Muse

  The Japanese call it Ikigai, the Greeks Eudaemonia, and the Zulu say Ubuntu. We don't have an equivalent word in English, just phrases that reach for, but never quite grasp the concept. The closest attempts are: "the reason for being" or "the life well-lived" or "that which gives life value". As illustrated in the diagram below Ikigai, is the intersection of one's joy, purpose, skill, and contribution. Many other cultures comprehend the deep satisfaction and peace one feels at the synthesis of effort and offering. In fact, the Hebrew word Shalom, used in salutation, conveys the desire for one to "be made whole". In other words, to arrive at the fusion of peace, talent, intention, and fulfillment. I found Ikigai while teaching.  As an insatiable learner with endless curiosity, I'm always gathering more information which serves a very useful purpose in the classroom.  My incurable optimism finds something to celebrate in every studen...

We are born learners. Quite literally wired to receive, retrieve, interpret, store, and respond to data, the students I encounter have been learning long before I, the teacher, step into their lives. Knowing this, I don't place much emphasis on what students cannot do or how they do it differently.  I do notice. Gaps, deviation, hesitation, comprehension, articulation... these things matter, of course, and I note them, but I don't focus on them.  Instead, I scan their faces for that twinkle in the eye, the lifted brow, or the slightest hint of an upturned corner of the mouth. I look for the spark, the energy, the light students exude when something resonates. This is the real information I need. This is where we will connect. This is the point from which I can tug. And I will. Noted psychologist, researcher, and author, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934-2021), taught that interest is the entry point for focus. "If you are interested in something, you will focus on it, and if y...