Learning at the Heart

100 Posts in 100 Days

Introducing:  “The Pulse:  Sources of Inspiration, Collaboration, and Knowledge to Sustain Your Learning.”  I first had the idea for “The Pulse” in August in 2020.   I created the graphic image.  And let it sit.  Until now.  (Sound a bit like “Volition”, yes?)

One of the beauties of “100 Posts in 100 Days” is that I’ve started to approach it in smaller chunks.  After writing “Reflections on 10%”, I started to think of this challenge as 10 sets of 10.  

Now I’m going to breathe life into “The Pulse” and marry it with “100 Posts in 100 Days”.  In each 10 day cycle, at least once, I will share some things I’m reading, watching, listening to, or talking about that are piquing my interest and keeping me going.

The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul

I shared one way this book is resonating with and influencing me in Post #4:  Inspiration, Part 3.  Which is a really gentle way of writing that finding out about this book started with intrigue, grew to interest, and is verging on obsession right now.

My introduction to this book was through Adam Grant’s (another obsession) interview with her on the podcast  The Next Big Idea.  Much of what she shared was relevant and fascinating to me, especially since my school is engaged in a deep study of human learning.  The statement that literally stopped me in my tracks (I was walking the dogs and listening, after all), was her response to why the book she wrote had differed from the book she had intended to write.  She had intended to write a book about the science of learning.  Her response was, “There is no grand unifying theory of learning because the brain is this clougy, patched together, product of evolution that really the only organizing principle is what helped us to survive.”  (Listen from 47:20-48:45). 

We’ve had so many “brain-bound” conversations at my school about “what is the science of learning” and “what is deeper learning”.  In one sentence, she captured why those conversations seem like a never ending circle.

Another reason I am obsessed with this book:  For all of you who take glee in my post-it note obsession (and you know who you are!), there is a name for it backed by neuroscience and research.  Cognitive Offloading.  I am now forever unapologetic about engaging in cognitive offloading as a strategy for meaning-making and regulating thought.  

Yet another reason I am obsessed with this book:  the connections to collective teacher efficacy and to the work of Adaptive Schools.  I will be re-listening to Part 3 of the book:  Thinking with Our Relationships and the Conclusion through these lenses.  

One more way to get a free dose of what Annie Murphy Paul has to say about learning outside the brain:  Listen to this edition of Conceptually Speaking with Julie Stern & Trevor Aleo.   

Women Get Overlooked for the Supt Job, EdWeek, May 11, 2022

Earlier this week, a colleague and I were discussing the toll that the pandemic has taken on school leaders and the numbers of superintendents and heads of schools who are leaving or planning to leave their positions.  I shared with her that despite talk in recent years of elevating more women to these kinds of positions, the current hiring trend has continued to favor men.  The very next morning, this EdWeek article was in my news feed. It confirms what I have seen happening in the school districts in and around my hometown the last few weeks.  I don’t quite know what to do about it, but I’m putting it out here as one small way of raising awareness and saying something.