How to Re-Energize - purpose, to don't do wall

 

Here are some simple ways to give yourself a little boost when you’re feeling down. Write your purpose on a post-it. This might be your overall career purpose (why you’ve chosen the profession that you are in) or a micro purpose (what’s motivating you to do a great job on a particular project or task). Keep it at your desk as a constant visual reminder of why you do what you do, especially when things are exhausting or stressful. Create “a wall of encouragement.” Take any messages of encouragement, awards, positive feedback, or even memes that make you laugh and put them near your desk or store them in a digital folder. Look at them when you need to feel re-energized and appreciated. Write up a "to-don’t" list. What things are you currently doing that are sucking up your energy? Identify which ones you can stop doing and put them on a list. These might be certain people that you decide not to see, habits that you want to break, or tedious tasks that can be automated or delegated.

This tip is adapted from “Stop Trying to Manage Your Time,” by Amantha Imber

Teaching Students Healthy Tech Behaviors

 Experts stressed the need for schools to teach students healthy technology behaviors as explicitly as they teach in-person classroom behaviors and social norms. That means helping students to become mindful about:

• Physical effects: Identifying when and how technology use may change a student’s sleep, eating, or exercise routines. For example, students may learn how to schedule screen time or change color settings to improve sleep.
• Mental effects: Identifying when technology use is causing cognitive stress or emotional distress. For example, students can learn how to limit their use of social media sites that spark negative body images of themselves, or they can take breaks from screen time when they have difficulty focusing.
• Social effects: Identifying how to be a “good digital citizen,” including protecting your own and other’s privacy and behaving in civil rather than bullying ways on digital platforms. This also means teaching students how to balance in-person and online socializing.

From EdWeek - link

Guidelines for an Inclusive Hiring Process

 From Marshall Memo: Guidelines for an Inclusive Hiring Process

In this Chronicle of Higher Education article, search consultant Amy Crutchfield

(WittKieffer) says the internal dynamics of a hiring committee have a direct impact on whether

candidates feel welcomed, respected, and treated fairly – and therefore on the diversity and

quality of who’s ultimately hired. She has eight suggestions for university searches that apply

equally in K-12 schools:

• Build rapport and trust within the committee. This means taking time for getting-to-

know-you exercises, however awkward they may feel. Each member should talk about their

background and how it relates to the search; overall, the process should not feel rushed.

• Early on, establish rules for how decisions will be made. Crutchfield suggests a

“community agreement” that includes listening to others’ ideas, disagreeing respectfully, not

talking over other colleagues, and assuming positive intent. It’s helpful for committee members

to review all candidates’ files before the first meeting and come prepared to talk about their top

choices, before they’re influenced by groupthink.

• Provide training and resources on inclusive hiring practices. So that everyone is on

the same page, the committee needs a presentation, literature, and perhaps videos on best

practices, including interview questions that are appropriate and inappropriate and being aware

of implicit bias.

• Actively counteract structural hierarchies. “People in positions of power must be

aware of the weight of their opinions,” says Crutchfield. “Be mindful not to always speak

first.” The same is true for extroverted members who tend to dominate conversations. If a

member is quiet in a meeting, the chair might reach out afterward and say, “I noticed we did

not hear a lot from you in the meeting, and I wanted to check in with you on how you are

viewing the decision.”

• Recognize biases and beware of “fit.” Committee members need to be aware of the

tendency to favor or downgrade candidates based on race, gender, sexual orientation, social

class, geography, and perceived prestige. “A key principle of an inclusive hiring process,” says

Crutchfield: “Let each person’s record speak for itself… Recognize that ‘fit’ can be interpreted

as code for wanting people who look just like you.” Rather, think in terms of “culture add” –

how a candidate might add to the diversity of the team or institution. Finally, she says, if a

committee is giving a white male candidate a pass (e.g., a gap in the résumé or frequent job

changes), all other candidates should be cut the same slack.

• Screen and interview “stretch” candidates. Crutchfield encourages committees to

interview one or two outliers, “calling people in, not out.” “Strength on paper doesn’t always

transfer to being impressive in an interview,” she says. “Likewise, someone who looks

3Marshall Memo 931 April 11, 2022

mediocre on paper can really wow you in person… Interviews can be nerve-racking, and some

people take a while to warm up.”

• Assess diversity at every point of the process. Screening résumés, narrowing to first-

round interviews, and selecting finalists, the committee should pause and ask if every effort has

been made to ensure a diverse pool and include those who could bring different experiences or

skills.

• Handle video interviews respectfully. These days, first-round interviews are often

done via Zoom. “This should go without saying, but it’s worth repeating,” says Crutchfield:

“During video interviews, it’s not OK for committee members to take phone calls, check e-

mail, depart suddenly, and exhibit other such distracting and disrespectful behaviors.” It’s also

helpful to give candidates the questions 30 minutes before a remote interview; that way they

have a heads-up and can refer to a written text but won’t be overly rehearsed.

“8 Ways for Search Committees to Be Inclusive” by Amy Crutchfield in The Chronicle of

Higher Education, April 15, 2022 (Vol. 68, #16, pp 58-60)

Reading

 

“Lezende jongen,” by Frans Hals

Kerouac and Fantasy baseball

 https://www.openculture.com/2015/04/jack-kerouacs-secret-obsessive-fantasy-baseball-hobby-before-fantasy-sports-became-a-phenomenon.html

The Parable of the Elephant

Parable of the Elephant 

A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: "We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable". So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, "This being is like a thick snake". For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, "is a wall". Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.

following from here

I just love the ancient parable about the elephant. Six blind men were asked to describe an elephant by touching its body parts. The first man felt its side and described the elephant as a wall, the second man touched its tusk and thought it was a spear, the third man felt its trunk and was confident it was a snake, the fourth touched the knee and believed it was a tree, the fifth felt the ear and thought it was a fan and, finally, the sixth held the tail and assumed the elephant was a rope. None of the blind men was wrong in his analysis because each was perfectly describing the body part he touched and felt.

The problem came from their limited perception — they believed that they understood the situation, which led each of them to a mistaken conclusion. They missed the big picture — they were petting an elephant! The same applies to making data-driven decisions. When we have limited data and information, we don’t get the whole picture. And, the same is true in reverse — often when you get the big picture, you miss out on all the parts that go into its creation.

Actively Learn Poetry

 Actively Learn Poetry Lessons (link)

NYT - 30 ways to teach poetry

 NYT 30 ways to teach poetry - link

NYT poetry challenge: small kindness

 NYT poetry challenge: small kindness link

Ocean Vuong on NPR

 I heard this on NPR this morning, and it's really great.  He has a new collection of poetry called Time is a Mother.  Really beautiful (and sad) perspective on time and why it's his "job" to be vulnerable as a poet.  He says his writing/poetry is "ultimately about discovery." Ocean Vuong on NPR