel internationally in order to experience and learn more about culture and language. 

That kind of travel has taught me a lot, both personally and professionally.

But it is costly, and I have been fortunate enough to take student groups abroad and share this travel with them as a sort of second line of “teacher”.

They learn so much more from these experiences than I could ever have taught them in the classroom and from a book.

A lot of teachers travel during the summer in order to learn and gain more experiences that they can then use as resources and as inspiration for lessons in order to pass this knowledge on to their students and broaden their horizons, so to speak.

But what if one can’t afford to travel far or have no one to go with or no resources to do so?

We can travel in other ways, which clearly is not as effective.

However, and more importantly, perhaps taking advantage of the opportunity to travel in our minds and in our souls…to experience and learn more about ourselves…is the more important lesson and the real teacher.

For example, on the Camino, I met a lady who was really lost in life and miserable. 

One night, in the middle of the night, she came across the movie The Way, which is about the experiences and both the inner and outer landscapes of four pilgrims walking the Camino.

She felt the connection. She longed for similar experiences…to get out into Nature. To walk more. To meet more people. To find herself again.

So, she saved and saved until she was able to finally TRAVEL to Spain and start walking the Camino. It was life-changing, as it was for me.

What about books, especially adventure books that travel to faraway lands or even just travel to our inner dimension and get us in touch with our feelings?

LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow encouraged children to do this:

Butterfly in the sky
I can go twice as high
Take a look
It’s in a book
A reading rainbow

I can go anywhere
Friends to know
And ways to grow
A reading rainbow

I can be anything
Take a look
It’s in a book
A reading rainbow (A reading rainbow)
A reading rainbow (A reading rainbow, a reading rainbow)           (credit Reading Rainbow)

We can travel in our minds through meditation or yoga or tai chi or forest sound baths and visualizations.  I actually do this with students and teachers in workshops using a scenic picture and asking them to close their eyes and imagine they are there. 

Next, I ask them to describe what they see in the picture and how that makes them feel. Then, we go bigger picture, and we talk about where that place is, how to get there, what would we say when we get there, who would we meet, what would we do?

Check out some of the resources I have here for these kinds of “spirit/soul” travel experiences.

So, this summer, I hope you are able to travel somewhere and somehow in order to tap into your inner and outer landscape of life experiences and grow from there because travel truly is the greatest teacher!

Perhaps you would like to travel to Spain on the Camino by reading my book, Learning Lessons.

It is available on Amazon, B&N, BAM and all other major booksellers. I hope you check it out!

 

Image credit:

“Globe-Map-Suitcase-Travel-1800×2880” by Will Spark is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

 

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Linda Markley

The Teacher SPIRIT

calling to make a difference, Can do's, creating community, Essential questions, i am enough, Intention, Introspection, Intuition, Joy, Learning Lessons, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Resources, Sincerity, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, teacher hero, teacher self-care, teacher vulnerability, Wholehearted teaching

Like so many educators today, I left the educational profession because my school “SPIRIT” was suffering.

I didn’t know what that meant at the time or exactly how to describe it because really I was focused on my poor health and inability to walk very far without my legs giving out on me.

I left the profession “broken” both physically and mentally.

I literally had “fallen”, and I could’t get up.

I was lost with no sense or real direction(s).

So, when I walked across Spain on the Camino Francés, with each step I took and each person I met and each experience I had, I learned a lesson.

And these lessons eventually led me back to my true teaching SPIRIT.

I wanted to share the lessons from my journey with others, especially teachers, to somehow help them find their way back to their true SPIRIT.

I founded The Spirit of Teaching, created a website of resources and started a podcast called Teacher Tales in which teachers can tell their stories of teaching and what makes up a true teaching SPIRIT.

Of course being a teacher and in the field of education, I developed an acronym to help remember the qualities and aspirations of a true teaching SPIRIT (which is why it is capitalized and really should have periods in between each letter).

They can be found on this website and shared with others.

Check them out here.  

Print them out and put them in your plan book.

Journal about them.

Post the mantras and “yellow arrow” guides around your classroom, home, office, car, etc.

There are even more resources that can help guide you and keep you on your intended path.

Check them out here.

You also might want to purchase my book Learning Lessons which is a real treasure trove of insight, resources, guidance and activities that you can use to help inspire and guide you back to your own True Self and the teaching SPIRIT in all of us!

Link to purchase Learning Lessons.

 

Photo credit:

created by Linda Markley in Canva

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Linda Markley

I Beg to Differ

calling to make a difference, Can do's, communication, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Resources, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, Wholehearted teaching

Happy New Year 2024!

As we move into a new calendar year and the second half of another school year, I wanted to reflect a little with you about our differences.

The great Fred Rogers once said:

“Something else children need is the understanding that 

every person is 

DIFFERENT.

With that understanding can come children’s appreciation

of their own differences and the courage to 

be who they are – 

each one different from everybody else.”

Sometimes variations of this word DIFFERENT can get confusing in education and in how it is implemented into a school’s best practices.

There is an enormous focus and demand for DIFFERENTiation in the classroom as a result of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act).

We need to meet a student where they are. Then, we can figure out and accommodate all the different ways that child learns and succeeds. We don’t want to leave any child behind, and we do want them to succeed. 

However, I feel that what is said and what is practiced in education sometimes are very far apart. In fact, they are usually quite opposite.

I am a like a broken record now with voicing my perspective that we are preaching out of the box, differentiated and accommodating strategies for learning, YET…we are standardizing everything and expecting every child to jump into the same box WE have created for them.

AND, there is now a current trend to allow for fewer and fewer differences among children. 

There is even legislation being passed to not allow children to see something or someone different from themselves because of fear of indoctrinating them to a different way of thinking or being.

It is a fact that our brain is wired to see differences first before similarities. Perhaps that is so that we can be curious to learn more about those differences rather than be afraid of them?

Or is it for survival – what is different is a threat to my safety, well being, etc.?

As Fred Rogers says, it takes COURAGE, and as we know, there is a lot of fear permeating the walls of the classroom today.

So, how can we differentiate as well as allow for differences in the classroom 

in order to create a more nurturing, supportive learning environment 

for children (and teachers, for that matter!) and therefore,

MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Happy Endings

calling to make a difference, Can do's, creating community, Essential questions, i am enough, Intention, Introspection, Intuition, Joy, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Resources, Sincerity, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, teacher hero, Wholehearted teaching

The end of the first semester of classes is upon us.

We have all been working hard for almost 18 weeks now trying to teach, learn and achieve goals.

We have had good days.

We have had bad days.

We have had ups.

We have had downs.

We have had fun.

We have had drama.

We have been sad, happy, angry, frustrated and all around the emotional block many times…in one day even!

Just like a story playing out in a movie.

The classroom is a reflection of life and the world we live in.

The question is…will we make our story this semester into a horror story, a drama, a comedy, a tale of super-human powers or will we choose to make it a love story with a happy ending?

It IS the season of Hallmark movies, you know!

There is a lot of push-back about toxic positivity in education.

There is also a lot of push-back about calling teachers heroes.

Nonetheless, I will always be in the positive charge for energy in the classroom.

AND, I also know a lot about the Hero’s Journey as described by Joseph Campbell, and I will always believe that each and every one of us is the hero of our own story and journey in life.

So, how can we have a happy ending to this first semester, even though it may not have met all our expectations or we haven’t met all our goals or the students have not measured up to our standards? (more…)

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Linda Markley

The Second Semester Slide

Can do's, creating community, Intention, Introspection, Joy, making connections, Passion, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, Wholehearted teaching

Teachers and students across the world are coming back to school from a winter break.

After a couple of weeks of festivities, taking a break and ending the first semester of school, teachers and students hopefully return refreshed, recharged and renewed.

Things are so calm and sleepy the first few days back as everyone is re-adjusting to being back in the routine of getting up early and immersing themselves in the everyday demands of being back in the classroom.

I used to think to myself “Oh my gosh! The kids matured and everything that I tried to teach them the first semester has finally magically sunk in! “

Or…”Oh my gosh! Somehow taking a break, recharging and contemplating all that stuff about Santa and coal in the stocking has finally had a positive affect on the students! They are so well behaved and matured since I last saw them two weeks ago!”

It didn’t take long to realize that it was just temporary as the kids were really just sleep deprived, off schedule, still buzzing on a holiday sugar high or in a lingering euphoria from all the gifts they had received for Christmas.

Was the second semester doomed? Were things hopeless? Should I just give up on them and myself and the whole educational thing?

As my years of teaching went by, I came to fondly name the beginning of the second half of the school year when we returned after the Winter holiday break as the “Second Semester Slide”.

So, what do I mean by this? (more…)

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Linda Markley

The Art of Teaching

calling to make a difference, Can do's, creating community, Essential questions, Introspection, making connections, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Wholehearted teaching

Mark Van Doren, American poet, writer and professor at Columbia University said:

“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery”.

Teaching truly is an art form.

Each teacher is a unique artist creating a masterpiece lesson plan into which they put their own carefully chosen objects, colors, shadings, meaning and a bit of themselves.

A masterful teacher creates this masterpiece lesson, and then, like any work of art, invites the viewer/recipient to explore, discover and learn at their own pace and in their own way.

A work of art is personal and sensory and contextual.

Yet it is also universal and appeals to the humanity in all of us.

Lessons need to be personal, sensory and contextual in order to become meaningful.

They also need to be universal and teach us the “greater understandings” of life.

When something is personally meaningful to us, we make a connection…literally brain and heart connections.

This is the magic of teaching, and what may be missing in some classrooms today because of various factors.

Why has this changed, and what can a teacher do 
to become a masterful artist at their craft? (more…)

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Linda Markley

Cherished Memories

calling to make a difference, Can do's, creating community, Intention, Joy, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Teacher Appreciation, teacher hero, Wholehearted teaching

There is no doubt that the impact a teacher has on the life of a student, and eventually on the world, is inestimable.

The impact can be positive or negative and last a lifetime…for better or for worse.

When children come to the classroom, teachers have the opportunity to create a bond and nurture a relationship with each and every child through the choices we make and the experiences we create through the lessons and activities in which we actively engage those children.

Teachers feel this in the heart and soul of their being. It can be quite a burden to carry, but it can also be the most uplifting, invigorating and everlasting joy they can experience in life!

When we decide to become a teacher, our hearts enter into a lifelong commitment…for better or for worse…to love each and every child, unconditionally. 

It is not always easy, loving or joyful, and many, MANY days our commitment may begin to wain and our hearts begin to shrink a little and have less capacity for joy, passion and love.

Nonetheless, it is ALWAYS there, just like our founding love that helped create a bond in any relationship or “marriage” of connection to another.

There are always cherished memories that we create with others through our bond and connection that will live in our hearts forever.

So, we need to keep reminders and mementos of them close by to help us come back to our heart center and remember the WHY in what we are doing and the choices were are making.

How do we do create and keep 
those cherished memories near and dear to our hearts?

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Let’s Celebrate!

Can do's, communication, creating community, i am enough, Intention, Introspection, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, Teacher Appreciation, Wholehearted teaching

As an extremely difficult school year for all comes to a close, I call everyone together to CELEBRATE.

(key up the Celebration song by Kool and the Gang???)

The end of the year does signal a feeling of “good times” coming…a.k.a. = the summer!

Well, for some maybe. I know many school districts are having summer school to help those students who have a “learning gap” or are somehow considered “behind”.

Many teachers are celebrating because they are leaving the profession all together and don’t have to put up with the stress and unreasonable demands that are causing them poor mental and physical health.

Seniors and their families are celebrating because they have reached a milestone in their educational journey and are graduating from high school.

The etymology of the word celebrate is from Latin celebrare meaning “to assemble to honor and sing praises of”

No matter how teachers, parents, admin, students, districts 
or anyone else may view this past school year, 
there is always something to celebrate!

Let’s honor and sing the praises of all the teachers, students, parents and everyone in the educational system for getting through the school year the best way they knew how, with the circumstances and obstacles they faced and with the limited resources of time, money, energy and sometimes support that they received.

Celebrate, honor and praise all the little things that became big things like:

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Sparkle and Shine

calling to make a difference, Can do's, Essential questions, i am enough, Intention, Introspection, Intuition, Joy, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Wholehearted teaching

Who doesn’t like when things “sparkle and shine”?

As you can probably guess, the word “sparkle” is related to the word “spark”.

In the classroom, there are a lot of sparks flying from conflicts, stress, tension, confrontation, negative emotions and actions… you get the picture.

So, how can we turn “sparks” into “sparkle” and shine? (more…)

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Linda Markley

Believe!

Can do's, i am enough, Intention, making connections, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, teacher hero, teacher vulnerability, Wholehearted teaching

The power of belief is truly inestimable!

As teachers, especially, it is our greatest super-power. To believe in a child, in their potential and in their value has a more lasting and meaningful impact on their lives than any content we could ever get them to master and appreciate.

Times are tough right now though, and mustering up the power of belief is hard.

The pandemic has become like Kryptonite for teachers, and they feel like they have lost their power to do anything meaningful or effective.

So, how do we tap into that power of belief again? (more…)

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Linda Markley

Place Value in the Classroom Today

calling to make a difference, creating community, making connections, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Teacher Appreciation, Wholehearted teaching

Place value is truly an educational term that gets emblazoned into our brains very early on as we learn numbers and how they operate in mathematical equations.

According to the dictionary, “place value is the numerical value that a digit has by virtue of its position in a number”.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on.

And the Mayans came up with the concept of the absence of value, which they represented by the number zero.

Hmmm, so this is all great. I used to teach math once upon a time. 

However, nowadays,  I am thinking about place value in the classroom in other terms. (more…)

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Linda Markley

Grace

calling to make a difference, Can do's, Essential questions, Intention, Introspection, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, Wholehearted teaching

One of my favorite quotes, and one by which I try to live my life is:

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.

You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.

You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.

You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I tried to live by this wisdom in the classroom and teach it to my students as well.

To me, grace is the sweet nectar that can bring bliss to our lives. 
It is what makes us whole.

Another quote about grace that has had an impact on me too is from Anne Lamott.  

“I do not understand the mystery of grace –

only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us.”  

 

I believe that grace is one of the greatest needs we have in the classroom today in order to achieve real growth and learning gains as human beings.

We don’t need more technology, testing, checklists, standards, evaluations or money.

We desperately need more grace in the classroom…especially now as we move forward after a very difficult school year trying to make our way teaching and learning in a pandemic.

“Grace” comes from the Latin word “gratia” meaning “favor, mercy, good will, gratitude”.

In Spanish, the expression for “please” is “por favor” or “by favor”. It implies the potential “pleasing” or “favorite” nature of the act.

In French, the expression for “thank you” is “merci”. In Italian, it is “grazie”; in Spanish, “gracias”.

Grace is an interaction, a communication, an intention from the heart. 

Grace is the love and mercy we have received from others and that we, in turn, give back to the world.

Grace is a choice that we make in every single moment of our lives. 

Grace is a conscious choice we make to bring more mercy, goodwill and gratitude into the world through our thoughts and actions.

So, what does grace look like in the classroom, and why is is so critical? (more…)

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Linda Markley

Compassion

calling to make a difference, Can do's, communication, creating community, making connections, Passion, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, teacher vulnerability, Wholehearted teaching 
What is the difference between empathy, sympathy and compassion? 

Which is more important in the classroom, in our home, in the world…in life?

Take a look at the etymology of the three words below, and decide which you think is most important and most needed in the classroom today.

                    empathy – from Greek empatheia, “passion” or “state of emotion”

                    sympathy – from Late Latin sympathia, “community of feeling” or “fellow feelings”

                    compassion – from Late Latin compati, “with pity” or “suffer together”

Do a search on the three, and you will get a myriad of definitions and interpretations.

Nonetheless, they are all intertwined and an essential part of the human heart, in making connections, in nurturing relationships and in supporting personal growth.

Let’s first look at empathy vs. sympathy, which many consider to be the same.

According to the research of Dr. Brené Brown, 

“empathy fuels connection, sympathy drives disconnection.”

With empathy, we see and feel the vulnerability in the other person and, as a result, offer them our presence, understanding and love. There is no judgment, just a sensation in the body that says, “I feel your pain and suffering, and you are not alone.”

With sympathy, we see the pain and try to fix it or offer up a “silver lining” by often starting off with the expression, “well, at least…”.

Sympathy in the classroom looks like this:

Teacher A says, “OMG, I am so upset! My kids did really poorly on that test. I don’t understand what happened. We all worked so hard, and they seemed to understand.”

Teacher B says, “Yeah, I know what you mean. My kids did poorly too, but I’m not going to let it upset me. My kids are just lazy and don’t do what they are supposed to do.”

Empathy in the classroom looks like this:

Teacher A says, “OMG, I am so upset!. My kids did really poorly on that test. I don’t understand what happened. We all worked so hard, and they seemed to understand.”

Teacher B says, “Yeah, I feel that way too. I completely understand what you mean. My kids did poorly too, and I am still trying to figure out what we could have done differently too.”

 

It seems to me that the entire teaching profession, on the inside and the outside, has an overabundance of sympathy and not enough empathy.

It seems everyone has a solution of what to do, how to fix the broken system, and magically make teachers and students happy and whole again. 

From the outside looking in to the classroom:

Teacher: I am so exhausted. I am working so hard and can barely stay afloat.

Parent/community:  Well, at least you have your summers off, and you can rest then.

Teacher:  I am struggling to make ends meet for my family on a teacher’s salary.

Parent/community: Hmmmm, maybe you could not spend so much money on supplies

for your classroom or give up that latté on your way to school.

 

I invite you all, especially if you are a teacher, to listen to the conversations going on in the classroom and outside the classroom. They could be in emails, casual conversations at the grocery store, gossip at a party or a sporting event…anywhere interpersonal communication is happening. 

Write them down for more impact to your heart because some of them are horrific, unfair, unfounded and trauma-inducing!

So, where does compassion come in?

(more…)

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Linda Markley

SPIRIT Journey: Transformation

calling to make a difference, Can do's, Essential questions, Intention, Introspection, Intuition, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Sincerity, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Wholehearted teaching

“Transformation” means “to change form; trans = cross over, to go across”.  

What we learn should transform us. It should empower us to cross over any boundaries or obstacles in order to get to the other side. 

It should give us the “lentes nuevos” (“new lenses”, which is a reference to past blog posts) that we need in order to transform and see more clearly…that which we need to change, that which we do not need to change and to acquire the wisdom in our hearts to know the difference.  The Serenity Prayer, basically.

Like all things in life, we have gone full circle in our SPIRIT journey. We have gone through the SPIRIT process, step-by-step. And through that process, we have crossed over many barriers and overcome many obstacles. 

But, transformation is not the end of our journey. 

We are still not perfect. The world is not perfect. There are just new obstacles or problems. 

And most of us, honestly, are really good at re-cycling or hunkering down in past obstacles and problems. We have not crossed over into any new form of being and doing in the world. 

So, we will find ourselves back where we started our SPIRIT Journey with serenity because we are overwhelmed and overcome in our minds by the problems and obstacles. And we just circle back to journey through the process again…and again…and again because we are human, and we are not perfect and change is a part of life. Everything is dynamic.  

The human learning journey both in and out of the classroom is a spiral…we learn a little, grow a little wiser and get a little better at living our life each time. 

Learning is not a “one-’n-done” deal. 

We never really master anything. 

The concept of seeking mastery or worse yet, perfection, is 

one of life’s biggest deceptions and cruelest ironies. (more…)

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Linda Markley

SPIRIT Journey: Trust

Can do's, Essential questions, i am enough, Intention, Introspection, Intuition, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Sincerity, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies

Oh boy, this is a BIG one! 

It all starts the minute we’re born. And it ebbs and flows as we move through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in life.

Base level of Maslow’s Hierarchy = are our basic physiological needs being met? Food, water, shelter, clothing, rest…

As children, if we are left to cry when we are hungry or there simply isn’t enough food available to eat, what does that teach us about trusting the adult who is supposed to help meet our needs?

Next level of Maslow’s = are our basic safety and security needs being met? 

Do we feel safe physically, emotionally and psychologically? As we are learning our way in the world, how do others support us? Do they guide, encourage and celebrate our efforts or do they use guilt, shame and physical punishment as a method to control us?

We learn and develop trust through our experiences in the world
...good and bad.

That means all our experiences with people, places and things…ALL the nouns.

PLUS the actions that go with the nouns.

Then comes all the feelings and emotions, the adjectives and adverbs, that describe our experiences and create the memories and the stories that we associate with those experiences.

 

Good experiences = good feelings, memories and stories (and therefore, I should trust them?)

Bad experiences = bad feelings, memories and stories (and therefore, I shouldn’t trust them?)

(note that when it is a REALLY bad experience = trauma, which is a whole other topic to explore. I just want to mention here that there is a lot of attention on the trauma sensitive classroom these days, and with reason. Again, to be explored more at another time).

 

So, maybe instead of looking at trust as something that is developed through good and bad experiences, such as a good experience means I can trust the person or what has happened and a bad experience means I can’t trust the person or what has happened, maybe we can explore trust in another way.

Perhaps we can look at trust as a contract that is established

 between the two parties involved: 

the first party who has the needs and 

the second party who is meeting the needs of the first party.

 

Sounds so legal and not my usual heart-centered, emotional, Vagus-nerve flowing approach, no?

Stay with me here as we explore this a little more. Or should I say, trust me?  (more…)

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Linda Markley

SPIRIT Journey: PASSION

Can do's, Essential questions, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Wholehearted teaching

The origin of the word passion and its subsequent meanings is a complicated one. Like the evolution of the meaning, the application in real life is just as complicated and something that we humans seek our entire lives as we pursue education, employment, meaning and purpose in life.

The word passion originally comes from
 the Latin word "patior", which means “to suffer”.  

The idea was that there was some force outside of you that would cause you to do something, in some way to suffer. It was used to describe an intense desire that originated in a wide range of emotions such as joy, grief, hope, fear, love and hatred. It definitely had a more religious context and use.  

Today, passion is used in so many somewhat controversial ways. It still is used to describe an intense desire and love for something or someone, but perhaps it focuses more on a force coming from within you rather than externally. To feel passionately about something today evokes either a strong love or a strong hatred. 

So, I like to think of my passion in this way: 
Rearranging the letters of passion = I pass on.

In every moment, we must be aware and make conscious choices of what we are choosing to pass on to others. It is a critical to who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world. (more…)

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