1.21 - Living in Confusion

Living in Confusion

Welcome back to When the Wind Blows...an Epic podcast for parents, teachers, leaders and anyone vested in the world of education. 

Confusion. the state of being bewildered or unclear in one's mind about something.

Since March I believe we have all probably been living here. Adley Stump is a FB famous influencer and made the funniest video… Woman makes a parody announcement about Coronavirus safety

 

Let see if we can make a parody of our own. You need to do your core and EE

EE and homework help, that all you need to do…

Write this paper and read this book...and mindplay and Dreambox

Make sure you log into Google Classroom and work that PLP

Did you do your mastery Connect? Where is the work in your core???

 

Add to that the things that are added in the home...well, dishes are gonna be home ec lesson today

Bible study is our history lesson today

Go outside and play...I need you to go outside and play...its PE!

 

Its no wonder we...kids included are living in this state of confusion and appear as they are not going with the flow. 

 

9 yr school schedule. 10:10, 11:30, 1:30

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v2rPr11dmKcMkS__pBM8P-siphaiK_FqK2kJY_lrbAM/edit#gid=0

“The time and energy required for effective vision communication are directly related to the clarity and simplicity of the message. Communication seems to work best when it is so direct and so simple that it has a sort of elegance. The challenge of simple and direct communication is that it requires great clarity of thought plus more than a little courage. It’s much harder to be clear and concise than overcomplicated and wordy.” 

- John Kotter, Leading Change

 

• Psychological Safety - a climate in which people feel free to express relevant thoughts and feelings. 

• A benefit of psychological safety is that it enables clarity of thought. 

• When the brain is activated by fear, it has less neural processing power for exploration, design, or analysis.

 - Amy Edmondson, Teaming

 

According to Deloitte, decision paralysis brought on by the inability to choose between options is typically the result of cognitive overload and fatigue.

 

Students- I don’t even know where to begin (EE, Core, PLP, Google Classroom, Shmoop)

Parents- So many kids, jobs, appointments, precautions, emails, calls, texts…

Teachers- Benchmarking, Zoom Calls, Grades, Meetings, Grades, Reports, Grades

Admin- MPRs, Meetings, Data Management, Parent conferences, Emails, Texts, Calls

 

Confusion….result of cognitive overload and fatigue (and 2020). Where do we even begin...decision paralysis has reared its ugly head across the board this year. 

 

What do we do? We need clarity. Clarity from our leaders, teachers, parents, within ourselves. 

 

• Prioritize (Consistently)
• Write things down and communicate them well (in a variety of ways/mediums)
• Take a mental break (walk outside, get up, isolate, brain break (GoNoodle on Clever, I even do it with my kids)
• Communicate with those above you if you are not receiving clarity
• Clear is kind. We want it and love to extend it. Sometimes it’s hard to know if our messaging is convoluted or clear. It’s a two-way street. Never assume.
• Dedicated area for work and dedicated area for play
• Dedicated time for work and dedicated time for play (on your Google Calendar)
• Give grace. Extend grace. We are all doing our best. Let’s reduce the confusion and clutter together.

That's all we have for today. If you like what you heard, go ahead and hit the like button and subscribe to the podcast so you are notified each time a new episode drops. If you are a returning listener you should rate the podcast and leave us a comment. 

 

Tune in next week where we are rethinking how leadership and education can better prepare the next generation for a rapidly evolving world.