To see and be seen. That is the truest nature of love.
—Brené Brown
Have the Courage to Show Up
Recently I read Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience. Early in the book, I paused as I read this:
In a world where perfectionism, pleasing, and proving are used as armor to protect our egos and our feelings, it takes a lot of courage to show up and be all in when we can’t control the outcome.
It’s a long sentence and easy to rush through, like we often do with so many things in life that we think take too much time. But let’s slow it down a little.
Perfectionism, pleasing, and proving are used like armor. Armor is heavy. Medieval armor weighed around 50 pounds. That is the same amount of weight as a large bag of dog food that I buy for my German shepherd every month. I can’t imagine walking around with that much weight on my shoulders. We do it, though. Perfectionism, pleasing, and proving are heavy.
The sentence continues:
…it takes a lot of courage to show up and be all in when we can’t control the outcome.
If we’ve learned anything in the last few years, it is this: We cannot control the outcome. There are things in life that happen, and they are uncontrollable. I paused at this sentence in Atlas of the Heart, because I’d never considered how much courage it takes to show up when we can’t control the outcome.
More than ever, we need courage when we show up at school. The summer is winding down, and things are shifting inside our hearts. There is joy in starting a new school year and setting things in motion. There is also a lot that it is out of our control. May we all have the courage to show up and be all in.
Shine on,
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
PS—If you aren’t following our new Instagram feed, now is the time! Get to know our contributors and see how they are creating a sense of belonging in their schools and classrooms.
Brenda Power, founder of Choice Literacy, wrote a lead essay about teaching and belonging inspired by listening to Brené Brown speak. This essay was first published in 2018.
Suzy Kaback thinks deeply about the concept of belonging as an essential part of building a school community. This article was first published in 2020.
Melissa Quimby creates “Meet Someone New Monday” to inspire students with picture book biographies of little-known artists, activists, and citizens who accomplish remarkable feats. This article was first published in 2020.
Follow Melissa (@quimbynotramona) on Instagram to keep up with the latest books she is reading with her fourth graders.
There is one more week of Teachers Write 2022 with Kate Messner and Jen Vincent. It is a low-pressure way to nourish the writer inside of you.
General Workshop Routines is a field experience course that invites us to consider the routines of opening the day, workshop norms, meeting areas, and transitions to make workshop run smoothly.
Classroom observations are some of the most valuable learning experiences. Yet there is no way you can see everything when visiting a live classroom. Our Field Experience collection allows you to virtually discover a variety of field experiences and see instructional strategies that pique your interest, as well as learn about the art of teaching. Many professors find our Field Experience collection perfect for their students.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Mandy Robek outlines the process of creating a class Emotional Intelligence Charter. She includes a booklist to help students expand their vocabulary of different emotions.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share their authentic process for expanding their beginning-of-the year student survey to make it more open for all students.
Download a copy of Tara and Kate’s student survey to inspire one for your classroom.
In this Quick Take video, Stella Villalba encourages all educators to listen to students in order to understand how to create a culture of belonging.
In this encore video, Christy Rush-Levine shares her simple system for organizing her massive classroom library.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Cathy Mere offers practical steps to guide finding a new community when you switch positions.
Download a copy of Cathy’s guided reflection to intentionally seek a new community.
In case you missed it, Stephanie Affinito recommends five picture books to launch discussions about an instructional coach’s role. This helps ensure success by giving all stakeholders an opportunity to define and understand the role of a coach.
Quote It:
And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been.
—Rainer Maria Rilke
That’s all for this week!
