Friday, January 29, 2021

Boozhoo!! What's Your "Workaround Value?"

Boozhoo is an Ojibwe word that is typically used as a greeting. I listened to a video from Eddy Robinson, Indigenous speaker and educator where he explained how the Anishinaabe way of knowing is to announce themselves to the universe when they meet someone. It identifies who they are and where they are from. Typically that greeting starts with the word Boozhoo. He says that it also means “I’m going to learn from you, and you can learn from me. I’m going to respect you and you can respect me.”

How different would the world be if we approached everyone with “boozhoo,” or “I am going to learn from you, and you are going to learn from me”?

I’ve been writing in my pocket notebook my thoughts, ideas, sketches, brainstorms, and randomness throughout the day and night. So, in honor of Boozhoo, I thought I’d share something I created from an Austin Kleon video about how to pay attention.


I've been trying to capture my thoughts more. 



As I have been jotting my thoughts down more, I heard this quote from Michael Bungay Stanier which came from the Year of Living Brilliantly. (Oh, the Eddy Robinson Boozhoo video and the Austin Kleon pocket notebook video came from there, too).

“It’s not what you know that makes you smart. It’s the connections you make between the things that you know. It’s the connections you make between A + B + C that sets you up for success.” MBS

Which then brought me to the idea of something I’ll coin as “Workaround Value.” How many times does our first idea not work? or our 2nd? or 3rd? How many times are we in a classroom and the internet doesn’t work, the website is now blocked, 3 kids don’t have their Chromebooks, the projector is only showing 1/3 of the screen, In the middle of a test, the class lizard escaped and is now running up the wall which caused you to spill your coffee! etc. etc.

Teachers are so resilient. They’ll find so many ways to find a workaround. But I think those work arounds come from all those connections you make between your processes, your systems, your growth mindset, your life experiences, how many random hours you’ve spent on education related social media pinning/saving/liking all the things, and on and on. A lot of times the solutions are easy. Sometimes, they aren’t.

When you run into a roadblock do you get stuck, or do you start to think about connections that could work to get around it? Have you went down this road before? Is there someone that you know has been there before? Is there something similar that could work? Have you tried to Google it? Or Googled “alternatives to _____,” Did you ask the room or your students for a solution?

The next time something doesn’t go as planned, whether it’s tech-related or life-related, what would your “Workaround Value” be?

May your day be great.

Stay Curious.

Give more than you take.

Boozhoo. What can you learn from me? What can I learn from you? Throw some learning in the comments. 

Matt

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Thursday, January 28, 2021

2020 Was Hard, One Word:Future, Refill the Cup

 

2020 was hard.

There is no way around that. As much as we’ve needed to live in the moment because we didn’t know what the next minute held, it’s good to take some time to wrap up the last year. What went well? What didn’t go well? What needs to change? What needs to stay the same? What needs to be thrown overboard with a ton boulder tied to it? What are we grateful for? What are you leaving in 2020 and what are you claiming in 2021?



After looking back, I then decided to think about the new year. I’ve done a One Word theme for around the past 8 years. Some words I’ve used before: pursue, still, curious, joy, present, sail, Most of the time I chose them at the beginning of the school year, but hey, 2020 was crazy. Why not do one at the turn of a new year.

My word for this year is future.

Future

The rationale:

I wrote down some things that I want future-me to be like in a year from now. I’m not off to a great start, but at least I have plan :) I’m trying to build habits. I also said I was going to journal daily and that hasn’t happened, yet. :(

Half full or half empty?

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

It’s refillable. - Neil Pasricha

You can change the amount. You can take a drink. You can add more. You have agency/autonomy to choose. Take hold of what you want to do. Take a risk. Buck the system a little. You get to decide how your day will go. It’s on you.

So let’s fill up our cups and fill up others’ cups because:

This has been the hardest thing for me during C.E.(COVID Era). I’m an introverted extrovert. Even though I’m fairly quiet and need alone time to recharge, I love being around people, even if I’m just watching. So I'm hoping to connect more this year, too.

2021 Planning - Some things I’ve found about building habits -
Why Small Habits Make a Big Difference
Moving Beyond the Status Quo
Systems vs Goals, endings, and the importance of leverage
Reflecting the Past Year - 3 Things to let go, 3 to keep and 3 wishes for the future.
21 Tips for a Positive New Year

May your day be great.

Stay Curious.

Give more than you take.

Refill the cup.

Matt

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