If You’re Reading This It’s Not Too Late (Ten culture / advisory / assembly ideas:)
1.) I went to a school culture meeting in New York City on Friday and I left with many takeaways but none more important than this one –
Is there anything better than getting to work with kids and a group of adults who also know that there’s nothing better than getting to work with kids??
[Insert your own reply here.]
Someone at your school believes this to be true.
(I’d bet many people do. *)
Find them. Become best friends if you aren’t already.
And then, in the quasi-paraphrased / inspired words of Rupi Kaur:
Set the school on fire — one student, one classroom, one floor at a time.
2.) David B. recently updated our Non-Negotiables and they are dope / brilliant af –
(1) We all learn. 100% of kids and adults learn, in every class, every day. It’s teachers’ jobs to teach and learn, and it’s kids job to teach and learn. Adults invest students in learning, and kids are open to learning new things. We don’t get to decide whether we learn or not. Adults give regular feedback on student learning, in and out of the classroom.
(2) We are all kind. Kids are kind to one another and to adults. Adults are kind to one another and to kids. When we are not, we address it and give guidance. When necessary, we are held accountable.
(3) We are all held to a high bar. We hold a high bar for instruction and behavior in every class, and adults support kids in meeting the bar rather than lowering it.
For Leaders:
(4) We teach and insist. Leaders in our school teach others how to do the work, and insist that we do it. Leaders support the development of teachers and staff, and a person’s development is ultimately his or her job.
2a.) Related to #4 (above) –
You don’t need a title to be a leader. In fact, some of the best leaders don’t have titles. They just jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows.
2b.) Related to #3 (above) –
Being held to a high bar means many things — one of them is that yelling at kids is wack.
Because yelling breaks trust with kids? Yes.
Because yelling really only works in the moment to intimidate students into compliance? Yes.
Because yelling is stressful to kids (and to you)? Yes.
Because yelling is a bad model for how kids should behave themselves? Yes.
But also because there’s another level (many other levels, I’d argue) in which you can invest / inspire / instruct kids without yelling.
Because slowing down and remaining calm and being precise / direct with your language (all of this can be done with strong voice) respects the humanity of kids so much more.
3.) From Neil deGrasse Tyson –
DAMNNN.
(On so [!!!] many levels.)
You should watch those 213 seconds right now.
(I sent this out two years ago but I came back to it this weekend for some reason — I’m not exactly sure why. Regardless, I can’t wait to show the kids tomorrow.)
My favorite part @ 1:17 –
“So when I look up at the night sky and I know that, yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up — many people feel small cause they’re small and the universe is big but I feel big because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life — you want to feel connected. You want to feel relevant. You want to feel like you’re a participant in the goings-on of activities and events around you. That’s precisely what we are — just by being alive.”
4.) From Audrey M. –
Danai Gurira’s Full Circle Black Girl Magic Moment With ESSENCE Will Make You So Happy
I don’t send emails about moving / powerful videos often. Danai Gurira is more than Okoye from Black Panther. She is a moving, powerful force who has recently used her platform to articulate to women and little girls across the globe that black women are beautiful. That we are powerful. That we are more than what others claim our worth to be. That there is nothing more powerful than sisters lifting up and celebrating each other, no matter the age, location, and social status.
Damn near tears, I spent 9m at happy hour listening to this. And after I send this message, I’m gonna spend another 9m (maybe 18) re-listening to her speech.
I want to share this with our girls at the next assembly. If our boys should hear it during whole group or at their own boys assembly, so be it. They need to hear the powerful strength of sisterhood and know that they too have that powerful strength in their brotherhood AS WELL AS in their own community — women and men, boys and girls uplifting each other.
“Dispel the lie and implant the truth. … No matter what the world throws at you. You. Are. Beautiful.”
You are intelligent.
You are what you desire to be.
“The youth need to see themselves reflected in our eyes.”
Please, do listen. Do internalize. And most importantly, do share.
(So fucking beautiful.)
[We’ll be sharing / discussing this with the kids tomorrow.]
5.) Also from Audrey M. –
She’s “fearless [with] no limits … [simply] authentic.”
(And this too.)
6.) From Megan G. –
Just saw this post and think it is super pertinent. I am hoping to get my team to do a boys and girls assembly and share this with the ladies, but I do think it’s a good message for everyone!
7.) From Nike –
Serena Williams: Until We All Win
“I’ve never been the right kind of woman. Oversized and overconfident. Too mean if I don’t smile. Too black for my tennis whites. Too motivated for motherhood. But I’m proving, time and time again, there’s no wrong way to be a woman.”
8.) From Kevin B. –
Oprah explores life-changing question in treating childhood trauma.
(Kevin’s email — “Must See!!!!!!!!”)
[Preach.]
My favorite part @ 3:57 –
“I [Oprah] will have to say that was the life changing question, that my whole senses responded to. See, we go through life and we see kids who are misbehaving. Juvenile delinquents, we label them. And really the question we should be asking is not ‘what’s wrong with that child?’ but ‘what happened to that child?’”
8a.) Because Oprah mentions Bruce Perry in the video and because this book is life changing: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook — What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing
9.) From Ben C. –
Dude, very random, but I’m at an airport watching a video where the Black Panther director is breaking down a fight scene. Ryan Coogler. It’s on ReachMeTV. You gotta see this shit. You gotta show the kids. So much genius. So much pride and dope symbols of black pride and Pan-Africanism. The kids would love it.
Black Panther’s Director Ryan Coogler Breaks Down a Fight Scene | Notes on a Scene
(They really will love it.)
10.) From Steve Hartman –
Texas Tech recognizes outstanding show of sportsmanship.
(This one is updated!)
10a.) Also from Steve Hartman –
A change of heart brings down a Confederate flag, brings a community together.
Have a great Tuesday,
Mark
* Yourself included.
