helium - January 25, 2021

 helium
By, Michael Earnshaw
January 25, 2021
@MikeREarnshaw
@PunkClassrooms

leaving the party
 string encaged within a grip
such strength for such a delicate hand
nothing will tear it apart 
unthinking, unconsciously, the hand relaxed
or was it
as the sphere takes flight
a lapse in judgment
soaring away
slowly
higher
just out of reach
loss or escapism
regardless the time has expired
are you leaving or not being brought back
farther
take a step 
away
new beginnings

 Reading & Leading

By, Michael Earnshaw

January 20, 2021

@MikeREarnshaw

@PunkClassrooms

“No, it’s only 9:24! We don’t go to bed until 9:30!” was billowing from down the hallway, escaping my son’s room, reverberating off of our hallway walls. As soon as he was done his sister, the sidekick, backed him up. 

“Yeah, we don’t put them away yet, it’s not time.” 

Now it was time for the judge to lay out the final sentence, the one everyone in the courtroom knew was coming. 

“No, I want you asleep at 9:30. The books go away now!” my wife, mom, declared.

You read that convo correctly. We were having a discussion in the Earnshaw household about having my kids put away their books and go to bed. Now if you were to ask me what we were prying out of our kids’ hands before bed two weeks ago it would have been a different blog. Their nights concluded with them setting up shop in my daughter’s room and watching The Simpsons on Hulu. Yes, there were the arguments that they pleaded to let them watch just a few more minutes longer. But these last few weeks my kids have chosen to go back to a habit they had for such a long time, every night before the pandemic hit, reading. 

My routine was thrown off greatly when the pandemic hit. It’s like those cartoons where a character can move the train tracks and the cart containing their nemesis soars right off the edge of a cliff. One of my healthy habits that plummeted to the bottom of that canyon was reading. I read every night before March 16, 2020, and many times throughout the day, especially on the weekends. 

With 2021, I haven’t set resolutions. I haven’t committed to resolutions that I fail at for the past three years. I have adopted the #OneWord phenomenon and have never wanted to glance back! The #OneWord helps to keep me focused and grounded and something to return to once I get off track. For 2021 I have chosen the word PRISM. With living a year with #OneWord I also can set goals to help me improve. One of my goals for 2021 is to read more. I set the goal of reading 12 books for the year, that’s one a month. Starting slow, it’s been a while. You never start a marathon at a full spring. I’m ecstatic to say that today, January 20, I’m about to finish my third book for the year after I’m done writing this blog!

It’s said that we must model what we want to see in others. This holds true if we’re parents, school administrators, teachers, or anyone that wants to make our world a better place. 

Out of nowhere, my son approaches me in the kitchen. I think he’s going to ask for the Game Room remote to play Xbox. Instead, he makes a declarative sentence that is actually interrogative. 

“Mom says you read before bed every night.” 

Again, the sidekick is hidden in the shadows. “He does, I can see his light in my room late at night and hear the pages turn.” 

“Yeah, I do. Reading is good for you, it makes you smarter and it helps me to wind down and sleep good,” was how I replied. 

This unexpected conversation happened about two weeks ago. It was that night, and every night since then, that my kids have been choosing to read before bed. 

My wife and I have had numerous conversations the past few months about how our kids have not been reading and collaboratively problem solved  how we can get them to get back into it. We pleaded, stressed the importance, even bribed at some point, but it didn’t go anywhere. What our kids needed was a model. 

I never set out to model the importance of reading to my kids, I just wanted to better myself. Even when we choose for our personal interests, whether that’s positive activities or negative, others are watching, even if you don’t realize it. 

What do you want to see in others? Start making sure you are doing the same. 

Chewing on Rocks - January 18, 2021

 Chewing on Rocks

By, Michael Earnshaw

January 18, 2021

@MikeREarnshaw

@PunkClassrooms

“Today, I had a kid eat a rock during snack.” 

“What, no way? What did you say?”

“You’re kidding, a 5th grader legit ate a rock?”

“Yeah, I told them that they will be seeing that rock again.” 

And the attendees in the virtual meeting all shared a laugh. Even those that still had themselves “Muted” were seen in their Brady Bunch-esque square shedding a tear from the hysterics. 

At our school, our students are still learning remotely and since Thanksgiving 2020 our staff has been working from home. This has both its ups and downs. This blog isn’t about delving into the never ending debate of remote vs. in-person. This blog is to remind us to laugh. 

For the first quarter and some weeks of our 2020/2021 school year our classrooms were occupied by the teacher and paraprofessionals whose names were on the placard outside the door. Teaching happened in the front of each classroom, each staff member creating their own NASA-like station to engage our students who seemed galaxies away. Things were going great, everyone was in a good groove. We were able to stop by one another’s room, socially distanced and masked up, to have those crucial, 120-second conversations that are game-changers for educators. You know what I’m talking about, that hallway banter that happens when switching classes or walking your homeroom to their Special’s Class. We were even able to start holding Tuesday Town Hall meetings. These were 30-minute informal staff meetings where our Assistant Principal and I were able to give updates and info on anything new and also for staff to ask questions or share tips and strategies that would benefit others. These were not mandatory, but we did have about 90% of our staff show up. With all of the distance we had to put between ourselves with the pandemic these weekly gatherings helped to make us feel like a staff again, united, and committed to bettering our students. 

Positive Covid-19 numbers were rampantly rising in our area. With the positivity rate on the rise in Chicagoland, our Superintendent and School Board made the decision to allow staff to work from home following Thanksgiving for one week. This was to help prevent the spreading of Covid-19 amongst our staff. There was no way to police any staff from traveling or getting together with others despite what the top doctors were recommending. One week of work from home passed and numbers did not get any better. Another week of WFH was granted, and then again until winter break, and here we are now, January 18, 2021, and we’re still working from our living rooms, kitchen tables, and home offices. 

During these remote weeks we still instituted our Town Halls, but it wasn’t the same. Nearly all of our staff showed up to these, but something was missing. Everyone logged into our Zoom at the scheduled time and our Assistant Principal and I basically read off bullet points, something we vowed to never do in a live staff meeting so why would it be acceptable now? Once we were done we asked if anyone had questions or anything else, but no one ever did. 

I’ve struggled to feel connected with our staff during this time, you can read about it here, and I began holding our Town Halls three times a week. Now you may be thinking, “Mike, if you didn’t have much info to share weekly how could you possibly fill three days?” Well, these meetings aren’t so much to deliver info but to spend time with each other. I began rephrasing how I asked if anyone had anything else. Instead of, “Does anyone have anything?” I began asking, “What’s something positive you’d like to share?” or “What’s a highlight of your day?”

The reasoning behind the change in questions was to open conversations, to get some dialogue going. I have always believed that relationships are first, not only with teachers and students but everyone, including administrator and staff as well as staff and staff. With the very bland style of meetings we were having it went against everything I believe a staff meeting should be. Being virtual we are very limited, but we can still smile and laugh. 

No matter what our situation, we can always smile and laugh. 

Being an educator is a whirlwind of emotions on a daily basis, and the climate today with the Covid-19 pandemic does not make anything easier. Educators are working harder than ever, longer days that are taking time away from their own families. If I can’t get our staff up, moving, and partaking in team building activities like we do during in-person staff meetings (more about these in my upcoming book, shameless plug) we needed to share those smiles we were lacking. Creating laughter by sharing those funny stories we always say, “We should write a book about a day in the life of a teacher, no one would ever believe what we experience!” is just what we needed. 

And that was our entire Town Hall. We talked about that 5th grader eating a rock for a snack, and then the weirdest things we have all eaten! Did this conversation have anything to do with education? No, it didn’t...but then again, it did. Education is all about relationships. 

Grab My Hand in the Dark - January 13, 2021

 Grab My Hand in the Dark
By, Michael Earnshaw
January 13, 2021
@MikeREarnshaw
@PunkClassrooms

I’ve been very open and honest with my crew, my PLN when explaining the roller coaster of a ride of emotions that I went through for the majority of 2020. Look, I know, I’m not that special and ALL of us have been on this ride. The point is not to steal any sympathy from you. Since adopting my #OneWord2021 PRISM I have been looking at everything in my life from a different lens. My purpose in this blog is to hopefully help someone who may still be stuck on the same ride I was on find their way off. 

Growing up in the punk rock and hardcore scene I’ve learned to know the importance of having a crew, and now in my educational career, a PLN. Josh and I discuss this tenet of UNITY on multiple episodes of Punk Rock Classrooms. We are truly stronger together. Together we can help one another reach our own goals, get through roadblocks and struggles, and have a shoulder to cry on or ear to lend when someone needs it most. Life can downright suck at times, it’s not always rainbows and unicorns no matter how much any of us wish, or pretend, it is. It’s during those times that the unicorns ate some burritos with expired sour cream or contaminated beans, flying high above us just letting it all go, that we need to turn to our crew. 

Now I grew up in punk and hardcore, but I also have a little, ok, a BIG emo side to me. I can’t recount how many nights were spent screaming along, alone, to Dashboard Confessional, The Starting Line, or Jimmy Eat World. Maybe a tear or two escaped my eye sockets, but I was alone so there’s no proof, your word against mine. 

Now because I have that inner-emo kid still inside, he came out in 2020. What do I mean? I locked myself away from my crew. Part of it was out of my control, we were forced to work remotely, again, as most of the educators in the world did. I could have reached out to our staff, made phone calls, texts, Zooms, but I didn’t. I didn’t make those connections because I didn’t know what to say. Here I was, the educational leader of our amazing school, and I didn’t know how to talk or listen to what our staff was going through because I didn’t know how to process what I was going through. 

I still had my crew from across the world though right? All of those amazing, world-changing, eduheroes that inspire me on an hourly basis? I did, but I didn’t because of me. That emo kid was winning, telling me to just huddle up in the corner, pull my hair over my eye, throw on the headphones, and sulk. And that’s what I did. 

This is no way to live. For me, for you, for anyone. We all make connections and form relationships for these very situations. It wasn’t until the Fall of 2020 that I started to reconnect. I was so fortunate to find and connect every Tuesday morning with the TeachBetter Admin Mastermind group. Like many of them say, our week doesn’t begin until Tuesday morning. I learn so much from them, more than they know, and I only hope that I can benefit them as much as they do me. 

I’ve been able to get more active on Twitter and the various Voxer groups. Just hearing others, knowing we’re all going through the same struggles and frustrations, and being able to help others where I may have some insight has definitely helped to get that shaggy hair out of my eyes and sticking back up in the mohawk it should be. 

This blog isn’t to just share my story of how I refound the power of a crew, a PLN. This blog is hopefully going to help someone who is stuck like I was. Know that no matter how dark the days get, those connections you’ve made, the crew that was always by your side is still there. Reach out your hand, I promise someone will grab yours and pull you up. I’m glad to be out of the dark. If you’re still in it I’ll pull you up. 

PRISM - #OneWord2021 - January 6, 2021

 PRISM 
#OneWord2021
By, Michael Earnshaw
January 6, 2021
@MikeREarnshaw

PRISM - noun - a glass or other transparent object in prism form, especially one that is triangular with refracting surfaces at an acute angle with each other and that separates white light into a spectrum of colors.

2021 will be my third year adopting the #OneWord approach to improving myself throughout the 365 days rather than setting unrealistic resolutions. For my #OneWord 2019, I went with BELIEVE and left my comfort zones, both personally and professionally, more so than I ever even dreamed! If it wasn’t for BELIEVING, I would never have begun writing and sharing it with the world, speaking at educational conferences, or talking about two of my loves, Punk Rock and Education with my brother Josh Buckley on our podcast Punk Rock Classrooms. By living 2019 through the word BELIEVE I was able to move myself to be the husband, father, educator, leader, and the person I knew I was destined to be but had always lacked the confidence to get there. 

Building off the momentum from 2019, 2020 started off amazing! I was flowing through the first few months, just like the word I had chosen to live by, WATER. I was able to break down even more barriers that stood in my way to make me better and stronger to help inspire others to work together to change our world for the better. By adopting WATER as my #OneWord2020 I was able to accomplish a goal that I have had since elementary school, to have a book of my own published. In January of 2020, I am proud to say that I was able to sign a contract with Edumatch and will be able to share the EduCulture Cookbook: Recipes and Dishes to Positively Transform School and Classroom Culture in the Spring/Summer of 2021! 

Everything was on track for 2020 to be one of my best years yet! WATER was freely flowing and I was living my best life until a dam was built out of nowhere. The WATER was stopped and everything in my life began to overflow and flood out in every aspect. At first, I felt that the Covid-19 Pandemic was to blame for building a dam that was stopping my positive flow, but after months of living through a non-stop flood, I realized that it was me that had built the dam. 

I was seeing the world through one lens. Everything that was happening, school shutdowns, quarantines, no toilet paper on the shelves, I only saw the negative in every situation. This had a horrible effect on me to be the leader my staff and students deserve, the husband my wife chose to spend the rest of her life with, and most importantly, the strong father my kids needed. My self-care slowly declined. Runs and weight lifting sessions were sporadic, I’d be lucky to get in two a week. Diet, I guess if you mean eating everything and anything I wanted. I wasn’t reading, wasn’t connecting with my crew, my PLN, and spending way too much time just zoning out in front of the TV every night with nothing good fueling my body. 

Whenever something went wrong at home or school it wasn’t my fault, it had to be someone else’s. All of the goals I had set for the year were put on hold because the Pandemic wasn’t allowing me to reach them. I became depressed and self-destructive but of course, it wasn’t my fault, there just wasn’t any other way, it’s because of the Pandemic, right? 

I only saw the world, my world, through my eyes. 

I chose the word PRISM for my #OneWord2021 because I now understand that everything I mentioned above was because of me. I chose to use the Pandemic as an excuse. I wasn’t taking responsibility for my actions and took the easy way out. It took many months living through this to understand I was the cause of my own struggles, but I am grateful to have found see the light from a different lens. 

I chose the word PRISM because of the simple, yet awe-inspiring job they do. PRISMS bring in one bland ray of light, one view, one perspective, but project a plethora of beauty, colors, and a rainbow of amazement out of the other side. PRISMS help us to see more than what is there, other perspectives, alternate avenues. PRISMS help us to see that there’s more than meets the eye, that there is light in the darkness, beauty in catastrophe. 

PRISMS help us to see that there is so much to be grateful for even amidst our world being flipped upside down. 

I will live 2021 looking for the light when everything around me is dark and bland. I will continue to BELIEVE and flow like WATER, and that will lead me to the rainbows that surround us all of the time. I will stop only seeing my ray of light, I will listen more than I speak. I will show gratitude daily because there is so much beauty that has come out of this pandemic and to truly move forward we mustn’t revert to how things were.

I will see the beauty in every situation. 

I will see the beauty in others. 

I will see the beauty in myself.