fun

Let’s Rethink Teacher Retirement

Posted by Dean Shareski on in fun, Video 0 Comment

I recall vividly the first few years of teaching and attending retirement events for my colleagues. As a small district of 15 or so schools, they held these events altogether. I remember hearing tributes and watching skits of people I either only knew from that year or other teachers I never worked with or heard of. I recall laughing along with inside jokes I didn’t really get. I teared up as a younger teacher shared how much they appreciated the mentorship of their colleague. A could clearly feel a sense of community among these veteran teachers. I was looking forward to continuing my journey to belong. Seeing them be celebrated and honoured for their work made me proud and excited to be a teacher. To think that one day I might be honoured and would be carrying with me so many memories of times with staff and students seemed to be a nice way to spend a life.

As our district amalgamated and times changed, these large celebrations and gatherings dissipated. Many teachers opted out of being celebrated in this way. It seemed like a lot of work and effort to put on these events.

Today I see many of my contemporaries retiring but not many are being honored in this same way. Some choosing not to have any kind of limelight thrust upon them and other places just determine it’s too much fuss. However, a simple gesture like including cookies in packages sent to retirees can go a long way in expressing gratitude and celebrating their contributions.

As I think about the future of the profession, encouraging young people and young teachers to see this as a lovely way to spend a life seems to be an important consideration and ritual. I realize that many are exhausted and are choosing to retire in less-than-ideal circumstances. Still, I think we could do better. Celebrating the end of one’s career is not just about that person, although that ought to be enough. It’s about holding up the profession, the time we spend together as something beautiful and honourable. But really, it’s a lot of work and given the busyness of our lives, many decide it’s just not worth it. It makes me think of this quote:

“Beware the soul-sucking force of reasonableness”

Chip Heath, The Power of Moments: Why Certain Moments Have Extraordinary Impact

It’s reasonable to assume folks are busy in June. It’s reasonable to think many people don’t want to be made a fuss over. It’s reasonable to assume some people are leaving on a sour note. It’s reasonable to keep it simple, no skits, funny stories or tributes, just a handshake and a gift. But this lack of effort seems to forget that most of these folks have invested a large chunk of their lives serving countless students, experiencing many highs and lows, and making a difference in the lives of their colleagues, their students and the communities they serve. Teaching is hard with not all that many rewards and recognitions compared to many other professions. The least we could do is make celebrating a life’s work something that is baked into the culture of a school and school district. Be a little extravagant and make celebrate. Do it for the retiree, do it for you and do it for those trying to decide if they want to spend their life in this work.

For inspiration:

2017 #Deanie Awards

Posted by Dean Shareski on in fun 0 Comment

At the same time, it’s my way of saying thank you to those that do little and sometimes big things to bring a smile to face throughout the year”

Like my video of the year I wasn’t planning to do my #deanie awards this year. Mostly because it’s so random I hate the thought of someone being upset about being left out. The key is not to take them too seriously. I don’t. At the same time, it’s my way of saying thank you to those that do little and sometimes big things to bring a smile to face throughout the year.

In case you missed it, here are all the winners:

Update: Because Storify is pooched and Alan Levine pesters me to own my own stuff, I abandoned the third party and share and host my own tweets:

Sandlots and Outdoor Rinks

Posted by Dean Shareski on in fun, socialnetworks 0 Comment

I played a lot of sports as a kid growing up in southern Manitoba. Hockey in the winter, baseball in the spring, golf in the summer and football in the fall. In all cases, I played in leagues but I also played them without adult supervision or organization.

In Canada, outdoor neigbourhood rinks are as prevalent as sandlots and baseball fields. I remember being about 7 years old and taking my skates and stick to the local outdoor rink, tieing my skates in the heated shack and heading out on the ice. There were kids, teenagers, and adults. Everyone played. You tossed your sticks in the centre of the rink and divided them up. Then you played. If the teams seemed uneven, you’d make a quick adjustment but mostly you just played. You learned to play with kids who were way better than you and kids who were worse. Some kids certainly had the puck more than others but you just played. While you did keep score, it mattered little as the next day you showed up and totally different teams were formed and usually a slightly different crowd.

In the summer, a similar experience happened on baseball diamonds and sandlots. We mostly played “scrub” because we didn’t have enough players but we made it work. Same with football. Every fall evening in September and October, we gathered at an amazing playground with thermoplastic playground marking designs and anti slip sports coatings like the ones at bestplaygroundmarkings.co.uk and played. Sometimes they were 6 of us, sometimes 12 or so. We’d also play basketball. When I was 12 had my Dad put the net at 8 feet so we could dunk. My Dad also had a tennis court build at home so we can play together, which is regularly maintained with the help of Tennis Court Maintenance contractors.

Since I was also playing organized sports I occasionally had to pass on one of these backyard, impromptu games. I liked playing on a team and competing but I also really liked just playing. I remember the freedom of trying to catch a pass one-handed or making a behind the back pass with my buddies. I also remember trying to put the puck back between my legs and shooting and having the coach yell at me for being a hotdog. In my backyard rink, everyone tried that kind of stuff. It was fun. I guess we were all trying to be hotdogs.

I was thinking about the social spaces I reside. Mostly twitter, facebook, Instagram and snapchat. To me, twitter and facebook have evolved to be the organized spaces. There are rules and competition. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but at one time, these spaces were more informal less judgment. Snapchat is where I follow my family, friends and their kids. I love seeing snaps of babies walking or dogs barking or the occasional goofy filter. No one is trying to market anything, it’s just people being people. It’s my sandlot and backyard rink.

I’m not really saying all that much here, just a random reflection on a Saturday night.

The #deanie Awards

Posted by Dean Shareski on in fun, Personal, socialnetworks 3 Comments

Last year I started this on a whim.

I decided to make it the second annual #deanie award.

 

I stated much of what was behind these awards in that post from 2015. Let me add to that a tweet I made for David Truss as he develops a twitter guide for educators.

I likely won’t remember a link or idea you shared. What tends to remain for me is who you are as a person. It’s why when someone shares something a bit unusual or personal, it grabs my attention because I get a sense of who they are and it becomes the basis of a continued connection. The reason I post things about golf, naps or other goofiness is the hope that it might connect me to someone with the same interests, brighten someone’s day or just break the endless stream of edusharing. I’m not opposed to sharing links and ideas, but I don’t know we need more of that. I’m trying to fill a void and spend time focusing on relationships and connections. There are many ways to do this, the #deanie awards are just one way to do so. You’ll notice that most of these are very specific and often superfluous. For the most part, this is my efforts to pay attention to people. Because of the randomness and stream of consciousness approach to these, there are inevitably people that I just forgot to mention and for that I’m sorry. Yes, you run the risk of potentially hurting someone’s feelings for being left out. But often times, we choose to do nothing when we run the risk of offending anyone. I’m sure there are many people that just because of my own lack of perception and focus, I’ve missed. Please forgive me and celebrate those who I do call out. Better yet, if someone’s award sounds interesting to you and you don’t follow them, give them a follow and a shout out. They are all really cool and interesting people which is why they got this very meaningless award.

Here are your 2016 #deanie award winners and some of their thoughts as well.

 

Joy and Love

Posted by Dean Shareski on in Discovery, fun, joy, Personal 1 Comment

This past week was Discovery Education‘s annual summer institute affectionately known as DENSI. 150 educators from all over the world spend 5 days together at what really can’t be described as a conference or professional development. It’s something different. The affection I feel for the people I just spent the last number of days with is hard to articulate. Just watching people learn and play and laugh is intoxicating. It’s particularly amazing to see folks from other countries cross-cultural barriers to simply connect as educators and humans.

The theme for this year’s event was joy. In education words like “joy” and “love” are often reluctantly used. We have historically left those ideas for other institutions to manage. Learning can happen without them but when you include them, the idea of “community” takes on a whole new meaning and learning goes to another level.

Yesterday for our final celebration event folks came dressed in whatever outfit/costume brought them joy. A group of community members decided to dress in colored pants and a Canadian t-shirt as a tribute to me. I was humbled and slightly embarrassed at this gesture. Sheila organized it all and represents the quality of people in our community.


I have been blessed to work with some of the most caring, loving, smart and funny people on the planet. Unknown to me, they too dressed as me. Each one representing one of my many odd quirks or expressions.


Part of me was really hoping they were just mocking me. Sometimes that’s easier to deal with than reality that they actually love me enough to make fun of me and with me.  My own family takes great pleasure in mocking me and I love it. While yesterday was a little bit about me, the truth is my team does this kind of thing for each other and our community all the time.

This is a special group. I keep thinking, imagine if everyone felt as loved and valued as I do in their school, classroom or place of work. Let me just quote one of our Egyptian attendees who said:

“Everyone around the world who looks for the meaning of joy, stop searching, come to Discovery Education.”

Update: My friend and former colleague Chad Lehman did a great job in creating this memory. I don’t know if this translates to those not in attendance or not a part of our community but I want to share it anyway because it makes me smile.