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I woke up this morning telling myself, "Today will be the day you will be inspired." After getting this blog up to speed and curating presentations, my energy level and creativity plummeted. It happens to all of us. I've had a long-term goal to write a book series. The ideas are mapped out, but I have been struggling for days to put the ideas together. Then, I proceeded to speak out loud what I needed for that to happen. Next thing you know, I have two articles that clarify my thinking and provide a foundation for my argument. Where did I get my inspiration? I found it in a LinkedIn post. I'm a big believer of asking for what you want in this world. What is something that you need to move forward with your goals? 
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This was a wonderful affirmation to wake up to this morning. When you are venturing into the wild unknown without a handbook, it helps when someone you respect validates that you are on the right track. It's not for praise or likes on social media. It's an internal check mark that your journey is resonating and to keep following your path. I hope you are taking the steps to mark out your own path. It requires a lot of bravery to walk into the unknown, especially if others around you are used to the status quo. Do something little everyday to bring you closer to what you want.  This morning, I woke up to my neighbors sharing that my car, along with several others, were broken into over night. I felt helpless, because I was a cross the country leading a workshop. As we do, I felt sorry for myself and explained my situation to the school principal and his young daughter. I went on my way to prepare for my workshop. The principal's wife, a workshop participant, brought me this bag. At first, I was very confused and then it dawned on me that it was from her young daughter. She had given me her coin collection to help me pay for my car repairs. Doesn't this melt your heart? This made me think about action as a disposition. This young girl's reaction to my situation was a lifetime centered on service and action. This is the type of behavior we want to see in our future leaders and decision-makers.  In March 2021, I was going through a lot of change within myself. I had worked very hard to get my school to the point of our authorization visit. Meanwhile, I had been offered my dream job at my school district to support PYP and MYP coordinators. Yet, nothing felt right. I knew I was doing something to hold myself back. Then, I came a cross this image and everything became clear.  Within a very short time, I turned down the new job, completed my contract with the district, and I ventured on my own. Was it scary? Yep. Was I scared? No. As my momma used to tell me, when something is right, there is no confusion. Everything feels calm and there are minimal obstacles in your way. As I trained through the summer, the fear began to creep in about my decision. Then, I squared my shoulders and reminded myself that I had certain gifts that were meant to help other people. If I stayed at a safe job, I would not be able to support as many teachers as I wanted. This has been my booster in uncertain times. Thankfully, I have been continuously busy this past year. I've been truly blessed in my endeavor to create content, lead workshops, podcast, blog, and so much more. I hope to continue on my journey this year in learning how to make impactful TikTok videos and online workshops. We all have our pathway. There is no right way, just the right one for us. Keep doing what you love and remember that happy money is what you are striving to obtain. by Lu Gerlach We have worked hard in the past two series on agency and action. Now, it's time to have some fun! Let's test your understanding with an agency and action picture game. Can you name the types of agency and action each picture depicts. It's harder than you think.  by Lu Gerlach I’m sure many of you are scratching your head, thinking of ways to assess agency and action, since they are driven by internal motivation and being. This is very true. I am proposing one way of attacking this holistically. It’s just my perspective at this point in time. About five years ago, one of my fourth grade students told me, “Perspective is a debatable opinion. It’s based on the information you have at that time. Once you get more information, your opinion changes.” Something tells me that this will be very true as I play with the relationship of agency and action more. I won’t lie, I debated on whether to present on this topic, since so much of what we are assessing are intangibles: potential, motivation, growth, and so forth. Yet, how can students monitor their growth if they have no success criteria to measure it against. This is when I considered a success criteria for agency and action. It’s definitely not perfect, but it’s an attempt to make it more tangible as our students take steps towards their better selves. Let’s make a go of it and try to apply it, so you can see it in action. No pun intended. Here's a lower and upper elementary version of an agency success criteria. They will help you students to begin thinking using agency until they are able to continue co-create their own success criteria.   Initially, I considered putting agency and action together, but there were too many items. Also, agency is the process that establishes action to happen. I wanted to keep the ideas separate, so it was easier for students to see the relationship.  How do we bring them together? Very easily. You ask students to focus on 1-2 success criteria for the unit or specific duration of time. I don’t think you want more, since the goal is mastery. Then, you pick some actions you think will help you to get there. Remember, think of your content as well, since it will shape the learning outcome. Let’s try it out! An Inquiry into…
Agency goal
Action goal
The goals students choose will be framed by the content you choose to partner together. Will they need help in this process? Absolutely. This process will need to be modeled, guided, and done together a couple times, before you can release your students. It will be worth it though. Check out our guides, “Using Agency Daily” and “Using Action Daily” in our Resources section. You’ve got this! by Lu Gerlach Upon reflection, I realized that my so-called easy action was probably still hard for many people to begin with students. This started me thinking of how we can break action down to a 1.5 level. Not too easy and not too hard. To be honest, this is harder than you think. How do you make it harder than the easiest level, but not as hard as the medium? For some reason, this reminded me of an experience I had when I lived in Germany. I attended a barbecue with a host who was legendary for making spicy foods, including an inferno salsa. Only the bravest of the brave in Germany would try it, because they don’t like spicy foods. Sweet and Spicy egg roll sauce is too spicy for most Germans, so imagine inferno heat salsa. Growing up in California and being half-Korean, I was used to hot salsa and spicy kimchi. I took the chili challenge and dove into the best tasting salsa I’ve ever eaten in my life. As the crowd gasped, I took another bite. When someone asked me about the heat level, my singular response was, “Medium.” There was a collective gasp as everyone looked at me like I was a two-headed dog named Fluffy from Harry Potter. All through the night a lady looked at me and shook her head and said “medium”.
How do we do this? Let’s create a relationship between level 1 and 2, so you can start right away with your kiddos this year. Level 1Do you students know how to take level 1 action? Do they understand the purpose of taking action? One of the simplest ways to get students to think about action is to pose a scenario and have them brainstorm ways to solve it.
Possible Actions:
Level 2Once your students have a strong grasp of level 1 action, consider asking students to classify the possible actions with level 2 actions. We need to remind ourselves of their definitions.
Action Within THINKING - Opening our mind to solve problems differently FEELING - Getting in touch with our feelings KNOWING - Gaining understanding of the world BEING - Knowing our place in the world Action Beyond DOING - Making the world a better place through our actions SAYING - Having the courage to speak our mind Consider the level 1 actions that we took. At first glance, they appear to be mostly doing and knowing, because of how we phrased our actions. Doing: Sit next to him Doing: Be his recess buddy Doing: Show him around the playground Doing: Invite him into a game Knowing: Find out his hobbies How can we re-word these same actions to make them richer and more balanced with actions within and action beyond? Here’s a second look at the same situation. Within Thinking: How can I make the new boy feel included? Feeling: I bet he’s feeling rather lonely right now. What can I do to make him not feel so uncomfortable? Knowing: How can I get to know more about him? What was his last school like? His best friend? What does he like to do on his free time? Being: How would I feel if I had to move to a new school and leave all of my friends behind? Beyond Doing: I sit next to him on the bench Saying: “Hi, would you like to play with me?” If we started out this way, can you imagine how powerful this would be as a reflective tool for positive and negative behavior? Students would be able to see situations outside of themselves and be able to identify their feelings and behaviors. Ooh, I’m getting goosebumps. How can you use this in your class to bring about more balanced action? by Lu Gerlach In our last episode, we introduced the idea of using action daily. We've created a guide to support your students in taking small to giant actions. Go to our resources section to download a free copy now!  by Lu Gerlach I have a tendency to build up ideas together until your brain wants to explode and then work backwards to an easier starting point. I don’t know why I do this and you’d think I’d learn by now. It’s just how I’m programmed as a learner. I guess I like to have a big picture of how everything works and then plan the first steps towards getting there. We’ve unpacked the three levels of action. Actually, I don’t like calling them levels of action, because they are all unique in their own purpose. I think of the different types of action as a scaffold towards the next. This reminds me of the Golden Circle that we talked about in the first podcast. We begin with the type of action at the heart of what we believe and work ourselves outward towards simple steps on how to achieve it. As A reminder, the Golden Circle is a construct that helps us to focus on why we are doing something and how and what we must do to obtain it. We ask ourselves these questions:
If I were to classify the types of action by levels, here’s how it would correlate with the Golden Circle.
Let’s try to apply this with an easy example first. I know what you’re thinking...you are doing something that’s easy? Is this stuff ever easy? Probably not, but it’s definitely worth a try. I’m secretly chuckling right now, because this is not going to be easy, but I keep telling myself it is. WHY - Lifestyle Choices
HOW - Doing: Making the world a better place through our actions
WHAT - What can I do that is tangible?
Here’s a review of my thinking process. It’s a bit all over the place, but it came to be beautiful in the end.
As an adult, this process took me about 10 minutes to complete. We will definitely need to slow this process down for our students to probably an hour, but the result will be magical. You are laying the groundwork for meaningful action to happen in your classroom. I’m super excited about this expanded vision of action. It’s more relevant, timely, and meaningful for our students. Yay! I can’t wait to get started with a class right away! by Lu Gerlach If you’re like me, my head was reeling a bit last time when discussing the different types and levels of action students can take. As a result, I decided to go on a hunt to better understand this process. Here’s a deeper understanding of Level 3 types of action.
If you’re like me, you wonder how they will work with kids. We know that not all types of action need to be done at the same time, but for this example, I’m going to show you their connection as I see it in my brain. I could be wrong, so leave me some comments on my website thinkchat2020.weebly.com or on twitter @thinkchat2020
A topic that has been on my mind a lot has been racial inequity. I work in a school that serves about 98% Black American and 2% Hispanic students in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Houston, Texas. WIth the events this past summer, this question has been brewing in my mind. Issue: Why is there such a racial divide of opportunity in America? Participation: In speaking with black colleagues, I asked specific questions about racial inequality they faced when shopping, driving through predominantly white neighborhoods, getting into higher education, and job placement Advocacy: I started speaking to different non-Black friends about the racial divide in our society and our part in that process. We spoke about systemic racism and I debunked misconceptions on social media. Social Justice: I participated in an anti-gun rally through our community to remind people that violence is not the solution to the problem. Social Entrepreneurship: I partnered with our after-school program to teach them about the PYP and the exhibition. They are supporting our mission to better the lives of our students by connecting to the ideas they are learning in school with after-school mentorship. Lifestyle Choices: I’m being more aware of how I am supporting systemic racism by the things I say, the way I think at times about the black community, the things I could to view that perpetuate stereotypes, and so on. This is how you build up action as a disposition. Next time, we will explore how to bridge the three types of action together to change the dispositions of even our youngest learners. Together, we can do this. by Lu Gerlach Once you’ve navigated the terrain of Agency, it’s a smooth ride towards Action. As the teacher, you are no longer in the driver’s seat. If anything, you are in the side car guiding the student as they navigate the winding road towards understanding. It’s a thrilling adventure, but you no longer have to be burdened to do all of the thinking and planning. You can sit back and enjoy the journey for a change, because you have faith in your student’s ability to reach the final destination. The student is filled with so much confidence as they careen through unknown streets. They are empowered by your prior tutelage, encouraging words, and guiding hand. They may hit a bump in the road here and there, but overall their journey is relatively easy, because the course was well-mapped before ever leaving home. The people in the community are cheering from the sidelines as you pass by, because they’ve been down the road before. They know the challenges of learning new ideas, making choices, and taking risks. They are there to encourage and clear potential obstacles along the way. The community wants everyone to be successful, so they support the complete journey. This idyllic scene is how a learning community evolves when agency is at the forefront of the learning. Each stakeholder knows the risks and consequences of letting the students take more ownership of the learning experience. At the same time, they know the tremendous benefits of letting students chart their own path towards a shared destination. When you get to the place called Action, the entire community takes part in celebrating the journey. Action is the physical manifestation of agency. When students are agentic, their primary goal is to identify problems and generate possible solutions. This cycle repeats until action becomes a disposition, a way of living and being. This is what it means to be an internationally-minded person. Thinking beyond one’s own journey, but how it impacts the greater world around them. Action has gone through it’s own journey over the years to redefine its purpose and support student development. There is more depth and complexity in how we “take” action. Level 1When I began the PYP, I noticed that many students were encouraged to take action on their learning through simple actions, such as conserving electricity by turning the lights off when leaving the room. These actions make a huge difference at a single point in time,but have short-term effects on student behavior and mindset.  Level 2About five years ago, PYP educators wanted to deepen action by examining the various ways we can take action by changing our thinking, saying, doing, feeling, being, and knowing. These actions allowed us to take a deeper look into identifying if the situation required action within (ourselves) and action beyond (to the greater community). This changed how we looked at action and the validity of inaction in certain cases. It allowed students to focus more on the intrinsic motivations for taking action, rather than, grandiose ideas to be shared with the community.  Action Within...focuses more on reflective practice and looking inward to see how our learning has changed our being. We can do this by altering our thinking, feelings, knowing, and being. We may share this experience with one or two other people who have the same goal in mind. Action Beyond...focuses on how to share ideas and possible solutions with the greater world through our saying or doing. These actions are more blatant and can be showcased using a wide variety of paper and electronic forms.  Level 3With the PYP enhancements in 2018, action has taken a completely different path. We are now looking at action as a vehicle for responding to challenges in our world. We are preparing students to look at the implications of their actions and how they impact others on a wider scale beyond our local community. Students are now able to identify if their actions support: Participation, Social Justice, Advocacy, Social Entrepreneurship, and Lifestyle Choices.  As we student’s take a pit stop in a place called Action, what will you share with them to prepare for the uphill climb through the various levels? How will you connect these various types of actions, so they support and deepen agentic thinking? |
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