Steven Jobs, original inventor of Apple Computers, speaking to graduating class of Stanford University this spring.
Quote #1
You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
Quote #2
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life...
Quote #3
Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.
Quote #4
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice.
This is the text of the [Stanford University] Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. For the full (brief) text, go here.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
My own Return to Flight
The plane is one I started building about 25 years ago, it's called Minnie Mambo. Time flies... It uses a little .049 cubic inch 2 stroke engine. The radio control gear is now in place and I'm ready to try it out.
The rocket was built last winter and has yet to be flown. I'm hoping to get permission to do it for the students at school. Should fly to over 1000 feet.
Model Aeronautics Club, anyone?
Mental Institutions as movie themes
Well now, there's a leap. Yesterday I viewed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Heard lots about it and now finally have seen it, mainly because of seeing Jack Nicholson in other more recent movies such as As Good As It Gets and Something's Gotta Give.
They say that good comedic actors also make excellent psychopathic characters. The true comedic minds are connected deeply to all parts of being human, I guess.
Anyway, Nicholson explores the vast amount of grey area (grey matter?) between being normal and being crazy in all three of these movies.
What strikes me is that very often, the person who is most repulsive, most poorly behaved and rough around the edges is the one who holds the key to meaning. As quick as we are to avoid such people, they will not let themselves be easily avoided! We lose out by shunning or trying to "protect" ourselves from them. The best we can do is accept them for who they are; the worst we can do is dehumanize them, as illustrated by the mental institution in Cuckoo's nest.
The institutional damage done to people shown in the Cuckoo's Nest is disturbing, especially when you consider that thousands of lobotomies were performed back in those days. The story of actress Frances Farmer comes to mind. There's a movie called Frances starring Jessica Lange which I'm told is extremely powerful. Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman is another. Any others? There was an oldie with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman if anyone can help me with the name of it.
What are other "mental institution movies" that we should add to this list?
As teachers, what can we learn from them?
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Speaking of Authority and Lunchroom
This is the definition of authority:
Authority doesn't mean just "exact obedience, command." It also means to "determine, judge." The true outworking of our authority must include a full discussion and agreement together about what kind of school we want for our students. How do we want to interact with our students? We determine together how this will be done. We make judgements together as teachers about the type of environment we will create together for our students.
There are some situations where our authority is not consistently reflected within the school. Part of the cause of this is because of change in routines, change in room assignments, change in personnel. Part of the cause is also that we don't have a firm sense of agreement about "how we want our school to be." Then, when one attempts to bring "new" and seemingly arbitrary rules and procedures into that situation, there is resistance. If we do not work out how and where our authority as teachers needs to be exercised, then we will run into problems. For example, in our grade seven lunchroom a system was set up where one teacher was responsible for supervising a group of 30-75 grade sevens. A few rules were set in place as the basis for order and decency in the room. It became obvious very soon that some of the kids didn't feel any ownership for the rules, since one of them brazenly tore the sheets off the wall, much to the delight of many! We overlooked the imporant role of inclusion. That is, we didn't include the students in the discussion of the new rules and procedures.
This is from my journal of June 15. You can see the frustration I'm facing because of having no sense of authority:
I was steamed at lunch time, because of trying to supervise our ridiculous grade 7 lunch room by enforcing the agreed upon rules, ie. sit in your assigned seat, stay seated while eating, converse quietly, permission to move is given only when all garbage is cleaned up. The kids have not been held to these rules that were agreed upon a few short weeks ago, so now they just sit wherever they want. And I don't blame them--the kids don't see the big deal about sitting wherever. They've not had the opportunity to understand the issues at stake, ie. attendance, safety, cleanliness of the room. A few people in authority made up the rules, but didn't build an understanding of the rationale for the rules with kids. Some in authority did not enforce the rules, or silently disagreed with them in the first place. Good grief, if we can't take the time to come up with and enforce a simple set of lunchroom procedures and guidelines, where will we end up?
My sarcastic, pessimistic view:
Quit hammering on the rules. The kids need input and some sense of control. Just be nice to the kids and it’ll all work out. Let them sit where they want, move when they want. Doesn’t matter if attendance taking is a sham. Doesn’t matter if dozens of kids are not where they ought to be during lunch time for the simple purpose of taking attendance. Doesn't matter that a few kids will be slobs and throw food and garbage, or just leave it on the floor. As long as they can be with their friends that’s all that matters. They’re reasonable people. It’s no big deal, right? We aren't trying to be control freaks!
Problem is, this lack of organizational cohesion from those in authority wreaks havoc elsewhere. We end up in our classrooms with all sorts of situations, kind of like education on demand. We give an assignment in class. We give due dates. We give ample work time in class. Then, when someone actually enforces a due date and holds the kids to the rules, there’s a mad scramble. Some will demand extra time. They will expect the teacher to be be flexible and go the extra mile, or stay after school and teach the lesson again. Or they will ask to stay in at recess to do the work. "Adjust yourselves to me! My needs and my way of doing things are what matters." Hey, children, if you want flexibility on the one hand and cooperation, then you’ve got to quit arguing and resisting on the other! Don’t turn a simple lunch time routine into a war over your convenience of seating. And teachers, we had better get our heads together over this lunch room stuff and the many other procedures and expectations we work with.
We need to become very adept at setting up systems and ways of doing things that are manageable, and that reflect our care and authority to provide for our students, and that also considers their needs and their value as people.
What kind of school do we want to work in? Shouldn't it be a place where the kids and the adults work together and aren't in contest with each other over who's in charge?
Our challenge is to work out our authority together, justly and for the benefit of our students.
GB
- The power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge.
- One that is invested with this power...
Authority doesn't mean just "exact obedience, command." It also means to "determine, judge." The true outworking of our authority must include a full discussion and agreement together about what kind of school we want for our students. How do we want to interact with our students? We determine together how this will be done. We make judgements together as teachers about the type of environment we will create together for our students.
There are some situations where our authority is not consistently reflected within the school. Part of the cause of this is because of change in routines, change in room assignments, change in personnel. Part of the cause is also that we don't have a firm sense of agreement about "how we want our school to be." Then, when one attempts to bring "new" and seemingly arbitrary rules and procedures into that situation, there is resistance. If we do not work out how and where our authority as teachers needs to be exercised, then we will run into problems. For example, in our grade seven lunchroom a system was set up where one teacher was responsible for supervising a group of 30-75 grade sevens. A few rules were set in place as the basis for order and decency in the room. It became obvious very soon that some of the kids didn't feel any ownership for the rules, since one of them brazenly tore the sheets off the wall, much to the delight of many! We overlooked the imporant role of inclusion. That is, we didn't include the students in the discussion of the new rules and procedures.
This is from my journal of June 15. You can see the frustration I'm facing because of having no sense of authority:
I was steamed at lunch time, because of trying to supervise our ridiculous grade 7 lunch room by enforcing the agreed upon rules, ie. sit in your assigned seat, stay seated while eating, converse quietly, permission to move is given only when all garbage is cleaned up. The kids have not been held to these rules that were agreed upon a few short weeks ago, so now they just sit wherever they want. And I don't blame them--the kids don't see the big deal about sitting wherever. They've not had the opportunity to understand the issues at stake, ie. attendance, safety, cleanliness of the room. A few people in authority made up the rules, but didn't build an understanding of the rationale for the rules with kids. Some in authority did not enforce the rules, or silently disagreed with them in the first place. Good grief, if we can't take the time to come up with and enforce a simple set of lunchroom procedures and guidelines, where will we end up?
My sarcastic, pessimistic view:
Quit hammering on the rules. The kids need input and some sense of control. Just be nice to the kids and it’ll all work out. Let them sit where they want, move when they want. Doesn’t matter if attendance taking is a sham. Doesn’t matter if dozens of kids are not where they ought to be during lunch time for the simple purpose of taking attendance. Doesn't matter that a few kids will be slobs and throw food and garbage, or just leave it on the floor. As long as they can be with their friends that’s all that matters. They’re reasonable people. It’s no big deal, right? We aren't trying to be control freaks!
Problem is, this lack of organizational cohesion from those in authority wreaks havoc elsewhere. We end up in our classrooms with all sorts of situations, kind of like education on demand. We give an assignment in class. We give due dates. We give ample work time in class. Then, when someone actually enforces a due date and holds the kids to the rules, there’s a mad scramble. Some will demand extra time. They will expect the teacher to be be flexible and go the extra mile, or stay after school and teach the lesson again. Or they will ask to stay in at recess to do the work. "Adjust yourselves to me! My needs and my way of doing things are what matters." Hey, children, if you want flexibility on the one hand and cooperation, then you’ve got to quit arguing and resisting on the other! Don’t turn a simple lunch time routine into a war over your convenience of seating. And teachers, we had better get our heads together over this lunch room stuff and the many other procedures and expectations we work with.
We need to become very adept at setting up systems and ways of doing things that are manageable, and that reflect our care and authority to provide for our students, and that also considers their needs and their value as people.
What kind of school do we want to work in? Shouldn't it be a place where the kids and the adults work together and aren't in contest with each other over who's in charge?
Our challenge is to work out our authority together, justly and for the benefit of our students.
GB
Monday, August 08, 2005
Building Resilience in Kids: Tribes
Tribes: Author Jeanne Gibbs
Amazon Books has it
Excerpts from chapter 4
If a person does not feel included, he/she will create his/her own inclusion by grabbing influence-- attracting attention, creating a controversy, demanding power, or withdrawing into a passive belligerence.
When one has no stake in the way things are, when one’s needs or opinons are provided no forum, when one sees oneself as an object of unilateral actions, it takes no particular wisdom to suggest one would rather be elsewhere. -- Seymour Sarason
The result and response from people in this environment is either "fight or flight." Act out or drop out. Teachers do this as well as kids!
This is organizational dis-ease, a plague in any system that is “still managed through top-down authoriatarian methods that only provide inclusion and influence for the manager, principal, boss, or leader.”
Tribes groups are like closed membership small groups. They are long-term care groups, not just short term task groups. In short term, open-membership groups it is harder to develop trust and a sense of security.
The key idea in Tribes is that of transferring of leadership from the teacher to the groups. It is based on the value of the kids and the belief that they are capable people who can manage themselves and help each other.
Facilitator: “one who makes it easy.”
First step: Inclusion
In order for inclusion to occur, and bring about the feelings of peace and self-worth that come with it, the following three opportunities must be provided:
- Each person needs to be able to introduce herself, not just by stating a name but offering a short description of her feelings, interests, resources, talents or special qualitities.
- Each person needs to be able to express his hopes or expectations for what will happen during the group’s time together.
- Each person needs to be acknowledged by the group as having been heard, appreciated, and welcomed.
The use of “trial tribes” is appropriate, where groups or three or pairs can interact and find inclusion. Being included and feeling included is a basic human need. The time spent on building this into a group is time well spent.
Next step: Influence
To the extent that each person does not feel important in a classroom or organization, commitment and motivation decrease.
Instead of having group members wrestle for influence, the skilled facilitator provides a selection of strategies that help people to:
- express diverse attitudes, opinions, positions and feelings
- put forth ideas without others passing judgement; help people to respect individual differences
- use participatory methods for decision making so that all members feel they are influential and of value to the group
- help members share leadership responsibility
Conflicts are a necessary component of the dynamic process. Some strategies for dealing with them are reflection, discussion, role reversal, state feelings clearly, group members give constructive feedback, step by step problem solving, negotiation of an individual’s priorities.
During this stage, the facilitator supports the tribes as they work on their own. Circulate, get verbal reports. If the facilitator sits down with a group the dynamic changes instantly. The focus reverts to the teacher, instead of the tribe members.
You will know that you are in a community if you often hear laughter and singing. You will know you are in an institution or bereaucracy if you hear the silence of long halls and the intonations of formal meetings. -- John Mcknight
[What do I see in our school? The laughter is in the halls between classes. The kids have created their own tribes and their own communities. Their value is found within the tribes of their own creation: circles of friends, peer groups. The kids who are in such groups have a sense of belonging. The leaders of these groups no doubt find them very satisfying. What parts of this group dynamic are to be kept? Why can’t these skills and benefits be brought into the classroom? Is it because of the deeply set belief that the classroom stuff is not important, and not satisfying? There is no connection with who I am and what I’m interested in. . . Our challenge is to learn from the group dynamics that already exist, and to adapt our classroom environments to include them in our learning.”]
Interdependence and connection to others is key to human development, learning and the accomplishment of task.
Step three: Community
Indicators of community:
- capacity of each member is recognized and brought forth
- collective effort is achieved through including everyone, sharing responsibilities
- informality of transactions, based on caring and affection and consideration
- stories are generated of accomplishments, lessons and future desires
- celebration of achievement blurs the line between work and play as people enjoy both at once
Creating community requires
- dedication to resolving rather than avoiding uncomfortable problems and conflicts that begin to separate members
- learning and practicing the skills that enable collaboration
- agreements about how we will treat each other
- time to reflect on how well we are doing
Once a group has gone through adversity together, its members become filled with confidence that they can handle whatever comes their way. This is the path to RESILIENT relationships, creativity and outstanding results!
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