Working in Education through the Language Lens

We talk a lot in education about moving forward - bouncing forward - being resilient and learning from our mistakes/errors. At the same time we also talk about Understanding by Design (which allows us to start with the end in mind and work backwards in our planning and preparation to get to that end). I'll be honest, in my experience - it's a lot easier to keep looking forward. We've heard that message longer and perhaps that's the difficult part (the reteaching and re-framing until it's more habitual and less effort?). Is it going to take longer to embrace and embed (become natural) over time.....? Have you ever noticed.... that no matter how many times you see the same sign (billboard/poster/framed picture of sayings) - you keep reading it? I even find myself half way through saying - "dang it! you clever marketing company you!" Why else do you think we hang sayings around our house - we WILL read them - and eventually they become part of ou...

I've blogged about being 'busy' before - but this post is different. I'm juggling, spinning plates, prioritizing and re-prioritizing. Food prepping for the week so that I can spend less time in the kitchen nightly -  which I means I just end up on the computer working instead of cooking. One day last week I found myself triple booked! What?  (And yet this is how I function ~ and to be honest..... thrive!) It's a constant struggle to make finding balance and peace a priority, but I've come to find out I feel a little less whole when detached from life. I need it every now and then yes, and I've learned to respond to those signals of 'slow down' or 'take a break' much better than years past. I can choose music over voxer, an hour more of sleep versus an early morning twitter chat, shutting down the laptop and cuddling with my spouse instead of trying to cram one more hour of work into my long day. Yesterday I was without my...

Photo taken by friend: Maureen McDonald at the Cincinnati Zoo and used with permission       I attended a training the other day about the brain. NeuroScience of Education is a field of study that is only 3 years old. I took copious notes, and even contemplated going back to school to get another doctorate in said field - until I learned there are no local universities that offer it - and yes, my husband would question my sanity......but I digress.... It led me to some reflection, okay a lot of reflection about change. Specifically, can people really change? Can we teach an old dog new tricks?   We were told that "education literally changes the brain" - it creates fiber tracks and with exercise (for example homework, or reflection journals, or blogging on our learning) they become faster and thicker. We are building brain highways - yet if not exercised, they can get dumped during our sleep as the brain decides what's worthy to keep.  Ha...