Summer Reflection and PD
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?
When I walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain, I was alone with my thoughts. My mind was racing with worry or fear or the “woulda-coulda-shoulda’s” of my existence. I had many hours and many footsteps to reflect on my life. But where I found the answers was not in my mind, but rather in my heart. The wise words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Le Petit Prince finally rang true for me: “On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” Translation: “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”
Let’s look at the word “reflection”. From Latin re- “back” + flectere “to bend” (and where we get the word “flexible”). Originally, it was used to refer to how surfaces would throw back light or heat. Later in the 17th C., it came to be used as a term of the mind, meaning “remark made after turning back one’s thought on some subject”. (etymonline.com)
So, teachers, as you begin your summer time of reflection and PD and preparation for the next school year, I want to invite you to do the following:
1. Find the most beautiful things in teaching through your heart and connect them to your students. It is not about data, tests or mental constructs. It is about growing the minds and hearts of children by planting seeds of loving kindness. Think about your lessons, your plans, your classroom set-up, your intentions and what you can do to connect more with your students in the heart.
2. Be flexible and bend to the new pathway ahead of us all in education. We can’t go back, and I don’t think we want to. During this pandemic, a light has been cast on what is really important in education: relationships, Maslow before Blooms, social-emotional learning, mindfulness, connections, community, communication, peace, understanding and, above all, LOVE. Feel everything that is the “Golden Rule” and the spirit of community. Live and love #weareallinthistogether
3. Develop a plan for yourself…for self-care, self-fulfillment, inspiration, creativity and rejuvenation. All of these plans for self does not mean that you are self-ish! It means that you care enough about yourself and the ones you love to make a plan to support your “self” so that you can let your light shine out onto the world! There is a beauty and light inside each of us that glows and radiates on others when we are in the loving flow of our hearts and not in the racing green light “go-go-go!” of our minds.
4. Maintain a growth mindset and give yourself permission slips to take things one step at a time. What is within your power to change? What is sustainable? What is desirable? What are your priorities? Practice the “Serenity Prayer”. Stay out of the “woulda-coulda-shoulda’s” mindset about this past school year. See and feel the warm glow and light of possibilities for next year and how it can be better! Create a vision board that you can put in your plan book, hang on your wall in the classroom, share with students, etc.
5. For your summer PD, try some of the SPIRIT LESSONS that are here on the website. Print out the spirit stamps that you earn and put them in your journal, plan book, on your refrigerator…wear them like a badge of courage (from the French word “coeur” meaning “heart”! ) Teachers don’t always have to do summer PD about teaching. Reflect on some personal development and create some plans, habits and rituals that you can sustain during the next school year, no matter what the context will be. So many teachers got lost in this pandemic. How do we get back home to the heart of teaching? Look at your reflection. Look at the light inside you. Be curious, explore and re-discover what lights up your inner teacher bulb so that you can shine brightly, brilliantly and beautifully for your students! That is your greatest purpose, and it deserves your full attention and intentions!
Inspirational song: Reflection (Mulan – Christina Aguilera)
Another song inspiration (I See the Light – Tangled)
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