Monday Musings

September 28, 2020

Focus: Becoming Better (not perfect)

Kravis Center Q&A drop-in session: Wednesday, September 30 from 2:00-3:00.

Dear Colleagues,

Let me begin by wishing a happy Jewish New Year to all. To those who observed Yom Kipur yesterday, I hope you had a meaningful fast.

The focus of Monday Musings is all about becoming better (not perfect), and I encourage you to choose one area on which you'd like to focus your attention in the remaining weeks of Fall Term 1. In two faculty meetings, Sheila has warned us of the perils of our own perfectionism. Perfectionism can be paralyzing in the best of circumstances, but now many of us are struggling just to feel competent. In her Coaching Letter # 127, Isobel Stevenson observes that the situation we find ourselves in is "frequently too challenging for anyone to master" and suggests that we shift the goal from mastery to becoming better, noting that this "is something we can all achieve now, because there is so much to get better at." (Stevenson is part of the Connecticut Center for School Change, which is currently offering some very interesting virtual programming. Check it out!)

In what areas would you like to become better?

1. Joy and rigor: Andrew's September 18th letter to the faculty, Sheila's September 25th letter to the entire LC community, and last week's Monday Musings, all stress that students must be able to experience joy, in addition to rigor, in our classes. Noting that some of our students feel overwhelmed by the quantity of work they've been assigned, Sheila writes, "One thing that I know for sure is that happy students learn best."

In some cases, making more room for joy will necessitate cutting content and/or reducing the number of deliverables required of students. Deciding what to eliminate from our courses may require revisiting the first stages of Understanding By Design. For a helpful summary and visuals, see this resource from Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching and be sure to click on the "Stage One" dropdown menu.

When crafting my syllabi, I like to ask myself the following question: What are the top five concepts I hope my students will take away from my course? Better yet, and given the sad reality that most of my students will not go on to become French or Spanish majors in college: What do I hope my students will remember from my course five years from now? These takeaways constitute the enduring understandings of my course. Note that the proper use of the imperfect subjunctive never makes it onto this list.

Check out this article about joyful learning and this one promoting powerful learning, which stresses depth over breadth.

2. TAG: Perhaps you'd like to focus your energy on facilitating better discussions during our TAG meetings. See these TAG tips from Ahmad Cantrell and Miles Morgan. Remember that Eric welcomes drop-ins to his Zoom Room every week prior to TAG; check Community e-News for the link and specific times. If these times don't work with your schedule, feel free to schedule a meeting with Eric, Miles, Fiona Mills, or Jess Matzkin, as many have already done. If you're feeling anxious about presenting a particular topic, please reach out for help before your TAG meeting.

Relevant to both TAG conversations and the section that follows is this blog post by Liza Talusan with advice about addressing racist incidents in the classroom.

3. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice: Are you wondering how to determine whether your courses are contributing to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice? You might consider reflecting on the following four questions from Gholdy Muhammad's Cultivating Genius: 1) How will my instruction help students learn something about themselves and/or about others? 2) How will my instruction build skills for the content areas? 3) How will my instruction build students' knowledge and mental powers? 4) How will my instruction engage students thinking about power and equity and disruption of oppression?

I found the following quote from Muhammed to be inspiring: "As long as oppression is present, students need spaces to name, interrogate, resist, agitate and work toward social change."

Fiona helpfully suggested that I include the word "justice" in this category. In the wake of last Wednesday's decision in the Breonna Taylor case, amidst the already contentious process of filling Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court, and in anticipation of an election that could lead to a constitutional crisis, the "issue of justice and what that might look like for various groups in our country feel ever more urgent," as Fiona so aptly noted. We hope that you are addressing these current events in your classes as appropriate and providing students with the opportunity to increase their awareness and voice their opinions. We also encourage you to prepare for these conversations by reading Liza Talusan's blog linked above; the TAG tips sheet could also prove useful during these conversations.

For white faculty and staff, remember that there are LC BARWE (Becoming Anti-Racist White Educators) meetings taking place this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays evenings. See Community e-News for the exact times and Zoom Rooms.

Have a great week!

Rachel, on behalf of the Kravis Center

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Resources on feedback and DEI (from 9/21 MM)

Feedback: the Dos and Don'ts by Ian Kelleher, co-author of Neuroteach and Head of Research at the CTTL (5-10 minute read)
Progress, not Praise, Global Online Academy (5-10 minute read)
Seven Keys to Effective Feedback, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ASCD (5-10 minute read)
Feedback in Schools, by John Hattie (a research-based article - a bit longer to read)

Difficult Dialogues is an article that I came across last week on the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching website that I have found helpful, especially given our TAG discussions.

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Professional Development Opportunities

SEL in the classroom: Here is the link to the numerous PD opportunities through One Schoolhouse, one of which is Protecting Student Mental Health in Hybrid Learning Environments with Lisa Damour

Harvard GSE programs for educators - so any worthwhile workshops for teachers.

Connecticut Center for School Change offers several PD opportunities on equity and online learning