I felt compelled to write something about the passing of Gord Downie here. I have never felt sorrow before upon the passing of a public icon but with Gord I definitely felt as though I lost someone close to me. It hurt to hear the news of his death this morning. I have so many memories wrapped up in experiences experiencing the music of the Tragically Hip. It reminds me of lazy summer days at my godfather’s cottage on Stoney Lake in Ontario, biking from Ottawa to Meech lake to swim, coming of age and buying beer at the depanneur in Hull, crossing the country with my parents and bringing my own young family across this beautiful land. Not to mention, The Hip feature as the background music to my university career,athletic pursuits and travels. The lyrics Gord sang inspired my curiosity about the stories and figures that have shaped Canada. The live performances I attended were great Canadian sing alongs with an incredible feeling of connection to the band and the people around you in that moment. The Tragically Hip’s music spoke to me and Gord Downie inspired me recently to explore my own personal writing and to share and work harder toward a better, more equitable society. Listening to his weaving of words, sharing of ideas and embodying of history will continue to shape us.
I played his music today for my children and my students and I listened to Gord excerpts on the CBC driving to and from work. He spoke about honouring his art, his poetry as he produced it, and not tinkering to much, so that it embodied the thought and place and experience it was coming from. Honouring it’s raw beauty. It is beautiful.
I wrote a poem recently, that I finished last night. I was tinkering a little more after I took a picture of storm clouds contrasting a brightly sunlit park in the late evening yesterday as it was partially inspired by that time of day. As I went to drop my boys off at daycare this morning I was listening to Ahead by a Century and the sky was bright. I took a picture as I listened to Gord on the radio and this moment spoke to me and I felt like he said “you’re done” I feel now that this poem is done today, that it’s as good as it needs to be and that somehow he told me that and that somehow I can send him off. I am including my poem below to say Thank you, Gord.
I have been wondering recently about how to connect students to the places (environments/communities) that surround them on an ongoing and purposeful basis. I have questions about what would be the most meaningful type(s) of connection to the places that shape the lives in a relatively small rural elementary school. I think it is important that students engage in outdoor experiential learning and I believe that these activities are accessible to our students through school district facilities and opportunities but I am hoping to see change from the one off experience to the ongoing experience of the natural world and community that supports us. I think these questions are both logistical and philosophical. How do we get beyond the playground? (We can’t just walk down the road here) What are the meaningful places to which we return, explore and connect with? And why?
As student lives and learning take shape in their classrooms, I believe this is the starting point. What are the students and teacher connected to? What are they inquiring about? What big questions are being wrestled with that could be supported by getting out into the world on an ongoing basis? And, what are the ongoing connections that could or should be built?
As I see students explore places on the school grounds, guided by their teachers, to raise their attention to the environment in which they live, I am compelled to ask: “How can I support the broadening and deepening of these learning opportunities?” My inclination and experience is that having the conversation pushes the door open and moves wondering to action.
I have had many different jobs through the years, many. A good number of these were in retail services and in each of the experiences I have gained some skills and know-how that has served me along the way. Whether it’s folding shirts effectively, choosing a ripe mango, or waxing skis, each of these opportunities has left something with me. The thing that sticks out most prominently is the fact that in all of these customer service oriented enterprises great importance was given by management and in the culture of the organization that an acknowledgement of a customer and a smile to go along with that acknowledgement are crucial. There were policies around the time frame of greeting. Walmart employs people as greeters! There is something to it. That something is the establishment of a positive connection. You feel welcomed, you feel cared about, you spend your money. Simple.
This approach holds true in education as well. Now, to be sure, I am not equating students to customers. Students need far more to learn than a potential customer might need to purchase. But, that greeting, that welcoming, that acknowledgement, that smile is crucial for students. Each and every child that enters a school or classroom needs to hear and see and feel welcomed and acknowledged as they arrive. As they are encountered in a building, it is imperative for principals, teachers, educational assistants to make this happen. That smile, with a hello, with a how are you, is the start of everything. Knowing that not one, but all the adults in a school care about them is how each and every child should understand their experience in school.
They may not be buying something but they’ll be buying in.
The title of the included poem recording is Cwelelep. I learned this word from Judy Halbert and Linda Kaser’s book, Spirals of Inquiry for Equity and Quality. The word, from the Lil’wat language “suggests being in a place of dissonance and uncertainty in anticipation of new learning.” As a Vancouver Island University MEd student under their tutelage this word arose a number of times and makes sense to me as the experience of education. The poem is a reflection on my own and my school’s inquiry work and experience of the previous year. It was written in June 2017. I hope you may find something meaningful in it.
I am trying out including some audio on my blog and also daring greatly with the spoken word recording. The text of the poem is below.
To find a vision and build learners
It takes stretch, for thoughtful, dedicated practitioners
The opportunity for this viscosity
Presented itself with intellectual curiosity
The doors were open and the new and old
The purpose, dare to be bold
Brought an energy and search for clarity
To a goal including viewpoint disparity
Looking to harness the enthusiasm from the start
Contemplating the possibilities of limitless art
We looked upon the vast landscape of edu-theory
Imaginative ideas and pushing out the dreary
Lots to do, flip through, see and to explore
This spinning wheel of inquiry to underscore
Growth Mindset, universal design, AFL and the spiral, the spiral
What would become the work of the year’s arrival
How to chop it down, what to look for so efforts aren’t in vain
Jumping on board the scanning train
How to organize, develop and synthesize
A locomotive at your platform does materialize
What is going on for these guys?
Let’s show them limitless skies
But what do they need and what do we
I’ve got a hunch, so let’s see
This school is growing and pushing out the walls
Nothing but vibrant and crowded halls
The abundant energy causing difficulty
Up and down on branches of the self-regulation tree
What do we see?
Not knowing how to make a choice or three
Or four or more, that let them walk through the door
And set themselves, to the business of more
Choices and voices in spades
Decisions have to be made
How do we be, socially, emotionally
Creating conditions focally
Let’s step in and see what difference we can make
What structure for them to co-regulate
Adjusting schedules and flipping breaks around
Being with, so understanding can be found
And as our focus hones in on the structures we provide
Collaboration and Wonder Wednesday coincide
The ball is rolling around the spiral
I think this change might go viral
The best laid plans to fruition
Encouraging growing ambition
Impact from collective discussion of the ways
We were shifting in early days
Then BANG, head over boots
Unforseen and shaken to our roots
A little Paisley in the middle gone
How, do we move on
A month or more looking through the door
Only seeing, eyes on the floor
Not able to speak the right words, not wanting to see
The broken father before me
And still my words have not been spoken
Music in the playground to heal I’m hopin’
The monument to whisper in the ear
Continue on, have no fear
So we did and shall keep asking
What are we unmasking
What do these youth now need to help them steer
Knowing, no matter what, I am here
This reinforced the building mantra
We would inquire on, with skill like super Contra
SEL and SRL we would investigate
And so, Butler et al, filled our plate
And Halbert and Kaser’s work did inspire
To work together through muck and mire
To keep asking the one plus three
Growing trust a priority
Nurturing a safe space to share
More SRL needs came to bare
Our youngest learners missing skill
Let’s support a bucket fill
Where to go, where to find the right fit
Let’s look at the OECD, 7 principles a bit
And the ILE project to inform potential action
The Valby School in Norway, might give us some traction
From the ground up inclusion
Early learners together with all, to avoid confusion
The evidence they had, was pupils ready
To transition and be steady
So let’s link things together
Strongstart and K/1, with a sharing feather
Wind in the jib to start
Captain and first mate all a part
The boat set sail and the storms did quell
Our youngest learners demonstrating SRL
This was a ship floating on inquiry seas
Questions, navigating the breeze
What is out there in the oceans of change
Seeking the new no longer strange
Strongstart kids now dictate the terms
They want in where everyone learns
A conversing three parties
Back and forth, reconciling priorities
Demands on flexibility, pushing the longevity
A pants-less kinder does add some levity
With the wind up, a how do ya do
Were parents as optimistic too
How do we now know where to go
Please don’t refrain, let ideas flow
There it was said in resounding fashion
We are thankful, informed and ready for action
Our children are safe to learn and explore
As summer approaches we have a resource store
This is the lifeblood, the pursuit of change
Move forth in future and find ways to arrange
Learning that benefits the whole community
Weaving together the way to equity
So we are left with more to know
And potentially a thousand places to go
What is it again that engages and inspires
Let’s return to that which lights fires
Of our students and parents and partners we must ask
In what learning for you is glorious to bask
The locomotive returns with the freight cars of info
Telling us get back, to the land and the people
A growing interest in food and our connection
Brings our outdoor classroom a resurrection
It is this life that asks for expansion
What do you want from the creator’s mansion
Eyes looking wide to view
What connects you and you
For this school, an ILE act of enormity
The Fiskars model to shape identity
In our purview it does stare
John Devereaux and the where
Our place reincarnated
Shaping our space, in effort calculated
To the ateliers of agricultures labourers
And to the indigenous wayfarers
The path to follow is before
To understand I must implore
Let’s look to the potential of growth mindset
The path still dark, not clear yet
Light may shine through with thoughtful feedback
Our stories’ have potential, as does that of Charlie Wenjack
I had a conversation with my brother-in-law Stewart about three weeks ago. He had just completed Ironman Canada in Whistler. He is a relatively seasoned amateur competitor, having completed 6 full distance races since 2008, 3 half Ironman, 1 Olympic triathlon and an 84km Ultra marathon, all while maintaining the rest of his life. He inspired my wife to take on the challenge in 2009 and I can say that it is an huge effort to do the training for Ironman around your daily business. He placed 21st in his age grade, finishing in a blistering 11hrs 25 mins. This time is doubly impressive as he came off some personal trials this past year, he still managed to shave more than two hours off his last time! Are you impressed? Because I sure am. But back to our conversation… I asked him “What is discipline like to do that?”
My question has layers of other queries: How do you schedule time? How do you focus? How do you keep a growth mindset? How do you prioritize? What happens when it goes wrong? There are many other questions. I was mostly impressed with what great shape he was in as I struggle to gain some fitness balance in my like with three young boys. I think I can do better, just need to be more disciplined somehow. Hence my question.
He thought about my question and then told me a story.
After completing the race he had some tough recovery time, not atypical for these types of events. He worked through the recovery and went to the awards breakfast. He was sitting solo at a table eating when a couple of guys asked to sit with him. They struck up a conversation and shared that one had done the full and the other the half distance. They asked my brother-in-law how he fared. He let them know that he finished in 11:25. They were impressed. They then proceeded to ask about his training regimen, his preparation and his work/race balance. Stewart explained he trained in Kamloops when he wasn’t working at a mine up North. That he doubled his swimming when he was out of camp because of the two in two out schedule. They asked what he did at the mine. Heavy duty mechanic. Jaws dropped and they asked: “And you train up there too?” He explained that he’s up at 4am and in the gym for several hours before his 12 hour shift begins. Yoga before bed and never lights out after 8pm. His breakfast mates continued probing, what about diet? He explained that he’d asked the kitchen staff about healthy options and that they now prepped stuff for him early and made sure he got the best sandwiches. The kitchen staff have invested in his success. That kind of effort is contagious. Stew went on to explain his commute via, car, bus and plane depending on competition and training schedules. The half-ironman competitor who was aspiring to do the full distance stated once more, somewhat incredulously, “And, you did 11:25?” As he did, his friend rose, looked at him and said “How bad you want it?” and they left.
This story captured me because it resonated on many levels personally and professionally. If you want something badly, you have to do the work, day in and day out. There aren’t any shortcuts to hard work and commitment. I think this lesson is one to take to heart in the work of education. Children’s lives and success depend on dedicated practitioners who want it, badly. Not only this, determination and grit to persevere through struggle and adversity are crucial for students to learn and embrace in order to navigate the rocky roads of failure that make learning, learning.
Two weeks later I experienced his determination first hand. My wife and I piloted his safety boat as he completed the Skaha Lake 11.8km Ultra Swim. He finished in 4:21. I found the paddle technically challenging as the winds were strong and the waves white capping through the mid section. I had a sore neck and lower back from the four and a half hour effort. I didn’t share my complaint. We are very proud of uncle Stewart and it was awesome to see his nieces and nephews give him a hero’s welcome as he crossed the line. Inspirational. So glad my kids could be a part of his effort and success and see what it takes.
The places we know and love, and thrive in, are so important. The smells, sounds and feelings connect us to these places. The place becomes a part of us. It does so because it teaches us something, about the world, about ourselves, about life. These teachings in and of places are so important because they are our roots for learning. And while we go away and find new places, plant new seeds and new roots grow, we can always return to the places of our history. We can find them again physically, spiritually, intellectually, and they grow anew for us and in us.
So, if places are a part of us, are we a part of places?
I believe we leave something of ourselves in our places. We do not only draw on them. We share. We share ourselves with these places that root our lives, that give meaning. Our experience of these places and our stories of them leave an imprint on the places themselves. As our stories intersect other stories and other places they weave together and our place becomes another’s in another way.
In this sense, we exist in a loop where the stories of our lives and the places we are become part of the stories of lives and the places they are.
So we must find places that become us, we must find this deep way to learn and experience and we must help others to this experience and learning.
The man was of average height
Grey hair, cropped tight around a cue ball top
He sauntered into his math classes
His eyes intently scanned the room
They couldn’t be ignored
When they had you, you were in lock step
His caring captured you, his energy engaged
The understanding intensity inviting your attentivity
It feels like he’s happy I’m here
So, I’m happy I’m here
His words, actions and open heart
Told us all that this learning was important
As struggles unfolded
He’d appear by your side
A parachute for any freefall out the door
By good chance he was the outdoor ed guy
Advocated for my place when I wouldn’t try
Changed my sense of what learning could be
Should be and would be
From this kind Sir, I was awakened
To possibilities and place for my education
Who are they?
I Q'd 