Laura K Spencer, Ed.D.

Tag: Jordan

  • Life Over Work

    Life Over Work

    In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to fall into the trap of equating our worth with our workload. However, we must remember that life isn’t about finding a balance; it’s about prioritizing what truly matters—our well-being and happiness.

    Days off are not just a luxury; they’re essential for recharging our minds and spirits. By fully embracing these moments away from work, we nourish our creativity, strengthen our relationships, and cultivate joy in our lives.

    As I tell my team, enjoy your days off to explore, relax, and connect with what brings you joy. After all, it’s the experiences outside of work that enrich our lives and inspire us when we return.

  • Digital Detox

    Digital Detox

    For Christmas, my daughter bought me a deck of cards. But they aren’t your ordinary cards. These are Digital Detox cards. On each one there is an idea of a way to be less reliant on digital technology. I knew I was having issues with my tech reliance, but getting those cards from my daughter really brought it home. So now, even though most of my job relies on technology, I’m now working on detoxing from it.

    If you’re also feeling the need to put the phone down a bit more, here’s a few of the ideas that you may want to try: 

    • Challenge yourself to refrain from using any of your devices during the first hour after you wake up in the morning.
    • Get some fresh air! When you do go out, make sure to leave your devices at home.
    • Practice not responding immediately to every notification that comes up. Be more conscious of when you respond to things.
    • Spend 10 minutes doing nothing, on purpose. Be still, be quiet, listen to the sounds, feel your breath and experience the sensations in your body.

    I was going to try one a day, but Jordan thought I should stick with one for a week and see how it goes. I’ve been working on the fresh air one. I’ll admit that I do bring my phone (for photos like the one with this post), but I’ve been turning off notifications and just enjoying the weather a lot more.

    Do you engage in any digital detox? Would love to hear what works for you. And I’ll periodically share different cards and how it’s going for me.


  • There’s More to Her Than Meets the Eye

    There’s More to Her Than Meets the Eye

    When school dress codes focus the majority of their attention on what girls should not be allowed to wear, it sends a message.

    A powerful message.

    A message that girls are the problem. Their bodies are distracting to boys. And that boys shouldn’t have to be responsible for curtailing their sexist behavior.

    This needs to stop.

    It breeds harassment. And misogyny. And a blame the victim culture.

    Proud of my daughter for standing up for her rights. For her body. For her voice.

    Take a few minutes and read her post. Words of support always loved:

    There’s More to Me Than Meets the Eye

  • Become a Better Human.

    My 15 year old daughter started a blog. A blog to encourage and empower teens based on her experiences and views of the world. Her second post is titled, “…like a girl.” In it, she talks about the negative impact the statement “like a girl” has on girls, and that girls are just as “strong and capable of anything as males are.” It was a positive message of self-worth.

    And yet, within an hour of sharing it on my Facebook page, it was attacked. In one comment, she was told that “men are stronger than women and she should face the facts of biology.” Other, similar comments followed.

    IMG_0379 3The dominant male voice was, ironically, reinforcing my daughter’s point: “Together as women, we are intelligent, beautiful, and powerful human beings that shouldn’t be trampled on by derogatory expressions.” His messages, even when couched in conciliatory statements like “Don’t get me wrong, great intent…”  sought to silence a young girl sharing her voice of empowerment by asserting superiority.

    One thing I have learned from the voices rising up after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting is that there are people who assume power comes hand-in-hand with freedom, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to silence any oppositional voice.

    Our society defines freedom as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” That’s the biggest paradox of freedom: if nothing restraints how each person behaves, it will be absolute chaos. The bully would be free to enslave the meek. It will eventually mean that only those at the top are free, and those at the bottom — the weak — are not.
    –Freedom is Not About Speaking Up but Choosing to be Silent

    Our mission, as educators, is to build empathy and facilitate student voice and agency so they can positively advance the world. We want them to be, we need them to be, good humans. Better humans. Empathetic humans.

    “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains,
    but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
    – Nelson Mandela

  • Learning to Drive

    Jordan in her carMy daughter got her driver’s permit, and now the state of California has entrusted me to teach her the rules of the road. (I truly think they should make adults pass a test showing that we are qualified for this important role!)

    When she first started driving, she was extremely nervous and unsure of herself. Who wouldn’t be? Her knowledge of how to handle a 4,000 pound vehicle was limited to the reading she had completed in an online permit class and two hours behind the wheel with a certified instructor.

    Our first time driving was around and around (and around and around) a parking lot at the local community college. It was a Saturday, and the lot was remarkably empty. There she learned how her car responded to steering and brakes. She practiced coming to a complete stop and signaling her intentions. When she was confident, we drove around the campus a few times so that she could practice adjusting speed and navigating turns. And then it was time to hit the streets.

    Not even a block away from campus, driving through a quiet neighborhood, a BMW appeared behind us. Impatient with my daughter’s driving, he immediately started tailgating her and honking his horn. Her anxiety rose exponentially, and I could see every bit of confidence drained from her face. As soon as was possible, she pulled off the road. He honked as he passed, and she refused to keep driving.

    A few weeks later, I ordered a magnetic bumper sticker from Amazon that read, “Please Be Patient Student Driver” . As she continued to learn how to drive, there were plenty of opportunities for people to be angry or frustrated with her. Her ability to maintain a consistent speed was sketchy, and she was painfully slow coming out of a turn. But remarkably, nobody honked at her. Nobody tailgated or cut her off.  They gave her space to learn. They slowed down and let her over when she signaled. And they smiled when they drove by. I’m sure they were just as eager to get to their destination as the BMW driver, but they didn’t show it. And her driving improved. And continues to improve.

    It makes me wonder, what signs would our students wear if they could design their own? Would they ask for more patience because of a rough night at home? Would their sign acknowledge a struggle with reading? Or ask for more encouragement during independent work time? Our students may not be wearing signs, but we do know that they all need our patience and support and love as they learn to navigate their own roads.

    Sign up to receive an update when I post. Type your email address in the box and click the “Subscribe” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.

  • Finals = Lots of Homework = Stress = Sickness = Death, therefore Finals are Death

    My youngest daughter is a high school sophomore. She’s the type of student most teachers love – completes her work, answers the questions, conscientious about her grades. Compliant. And a perfectionist who demands more from herself than the world demands of her.

    Finals = lots of homework = stress = sickness = death, therefore finals are deathSo when she sends me snapchats like this one, it breaks my heart. This is not what education is supposed to be about, is it? Later that evening, while suffering a mild mental breakdown, she texted me. (Granted, I was only one room away, but the idea of walking away from her studies was too stressful for her.)

    How come teachers assign so much homework right before our finals as if they don’t know our other teachers are doing the same exact thing. It’s as if they think we are some miracle workers that don’t need sleep or socializing.

    My mental health is deteriorating and I feel PHYSICALLY sick just because of this overwhelming amount of work and hard test where they expect you to remember everything from August 15 which I doubt they could even remember clearly but they think is easy bc they’ve spent years upon years studying it.

    How is this fair to the students?

    Please explain this to me.

    Problem is, kiddo, I can’t explain it to you.

    In “Assessing Our Children to Death,” Steve Nelson, author of First Do No Harm: Progressive Education in a Time of Existential Risk explains:

    “There is a nearly perfect inverse correlation between the emphasis on metrics and the quality of learning in schools. More metrics mean less powerful learning. As reliance on this data (and the scores it measures) goes up, the real quality of learning experiences goes down. Children are real, flesh and blood, funny, eccentric, imaginative, irreverent, loving and sensitive human beings, not data points for arcane studies of “outcomes.”

    Yes, Jordan, you are definitely all of those things, and more!

    Robert Marzano, Debra Pickering, and Jay McTighe (quite a powerhouse of educational experts, by the way!), in Assessing Student Outcomes,  describe conventional assessments, such as Jordan’s final exams, as being narrow in focus since they only capture one moment in time. They explain that these assessment types are “generally incapable of revealing in any comprehensive way what students know and can do. Moreover, the conditions of such tests are often highly controlled. Students complete the work within inflexible time limits and have restricted access to resources and limited opportunities to make revisions. These kinds of tests also sacrifice authenticity, since they differ markedly from the ways in which people apply knowledge in the world outside of school. Despite these limitations, the results of such one-time measures are frequently used to make significant decisions, such as whether a student should be admitted to or excluded from special programs and what final grade a student will receive in a class.”

    Oh yes, grades. That would explain this text I received from Jordan:

    A text from Jordan asking how a weighted final will impact her math grade

    Well Jordan, all I can say is, hang in there! Last I checked, finals did not literally kill anyone. And as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… or at least gets you a good grade in your class!

     

     

    Sign up to receive one update when I post. Type your email address in the box and click the “Subscribe” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.