My Hundredth Post [Blogpost 100]
With this being my 100th blog and the week after American Thanksgiving, I am choosing to be reflective. As shared in my November 2018 blog entitled Gratitude I know I have much for which to be grateful.
8 GRATITUDES - PERSONAL:
I am mindful of how fortunate I am. This is especially evident when considering the notion, If the world was a 100 people. A great visual representation thereof is shown below:
Education: I appreciate having grown up in a country where education was compulsory (and not a luxury) and one in which (at the time) I did not have to pay tuition fees for university.
Literacy: I take it for granted between reading and writing for pleasure, for work and more. I have recently enjoyed reading Safe Passage (by Doug Ota), The Culture Map (by Erin Meyer), About The Night (by Anat Talshir) and am in the midst of reading The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams), and Ikigai (By Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles).
My daughter: She is healthy and, in terms of school, doing well and taking advantage of various opportunities academically and beyond so as to become well-rounded.
My mum: She has been, and continues to be, a strong rôle model to my daughter and I.
Technology: I appreciate the way in which technology enables easy access to material for both personal and professional growth. Some favourite sites include: Beautiful News (which shows, “Unseen trends, uplifting stats, creative solutions — a new chart every day.”) TED Talks (prime examples include, Taiye Selasi’s "Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm local" and Pico Iyer’s, The Art of Stillness, and Kakenya Ntaiya’s Empower a girl, transform a community), PassItOn (for great quotes and complementary images), and Delancey Place (“a brief daily email with an excerpt or quote we view as interesting or noteworthy”) and various education blogs such as those by Jennifer Abrams, Nick Alchin, Frederic Bordaguibel-Labayle, George Couros, Dan Kerr.
Family and friends who support me.
Being able to pay it forward!
5 GRATITUDES - PROFESSIONAL:
I am grateful to current and former colleagues who not only rôle-model, share their wisdom and dig deep on key issues, but with whom I can also shoot the breeze.
I am grateful for the wonderful professional (and personal) friendships from the four week long Professional Development sessions I have taken at The Principals’ Training Center (PTC). I can always rely on these friends to share their knowledge, exchange ideas, and more.
I am thankful for the opportunity for Professional Development, be it formal workshops (most recently I attended a weekend workshop and passed the Google Certified Educator Level 1 exam) or informal PD through webinars, personal reading et al.
I am thankful to those families who share their kind words of appreciation for the service they receive from their initial enquiry to their final enrollment in our school.
As both a parent and educator, I very much appreciate that there has been and continues to be a greater focus on holistic learning, flexible seating, personalized learning, building learning communities and helping students learn how best to learn. Thankfully the days of rows of desks, rote learning, and "the sage on the stage" are numbered.
5 QUOTES ABOUT GRATITUDE:
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." ~ M. T. Cicero
“Be kind. Be thoughtful. Be genuine. But most of all be thankful” ~ P. Polacco
“Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude” ~ E. P. Powell (Admittedly, I would prefer more inclusive language; perhaps honest people in lieu of honest men? I do, however, appreciate the sentiment).
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings” ~ W. A. Ward
15 OF MY BLOG POSTS:
I regularly share my thoughts on areas of particular interest including, but not limited to Admissions, Leadership, Learning Differently, School Culture, Social Justice, and Third Culture Kids (TCK) on my blog. Out of my 100 blogposts thus far, I am particularly proud of these fifteen:
Leadership ~ Some Favourite Quotes - November 2019
Hypocognition - October 2019
Blogging - June 2019
Diversity + Privilege - May 2019
One Year of Blogging - May 2019
Abolish Anonymity - February 2019
Love of Reading - January 2019
Safe Passage - January 2019
Reflections and Aspirations - December 2018
Culture and Identity - November 2018
Mindset - September 2018
Observations from the Admissions Office - August 2018
Observations of a Typical Day in the Admissions Office - August 2018
Gratitude for Being Part of the Global Learning Community - June 2018
The End of the Year - June 2018
12 QUOTES TO GENTLY REMIND, GUIDE AND INSPIRE REFLECTION:
"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." — Maya Angelou
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future. Concentrate your mind on the present moment.” ~ Buddha
"In order to have faith in his own path, he does not need to prove that someone else's path is wrong." ~ Paulo Coelho
"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution."~ Kahlil Gibran
"To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to." ~ Kahlil Gibran
"Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself." ~ Mohsin Hamid
"Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious." ~ Stephen Hawking
"A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.” ~ Nelson Mandela
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." ~ George Bernard Shaw
"The secret to living well and longer is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure." ~Tibetan Proverb
"In order to have faith in his own path, he does not need to prove that someone else's path is wrong." ~ Paulo Coelho
"As long as you live, keep learning how to live" ~ Seneca
References:
Garcia, H. & Miralles, F. (2016) Ikigai, Penguin, New York, Unites States.
Hagley, J. (2013, March 25) The World as a 100 People. Retrieved from https://visual.ly/community/infographic/geography/world-100-people
Iyer, P. (2014) The Art of Stillness TED Talk.
Lama, D. Tutu, D. & Abrams, D. (2016), The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, Avery, New York.
Meyer, E. (2014) The Culture Map, PublicAffairs, United States.
Ntaiya, K. (2018) Empower a girl, transform a community) TED Talk.
Ota, D. (2014) Safe Passage, Summertime, Great Britain.
Selasi, T. (2014) "Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm local" TED Talk.
Talshir, A. (2016) About The Night, Amazon Crossing.
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