Tag: Inspire

Inspiration

Be Kinder Than Necessary

Sonya terBorg

I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”

— Albert Schweitzer,

French philosopher and physician

I am a firm believer in kindness. And being kinder than necessary. To me, kindness is when you see a person, a thing, a situation that needs something and you help fill that need.  To serve others is truly the way to make a positive impact on the world.

In my role as Learning Technology Teacher in the Junior School, one thing I see across all classes is students who are motivated to help other students when using technology.  Someone will ask me to show them something.  I will show them and then their neighbour will want to know too. Before I can show them, the first student I helped will lean over: “I will show him!” and the two of them will chatter away, leaving me out of a job.  It is the best kind of unemployment I could hope for!

I explicitly build this into my teaching, asking “Who thinks they could teach someone how to….(do whatever we are doing)?”. “Who thinks they could help someone else?”. It is not always a zen-like state of bliss but I am hopeful that kids will see the value in learning from each other.  And that these behaviours will spill over to other facets of their life outside of technology.

New perspectives.  Sharing understanding. Building on ideas.  These are reasons I choose to be connected as an educator and I believe these are ways students can make a positive impact through the use of technology.  Technology allows us to go places we may never go in ‘real life’. This exposure to ideas that were previously beyond our reach must make us more empathetic, more inquisitive, more inclined to think, question, and wonder. Some examples that come to mind:

  • Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and the incredible way in which he has shared his understandings of planet earth with us from his reflections in outer space.
  • Humans of New York genius, Brandon Stanton and the way he captures humanity from behind his camera lens in NYC and, a few months ago, around the world when he partnered with the UN to bring us snippets of humans in Iraq, Jordan, Uganda, Keyna and six other countries in the Middle East and Africa.
  • Peter Menzel’s Global Family Portrait: Material World and his Hungry Planet: What the World Eats both give amazing insights into what people have/have not in this world. This is one thing that is so hard to explain without experiencing it first-hand (especially poverty) but this goes some of the way to allowing students to connect globally to the ideas of others.

So, how can students use technology to make a positive impact on the world? I think Hugh Macleod has some great advice:

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He doesn’t stop there.  Here is a Hugh-inspired, play-by-play for you and your students:

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  1. Inspire and Be Inspired: Look, explore, inspire
  2. Become “Intoxicated by Possibility” – so much to do!  So little time!
  3. Dream big! – Nothing is out of your reach!
  4. Make a dent in the universe – The time is now, the person is you! Make A Dent!

I think in some ways, the key question here is misleading – or at the least, tends to lead us in a direction that we may not need to go in.  The use of technology is not the key point.  The ability to make a difference in our world is the key part.  Technology can help that process, it can accelerate that process, it can inspire that process.  The desire to connect with others, the opportunity to make a difference, that is what should be driving this process.

Use technology to connect, to inspire, to dream, and to act.  That is how we will change the world.

If you are still looking for some support to help you in this quest, one of my favorite, favorite websites is Inspire My Kids.  The name says it all and it does just that with a wealth of amazing resources designed to connect kids that want to make a difference.

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Inspiration

Inspired to Inspire

Sonya terBorg

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Who inspires you?

What inspires you?

When I think of all the people, places, books, articles, blog posts, websites that inspire me, I wonder: where would my ideas come from if not from the sparks of inspiration provided to me by my ‘tribe’ of fellow thinkers, like-minded souls, inspirers?

One of these sources of inspiration for me, is GapingVoid.  Hugh’s cartoons are brilliant in their simplicity to convey a message and to inspire.  One of his latest cartoons reminds me of one his older cartoons that is a favorite of mine.  It is simple, clean, clear, and for me, very true:

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This simple cartoon speaks volumes to me. The more you collaborate, the more you will be inspired to create, which will lead you to further collaborative conversations, and so the cycle continues.

Whilst browsing Wonderopolis this morning, I came across this video and pulled some of the key points that stood out to me from it:

If you take away inspiration, you naturally fall back to that voice that says, “you’re not going to make it.”

I want to raise my bar because I have been inspired….to increase my skills and abilities.

If I can inspire somebody to do something bigger and better than what they have done on their own, then ultimately I have done my job.

Again, who inspires you?  What inspires you? I watched the following video and I am inspired by this man’s courage and determination to succeed against the odds:

 

As I begin a new year in a new school, I am inspired by my colleagues.  I am inspired by the friends and colleagues I have recently left behind to continue to look for new ways of doing while keeping some of the ‘old tricks’ I learned with them. I am inspired by the kids who I am yet to meet and their parents and am looking forward to an exciting, challenging year ahead.

21st Century, Creativity, Inspiration

Intoxicated by Possibility!

Sonya terBorg

 

 

I just saw this on Pinterest and it totally sums up how I feel right now in relation to education, where it’s at, and where it’s going. That might make me naive, it might mean I am delusional, or it just might be the start of something awesome.

I pick door number three. You?

Time and again, the phrase:

Make. School. Different.

comes to mind.

If we would all unite in doing that, in pushing ourselves to the edge, in being willing to risk failure in order to create something awesome, I know we could do just that.

In speaking about helping and serving others, the pastor at our church says, “Do for one that which you wish you could do for all.”  He says that often people will be overwhelmed by the tremendous need in our community, our world and will stop before they start because it just seems helpless. If you are a teacher, a parent, a student or just someone who cares about education,  do for one that which you wish you could do for all.  You don’t have to change the entire education system overnight, but we have to start somewhere.

Right now, think about one thing you could do to MAKE SCHOOL DIFFERENT.  Now, do it. Make your mark.  Make a dent. Just do it! What will it be? Share your one thing below to inspire others.