Last Sunday, I settled down with the family to watch Super Bowl 55. Well, I should probably be honest. I actually sat down to watch the pre-game show with Amanda Gorman and some artists (including H.E.R. who can seriously play a guitar!), and to enjoy all the Super Bowl commercials! Yes, it was less about football, and more about these entertaining "extras" for me.
Of course, I DID pick a team to cheer for (since this is the only game I watch all year, I just choose the team my kids were NOT rooting for so there was a little competition in the house) and enjoyed the show. There were some great commercials this year! The "Happy" commercial by Michelob made me think, the Rocket Mortgage commercial, "Certain is Better" with Dave Bautista made us all laugh, and the Toyota commercial featuring Paralympic gold medalist, Jessica Long was truly inspirational. The one that stood out, the one that I re-watched to really LISTEN to what was said, was "The Middle" by Jeep, starring Bruce Springsteen (This was also the commercial that received the most hate on Twitter, and being a fan of all underdogs, I feel the need to point out some of its good qualities).
A few lines hit me hard. "Fear has never been the best of who we are" As I prepare for a new adventure, career-wise, there is an ever present fear. It haunts me, and whispers things in my ear, planting doubt in where I am going and who I am. Fear can stalk us, change our outlook and our hearts, and make us see things that aren't really there. It makes us less... so we give less.
Less grace
Less love
Less time
Less patience
Less of ourselves to others.
As soon as I feel these, I know I'm giving fear a lot more control that it should have!
"And as for freedom, its not the property of just the fortunate few, it belongs to us all. Whoever you are. Wherever you're from. It's what connects us... and we need that connection." Having positive connections with students and developing class environments that promote healthy relationships between students is essential to a high performing school. I know you already are keenly aware of this! We know that students must feel connected in order to learn. In reality, connections offer freedoms, like freedom to be heard, to be valued, and to be a part of something larger than ourselves. By prioritizing connections in our classrooms, we are giving students the freedom to:
- use their voice - examine their beliefs - discover their strengths - learn from their mistakes
"The very soil we stand on is common ground." Last year, every person experienced changes that were unplanned and unwelcome. Add to that news that broke our hearts and showed us how divided we really are. An election on top of that, which often has us on opposite sides of issues we find to be "moral", and it seemed there was more division than togetherness in this country. But this is not what I saw in 2020. I saw teachers, forced to do what they love in a brand new way. Some transitioning easily to remote learning due to their own love of technology and others pushed WAY beyond their comfort zones. And instead of a divide, I saw collaboration. Instead of racing ahead to show up others, I saw those with the knowledge reaching out to those who were struggling. I saw people support one another.
Educators did that because they know all about common ground. They know that students succeed when we all work together. They know that a student in my classroom is not only MY student, but a student of each teacher around. Teachers know that we can only really change the world when we find our common ground and work together on a common goal, to reach, connect with and teach each student we come in contact with.
There are some things I think we could teach a world who finds it far easier to focus on our differences. We know this:
Everyone has strengths...we just need to get to know one another to find them.
Every student has value and should be cared for, respected and challenged to be the best she can be.
Collaboration is a strength and we are always stronger together.
My hope for us all is that we will move forward together, constantly striving to find "the middle" with those who are different from us, consistently offering freedom to every student, and always believing in ourselves and in each other. Have a great week! Kim
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