Creativity and Time

Here's a link to a recent Newsweek article on the Creativity Crisis. 

And, here's a repost of a fascinating piece on time and education.

They go well together. 

New Shoes

I bought a pair of tennis shoes a couple of days ago while on holiday in Dallas.

The color: blue. 

The brand: Nike.

The size: 9 1/2.

As mundane as this appears, it's actually significant. Committing my own non-temporal resources to this exercise program further ensures my continued progress . And, this is the first piece of official athletic apparel I've purchased in nearly a decade. 

Decadent, yes?

While I've never gone to a gym while staying at a hotel, this time I felt compelled. Could it be that I'm developing an addiction to endorphins? Time will tell.

In Dallas, my trusty partner Matt Pena was nowhere in sight, but as much as I enjoy Matt's company, he doesn't compare to my wife Jana who joined me, my new shoes and my new hip t-shirt in celebration of our 13 years together. 

I realized as I pulled the laces tight that I have missed the feeling and familiar smell of that new shoe moment when the salesperson asks if you want to wear them out or keep them in the box. 

I always kept them on. Not only that, but I always walked out of the store with a feeling of hope. Those light spongy springy clean and squeaky footsteps echoing along the corridors of Penn Square Mall were possibility incarnate - the sound of opportunity. 

Of course, there was the commensurate burial of the tried and true - the well-worn and comfortable footwear of days gone by. Dropping these worn and tired reminders of things lost and forgotten into their dark and tissue-lined box was a closing of a chapter. Gone, but not forgotten. 

I loved my blue and red Reeboks...

Summer was new shoe time in my house. It was also new binder time, new spiral notebook time, new pencil time, new organizational system time, and new highlighter time. Everything crisp and ready to go. 

Entropy, however, is real. Things definitely become less ordered over time.

By early October, my binder's three ring system was out of alignment, the spirals were more like flattened ellipses, and each and every pencil I owned were unsharpened stubs somewhere in the bottom of my backpack next to a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich.

Although the slow drift from sweltering August to a bearable autumn also witnesses the dying of grass and the beginnings of a dormant time, September is also a time of renewal and focus - especially for those of us who are in the world of school and schooling. Our rhythms are geared to to September as  a time when our shoes are most fresh and the inevitable scuffs and worn spots haven't appeared quite yet.

At Casady, our shoes have served us well, and yet there are times when we must slip on a new pair; a pair that's better suited to stride into our future. We'll endure the occasional blister, of course, but as we learn to live with them, we'll flex and adapt and walk confidently toward excellence.

The Real Bastille

I've seen the key to the Bastille hanging in Mount Vernon. A gift from the French Government to George Washington, apparently. No way to know if it was actually THE KEY used to free the prisoners during the French Revolution in 1789, but it could have been. Good enough for me, I suppose.

I've also seen the caves at Lascaux but my French being poor I didn't realize that what I was seeing was a facsimile until many years later. Had I never known that the original caves were closed, I would've gone on believing what I wanted to believe. Since my language skills were obviously lacking, I missed critical information that would've allowed me to see them in a different light. Now I wonder why I wasted my time. I'd like those hours back, actually. That being said, hitchhiking back to Thonac was interesting - definitely more memorable than forged cave scribbles.

So today, on the anniversary of French independence, I raise a glass to the Acadamy Francais and their relentless hold on all that is the French language. The precision and attention to detail they've provided over the years has stood a pillar of truth and belief in the power of words -- their words. I wonder, however, how long they will be able to withstand the encroaching globalization that is life in the 21st century. Recent attempts to ban head coverings is a stark example of a society that is trying desperately to retain what once was. The fear inherent in this latest move is another cultural backlash against a rising tide of interdependence and interconnectedness. It's a losing battle.

On a seemingly unrelated, but not entirely unrelated topic, I continue to believe that I'm really only 25 years old and that my body is lithe and nimble.

It isn't.

Yet.

In the gym, as I  regain the good parts of my twenties and as I avoid the stupid parts, I'm reminded that change is inevitable. Whether I want to admit it or not, through inactivity, laziness, and general inertia (doing nothing) I've caused my body to change, but not in a good way...

Doing nothing is no longer an option. When noon rolls around, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I know that I've committed to a fight toward something; a direct action conceived to bring something positive into the world and to be less of what I used to be - to be a more authentic me.

While I hesitate to always bring these experiences and thoughts back to my work as Head of School at Casady, I can't help it. My life is completely intertwined with this institution and its identity.

Our School will commit to a similar program and journey. Not only health and wellness-wise, but more importantly, a commitment to the health and wellness of our curriculum, our facilities, our program, and especially our students, in mind and body and spirit. If we can do that - if we can build on the positives and shear away those intrusions and obstacles that cloud our vision - the authenticity of our work will be clear and powerful.

Facsimiles are everywhere, but we don't always recognize them for what they are until it's too late. While the paintings in Lascaux were a close approximation of the authentic item, I still haven't seen the real thing and I'm no better off for having gone (hitchhiking aside). At Casady, we can and must create authentic and meaningful educational programs that prepare our students for the real world.

Hammering out an idea.

As I sit here in my office, trying to stay focused on a couple of writing projects I'm working on, the roofers are hammering out an ADD rhythm that has restricted my thinking to half a sentence at best. Therefore, I'm here on my blog typing my way toward noon when I will cross the campus, change my clothes and engage once again in battle with sloth and lethargy.

While the benefits of my exercise regimen are certainly noticeable around my mid-section, they are even clearer in my own head. My thinking (today's hammering notwithstanding) is sharper and more focused. Maybe the brutality of 15 reps on the bench or those horrible medicine ball sit-ups so completely occupies my energy and focuses it on the task at hand -completely present in the moment - that the litter and detritus of idle ramblings has nowhere to go but into an all-hands-on deck devotion to ensuring the survival of the host through a self-imposed struggle against aging. 

I'm not sure what today will bring, but as I've committed to this process, I must accept my orders as a soldier stepping into the fray. 

Wish me luck.

When we are engaged with our work or our play we enter that 'flow' state and time takes on a wholly different character. When I used to paint, I would often continue throughout the night and into the early morning without feeling any emotion other than those directed at correcting careless gestures in paint and building an image that fits within the structure of the frame. 

Engaging and meaningful educational experiences lie at the center of our aim to create thoughtful, passionate learners who want to do their best and make their world better. As a faculty, it is our primary duty to ensure this school is fully committed to that purpose. 

Thoughts over the Fourth

So, I pulled a muscle in my abdomen last week which made it very difficult to follow Coach Zaga's regimen. Upper body work was ok, but anything that strained my 'core' (apparently, the core is important...) was off-limits. Matt Pena (Dean of Students) explained to me that I needed to do very little over the weekend while I was at home. That meant no making of beds, no gardening, no taking the garbage out. He suggested that I explain this to my wife and if she had questions, she should direct them to him or to coach Zaga. I guess there are silver linings, after all...

At any rate, I believe the rest did me well - the pain has disappeared and I feel ready to resume the full workouts today at noon. I noticed this morning that my belt notched one notch smaller and felt rather comfortable. Tangible evidence of success.

I caught wind of a new-ish film called Race to Nowhere that's stirring up some interesting conversation about the drive to overschedule, push, and prod our students in order to 'prepare them' for _________ (you fill in the blank.)

With increased pressure to compete for places in universities across the country and with a globalized workforce, we're going to be under the gun to ensure our kids here at Casady are in the best position to succeed. While we produce thinkers and athletes and artists - kids who have a passion to strive for excellence, we need to make certain that they are rewarded for their efforts and that they have the time to go deep when they want to. We have to find ways to develop our students' passions for a life of the mind and an ability to thrive in an increasingly diverse world.

There are many ways to think about preparing our kids for success; I'm hoping that the conversation among faculty next year will generate some excellent ideas and motivate our community to rally for our students.  21st century teaching methodologies must coexist within our traditional academic curriculum; finding the right balance is key. The three r's: reading, writing and arithmetic are still important, but not without relevance, rigor, and relationships driving the work.

Off to the gym...

Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose

I'm reading Dan Pink's Drive for the second time. I chose this as a summer read for our key administrators because he makes a great case for how motivation works in the 21st century. Many researchers and writers like Pink ranging from  Carol Dweck, Mihaly Csikszentmaihalyi, Howard Gardner, Chip and Dan Heath, Tony Wagner, Malcolm Gladwell, and many others have begun to formulate what I think is an interesting and useful framework of ideas that will help us move forward with educational reform. Central among their ideas is that we must stop thinking about learning and the School in an Industrial Revolution context.

The way motivation is structured, according to Pink, is that we need to have Autonomy (enough freedom to do what needs to be done), Mastery (the skills to do the work), and Purpose (a compelling reason to do it) in order to produce at a high level and to innovate and improve our world. Teachers need all three in place to do great work with kids and it's our responsibility to frame the mission of the School in such a way as to provide the environment where all three can be achieved. 

My greatest hope is that if our teachers have the tools and the drive to pursue excellence relentlessly, they will, in turn, create the same environment for their students. Roland Barth, at a conference I attended years ago,  said that when the flight attendants go through their pre-flight safety instructions they always remind us to put the oxygen masks on ourselves first, and our children second. We, the adults, have to be healthy and mindful so that when our kids need our help we will be ready and able to give it. 

Things to keep in mind.

On another note, I continue my odyssey toward good health (workout number 4 today!). I'm beginning to feel tighter, my pants are a bit looser, and my head is clearer. Becoming less of who I was is feeling very good. 

Less IS more.

Administrative Retreat - reflections...

Well, I went back to the gym for another workout - this time I didn't feel quite as brutalized as I did last week - a good thing. I'm actually looking forward to continuing on this path throughout the summer  and into the year; my energy level is higher and I am already feeling healthier...

Yesterday we spent the day reflecting and thinking about Casady's identity, our core values, and our plans for the upcoming year. We discussed the role of grades, assessment in general, and the importance of hiring happy teachers who derive joy from their students' success. Central to our work should be the cultivation of strong relationships with our students. Faculty evaluation should be keyed to student performance and their ability to help their students find success.

We also discussed the importance of our "story" in our work to bring the finest educational experience to our community.  We need to hear the stories that define us, and we need to tell our story relentlessly and clearly to make certain that we align our words with the things we actually do. Each and every day, our students need to feel like they are part of something great; they need to know that there's something over the horizon to strive to reach, but they also need to feel like they are making progress and achieving success as they move along their journey to adulthood.

I'm energized by reflective thinking, but as I've begun my journey toward a healthier me, I'm reminded that action (and sweat) are essential parts of the journey. Just sitting at my desk, wishing I were thinner won't really work. I'm excited that the Casady team has geared up for the mission we're on and I'm comforted to know that there are so many who care so deeply about our students.