“I now understand what Nelle Morton meant when she said that one of the great tasks in our time is to "hear people to speech." Behind their fearful silence, our students want to find their voices, speak their voices, have their voices heard. A good teacher is one who can listen to those voices even before they are spoken-so that someday they can speak with truth and confidence.”
-- Parker J. Palmer

Reflection point:  In what ways are you 'hearing your students to speech'?

SAT training:  All certified teachers need to go here: www.collegeboard.org/ptat to watch the video and take the test  to proctor the SAT.  Please print the certificate of completion and put it in my box by Friday 3/26/21 at 3:30  You will  need to indicate (in the initial questions) that you will be a proctor so the link will bypass the coordinator portion of the training.  Thank you for doing this.  It is required and I appreciate that you're doing it early enough that it won't be a last minute worry.

Happiness:  In a Happiness Project blog post, Seline Shenoy talks about the three main ways people sabotage their own happiness.  These are: basing happiness on external people and events, not taking care of their bodies, and becoming disconnected from their own internal realities. She says we are distracted, busy and operating on auto pilot.  As a result of this, we miss opportunities to check in with our own thoughts and emotions and bodies which are constantly in flux based on what's going on around us. I hope that spring break brings you many opportunities to connect with the people who are important to you along with your own sense of fun, freedom and adventure.  And, I also hope we all take the time to check in with our own 'internal realities.'  As the article points out,  a person's "happiness is not dictated by their external circumstances, but by their perception of those circumstances."  A few mindful moments spent thinking about and managing our own thoughts and emotions might be a more sure path to happiness than filling our days with the busy pursuit of it.

Engagement Survey:  So far, 42% of students and 96% of staff have taken the Engagement Survey.  It closes on March 31st.  Please try to get all of your students to take it.  Thank you.

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Spring Break
Monday 3/29: Sleep and play
Tuesday 3/30:  Sleep and play
Wednesday 3/31: Sleep and play
Thursday 4/1: Sleep and play
Friday 4/2:  Sleep and play


Bus/Parking lot duty:  Cooley and Gonzalez
Monday 4/5: 
Tuesday 4/6:  
Wednesday 4/7: PD Day
Thursday 4/8: 
Friday 4/9:  

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Penske and Hamill

Monday 4/12: 

Tuesday 4/13:  SAT Day -only students taking the SAT (all juniors, some seniors) attend
Wednesday 4/14: Non work day

Thursday 4/15: 

Friday 4/16:  

Week of March 8

Bring Life to Learning

In his essay, The Heart of a Teacher, Parker J. Palmer talks about teaching as a "daily exercise in vulnerability."  He explains that we teach the things we care about.  The things we care about define our personhood and as we weave connection between ourselves, our subjects and students, we are vulnerable to their "indifference, judgment, ridicule."  We reduce this vulnerability by disconnecting from students and sometimes from our own passion for learning and our own teacher-hearts.  

Palmer's essay is a backdrop to my thinking about our work at Venture.  Sometimes we describe our students as "disconnected" or "at-risk" learners and we center our efforts on engaging their brains and their intellects.  I wonder, are we paying enough attention to their hearts?  How about our own hearts?  

As teachers, our knowledge is our stock-in-trade and its importance shouldn't be underestimated. The notion of school is built on the general expectation that we will apply our teacher techniques to the student and, if we're skilled at our trade, they absorb a portion of our knowledge and  become educated.  Sadly, the culture of school is marked by a pervasive dismay that students aren't holding up their ends of the bargain. They are disconnected, at-risk learners.  The business of teaching is intellectual work; however, it is personal passion brought to the learning stage that speaks to students' hearts and infectiously ignites their own excitement to explore the world.  Passion, of course, is heart work and it grows in an interactive community of learners. Teaching with heart and sharing our passions with students breathes life into a stale world of education. Creating a learning experience that empowers students to explore, talk about and think about the subject you love lets them learn to find their own passions and come to understand their own truths.

Purpose and meaning are created where intellect and emotion intersect.  When the work proceeds from the integration of what our heads know and our hearts feel, teaching and learning become mutually joyous processes  This is a vulnerable undertaking and requires us to wrestle a bit with our own inner landscapes. As we do this work, community is as important for us as it is for our students.  I invite you to reflect on how you both give and accept support from your colleagues.  For myself, I am grateful to each of you.  I appreciate that we share ideas and I thank you for the ways you've helped me to grow professionally and in my own spirit.  While I may leave tired at the end of the day, the work we do energizes me and I am inspired by you to continue pushing forward.

Staff Engagement Survey:

Please take the staff engagement survey before you leave on Friday.  This is for all staff members.  If you work with a classified staff member who doesn't read the blog (even though they should), please show this to them. Thank you!

https://eprovesurveys.advanc-ed.org/surveys/#/action/149870/30861/1

Student Engagement Survey:

The student engagement survey is in the Clever portal for all students.  Please have them take the survey during advisory class by Friday.  We are aiming for 100% to complete the survey which means we need to catch absent students as they return.  The window of opportunity will close on March 31. 

Design Team:

Design Team members will help Venture establish a new mission and vision, set goals and lead the work of meeting those goals.  If you are interested in helping to lead this process, please click here:

Apply to be a Design Team Member

Bus/Parking lot duty: Beck and Posey

Monday 3/8:

Tuesday 3/9:
Wednesday 3/10: PD Day 8:00 Staff meeting Agenda  9:00 Andi West: attachment styles

Thursday 3/11:

Friday 3/12:  

Bus/Parking lot duty: Stolken and Doering

Monday 3/15:

Tuesday 3/16:
Wednesday 3/17: PD Day St. Paddy's Day Potluck

Thursday 3/18:

Friday 3/19:  

Bus/Parking lot duty: Baker and Pavlik

Monday 3/22:

Tuesday 3/23:
Wednesday 3/24: Non Work Day

Thursday 3/25:

Friday 3/26:  

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Spring Break

Monday 3/29: Sleep and play

Tuesday 3/30:  Sleep and play
Wednesday 3/31: Sleep and play

Thursday 4/1: Sleep and play

Friday 4/2:  Sleep and play