Brandi J. Clark

Literacy, Technology, Pop Culture...Oh My!

You Want Better Readers! I Have the Solution!

A Cute Story to Start…

I read with kids. It’s the funniest part of my job. Case in point….

We had just finished reading The Tortoise and the Hare. Of course, the moral of that story is: Strong and Steady Wins the Race.

My student raises her hand. “Nope,” she says, “Not true. My parents hate that I do everything slow. It drives them crazy. That story is not true.”

And, she’s right. All 8 year old’s are right!

So in my reading groups I try to see their side of things, or as Joni Mitchell would sing, “I’ve looked at love from both sides now.”

In my case,

I’ve looked at books from all sides now! (Please sing it, it sounds so cool, trust me.)

Last week I sat with a group of students to read a book called Fishing with Grandpa. As usual you ask the students, what do you know about the subject of the book? …which in this case is fishing.

Blink – Blink – Blink (This is the sound you hear when students can not relate to a topic. It’s louder than you think.)

So what do you do?

Making Better Connections

Well, we read through the story, pulling out some connections to what they have experienced about fishing in books, movies etc. In education we call this, Making Connections. I encourage students to make connections to themselves, to other books/movies and the world.  What I don’t want is students to make superficial connections like:

this book about fishing reminds me of Rainbow Fish it is also book about a fish

or

the character has a grandpa, I have a grandpa

or

the water is blue, I have seen blue water  (The students say these things, teachers cry a little inside, we try so hard!)

So what do you do with books that kids lack a real connection to?

Think HEART….not harder! (I just made that up, I most be having a good Sunday)

Think HEART means feeling. Can you get the students to connect with a feeling?

In this book it was disappointment. The disappointment of not catching a fish. Can kids relate to disappointment? Um…yes!  So, we had a discussion about feeling disappointed and how we moved passed it. In the story, the grandpa suggests that sometimes disappointments can happen but if we really engage in the moment, we can enjoy just “being there” …being there experiencing the sounds, smells, the beauty of the day and who you are with.

So I asked students if they could connect to disappointment.

“Yes,” said one student. “ I was supposed to go swimming with my mom but we didn’t go. I was disappointed.”

“Did the day turn out ok?” I asked.

“Yes, we had fun at home instead.” (She filled me in on all the fun. It was fun!)

Extending Reading into Writing

One of my favourite though leaders, Chris Brogan says, “give ideas handles.”  I understand this to mean, express your ideas so the others can relate to them, understand them and use them.

I believe strongly that reading workshop should and can fuel ideas in the writing workshop.

So, in the classroom, the student who missed swimming with her mom now has some ideas to fuel writing, she could:

– write about it in her journal, “Fun at Home with Mom”

– or it could inspire a nonfiction list, “Fun Things You Can Do At Home When You Can’t Go Out”

-or create a poem with this stem….

“I was disappointed (when)…..but on the bright side…I did (this) instead.

Bonus Thoughts and Ideas…You’re Welcome!

She could list several disappointments and related “bright sides”. This is a powerful thing for students to be able to reframe disappointment. Which, I am thinking out loud now but it would be interesting to use an actual “frame” for the reframe. I imagine a frame without glass or a back on it. Teachers could help students problem solve during the day but saying …”Of that is disappointing…how can you “reframe it”. Then the teacher pulls out a frame to remind the students to think about a positive way at looking at the situation.

(If I can digress further, by the way this is my brain on the daily …anyway this talk leads into Growth and Fixed Mindsets. A fixed mindset means nothing can change, this is how it is, to growth mindset which allows for a flexible way of viewing situations. Please check out Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck if you are interested in this idea. I have a copy. If you know me ask, I will let you borrow it.)

Anyway, I leave you with these ideas.

  • Think HEART not harder!
  • Relate connections to feelings.
  • Extend those connections into a deeper discussion or possible writing products.
  • “Give Ideas Handles”

Lastly, I remember way too much, of well…EVERYTHING!!!

Here is my memory of fishing…from Sesame Street, my first teacher.

Love always,

Coach Clark

Bring Yourself to Work! Try Job Crafting! All the Cool Kids Are!

Who Were You Born to Be?

I was born an artist. I know that for sure. Later I became a writer and a teacher but always an artist.

I have noticed as creatives sometimes we forget who we are. We think that our passion, our creativity is something we leave at home for the hours before and after work.

I have believed this sometimes. I’ve gone to work and I’ve left my writing behind and I’ve come home to work related planning.

But then there’s those moments in between.

Lots of moments!

Lots of hours where you aren’t in touch with your true passion!

And it doesn’t mean that your job isn’t the best job in the world. It IS the best job that suits your needs.

But, it probably still has room to add more of you. Bringing more of yourself to work is called “Job Crafting”.

What is Job Crafting?

“By definition, job crafting is how an employee reframes their work, physically, socially and cognitively. It is ‘…what employees do to redesign their own jobs in ways that foster engagement at work, job satisfaction, resilience, and thriving’ “ (Berg, Wrzesniewski, & Dutton, 2010). From – https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/job-crafting/

How Do I Job Craft to Reflect More of Who I Am?

For me it means bringing my art into the workplace. In the past I have created work journals. I profiled this process on one of my older blogs. I buy a lined journal and add my own calendar. Originally the calendar was created on index cards, but now I use a basic lined scribbler to keep all of my originals. I use a process of hole-punch dots from magazines, a series of cut-up images and letters. I add the calendars lines using colored pens.Then I photocopy over my original to give it a smooth finish.

I love my calendars! I know, that is completely nerdy, but that is me…completely nerdy.

I love looking at my calendars. It reminds me of my inner artist.  

It is not just a work journal with a pretty calendar. I also use it as a traveling writer’s notebook. I can keep a list of neat things I overhear in the hallways and classrooms. I record different story ideas or just insights about the students I’m with. It is a record of my work and my art.

This year I made  a 10 month calendar, yet I never went and got a photocopy of it for my journal. I just never made the time. I ended up buying a day-timer. It was nice and had stickers but it did not serve the same purpose as my home-made journal.

It wasn’t the same at all.

In fact I missed looking at my homemade calendar and just reflecting on my creative life.

The trigger to make a new one came recently from a struggle with my writing life.

Lately, I have been anxious about my writing. It was just not clicking. I had all these notes and yet I couldn’t make a breakthrough. My husband said, do some of your art. And I thought yeah that’s what I always did when I was most upset or stressed and in fact art got me through my cancer battle nearly 20 years ago.

It is what I tell my art students all the time, “Art is a wellness tool and it is important to keep it up. keep doing it even if it’s just simple artwork.”

Though I can create realistic portraits, this paper collage fulfills me in a way that is very zen and meditative.

Instead of using the old calendar, I decided to make the calendars full size so this meant a new notebook. Those who know me know that a new notebook is always something that I look forward too.

I found this one at Indigo and it fits so perfectly with what I was doing, “Fill you paper with the breathings of your heart.”  

Here are the three pages I created. I love them! Note they are much more vibrant in real life. They are different than before because I have included focus words for each month. 

 

How Else Can You Job Craft?

You can job craft your current job to include more of yourself. For some people that can go beyond a journal to include things that you have in your work space: a special frame, a picture, a color that speaks to you, music and special scents. I think we need to recognize that we need to pursue these things because they keep us in the zone, aligned. Sometimes these objects start a conversation, helping others discover what they may have not discovered about themselves and that’s why I’m sharing this today.

It took a few days to get this calendar together but it is so important for me to continue doing this for myself and really for the others in my life.

How can I say and talk about creativity when I leave it behind? When I don’t show how important it is to actually be your authentic self day in and day out no matter where or who you are.

Just remember to bring more of yourself to the workplace and to job craft your reality.  You will become a much more balanced person for the universe and for all of those around you.

Until next time,

Love Coach Clark