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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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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Linda Markley

The Power of Community

calling to make a difference, creating community, Maslow before Blooms, Podcasting, Spirit practices, Wholehearted teaching

There is great power in community.  And by power, I mean the energy of the heart that connects us through our common humanity  The energy of support, encouragement, validation, guidance, compassion and love of the “me” that I see in “you”.

Common = “belonging to all” +  unity = “state of being one.” 
We can all come together, communicate, connect and learn from one another.

There is no curriculum map for life’s learning journey.

There are just lessons to be learned and to be shared in community.

We all need support, encouragement, validation, guidance, compassion and love.  We need to be inspired.  We need to be lifted up.  We need to reach out and make a difference by touching the hearts of others.

As teachers and students are heading back to school, 
with many questions, few answers and a lot of anxiety, 
what can we do to tap into the power of this community and help?
PLEASE CLICK ON "MORE" TO ENGAGE AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER!!!

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Linda Markley

The Teacher Voice

calling to make a difference, making connections, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, Wholehearted teaching

How do teachers use their voice both in the classroom and beyond?  Too often the voice of the teacher is portrayed by the “wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah” sound that echoed in the classroom of the Peanuts characters created by Charles Shultz. 

          The teacher voice is so much more.  What we say and how we 
          say it holds enormous power and potential impact on children…
          ....for better or for worse...!  How do you use your teacher voice?

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Linda Markley

Educate to Elevate

calling to make a difference, Essential questions, Maslow before Blooms, Resources, Spirit of teaching

As if a pandemic were not enough, once again, teachers are being called to step forward and rise up in service to our culture, our society, our communities, our humanity.  Our passion to open the hearts and minds of children and empower them through learning is being called forth to make a difference through education.  “Educate” related to educere “bring out, lead forth”. 

 In the spirit of teaching, we must all EDUCATE TO ELEVATE minds and hearts 
beyond the darkness of ignorance and into enLIGHTenment 
in order to set us all free.

How will you choose to make a difference and bring forth a more clear vision of what diversity, inclusion and social justice mean and what they will look like in your classroom? (more…)

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Linda Markley

Summer Reflection and PD

Essential questions, Maslow before Blooms, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices

As we are entering our summer months here in the northern hemisphere, this long, difficult and unforgettable school year is ending for many teachers and students. Notice I didn’t use the expression “coming to a close”, like in “close out the school year”.  For everyone in education, this school year will not really have closure.  There are still so many unfinished tasks, unfulfilled goals and dashed hopes and dreams. No closing ceremonies, no closing arms in hugs and heartfelt good-byes.  Just closed doors, closed schools, feelings of being closed in.  There is a hole, a gap, a tear that will need to be mended before the next school year begins.  How do we heal our wounds?  How do we mend the tears in our hearts and in those of our students?

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Linda Markley

Teacher Appreciation

calling to make a difference, Teacher Appreciation, teacher hero

Appreciate…from the Latin word appretiatus meaning “to set a price”.  Other meanings have evolved over time as “to value highly” or “to rise in value”.  Geesh, have we seen this come true during the recent developments due to COVID-19?!  Although there has always been discussion around paying teachers a salary more commensurate to jobs with similar requirements for education and skills needed, never have we truly considered the true value of a teacher beyond the monetary value attached to them.  Students, parents, administrators…well, basically, just about every human being on the planet, is finally waking up and recognizing the real value of teachers in this world.  Their value is now being measured in the currencies of relationships, connections and heart and how much value they add to society, community and family.  (more…)

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Linda Markley

Our Path(ways)

Can do's, communication, creating community, Essential questions, making connections

Like many teachers today, my heart was crushed by a system of mind-centered, data-driven, tech-stressful, competition-focused path of never enough-ness.  We have lost ourselves and the real school spirit in all of this.  Our hearts are broken.  My heart was broken, and as a result, I got very sick and had to leave my beloved profession.  I literally couldn’t stand being in my job any more and my legs would give out on me at any moment.  The doctor tested me for MS and ALS and finally said, “if you don’t get out of that job, you will be in a wheelchair in five years!”   It took three years of physical and mental therapies to get back on my feet, but my heart was still broken.  I was lost, and I felt like my inner compass was broken.  So, I decided to set out on a journey to find my way back home to the heart of my true self. 

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Linda Markley

Vulnerability in teaching

Spirit of teaching, Strategies, teacher vulnerability, Wholehearted teaching

Teachers are vulnerable under normal circumstances.  Every day, we present ourselves through our lessons and are open and vulnerable to judgment from all of our students, parents, colleagues and administrators.  I can think of no other profession where this is true, especially on a daily basis.  Teachers have to always be “on” and moving.  No privacy or protection from emotional exposure by working at a desk, in an office/ cubicle, behind closed doors or facing just the screen of a computer.  If we are grappling with personal issues, health issues, family issues, financial issues…any issues, we throw them in our backpack and carry them to school with us.  But then, when do we deal with them during our action-packed, always on, “keep moving so you don’t get behind and everyone will know it” day? 
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Linda Markley

Hope from the heart

Essential questions, Maslow before Blooms, Wholehearted teaching

If we tap into our heart, we will ALWAYS find the answer.  It doesn’t matter if we are struggling or if our students are struggling, if we pause and check in with our heart, we will find the direction and the pathway that will lead us to resolution and peace.  Right now, we are all living from a place of fear.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of not being enough for our students or them not being enough to meet our expectations.  Fear of failure.  Fear of not being able to provide what our students needed before this crisis, during this crisis or for the rest of the school year.  FEAR = Feeling Every Added Regret.  Regrets of the monkey mind.  Fictional tales of regret we allow ourselves to make up in our minds like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future from a Charles Dickens novel. 

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Linda Markley

Calling of the spirit

calling to make a difference, Spirit of teaching, Wholehearted teaching

The spirit of teaching…what does that mean?  It is not a religious reference nor will one find it listed in a glossary of teaching terms.  It is not something that can be defined by tests, data, numbers, letters, scores, scales, standards or any of the other common measurement tools and terms used to define education today.  It is not an ephemeral phrase like many of the buzz words that pass through the pedagogical winds of time.  It is something that beckons the heart of humanity and whispers in the ears of a chosen few to answer the calling…the calling to serve, guide, inspire and facilitate children learning more about who they truly are and what unique gifts they have to share with the world.  We are here to make a difference and create a better world for the future through children.  The spirit of teaching starts in the heart and ends in the heart. (more…)

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