The month of December is often steeped in traditions. As Katherine Rose writes, “there is a beauty in traditions-an appreciation of the wisdom, understanding, and emotional intellect of human beings.” Traditions teach us about life, where we came from, and who we are as people. Reflecting on our traditions invites us each to think beyond our self and our immediate experience. When we consider why we do what we do, we create an opportunity to connect more deeply with our community; this sense of wonder and curiosity develops our capacity to recognize our personal values, understand others’ perspectives, and practice compassion.
This winter we again find ourselves living with the ongoing adversities of Covid-19. For many, the ongoing challenges will interrupt valued traditions that contribute to a sense of belonging. This month we share resources that allow us to practice small moments of connection, lead with compassion, celebrate gratitude, and build resilience. From all of us in the Office of Professional Growth and Innovation (PGI), we thank you for engaging with the Joy Newsletter each month and we look forward to learning and growing with you in the new year.
In this issue:
Twelve Days of Twitter
Leadership Lessons
Gratitude in Action: Bayside Middle School
The Magic of Mistakes
Professional Learning Opportunities
December Action for Kindness Calendar
This year, our Joy Newsletter will share resources that support the goals of our Compass to 2025 Strategic Framework.
Gratitude in Action: Bayside Middle School
According to the Greater Good Science Center, gratitude means more than simply saying thanks. Gratitude is most powerful when we 1) recognize a good thing, such as a positive outcome or gift we’ve received, and 2) acknowledge that this good thing came from outside ourselves. Building collective gratitude practices in the workplace have been shown to improve staff morale, increase productivity, and reduce employee turnover. (Learn more about how gratitude can transform the workplace here.)
This month we are thrilled to spotlight a recent school-wide gratitude campaign at our own Bayside Middle School. This project began with Erin Vickrey’s vision that every single staff member would receive a note of gratitude from a colleague. Ms. Vickrey, the School Improvement Specialist, shared “We wanted to ensure that each and every staff member felt the gratitude that our administration team feels for them, and we wanted to also give them an opportunity to celebrate each other.” The administration team began by dividing up the names of staff amongst themselves, and then the entire staff was invited to participate. An email went out to let staff know about the “Show Your Gratitude” activity and each staff member received two cards to add to the bags. Within hours staff began emailing the office to request more cards-the gift of gratitude was alive in the school. Over the course of a week, notes of gratitude were added to every single bag and each staff member headed home for the holiday break feeling a bit more seen and valued.
The Magic of Mistakes: Building Resilience and Critical Thinking
In VBCPS, we envision that every student is future-ready. We look to our Graduate Profile to capture the attributes of future-ready, such as being a Resilient Learner that seeks and accepts new and difficult challenges and adapts to change. In his Cult of Pedagogy article and interview titled The Magic of Mistakes, Colin Seale shares practical and effective ways to boost critical thinking with mistake analysis. Mr. Seale writes, “mistakes are a natural part of learning, but students cannot develop into critical thinkers if they regularly freeze out of the fear of making a mistake.” If we can create classrooms and schools that view “setbacks” as opportunities for learning and growth, we can build classroom cultures where traits like curiosity and academic risk-taking outweigh compliance rule-following. Mr. Seale shares instructional implications for mistake analysis that enhance critical thinking.
Here are two practical tools we can apply in almost any classroom context to increase opportunities for students to strengthen their resilience and critical thinking:
As students to create their own “good” mistakes. Try asking this question in your classroom (or professional learning workshop) this week, “How might someone get this question wrong?” By engaging the learners in anticipating the most predictable mistakes, we move beyond low-level thinking skills and open up a dialogue that begins to normalize misconceptions and misunderstandings. Mr. Seale partners this with what he calls the “Joe Schmo” rule: What kinds of answers would trip up the average person. This prevents students from coming up with nonsensical options and keeps the critical thinking exercise focused on an appropriate metacognitive level.
Classroom example:
- Literacy: Imagine you want students to identify the main idea of a non-fiction text. Instead of asking students to define the main idea, ask them to create three wrong, but “good” incorrect answers for what the main ideas are. Require that students explain their “good” mistakes.
Classroom examples:
- Mathematics: Ask students to analyze two equations that are both done incorrectly. One has a computational error and the other has a conceptual answer.
- Writing: Provide copies of two paragraphs (or essays) that have room for improvement. One contains structural errors and the other is riddled with spelling and grammatical mistakes.
- Science: Students evaluate two science experiments with flawed procedures. One has problems with too many variables and the other lacks clarity and specificity in the steps.
An added bonus of mistake analysis is that it simultaneously strengthens students’ social-emotional learning skills. As students understand potential perspectives they are developing and practicing empathy-both key skills within our Social Awareness competency here in VBCPS. Learn more practical strategies for mistake analysis by reading or listening to HERE.
