Teaching as Soul Nourishment

I have the honor of working with students who care about what we do. It occurred to me today that I hadn't told students their grades for either of our major projects this semester. Never once did they ask me about a grade. For one of the big projects that we did in the fall, when I gave them their grades in class at the end of the semester, their response was, "Huh, we were graded on that?" I tell them that the work we are doing in the course is about changing the world and they accept that. Today is the Feast Day of our founding Mother, and I can't help but think that she would be proud of what we're doing at SR. We are teaching students to be deeply invested in the world around them. I love having a job that I genuinely believe in; I love that my personal and professional sense of fulfillment can be so much in sync.

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation

When it comes to fundraising/drives, extrinsic motivation is easier to achieve and can produce a bigger short-term impact. Intrinsic motivations takes the long view and is about transformation. Intrinsic motivation is the best practice of service learning. It can sometimes be hard for students to understand, so it is important to continue to ask them to consider the end goal. It helps that we have a shared vision.

When I need self-affirmation

On Stripping Bark from Myself 

(For Jane, Who Said Trees Die From It)

by Alice Walker

Because women are expected to keep silent about

Their close escapes, I will not keep silent

And if I am destroyed (naked tree!) someone will please

Mark the spot where I fall and know I could not live

Silent in my own lies

Hearing their "how nice she is!"

Whose adoration of the retouched image

I so despise.

No.  I am finished with living

For what my mother believes

For what my father and brother defend

For what my lover elevates

For what my sister, blushing, denies or rushes to embrace.

I find my own

Small person

A standing self

Against the world; an equality of wills

I finally understand.

Besides:

My struggle was always against

An inner darkness: I carry within myself

The only known keys

To my death -- to unlock life, or close it shut forever.

A woman who loves wood grains, the color yellow

And the sun, I am happy to fight

All outside murderers

As I see I must.

Me Time

Although I get lots of energy from other people, sometimes I need an evening alone to recharge.

Today I attended a meditation for nonviolence training and heard this Thomas Merton quote that led me to reflect on the significance of taking time out to be with myself:

“There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

Update 8/1/16: Today's entry in Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much by Anne Wilson Schaef includes, "how long has it been since we have let ourselves hear the song of the task we are doing? When we do too much, we lose our joy in the doing and see only the labor and the deadlines. Even when we do not see the song in our work, it is still there. We have but to listen." Me time lets me listen.

The Flower: A Diversity Framework

This week I went to a diversity workshop and learned a new framework called The Flower (see below). The framework pushes us to think about what driving our actions and our patterns. How often is it not our espoused values, but core beliefs or assumptions that we hold onto. 

Love wins!

When we lead with fear, we lose ourselves. When we lead with love, anything is possible. We have the power to change minds and hearts.

This week at work

This week was a perfect microcosm of how dynamic and empowering our school is.

First, last weekend the students put on a delightful production of Shrek the Musical.

On both Tuesday and Saturday the faculty had service projects that were coordinated by members of the Formation to Mission team.

On Wednesday we had a Student Leadership Closing Ceremony, for which the student leaders crafted "thank you" messages to the members of their group, highlighting each group's accomplishments. That same evening we had the Oral History Night, for which students in US History shared their oral history projects that they have been working on all year, reflecting on the impact of the project.

On Thursday we had the fabulous interdisciplinary Shakesfaire, which was also a celebration of learning. We also had big senior night games for the spring sports, and celebrated that with a spirit day all day.

On Friday, students in the Physics and Engineering classes went to Hershey Park to see their lessons' application to the world outside of the classroom.

In all, the week was representative of the myriad opportunities we offer students to explore their passions, and for the modeling we do of that as adults.