Written by Have you ever read the book, “The Universe has your Back,” by Gabrielle Bernstein? If so, I want to hear from you!
I received this book as a gift over the holidays and continue to read a couple of pages before bed when I can. I am only a quarter of the way through, however, I have already found that Bernstein’s book, the universe, and my Cohort 21 action plan have all been working together to spread their mysterious magic in various ways. Even when I ponder the title of the book itself, it starts to truly spark a fire in me to take risks in my classroom. The book smoothly examines the power of thought and how what you put into the atmosphere, positive or negative, is reflected directly back into your life. Perhaps, I have been thinking about the theme of my action plan so frequently, that the community around me has begun to follow suit…
“Universal Lesson: The Universe is always responding to the energy behind your beliefs” – Gabrielle Bernstein
So check this out…I came back from our second F2F inspired and curious. The first step in my action plan’s build space was to inform my Grade 11 Media Studies students of my HMW question. So, I did! My students became aware that I could feel how overwhelmed they were when studying global scale issues in media. I expressed and empathized with how they felt when they thought their “little” contribution would not make a “big” difference. They were informed that this mission would be ingrained in future lessons moving forward…. So we posted the HMW question on the board and began our whirlwind of a journey together…
“How might we… promote a culture of ACTION in our students while also fostering a process of bringing these solutions to a more MANAGEABLE level.”
Recently, my students completed their television assignment mentioned in my last blog post with the theme of gender equality as their social issue of choice. Our Cohort 21 community at our last F2F recommended that I help students focus on, “What they gained too…What did they learn? Who did their little action impact? It made a difference!” This was so incredibly powerful. It seemed as though students could see how their little could make a difference by means of presenting a television clip while being mindful of gender stereotypes.
As a class, we decided to continue exploring the theme, Gender: Defined and Redefined for our next film study (seeing as how our CIS Visual Arts Festival was also creeping up.) Therefore, to scaffold our festival, we analyzed the film, MISSREPRESENTATION, by Jennifer Siebel Newsom and completed a consolidation exercise to describe our feelings.
This is where my Media Studies students became overwhelmed once again with these guiding questions….
“What surprised you most about the film?”
“How do we feel when we think about the topic: Gender Inequality?”
As you can see from our class mind maps, they were feeling drained, hopeless, confused, and disgusted to name a few. To be honest, I felt conflicted as well! Was I providing my students with proper guiding questions or opportunities to shift their thinking to a “culture of action?”
Well, talk about good timing because…
The next morning, our head of school, Dr. Leanne Foster, did an incredible whole school presentation in Chapel with Megan Markle as a topic of discussion. She asked our girls what they knew about her besides being a famous actress and the fiance of Prince Harry. Little did many of us know, Megan Markle made a difference when she was only 11 years old! She managed to have a very sexist soap commercial slogan altered from “WOMEN all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans,” to “PEOPLE all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans” by means of writing a letter to who she thought could make this change happen. This included the soap maker: Proctor & Gamble, a civil rights lawyer: Gloria Allred, the first lady at the time: Hillary Clinton and Nick News anchor: Linda Ellerbee. In this chapel, Dr. Foster stressed the importance of having a voice and using it. I was hoping that our students would take away that this does not necessarily mean that one day you will be on the world stage, but it could make a huge difference in the community you live in. To make a difference does not always mean you have to change the world.
I tried to used this momentum to shift my media student’s thinking with this guiding question:
“As a community, what can we do to change the way women and girls are portrayed on media?
Created via: https://www.jasondavies.com/wordcloud/
With this energy, the girls felt inspired to act because they did not have the pressure of changing the world on their immediate mind. The wordle above, shows how many times an action word was mentioned in their responses relative to how large the word appears. This is a fantastic tool to show similar and different perspectives within a class.
Moving forward, the girls are hoping to refine these action words into more specific plans. In 5 short days, we see an amazing Visual and Media Arts festival that will allow our girls to explore their questions and critical thinking even further. We also see a whole school Chapel presentation they will be organizing on their own to consolidate what they have learned so far. I am hoping to use these opportunities to further explore my action plan and where it has the potential to go.
So now I call on you, Cohort 21….
- Do you have any examples of how you have shifted your student’s thinking to a culture of action?
- In our instantly gratifying and fast paced society, how have you motivated your students to “embrace the struggle?”
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, I am looking forward to your responses and thoughts on my journey thus far!
Indeed @dduguay , you have captured magic! What an incredible experience it was for me to read through the carefully drawn lines between experiences of a mind engaged, excited and open. The extent to which you position yourself as learner is truly inspiring and it creates an amazing parallel between you and the very experience you’re facilitating for your students. Even better is the extent to which you’re opening your own learning (and cohort21 experience) to your students. Of course, all of this is framed by some very powerful questions. Amazing.
I think your questions for Cohort21 cut to the essence of 21st century learning and a design thinking approach. I’m tagging @lmcbeth on this because… well, this is what she does! I believe that if learning is to become intrinsic (allowing for the magical connections of the universe as you’ve described above) then it must be rooted in the intent to discover personal/human potential to affect. Ideally, the question of potential will be answered by action and therefore the realization is tangible (and lasting!). In the 9/10 Program I run (‘Discovery’), we continuously position our students this way. For instance, in response to issues of the environment and, specifically, making our school greener, the students designed a ‘Farmer’s Market’ to celebrate environmentalism and raise money for “green” initiatives. In the first year, they bought every student in our school a water bottle and purchased a “filling station”. This is a now annual event. Also, every student is given a Genius Hour that must acknowledge their individual potential to in some way improve the world. We have countless initiatives like this, all rooted in Design Thinking, and all I think highly impactful. As important is the extent to which the students track and make sense of their experiences on their Reflective Blogs. I look forward to seeing what the rest of the cohort might say about this.
Your working HMW statement is a great one. I’m excited to see how you might use the 3rd f2f to imagine further action and to build an even more immediate community around your Action Plan.
Thank you for this stirring start to my day Danielle!
@nbendle @tfaucher
What a thoughtful blog, Danielle. You’re modelling exactly what you want your students to be able to do. You’re seeing how even small steps can bring you closer to creating change. I remember in the Chapel you write about, one of our girls said, “Maybe we can’t change the world. But we can change our world.” That idea of breaking things into manageable bite-sized pieces can be useful whether we’re trying to change our teaching practice or trying to change the hearts and minds of others. I am so proud that you are a part of Trafalgar Castle’s amazing team of educators!!
Leanne,
I cannot thank you enough for your kind words! It is this kind of support at Trafalgar Castle that motivates me to be the best that I can possibly be! I am extremely honoured and grateful to be a member of this incredible team of dedicated and talented educators. I look forward to sharing the fantastic resources and lessons I’ve learned with our team as this Cohort journey progresses. Thanks again for this opportunity.
@dduguay What a fascinating blog post, Danielle! It’s a privilege to know the process of what you have accomplished since the last face-to-face meeting. I wonder if studying examples in history of people who have “embraced the struggle,” having them interview family members or faculty members about life challenges and how it was a process might not be helpful. An inspirational quote for me is from Theodore Parker: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Keep up the fantastic work!
Paul,
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement! I love your suggestion of diving deeper into the history of people who have “embraced the struggle.” This came up quite a few times at our 3rd F2F as an excellent way to give students meaningful connections and perspective in regards to how many world issues can effect people very close to their hearts! Thank you!
Danielle,
I love the fact that you decided to share your HMW question with your students. This has inspired me to also share mine with the students in my class.
I teach grade 4, the first grade of the Junior division. I feel it’s a big step from the Primary side to the Junior side of the school both academically and socially. My students struggle with the changes they face moving from one division to another but to help them embrace the struggle of growing expectation and responsibility I try to let them know that it’s all a process/journey.
In regards to gender inequality, I try my best to question my young students’ beliefs of both the perspective of girls and boys. I question their stances on gender-stereotyped colours, types of games they play, the music they listen to, etc. as they come up in class. I play the devil’s advocate to spark discussion and question traditional gender roles. For most of my students, I am their first male teacher and sometimes think I surprise them with my responses to their gender-specific questions.
Your teaching is a reminder the “little” can make a big difference and that the struggle is the first step in the process of change.
Thanks for sharing.
Ryan,
Thank you so much for sharing your personal experiences with your Grade 4’s. I love how you are already challenging social norms such as “boys wear blue and girls wear pink” in your classroom. I would love to be a fly on the wall as these discussions spark in the classroom. They are certainly lucky to have you!
I appreciate your kind words and cannot wait to see how your action plan evolves in these next few months! 🙂
Danielle, first off- I want to pick your brain about your blog writing process- I am in awe of you seamlessly tied so many things together. Second, I am a big fan of the message you are saying, ever since I read the Alchemist (a major theme being that the Universe conspires with you) I have been intrigued by this idea.
I really admire your HMW question. I think it is something that many wonder about, but perhaps have not been sure on how to best articulate. The idea that we want to foster passionate social responsibility within our students but also help them manage the feeling of being small fish in an ocean of issues.
I want to focus on this question:
Do you have any examples of how you have shifted your student’s thinking to a culture of action?
This question for me, is deeply connected to your HMW question. Often the thinking in a culture of action mindset is directly connected to how manageable students feel it is. You’ve captured this so well with your examples of student thinking- if someone is overwhelmed it is hard to motivate.
One thing I did with one of my grade 8 clubs, agents of change, was the “sphere of Influence” activity that we did through one of the F2F cohort 21 sessions. I had them brain storm their spheres that they felt were connected to their question/ issue and then they had to pin point in which one their question landed. Many of them landed in a large and hard to reach sphere. Some of them were ok with that and it helped change their plan of action. For many of them, they were not comfortable with being in such a large pond and they spent time rethinking and reworking their question so that it fir a sphere that they identified and felt more comfortable in.
It’s awesome that you brought your students in on your HMW question! Having them along side you for this journey is going to be such a rich and unique experience. I look forward to seeing you Friday and watching as this plan continues to unfold.
Cheers!
Tracy
Tracy,
Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful reply! You have given me a lot to think about here, especially in regards to how I can create a meaningful process for my student’s final project. I think the sphere of influence activity that we did in our second F2F may be the perfect activity to integrate. Also, I would love to read the Alchemist after the novel I am currently reading – I will keep my eyes out.
Thank you for sharing – I am looking forward to reading more about your endeavors as Cohort progresses into it’s final stage!
Danielle,
Wow @dduguay! This is an amazing, thoughtful blog post that captures your thinking and learning with the action plan & Cohort 21 learning process as well as snapshots of how you engage with your students in the classroom. I love that you are eager to explore and extend yourself as you engage with a meaningful HMW question that will ultimately challenge your students to grow in their mindset for learning. This is tough stuff… but the rewards will be worth the effort!
In talking with you about how you’re using the design thinking toolkit to further your student’s ability to dive deeper in Media Studies, you are applying your HMW question so that your students learn that there are tools and strategies that can help them to endeavour as they explore big ideas & questions with purpose and direction! This is wonderful and I can’t wait to see what comes next for the girls in their learning and for you in the culmination of your Cohort 21 action plan and experience.
Looking forward to continuing the conversation!
Christina
Christina,
Thank you for your positive feedback and encouragement!
I am happy to say that I have finally completed a project with my Grade 11 class that incorporated design thinking. I am thrilled with the student reflections and I have highlighted a few in my most recent blog post. I feel excited about the possibilities DT brings for our girls when implemented well and I would love to have some feedback from you on my first trial.
Hi,
A very thoughtful idea being unwound for the students, Danielle! I think that by taking a complex example and unraveling the details with the students is great. You are connecting very big ideas that are quite topical into manageable pieces.
As you are describing, motivation appears in many forms. You are showing them the need for flexibility as well as the realization that not all problems are resolved simply.
I know the student involvement in the Arts Festival gave them the practical experience and guidance to work through the maze of issues. I’m sure their motivation stems from your approach, and the belief that workable solutions are out there, even if it takes time to get there. Letting them experience the truth that small actions and big actions can still be actions in the right direction!
By reaching into how they felt about the video, you definitely allowed them to internalize the concept and to respond in a way that would be very meaningful to them. (As well as meaningful to those they choose to affect.) No doubt, they will also catch on to how you structured this for them and could see how you were motivated.
Change has already begun with your approach to the entire concept.
Tim,
Thank you for your thoughtful insight on my blog post. I love how you mentioned that, “small actions and big actions can still be actions in the right direction.” This is what I was hoping for in our latest project incorporating print media.
In my most recent blog post, I have explored the world of design thinking with our Grade 11’s and I would love to have your feedback!
Thank you for all of your continuous support, online and offline!