If You’re Reading This It’s Not Too Late (Seven culture / advisory / assembly ideas:)
1.) I’ve been reading Bill Simmons’ The Book of Basketball and these parts really stand out on “the secret” of winning basketball (which is the same as the secret of being a winning teammate) –
“I read Pat Riley’s book Show Time and he talks about “the disease of more.” A team wins it one year and the next year every player wants more minutes, more money, more shots. And it kills them. Our team has been up at the Championship level four years now. We could have easily self-destructed. So I read what Riley was saying, and I learned. I didn’t want what happened to Seattle and Houston to happen to us. But it’s hard not to be selfish. The art of winning is complicated by statistics, which for us becomes money. Well, you gotta fight that, find a way around it. And I think we have. If we win this, we’ll be the first team in history to win it without a single player averaging 20 points. First team. Ever. We got 12 guys who are totally committed to winning. Every night we found a different person to win it for us.” (Isiah Lord Thomas)
“Lot of times, on our team, you can’t tell who the best player in the game was. ’Cause everybody did something good. That’s what makes us so good. The other team has to worry about stopping eight or nine people instead of two or three. It’s the only way to win. The only way to win. That’s the way the game was invented. But there’s more to that. You also got to create an environment that won’t accept losing.” (More from Isiah.)
“Those teams were loaded with talented players, yes, but that’s not the only reason they won. They won because they liked each other, knew their roles, ignored statistics and valued winning over everything else. They won because their best players sacrificed to make everyone else happy. They won as long as everyone remained on the same page. By that same token, they lost if any of those three factors weren’t in place.” (Simmons)
“I always thought that the most important measure of how good a game I’d played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.” (Bill Russell)
Isn’t this what being a good teammate is all about?
Providing your colleagues with honest feedback and asking them for honest feedback in return, speaking positively about your colleagues and their particular classes in front of kids and parents (and actually meaning it), cleaning their white boards when you are teaching in their room (just because), unjamming the copier when you didn’t jam it in the first place (same parenthetical), supporting them with a difficult conversation with a student so they don’t have to go it alone (because together you could really make a breakthrough with that kid), not talking shit about your colleagues (or in general), writing your colleagues texts / emails / notes / cards about why they are f’ing badasses, caring about their success because, yes, it will make your day easier, but really because you want to see them succeed because they are your friends (eventually your family) and because when they succeed your kids learn as much as possible, buying them coffee (again, just because) and then saving their coffee preferences in your phone for a later date or purchasing them a book because it changed your life and you think it might change their life too, smiling when you first see them and saying good morning like you mean it (not just going through the motions), falling in love with them in the friendship / fellowship sort of way (the Greeks called it philia), baking them sugar cookies or banana bread because you love to bake and you want to share a piece of yourself with them, saying thank you to them / for them (a lot), [insert about a million other ideas here].
I really used to think that teaching was a solo act. (Just ask Anne K.)
It’s not.
When done well, it’s a chorus.
It’s the front row of fucking Hamilton.*
2.) From Joanna B. (I stole this from her Facebook page) & Audrey M. & Kara G. –
Naomi Wadler Speaks to Crowd at D.C. March For Our Lives
She’s an eleven year old elementary school student.
Quoting Toni Morrison, Wadler said, “‘If there is a book that you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, write it.’ I urge everyone here and everyone who hears my voice to join me in telling the stories that aren’t told; to honor the girls, the women of color who are murdered at disproportionate rates in this nation. I urge each of you to help me write the narrative for this world and understand so that these girls and women are never forgotten.”
(We’re showing / discussing this with the kids on Monday.)
3.) The attached article (I could email it to you!) is pretty meaningful if you want to take look.
Some takeaways (nothing revolutionary [although maybe the idea of relationships rooted in love is revolutionary?] but I’m glad to see people with PhDs agree with our approach) –
“Consistent with this hypothesis, the quality of students’ relationships with teachers is one of the strongest predictors of classroom behavior. Relationships of trust and respect may be especially important in adolescence.”
“Although striking, this finding is consistent with research suggesting the importance for children of having at least one teacher in school whom they trust. It will be important to further understand how, when, and why improvement in a single teacher–student relationship causes reverberating benefits for students.”
“In circumstances like these, the [negative] mindsets of a few [teachers] can undermine the outcomes of many [students].”
4.) If you know someone who runs an extracurricular activity / club / sport / the entire program (Ray J.!!), thank them.
It’s one of the biggest reasons kids run to school.
4a.) Relatedly (and awesomely) –
TEAM Academy club prepares Newark students for their futures
Bilal Walker, a third-generation Newarker and a TEAM alumnus, started the club at the middle school as a way to better prepare the youngsters for life’s challenges once they leave the security of their school environment.
“I was looking for a catalyst to honor some of our most resilient eight graders,” Walker said. “Being an Afro-centric person, I’m into rites of passage.”
The word Siwaju is Yoruba, the language of the Yoruba people — an ethnic group of southwestern and north-central Nigeria, as well as southern and central Benin, of more than 40 million people that make up one of the largest populations in Africa.
“Siwaju means forward,” Walker said. “I took the word, took the meaning behind it, and created this initiative.”
In order to join the Siwaju club, students must complete a detailed application and provide letters of recommendation. They must also maintain a 2.8 GPA and complete 30 hours of community service.
In the club, students conduct their own seminars on a variety of topics such as jobs and career, mental health, interactions with law enforcement, financial literacy, homosexuality and emotional competency, among others.
5.) While on the subject of Ray J. –
He posted this a while back and I just got around to listening to it (I wish I was with-it enough to have heard it when I was younger) and it’s about twenty years old and it’s still absolute fire.
(If you’ve ever put this in front of kids before [or you plan on it], go you because that’s truly badass.)
6.) From three years ago (because Cara C. and I were talking about this a few weeks ago) –
I saw this poem on Facebook recently and it really hit me (especially because kids not having pencils used to be a pet peeve of mine):
Ann B. found this reflection about the poem online –
“Despite my making a conscious effort every day to remember that not everyone’s circumstances are the same, I still need reminding sometimes. I still need to remember some of my students will come to class without something they need simply because they just don’t have it. It isn’t always forgetfulness. It isn’t always laziness. It isn’t always defiance of the rules. Some of the time, maybe even a lot of the time, they just don’t have it. It isn’t because they don’t want to listen and it isn’t because they don’t care.”
(Preach.)
7.) From Kevin B. two years ago –
TGIM | LEAVE A LEGACY | INKY JOHNSON PART 2
Trust me on this.
In fact, watch it on your phone right now.
If you don’t email me back in 8 minutes and 41 seconds and say that the video is one of the most inspiring you’ve ever seen and that you plan to show / discuss it with kids at some point next week, I’ll buy you a coffee / bag of Sour Patch Kids / whatever.
(Seriously.)
It’s that real / powerful.
(I’m telling you — just watch it right now and see for yourself!)
Have a great weekend / next 8 minutes and 41 seconds,
Mark
* I specifically chose “Non-Stop” because it references so many lines and moments and themes from the first act that dovetail into one energetic af final minute (just like when different people come together to be best for each other and best for kids).
(Cue Mariel rolling her eyes.)
p.s. If you want more from Simmons –
“But that’s the thing — if you love basketball and (more important) love watching basketball played correctly, the 2012 San Antonio Spurs have a way of grabbing your attention. They play beautifully together. They pull for each other. They make each other better.”
“… it’s the chemistry of the 2012 Spurs that leaves you breathless. I know, that’s a weird thing to write. How can chemistry leave you breathless? But in person, the little things stand out — you know, teammates feeding off each other, bench guys reacting to big plays, players always making the extra pass, guys constantly talking to each other, even simple moments like Duncan gleefully congratulating Danny Green after Green stopped Chris Paul at the end of Game 4. Duncan wasn’t happy that Green came through for the Spurs; he was happy for Green as a friend. Big difference.”
“And once you build a foundation that strong — when guys aren’t just teammates but friends, when nobody looks at their numbers, when everything revolves around the question, ‘What’s the best way to win today’s game?’ — everything else is cake.”
