Not the wind, not the flag

Two monks were arguing about a flag. One said: "The flag is moving." the other sad: "The wind is moving."

The sixth patriarch happened to be passing by. He told them: "Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving."

Ekai (in The Gateless Gate)

Try to see it once my way: everything zen (Bush)

Photo by James Toose on Unsplash

Entrepreneur Ben Chestnut on the importance of momentum:

"Never sacrifice momentum. I might know a better path, but if we've got a lot of momentum, if everyone's united and they're marching together and the path is O.K., just go with the flow. I may eventually nudge them down a new path, but never stop the troops mid march."

Momentum is often talked about during sports matches where a surge of effort is maintained for a period of time so that it overwhelms an opposition. It's palpable and emotional, that feeling, but that surge is tough to sustain.

Momentum ebbs and flows through a match. Same in a school setting. It's rare to have a situation where 'everyone's united and they're marching together'. I've felt it a few times in my teaching career.

It's great to be a part of it when it happens.

(School is out) Everybody gonna jump and run (Gary US Bonds)

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

School hols have now kicked in for us at Hastings Boys' High School.

The final rituals of the year are in the books - junior prizegiving, a final teacher only day, handing out 2025 timetables, staff farewells, staff raffles and staff BBQ.

One of the teachers who was retiring had been at the school since 1981 - an incredible 43 years of service to one school. We're very different people. There's no way I could do that. Alan started his career two years before me but my career has taken me to many different places. Plus, I have no plans to retire! 

He did try to retire in 2009 but was persuaded back to teach chemistry. I dare say he'll be back in some capacity - relieving or Exam Centre Manager. Once you are institutionalised it is tricky to leave a place completely behind.

The raffle was eventful. I bought two $2 tickets. During the final staff meeting, random staff were used to draw out numbers. When I was chosen, I pulled out one of my own numbers! Hilarious!

It was a lucky dip for prizes and mine turned out to be a couple of Prezi cards. Wahoo!! 

A great end to the year. Thanks to Hastings Boys' High School and the English department of stars!

Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind; the race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself (Mary Schmich)

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

A colleague, endearingly known to us English teacher types as 'Smurf', suggested I write a post focusing on the 'song' Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen). Good idea.

So here 'tis...

First - some background trivia: 

Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) was a spoken word song that Baz Luhrmann, the Australian film director, kind of nursed into existence (the voice is Lee Perry's and the writer was Mary Schmich). I couldn't find it on Spotify, but it is on YouTube. You can see the original video for it here.

As I've used it to farewell Year 13 students in previous schools, I can't believe this hasn't cropped up on one of my blogs to date. TBF it could have landed up on Goo Goo G'Joob (it's a song after all);  Wozza's Place (it's pulp pop culture advice after all); on The Purdzilla Show (it's a pithy set of quotes after all); or here (it's got an educational vibe after all).

I do like these spoken word advisories, and spoken word songs in general, like Gil Scott-Heron's poetry set to Brian Jackson's jazzy accompaniment (try The Revolution Will Not Be Televised), or Billy Bragg's Walk Away Renee, or The Eels Susan's House for instance.

When I was a student at school in the seventies, some teachers were fond of quoting from Les Crane's The Desiderata. That one seems extremely dated now.

About that same time, Tom Clay's still moving paean to the Kennedys and MLK called What The World Needs Now (Abraham, Martin and John)  deeply affected me, and it still carries an emotional punch. However, unlike Sunscreen, the advice is indirect.

So, as I told Smurf, the closest thing I can link to Sunscreen is Robert Fulghum's All I Really Need To Know I learned In Kindergarten.

“These are the things I learned (in Kindergarten):

1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don't hit people.
4. Put things back where you found them.
5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
6. Don't take things that aren't yours.
7. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.” 

At this time of the year I often think about offering the advice found in Sunscreen and Kindergarten to departing students.

But really the pithiest advice/suggestion comes from Polonius to his son Laertes in Hamlet:

This above all: to thine own self be true, 

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Carry on, my wayward son - there'll be peace when you are done (Kansas)

Photo by Johnson Wang on Unsplash

This is the last week of Term 4 with the students before we all head off on our summer break.

Movember is history (as is my facial hair) and December is upon us.

It's a good time of the year to tidy up, close off workbooks, ease the throttle back, and throw away miscellaneous stuff that has accumulated in the just-in-case pile.

It's always remarkable how inconsequential a lot of things are after the fact. As many do, I tend to hang on to stuff just in case. The pile grows throughout the year and is seldom accessed. So, the moment to jettison all of those now inconsequential pieces of paper is a sweet one. It's very cathartic.

In movies the employees having to pack up their belongings are given one cardboard box, and I've always laughed at that, but it's actually true! That's all you need!

When I left my previous job at the end of Term 2 this year, I had some personal files to save digitally, and a single folder of papers - most of which I haven't looked at since or have subsequently thrown away. This, after 6 years in the job. It's a good lesson to remember.

Very few things are essential.

Eager and curious

Photo by Simon Hurry on Unsplash

"If you're eager to learn—even if you aren't particularly talented—then you can make it a long way despite your shortcomings.

But if you're not eager and curious, you'll find your natural abilities often fall short of what is required."

James Clear

Everything we do matters

Photo by Matt Seymour on Unsplash

I'm enjoying Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle is The Way.

This bit resonated with me having reverted back to being a classroom teacher after being a Principal, and recently finding myself making a cup of tea for a senior manager (he said it was a great cuppa):

Everything we do matters - whether it's making smoothies while you save up money or studying for the bar - even after you already achieved the success you sought. Everything is a chance to do and be your best. Only self-absorbed assholes think they are too good for whatever their current station requires.

All things in moderation...revisited

2011 revisited

A colleague (I'll call her Angel) and I did some impromptu moderation of some Year 10 essays after school today, which I found incredibly valuable. 

It reminded me of a time in Ali bin Abi Taleb school (Al Foah) when I was a lead advisor there and met with the Arabic department to moderate a test. I learnt so much from those guys.

That post is here, and well worth my time revisiting it. Lovely to see those photos again too.

Te taura hāngai: Instead of changing you, we will change the assignment

One of my colleagues sent a link to Te Kahu Rolleston - a NZ writer/ poet/orator who 'mixes kapa haka with battle rap to get school kids hooked on language'.

I was taken with his story about having to memorise a passage from Macbeth when he was in Year 11 (Form 5): 

The fifth form arrived. We had an English teacher who was tasked with getting us to memorise a speech from Macbeth. It’s not much of an exaggeration when I tell you that this teacher’s job may as well have been to extract fish oil from mountain boulders. Since our third form year, our class had a reputation for burning through English teachers like a bonfire does kindling and twigs. One term, we had four English teachers. Some teachers stopped teaching our class. Others left the school completely after their time with us.

His school experience is not an unfamiliar one. I remember my classes during my fourth and fifth form years. Boys often nodded off under the influence, others were only interested in baiting teachers. Many were caned (the boys, not the teachers).

Te Kahu goes on to tell how one teacher made a breakthrough with him, by getting the students to translate the Shakespeare passage into their own language. Eureka.

The message is a great one - Te taura hāngai: Instead of changing you, we will change the assignment.

It's hard to make sentences too short (Seth Godin)

Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

As usual, I'm reading two books at once. One is a non-fiction book by Ryan Holiday, the other is a novel by Penelope Fitzgerald. I love them both but for different reasons.

Generally, Ryan uses shorter sentences than Penelope. She's a brilliant writer who packs a lot of brilliance into her sentences - so much so that I savor the words a lot more, whereas I savor the message more from Ryan.

Here's what I mean:

Ryan - Outward appearances are deceptive. What's within them, beneath them, is what matters.

Penelope - She had a kind heart, though that is not of much use when it comes to the matter of self-preservation.

See what I mean? Both are examples of great short (ish) sentences, but different.

Seth Godin says:

The most direct way to improve your writing is to make your sentences shorter.

I was reading a magazine article yesterday and was rapidly losing interest. The topic appealed to me, but I couldn’t keep reading. Then I noticed that halfway through the first column, I was still on the same sentence.

We have trouble keeping that long a string in our heads at once.

You can make sentences too long.

But it’s hard to make them too short.

...here today and it's gone tomorrow (The Beach Boys)

Movember has arrived at Hastings Boys' High School!

The women folk are exercising to fundraise for men's mental health and the men folk are growing their hair for the month. To be absolutely accurate, this means that the few men on the staff without facial hair are growing their hair.

This includes me, having got sign off from the boss.

This takes me out of my comfort zone. Big time. But it's for a good cause - men's mental health. If you want to support my efforts you could visit the link here.

It is dangerous to assume that people can be trusted to behave in a rational way (Vance Packard)

This is great, from James Clear:

"In many cases, you'll find the only thing preventing you from learning is your ego.

No one enjoys feeling foolish, but attempting something new requires that you climb down from your perch and struggle as a beginner. You must ask questions that reveal your ignorance or attempt skills that make you look uncoordinated.

Learning demands the willingness to live in a brief state of discomfort. You must believe that looking like a fool for an hour will not ruin your reputation for life."  

In many ways I realise I have a lot to learn!

A colleague took a class for me last week, on social media. I learnt a lot - about how much the boys knew (a lot) and about things I had no idea about (also a lot).

Teaching constantly evolves. Like the earth spinning on its axis, teaching evolves without you feeling it necessarily.

While film techniques have not changed much, social media is a different beast.

I do have an Instagram account but it is seldom used so I don't access it; I abandoned Twitter when Elon Musk took over and changed it to X; I also abandoned Whatsapp when I left my previous employer; Facebook is mainly to publish my blogposts; Messenger is to keep in contact with my mates; WeChat is exclusively for family; LinkedIn has also been kind of abandoned.

Marketers are constantly evolving how those platforms are used and it was great being brought up to date last week.

Actually, it would be fun to reread Vance Packard's The Hidden Persuaders (published in the late fifties!) to see if anything much has changed. He could be writing about 2024 advertising algorithms on Facebook when he says:

What the probers are looking for, of course, are the "whys" of our behavior, so that they can more effectively manipulate our habits and choices in their favor.

Another week of learning looming. Wahoo!!

A skilful person is always active, giving happiness to people, very accomplished, and easily adaptable (Hsing Yun)

 

Mature and seasoned version

Yes, clearly there are differences between 1983 and 2024. 

How different? Well aside from a white board replacing a blackboard, long sleeves replacing shirt sleeves, and every cell in my body having regenerated completely about 6 times, not much. 

I'm still the same simple guy with a complex life.

Quivers down my backbone, I've got the shakes down the kneebone (Johnny Kidd and the Pirates)

In a galaxy far away and long ago...

I was looking back at a post I wrote about this time in 2011 - one about a teaching staff comprising three basic types:

• Superstars (the cream - the top 5 - 10%) 
• Backbones (the middle 80 - 90%)  
• Mediocres (the foot draggers, the gripers)

You can read the full post here. 

I am not a foot dragger, a griper, but these days I'm not a superstar either.

We have a couple of these in the department and they are great for advice. They are also hugely tech savvy. I get by, but I am not in my twenties anymore, i.e. at the cutting edge of new technologies.

I realised this as I looked at a brilliant presentation one staff member had made on fake media and I reflected on how, once upon a time, I used to teach media studies. That was 30 years ago though and I am out of date with the ebbs and flows of social media.

I intend to get more current by looking at current jargon. That will be my next post.

Let's see if a seasoned campaigner can learn new tricks.

Everyone's got a something they will never sell (Herbs)

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Recently, after finding out I gave up a Principal job to teach him and others English at Hastings Boys', a student said - Eeeehh!!! Sir - why did you do that, to start again at the bottom???

It really was a loud and long EEEHHHHH too.

I guess it does look like that to a student, and from a certain view he's not wrong - I was an English teacher from 1983 to 1989 - the first years of my career. In 1990 I gained a leadership position in an English department and haven't been a full time English teacher for 30 years.  

It could have been a shock being back full time in the classroom but actually it wasn't. It's taken me back to what is vital and important.

I have told many of my former colleagues how much I'm loving the change. I mean it, maan.

As Ryan Holiday says in his book Right Thing, Right Now:

This is a journey that we all must go on too, not just avoiding selfishness and cynicism as we age but making sure we are not hardened by our profession or our circumstances. If time and experience don't make you more generous, less threatened by others and their needs, more openhearted, what kind of life is that? Because it sounds more like a prison, like some kind of curse that an enemy would swear on someone in a tragic play, like the cost of selling your soul.

Last term, I helped a student improve a piece of writing for his writing folio. After he'd finished it, I graded it an Excellence. The honesty of his writing really had a powerful affect on me (the reader).

He will never know how fulfilling that was for me. I never want to lose that feeling.

See me, feel me, touch me, heal me (The Who)

Photo by Maja Erwinsdotter on Unsplash

Brené Brown, in her book The Gift of Imperfection, has this great definition for 'connection':

I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.

There is a lot in there.

I have mentioned before the connection I have felt in some of the staff rooms I've been in. Sadly, it's rare, I've only experienced it twice in my 41-year teaching career, but only for a short time, because in both cases the key leader moved away from the school. 

But, because of that feeling of sustenance and strength I derived from the connection, I recognised it when I saw it, felt it. 

In my experience, it does take that key person, in my case - both males, to cause that connection. Seemingly, it's a rare combination in schools - to come across those leaders with that combination of empathy, vision, purpose, integrity and honesty.

I'm certainly thankful to those two gentlemen from my past.

Smiling in my room, you know you'll be inside of my mind soon (Jefferson Airplane)

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I like this from musician and comedian Tim Minchin on sharing what you know:

"Even if you're not a teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don't take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn and spray it."

(Courtesy of James Clear. The source: 9 Life Lessons)

Basically, that's what this blog is all about - sharing ideas from others and from me. And, even more basically, that's what teachers do with each other - share ideas with each other. It's a crucial collaboration that I've been reminded of this term. 

Huge thanks to the English department at Hastings Boys' High School. My colleagues rock!!

Let me hear you say, "Everything's alright" (Steve Forbert)

Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash

School holidays for two weeks - a great chance to catch up with my reading and myself.

Brené Brown's book The Gifts of Imperfection has an interesting list (I love lists) of middle age's big ticket items, or as she calls them - unravelling journeys:

• marriage
• divorce
• becoming a parent
• recovery
• moving
• empty nest
• retiring
• experiencing loss or trauma
• working in a soul sucking job

I wonder how many you ticked off (my tally was 6 - you can guess which 6).

I'm not contemplating the retiring one any time soon. I'm enjoying what I'm doing way too much to give that up.

Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox) (John Lennon)

Dan Rockwell makes some worthwhile points about the paradox of power in a recent blog (whole thing is here)

Paradoxically, I feel more powerful in the classroom that I ever did as a Principal, or even a Head of English in various schools.

The paradox is that the higher you ascend the leadership ladder, the less power you actually have.

Why is that? Dan provides some following thoughts:

• Healthy power is using skills and abilities in service to others.  
• You don’t need authority to have power.  
• The more power you have, the more valuable you are when you serve with humility.

So, if you are truly being a leader, the more you actually concede power to others.

This is something micro managers and control freaks don't get.

As Dan says:

• The paradox of power is it grows when it’s shared and shrinks when it’s hoarded.

Or as I say: if you employ good people, get out of their way and let them do their job.

One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the rickyard when—whack!—an acorn hit her upon the head. "Goodness gracious me!" said Henny-penny, "the sky's a-going to fall"

I'm enjoying my current climate where people can (and do) make mistakes, without much angst and stress. Teaching is all about learning, right.

Finding teachable moments is a key ingredient to every classroom. Tolerance, forbearance, perseverance, acceptance of people's strengths and weaknesses are all mixed into the experience as well.

This has been a long week and the final week of the term is coming up so staff and students are looking forward to the break.

A student said to me today that his previous teacher was really grumpy today to which I replied that the teacher was probably really tired, so be kind.

I always remember Brené Brown's belief - I know my life is better when I work from the assumption that everyone is doing the best they can. 

Way up in the sky, little darlin', If you fall I'll pick you up, pick you up (Rickie Lee Jones)

Teachers have secret superpowers

“Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home--but not for housing. They are strong for labor--but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. They favor minimum wage--the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all--but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine--for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing--but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing--so long as it doesn't spread to all the people. And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.”

A wee reminder from Harry S. Truman

Being that guy!

Photo by Mark König on Unsplash

You can carve out a very good career simply by being the most reliable person on the team. You would not think that always showing up on time, hitting every deadline, and responding quickly and professionally to all communication would be such a differentiator, but these traits are always in short supply.

James Clear

Wow, I feel good. I knew that I would, now (James Brown)

Recently (Sunday just gone), I was on a high after an exchange at my local Four Square.  

As she rang up my purchases, the shop lady said, "How's your day been?"

Me, "Pretty good. Been marking essays"

She looked at me.

Me, channeling C3PO, "It's a teacher's lot in life - marking on a Sunday"

She, "Oh, where do you teach?"

Me, "Hastings Boys'"

She, "That will be $23 please, right, yes. I see you coming home sometimes and wondered which school you were at".

Yeah - I know. Not the most riveting conversation, but I walked out of there on a high. 

I didn't have to enter into a lengthy explanation of where I worked, as I've had to do in the past. Or add anything else, at all.

It felt really, really good.

Well, there's nothing to lose and there's nothing to prove when I'm dancing with myself (Billy Idol)

Photo by chris robert on Unsplash

James Clear in his recent newsletter said: 

"I have had periods in my career when I have been sprinting full speed and accomplished a great deal and I have had seasons when I have been fairly lazy and coasted on my previous effort.

What I have learned is that I am the major obstruction to getting results. Whether external conditions are favorable or unfavorable makes less difference than whether I am fully engaged and consistent. Even in competitive fields, the competition is primarily within yourself."

This is very true. 

I had a few shaky moments with my classes last week and it was all down to me and my approach. I need to make it easier for myself and design tasks and lessons better to get the boys' attention with more buy-in.

It's worth my time to get it right.

The first thing we did with them was simply watch and learn (Jamie Pennell)

Photo by Chris Benson on Unsplash

NZSAS soldier Jamie Pennell in his book Serviceman J is talking about when he was part of a team training local security forces in Afghanistan.

Before they did anything, they got to know the men and women they'd be training. 

I'm most definitely still in a watch and learn phase at my new job (English teacher at Hastings' Boys' High School).

Like Jamie, this is done by spending a lot of time chatting and drinking tea.

It would be impossible to do this quickly and know everybody: who they were; what they did; what their strengths and weaknesses are. I'm four weeks in and still learning about all the roles staff have. The culture of every school, every staff room, is unique. 

I'm pretty relaxed about the amount of time this phase will take - definitely the next 5 weeks of this term at least.

Hopefully, by the start of term 4 I will be more equipped to be more effective, but it might take another term.

Look and learn, soak it up without judgement is the modus operandi for me during this time.

The book of love is long and boring, no one can lift the damn thing (Peter Gabriel)

Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on Unsplash

We have 20 minutes of sustained silent reading in our classes straight after lunch every day. Once I get sorted with things I'll need to bend my brain to ways to encourage boys to read.

It's a struggle every day to get them focused on reading something.

I'm the only person in the room who brings a book to read each day (currently a book of short stories by Louis L'Amour), the boys have a pile of books to choose from each day and a few stick to the same book, but not many.

Like I say, when I've got my head around everything else I need to know about and prepare for, I'll raise it with the department and see if any of my colleagues have any bright ideas. I'll also read back in this blog for previous thoughts on the issue.

In the meantime, I'll continue my modelling act.

I can see for miles and miles (The Who)

 

The view from my desk

I have had some great views from my classrooms over the years.

Top three would be:

1. The view over Eastern Beach in Auckland (Macleans College)
2. Interior of Pridham Hall (New Plymouth Boys' High School)
3. South-east towards Te Mata peak (Hastings Boys' High School) 

Boys boys boys

Photo by Tra Nguyen on Unsplash

Male students being disrespectful to female teachers, while being more respectful to male teachers isn't a new thing, unfortunately. I am currently working in an all-boys' school and I've heard a few of the female teachers making this point.

I certainly heard it at my previous school too.

Man/boy relationships are easier and less complicated, it seems to me. As I've said to a few people, I went to an all-boys' school, and I've previously taught in an all-boys' school. So, I know the territory.

Before a boy accepts an invitation to engage in scholastic activity, he takes a measure of the person extending the invitation. To engage, to attend closely, to work hard, to try - these commitments are not easily won (Reichert and Hawley in Reaching Boys Teaching Boys).

I don't want to overthink it and I know I'm potentially on thin ice here - but males knowing the territory certainly helps, so it's easier for males to get that initial acceptance, I think.

I wish it didn't matter whether you're a female or a male teacher, but it does.

Back in the classroom, open your books (Chuck Berry)

Photo by Tuyen Vo on Unsplash

As a teacher, there's something great about having a base. Up till now I've been teaching in three locations - all other people's classrooms. But as of today, I now have a classroom (one of those three) to call home and that feels pretty groovy. 

The last time I had a classroom to myself was at Woodford House, eight years ago.

Now I can put the furniture where it works for me and my students, I can set up a more conducive learning culture and I can display material as well. I also have a cupboard to store my gear! Very cool. 

It also works from a school perspective. Unloved rooms that aren't 'owned' by a teacher are destined for poor treatment by both staff and students.

It's a win win.

When one teaches, two learn (Robert Heinlein)

I'm in a deep learning phase at my latest school - Hastings' Boys' High School, where I've joined the English department.

Learning about the traditions (i.e. assembly, what happens at break times etc), the staff (who does what, where the mana lies), the culture (how things are done day to day), the boys (how they learn, how I need to adapt to their needs), emergency procedures (we had an emergency evacuation and a lock down in my first week), the geography (bit by bit I'm venturing forth) and the key relationships I need to be effective.

So, I'm in look/Listen and learn mode - soaking it all up, and, by the way, having a ball.

Start me up (The Rolling Stones)

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

New starts.

I've just started a new job - fixed term for this year at Hastings' Boys' High School. Teaching English. It was a good start on Monday, but aside from a fire alarm evacuating the school during my first period, nothing really dramatic happened. It was just a new start in a new job.

I do remember a few new starts extremely vividly.

First day at Royal Oak Primary in 1962.

First day at Mt Albert Grammar in 1971.

The first day in my first job at New Plymouth Boys' in 1983. I smiled so much and shook so many hands, I hurt.

Interestingly, after that, I don't really remember starting new jobs apart from my last one at OneSchool Global in 2017 when I got the day wrong!

I'm much more able to remember interviews for jobs. 

The phone call from Tom Rider (New Plymouth Boys') in 1982; The Colin Prentice interview (Macleans); the phone call with Aileen Ambler (Waimea); the MAGS one with Hensman and Taylor; Cambridge High with the panel - I even remember some of Alison's questions and my responses....and so on. In fact I remember them all.

But not the actual first day on the job. So, I don't get anxious or nervous about starting afresh. When I get into the car to drive to the school I just feel a lightness, because I know the hard bit - winning the job - is over.

Same deal this week.

Human affinity

Progress can only be achieved in calmness and harmony.

Human affinity can only be fostered through service to others.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun

You make the path

The Spanish poet Antonio Machado wrote:

Traveler, you make the path

with your footsteps, nothing more;

Traveler, there is no path,

you make the path by walking it,

by walking it you make the path

and when you look back

you will see the path,

a path you will never walk again.

Traveler, there is no path,

Only the wake left by ships in the sea.

Put me in coach

I loved reading this suggestion from Seth Godin:

Big football at colleges in the US costs more than $5 billion a year. And none of these programs has a student acting as a coach.

The same analysis, at a much smaller scale, applies to school theater directors and producers, conductors of the jazz band or orchestra and even the coach of the chess team.

We learn by doing, not by winning.

What happens if we embrace this and make education about learning? What would happen if the head of the football program simply taught students how to be coaches? Or the head of the music program challenged kids to conduct?

My most important learning experiences in organized schooling came from the random moments when I actually got to organize instead of being organized.

When I was a student at Mt. Albert Grammar, student coaches were often matched to junior teams. Maybe there weren't enough staff to take them, I'm not sure, but I loved having someone from the first XI coaching us. 

Of course, the quality varied but I had a couple of great student mentors in those teams before I joined the first XI myself for three memorable years in the mid-seventies.

Hearts and minds

 

You have to leave the city of your comfort (Alan Alda)

Photo by Karol Stefański on Unsplash

One of my old posts from 2009 popped up in the right-hand list of my popular posts and, being curious, I checked out what I'd written 15 years ago.

It was about leaving my position as a Principal and heading off on a new adventure. Here is part of it (I've edited it a bit):

Why am I embarking on this change of course? The opportunity and adventure involved in doing something exciting in a new environment is the overriding reason. This quote from Alan Alda sums it up, “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk, and by not quite knowing what you’re doing. But what you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.” It would be hypocritical of me to preach the idea of dreaming big and taking a risk, and not following through with that myself, wouldn't it? 

My plan at the moment is to delete this blog in about two weeks' time. It's been a really fun thing to do but I will incorporate my ideas into my other blogs from now on.

Funnily enough, I'm at this point again, having recently resigned from another Principal position. Clearly, I didn't delete the Baggy Trousers blog!

I'm again wanting a fresh challenge and that means shaking things up a bit (not sure what that will look like at this point). And I am again thinking about the relevance of this blog. But, again, I can't see myself deleting it. It's of use, if only to selfishly keep a record of my progress and thinking.

It's going to be an interesting few months ahead.

If you want to keep the things you love then you better learn to kneel (Liam Gallagher)

Photo by Dare Artworks on Unsplash

It's always good to pause and have some honest feedback. Who would want to be surrounded by sycophants who won't say what needs to be said?

“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations