If You’re Reading This You Should Really Watch the Jay-Z Interview Too (Seven culture / advisory / assembly ideas:)

1.) Jay-Z basically summarizing the importance of culture / advisory / assemblies / the small, daily interactions (with kids and [!] adults) that matter so much (@ 5:03) –

“And it’s just certain tools that you would hope for your child to have. You know, like fairness and compassion and empathy and a loving heart. And those things translate in any environment. Those are the main, base things that you want, well for me, I would want my child to have. To treat people as they are, no matter who they are. No matter where they sit in the world. Not to be super nice to someone who’s at a high position. Or mean to someone they deem to be below them. I can’t buy you love. I can’t show it to you. I can show you affection and I can express love but I can’t put it in your hand [in the physical sense]. I can’t put compassion in your hand. I can’t show you that. So the most beautiful things are the things that are invisible. That’s where the important things lie.”

(We’re showing this to the kids on Monday. And the part where Jay-Z talks about being in therapy * @ 12:16 too.)

2.) Our kids (especially from middle school on) should be able to talk in the hall / hallway.

I know there are some quasi-decent reasons why they should be silent but the way I see it:

A. Adults talk in the hall. Adults are people. Kids are people too. They can handle it.

B. If we can teach kids the level of rigor expected on the PARCC, then we can teach kids to talk in the hall appropriately (a way less rigorous task).

C. It’s actually easier to manage kids while they are walking and talking as opposed to if they’re silent. (The amount of consequences given out will decrease dramatically.)

D. People like to talk. Talking is fun. Being connected to others is an important part of being a human. It would make our kids’ days that much more enjoyable.

E. How cool would it be if kids left your class and then talked about it in the hall with their friends right after??

3.) From LeBron’s Instagram Story on Wednesday –

3a.) Because LeBron: In my own words, unscripted. 👑 UNTIL WE ALL WIN #EQUALITY

4.) This was the best Super Bowl commercial two years ago: Colgate #EveryDropCounts

Linai B. (2024) reminded me of it when she shared out in science class the other day that she’s trying to take shorter showers because of the water shortage in South Africa.

She said that she knew it wasn’t going to help South Africa directly but that she could do her part here.

(Spoiler alert: our kids are unimaginable. I can’t wait to share Linai’s story with them on Monday.)

[These are exactly the types of stories we should be sharing with kids on a weekly — I would argue daily — basis. The best culture / advisory ideas are the beautiful / amazing things that our kids do on the regular.]

{I keep a Post-It note in the front of my room on my whiteboard. The only thing I write on it is the badass things our kids do so I remember to share them at assemblies and such.}

4a.) Also dope (and devastating if you think about it): Colgate “Save Water” — Ativação Marriot **

4b.) Same: This Brilliant Split-Screen Video Has A Powerful Message You Just Won’t Forget

5.) From Will Smith via Audrey M.: Seek Those Who Fan Your Flames

(Literally perfect framing for figuring out who your true friends are — whether that be middle school / high school / life / whatever.)

6.) I’m not sure how I missed this but it’s brilliant af: Freedom (Beyoncé) — International Day of the Girl

7.) Let the countdown to February 16 begin (not that it hasn’t already begun): Black Panther

(I’m still trying to figure out a way to take the entire grade to see this. Fruitvale Station and Creed — also directed by Ryan Coogler — were so f’ing good.)

Have a great rest of your weekend,

Mark

* We’re going to connect it to this (the p.s. from last week) –

We listened to / discussed Kid Cudi — Pursuit Of Happiness ft. MGMT (lyrics attached) with the kids last Thursday afternoon.

We also read his blog post (below).

I don’t think it was perfect by any means (is anything?) but I hope the kids left the assembly knowing that –

A. We love them.

B. They are stronger than they know.

C. It’s normal to be sad.

D. If you are struggling, there are many forms of therapy.

(We didn’t give them an exhaustive list but exercise, music, writing, and talking to someone [specifically people like Kev, Abdoul, and Jen] were some ideas we shared.)

Maybe it’s just me (definitely possible) but I think it was one of our most meaningful assemblies this year / in general.

How the assembly idea started (from Rachel P.) –

I’m just following up on our assembly discussion about depression / mental health. After listening to Kid Cudi a bit, I realized that he is really intense and raw and real, but also discusses his personal drug use in pretty much every song. His music seems really mature to me and I 1000% will not be offended if you choose to not use any of this, but I didn’t want to not follow up on it.

Here’s the post that he wrote before he left for rehab last year. Super intense but also sheds light on where his music comes from. The comments for this post are also really supportive and amazing. (Also, after he wrote this, Drake wrote a song where he made fun of him for checking into rehab and being on anti-anxiety meds.)

Literally every one of his songs relates to his struggles with mental health, but a lot of them also talk about his drug use. Regardless, these are my personal favorites: Pursuit of Happiness, Soundtrack 2 My Life, Wounds.

** The idea of staring at the little girl while brushing your teeth reminds of me this but in a less poignant way –

“You know the thing where, when you wake up in the morning, you brush your teeth in the bathroom while you stare at yourself in the mirror and wonder about all sorts of things, like maybe about how your day will go or whether or not a piece of your face is oddly shaped? Patrick Beverley does that, too, except he doesn’t stare at himself in the mirror, because he uses that time to stare at his goals boards instead. He literally just stares at them. Brushing and staring, brushing and staring, brushing and staring. And he doesn’t wonder about all sorts of things. He only thinks about the goals, and the things he’ll need to do to accomplish them, and how he will refuse to let anybody prevent him from accomplishing them. Which is probably why he is in the NBA and you are not.”