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Lindsay and I explore the significant impact of connecting with students on a personal level, engaging in empowering conversations, and making education relevant to their lives. We also delve into the role mindset plays in creating a thriving educational environment. Join us as Lindsay Titus shares tips on how to incorporate this approach in our everyday interactions with young people, and discuss how to empower students (and ourselves) through self-reflection and action.
Lindsay Titus has been in the field of education for 17 years and specializes in the study of behavior analysis. She is passionate about helping educators create a mindset that allows them to live a life of purpose and passion inside and outside of the school setting! In this episode, we talk about getting to be humans first, defining who we are, and the power of asking why…all in service of creating curricula and pedagogy that honors the humanity of students and makes class relevant to who they are right now. The Big Dream To create a thriving educational environment where students are treated as people first, and curriculum and instruction are connected to who students are now, not who we think they should be or will be or could be. Alignment to the 4 Stages: Mindset, Pedagogy, Assessment, and Content Mindset is the foundation for creating a thriving educational environment. Aligning our beliefs with our actions will better support students and foster meaningful connections in the classroom. “We often use the house analogy…I can bring in the greatest windows and doors and paint and things like that. So I can have really good assessments that are actually helping us move the needle forward…I can be teaching content that is relevant to now, but if I don't have the belief or the mindset that this is important…there's a disconnect, and so I truly believe that [mindset] has to be the foundation.” “That's really what I help educators do. It's like here's the situation we have. Let's unpack it and we're going to go deep…to figure out what's the barrier. And then, how do we…create new habits, new standards, new boundaries, new values, so that this now just becomes our new foundation?” Mindset Shifts Required Educators need to understand that they have the power to create change within themselves. Many say “if my leader changes, if my admin changes, if my school policy changes, if I change schools, if something else changes, then I'll change.” That’s what Lindsay Titus calls “the chase.” Chasing a dream or chasing a change isn’t the fix because we keep experiencing the same things. We are never doing anything new. We're building on from experience that we have, and that doesn't mean we have to keep doing what we've always done. Draw Your Ideal Self Triangle Step 1: Draw your ideal self triangle. On a perfect day, how will you show up? At one point of the triangle, write or draw what you look like. At another point, what you sound like. At the final point, what you feel like. Step 2: Then, on a day where you're not finding the joy, refer to this “anchor document.” Notice things like “my ideal self speaks gratitude, not complaints,” and try to find gratitude. Step 3: Repeat this ideal self triangle description/drawing every 4-6 months. Two Steps to Get Started Start with gratitude - Set aside three minutes each day to focus on things you are grateful for. Connect gratitude to something you see all the time, like mirrors. Every time you pass by a mirror, remind yourself of something you are grateful for. Ask: What is one thing I can do today? What is one step, one small, simple step I can take to build that momentum? Stay Connected You can find this week’s guest on her website, DefineYOUniversity.com. She’s also on Facebook and Instagram. To help you define your ideal self, deeply reflect, and practice gratitude, Lindsay is sharing her 7-Day Journal with you for free. And, if you’re looking for more details on the ideas in this blog post, listen to episode 136 of the Time for Teachership podcast. If you’re unable to listen or you prefer to read the full episode, you can find the transcript below. Quotes:
TRANSCRIPT Today, I have another Lindsay joining me on the show, Lindsay Titus has been in the field of education for 17 years and specializes in the study of behavior analysis. She has worked as a special education teacher, assistant principal and behavior specialist. She is passionate about helping educators create a mindset that allows them to live a life of purpose and passion inside and outside of the school setting. Let's get to our conversation with Lindsay Titus. I'm educational justice coach, Lindsay Lyons and here on the time for Teacher podcast, we learn how to inspire educational innovation for racial and gender justice design curricula grounded in student voice and build capacity for shared leadership. I'm a former teacher leader turned instructional coach. I'm striving to live a life full of learning, running, baking, traveling and parenting because we can be rockstar educators and be full human beings if you're a principal, assistant superintendent, curriculum director, instructional coach or teacher who enjoys nering out about co-creator curriculum of students. I made this show for you. Here we go. Lindsay Titus. Welcome to the time for teacher shift podcast. Oh, thanks so much for having me. 00:01:04 I'm excited to dive in today. Oh my gosh. I'm so excited. And so before we do, what should people keep in mind? Like, what should listeners know about you? I mean, I will have just read your bio at the front end of the episode. But like, is there anything else that we should kind of be thinking about when we start the conversation today? I think for me, the biggest thing that, that I really try and really just emulate every day as an educator is that we get to be humans first. Um We are so programmed and conditioned um through all the things in the, in the world to, you know, almost be, be what we do. Um Instead of bringing who we are, we want to be into all the things we do. And so I think a lot of what I share about that's really the core that, that, that's where it comes from is because for years, I didn't live with that hat on and I've made that shift and now it's wherever I am, it's not work related, it's not home related. It's literally anywhere that Lindsay shows up, I'm gonna show up as I as I authentically can be because that's the only thing that's really quote unquote worked. 00:02:07 Um So that's really my core and that's what I bring into, you know, kind of all conversations that I'm having. What a great way to ground the episode. I love this. I love this. So much so. Ok, so now the first question I usually ask where we're kind of like getting into, to some deeper things around, like deep that was pretty deep to start with deeper things around. Like what this looks like. What is the dream that you hold for, you know, curriculum instruction or educators? Because I know you do a lot of work with that idea of human person educators. So like, what is that freedom dream for you? Yeah. So I think when it comes to, you know, really curriculum and instruction and, and anything really even beyond, I, I think it really is remembering that the people we are teaching are people. Students are people first too, just like teachers, right? We are, we are out here shouting it from the rooftops. It feels like right now where we are in education that we are humans that we are people, you know, all these things. But I think we have to encourage ourselves to remind ourselves, students are people too. 00:03:11 They are humans first too. And so when it comes to curriculum instruction, it has to relate to who we're teaching. It has to connect with them on, on a, on a level that they can understand. You know, when we ask, why do you think we're learning this? Why do you think this is in our books or why do you think this is what you know, for me, New York State says this is what you should learn why. Right. And then, and invite a conversation. So it's not, we have to learn this because New York State says we have to. No, it's why do you think? And then what are we gonna do about it? If it doesn't connect to us, then let's take it another level, you know, deeper. And if it does amazing how are we going to use this to keep moving? So, for me, it's kind of two fold. It's one, it's remembering that whoever we're teaching, they are people, they are humans. But then secondarily, it's, it's gotta connect. It's gotta be purposeful and it's got to be connected to who they are now, not who we think they should be or will be or could be. I love that. And I think my background is in student leadership and people are always talking about student leadership as this future thing. 00:04:13 Once you graduate, it's like, no, no right now. Yeah. And we, you know, even so obviously I'm an educator, but I'm also a mom and I have lived that without knowing really, like, there's a term for it or, or all the things. But like that was my go to with my, my older daughter Keeley, who's now nine, you know, from the time really, she could talk. I was always like, here's why we do this. What do you think? What would you like to do? What would you like to add? And it could be something as simple as what do you want for dinner tonight? Right. Like, here's our plan. What else would you like? And it's just allowing her voice to be heard because absolutely, I believe who, who wholeheartedly that if we leave things for the future, they stay in the future. Right. One day someday stays one day someday. But until we start living it now, today we're not gonna see change. And so it really is about bringing it into this present moment so that we can, you know, make the change we want to see. I love that and I love that too as like the simultaneous educator and parent hat of like this happens right in our daily lives in our homes as well. 00:05:16 And like, where else can we bring that to life? So I love that tip just for, for parents listening as well or anyone who has a young person at home. Um So I OK, so thinking about all of this, I often talk about like a variety of kind of pillars that kind of play into bringing this to life. And so I think of things like mindset, which I know you coach a lot around. I think of things like the pedagogy and, and kind of even to what you're speaking of, of like literally how you interact with young people as you were just describing, I think of the assessment and, and the you were mentioning New York State and like I taught New York State for, for my teaching as well. And it was like, here are the things like you have to prep for the regions, you have to prep for like all these state tests, right? And so there's like that dynamic and like, how do we make that more human censored? And then there's also like, literally what you're, I mean, you've hit on all of these, I think the the relevance piece too with the content, it's like, it has to be relevant literally right now, not in some distant future. What do you think in terms of like, how you think about these playing out or how you would coach teachers to think about these? 00:06:20 Is there an order to them? Is there kind of like a prioritization? Is it like all things at once? Is there something that seems a little bit more important than others to you? So I think, you know, above and beyond all, I believe Mindset has to be your foundation and that's, you know, yes, I coach on Mindset. Um But I really do believe if you, you know, we often use like the house analogy, right? Like if I, I can bring in the greatest, you know, windows and doors and paint and things like that. So, you know, I can have really good um you know, assessments that are actually helping us move the needle forward, so to speak, I can be teaching content that is relevant to now. But if I don't have the belief or the mindset that this is important, but this is the way it really, that the world works. Right. If I don't have that core belief that this is it, then it's the energy. There, there's a, there's a disconnect and so I truly believe that that has to be the foundation. Um, and then I think the other things really can be more kind of individualized, personalized based on, you know, I even think it could be personal person. 00:07:26 I think it could be department to department. I think it'd be school district, right? Wherever your kind of mission and vision is focused because every school, every department, every district is a little bit different. But mindset has to be quote, right? That has to be the core, at least from my, from my beliefs. Because if my belief, my subconscious brain is telling me it's not important or it doesn't matter if it's not, it, then my actions will never align to it. And that's when we find ourselves doing things but feel that like, nag like, I don't know that this is what I should be doing or this doesn't feel right. This doesn't feel align. Well, it's because we have a disconnect between what our inner thoughts are telling us and what we are actually seeing in our reality. I think about that in terms of adaptive leadership, like a lot of the stuff that I do is adaptive leadership. And it's like, you know, we're always applying like a technical challenge to a pro or a technical solution to an adaptive problem thinking it's a technical challenge. We're like, oh, we'll just do a PD session and then this problem will go away and it doesn't. And I think you're absolutely right. It's because there's a disconnect between the underlying belief that we're usually a little afraid to address. And I think that is a really interesting, like a frame for a lot of the things that we struggle with in education and the reason we've been grappling with the same problems for so long. 00:08:38 And so I, I totally agree and, and I'm wondering, kind of as a follow up the, the mindset shift or maybe the core beliefs that you found that people do hold that are productive or that help kind of move the needle or, um, like things that you coach people on. What are, what are those kind of mindsets or beliefs that, that are positive? Yeah. So, I think it's really, it's really about creating this understanding of why we do the things we do and the actions we take today, the biggest kind of aha moment I had when I was personally going through this. But I, I also personally, you can't teach something you haven't gone through. And so, you know, I, everything I teach on everything I talk about is because I have lived it the last you know, however many years. And so when I think about mindset, it's ok. What is it or why do I do the things that I do? And they always connect to ultimately childhood and they always connect to a belief or an upbringing or something that we learn. You know, the, the easiest kind of noneducational example I I share is the money doesn't grow on trees, right. 00:09:42 So many of us myself and h grew up with that mindset of like, no, we have to save money doesn't grow on trees. It just doesn't come from anywhere. And so, but now as adults, we have that same mindset if we, if we don't shift it, right? I coach behavior primarily, right? So student behavior, adult behavior, why do we do the things we do a lot of it become? That's how we were taught behaviors that we find really irritating in our classrooms are probably the ones that irritated our parents. And then we were told don't do those things. And so those are ingrained in us, don't do those things, they're bad. And then subconsciously as educators, that's what we see, we see hitting, we assume bad and we act in a certain way now until I can undo that core belief, right? Not even undo I can rewrite it so that I can believe behavior truly is a form of communication. Behavior truly is meaningful in that moment. It's a solution to the problem. Well, then I can see it through a different light. And now as the educator, I can teach, support coach, a different directive. And so for me, that's really what I help educators do. 00:10:46 It's like here's the situation we have, let's unpack it and we're gonna go deep, right? We're gonna go to your point beyond the surface kind of initial pd layer, we're gonna go real deep to figure out what's the barrier and then how do we then create new habits, new standards, new boundaries, new values so that this now just becomes our f our new foundation. I love that. And you made me think of so many things too now as like AAA first time parent that I'm experiencing too in that realm of like, why do some things irritate us? And it is because it irritated our parents and it has been so much of an unlearning process to be like, is it really that bad that like, you know, something got a little messy or is it really, you know, because to your point of humans, we are humans first, right? Like this is a human child, we have a human connection. That connection is more important than a little bit of milk on the floor, right? Like, yes, it's so important and such a really good demonstration of like, I mean, that's a 1 to 1 kind of relationship or like a, you know, maybe 2 to 1 or, or whatever, but in a classroom. 00:11:49 It's the same thing, even though it's kind of a one to many like that is definitely, it, it's like the human part comes first. The behavior is the communication. Let's go deep and understand what's happening. And let's try to unlearn the things that often. I mean, a lot of my work is Justice Center. So it's like a lot of it is like white supremacy culture, right? That was says we should not wear hats or we should behave this way or we, right? And it's like, why? Yeah, I say it's, it's this one of the I would say in the English language, sometimes the smaller the words, the bigger the impact, right? And why, I mean three letters but holy moly like it's huge. And so, and I do that too with, with behaviors, you know, I'll get called into a classroom and we, we've got to change this kid behavior. OK? Why? Well, and I, and sometimes I get really good answers and sometimes I get like, you're in a headlight like because it has to change like, but why? But why? Right. And usually it takes 3 to 5 whys to actually get to, you know, the the core or the crux of like what is this actually impacting? And nine times out of 10, maybe that's maybe this but maybe like 67 times out of 10. 00:12:53 It's because it impacts the adult more than anybody else because we have not had the opportunity and this is not shaming or guilty trying to make anyone feel this is because this is how we were raised. We didn't learn this in teacher prep, we didn't learn this and there's no like adult course, like, figure all this out. But it's, that's why, right. It irritates us because of our past experience and until we can honor that and say, ok, it bothered me, then it doesn't have to bother me. Now, I can do different things. And that's amazing. And that's really cool and exciting. And that's what I'm gonna go find. Right. But if I'm living this, well, I have to do this because I should, and because of this, our energy is never gonna be what we want it to be. And that's what to me, in my opinion, what leads to burnout frustration and, and people just kind of saying this is never gonna work. Yes. And I think about that in terms of curriculum too, like I think about it behaviorally, but also in terms of curriculum, all of like the should, you should do this, this should matter. We are preparing for a task, right? All of the things that are like pressure and yeah, your energy just totally dissipates. And I think it's why a lot of people like leave the profession is because I got into this thing for joy and human connection and teaching in a joyful way and it's not happening. 00:14:03 And I don't want a part of it anymore. Yeah. So yeah, you know, at any time should, comes up in conversation, it's should be like that. Is that, is it just, and now it's funny, like as much as I share it, you know, out in social media land, I started sharing it like at school and people are like, what is that? I'm like, well, it's my made up word but it's purposeful like we are in should be right now. Like, I don't care. OK, so, yes, we, we're gonna teach this concept. Great. You don't need to love the concept, but you have to love the energy you get to bring to teach the concept. And that's what I always think. It's like the curriculum is the curriculum. We and I, I do, I think we have a long way still to go. I think we've made a lot of change but there's, it's momentum, right? It's not, once we get here, we're gonna be done. And I think that's something that I thought for a long time. Like, well, once we finally get here, we're good and then I learn. I'm like, no, I, no, I don't want good. I want great. I want phenomenal. I want amazing. And that's an ongoing process. Like if you're someone looking for, like, I'm here, I'm good. Like, no, like let yourself expand, let yourself get bigger than the curriculum, right? 00:15:08 Because you are bigger than it. But the energy you bring behind it. You don't have to 100% agree with it. You don't have to 100% understand it. There's some things that I'm like, I don't get. But let's be honest and real about that and let's teach how, then we learn how we make those connections for kids. So they see the purpose in what we're doing. That brings to mind an example of a couple teams that I've been coaching around curriculum and one of the teams just literally the moment they walked in the door, high energy, super loving their jobs. And they are the team. When I asked the first question of like, how does curriculum building make you feel? They were like, love it, do it all the time, constantly revising like the students change. So we have to change and this just like this dynamic thing and the group that was like, uh like walking in the door kind of like, I don't wanna be here. It immediately became clear that there was a connection between, I don't wanna be here because I don't like the idea of arising curriculum because I've been teaching this exact same curriculum for 5, 10, 15 years. And it's good. We are, we have arrived, right? There's no improving. And that mindset I think, and based on what you're saying, I think it's probably not just me that thinks this now they're like, there is a connection there to the joy that we bring and the way that we teach and the, whether we're happy in our profession and whether we stay in the profession in a happy way. 00:16:24 And that is fascinating to me that you just helped me make that connection. It really, I mean, it's taken me years to figure it out like it really is. And, and, you know, some people I often get like, they're like, is it really that simple? And I'm like, well, it is now our brains will make it way more complex because our brains want us to stay where we're at. Our brains do not want us to change. And so we don't, right, like our brains will hold us back. And so it takes ourselves having that inner work, that inner strength to say, I'm gonna do something a little bit different. I'm going to veer off the beaten path a little bit with this lesson and doesn't mean you have to go to like the next state or the next country. Like you can go across the street, right? You can go to the next town like you. And I think that's the other thing. We often live in this all or nothing universe. And so it's like when people hear curriculum change, it's like, well, there goes everything I've ever done, we're starting from scratch and I'm like, you're not like, and, and actually during the pandemic, that was something I really resonated with is like, we are never doing anything new we're building on from experience that we have like, stop giving away the credit of the life that you live because it got you here. 00:17:29 And that is an amazing thing. That doesn't mean we have to keep doing what we've always done. You know, I always, I'm, I'm so in tune lately with like the kind of the oxymorons and like the adult versus student world. I've shared a couple of them out on, on Instagram. But it's like for us it's like comparison is the thief of joy for adults yet. That's what we do in classrooms, right? We continue to compare our kids and I'm like, or no could be a complete sentence for me, but our kids can't say no. Like and so it's just like a moral world. That's the word, right that I'm living in and I'm just trying to like, get to a point of like, let's just all listen to each other. Let's just all be ok with change, right? We don't want to be where we're at yet. We're afraid to change. So we have to be willing to say that makes me uncomfortable, but I'm gonna keep moving forward anyway. Wow. That idea of adult student really hits home. That is so true. Wow. We totally think these things for us and not student when I do it here. Like I'll be talking to my daughter, I'll be saying something like, you know, that's, this is a great opportunity to practice gratitude. And I'm like, oh yeah, I should take my own advice. Like that's so great. 00:18:35 So I, I think people listening are probably thinking, yeah, like I wanna do more of this. I'm gonna have more joy. I want to be in human connection with students. I wanna like have these same concepts for myself as for my students and for my Children. What does that look like in terms of action? Like are there any anything anything that you've like coached around or you suggest people do to, to literally just help build that into reality for themselves? Yeah. So my, my favorite activity I think that anybody really can do. Um It's pretty simple. It all it requires really is a sheet of paper and a pencil is take a sheet of paper, draw a triangle on it and in the middle um if you're a drawer draw like your ideal self, like when you envision who you want to show up as at work, like and I'm thinking like the day where you've had like the best sleep, the best coffee. If you're a coffee drinker, like there no traffic, like you just have this like ideal day, like draw that out. I am not a drawer. So I write like kind of script out what that looks like and that's gonna fill the inside of your triangle and then order doesn't really matter. 00:19:37 But one of the peaks of the triangle is gonna be, what does this person look like? So physically, what are they wearing? What, you know, how, how long is their hair? What color are their nails? Everything you want to get really, really super specific. Um One of the peaks is sounds like. So when they're speaking, what are the words that are saying? Are there words full of gratitude or are they full of complaints? Right. What are, what is coming out when they speak and then feels like how do they feel during the day? And so by doing this exercise, this now becomes your rounding mechanism. So on a day where you're not finding the joy on a day that you are just like what is happening? My world is falling apart. You have this, I call them like anchor, um anchor statements or anchor um just documents, right? To really read ground you. And so you reread that and OK, right. That my ideal self speaks gratitude, not complaints. So what am I grateful for in this moment? What am I? What am I learning? Right. So for me, one of the sounds like is, is shares the lessons that she's learning through challenges. 00:20:44 And so now when I'm having a challenge, I don't see it as a challenge. I see it as what's the lesson? What am I ready to learn? What am I ready to expand? And so by having that, you now have almost like your own coach in your pocket. So to speak to really help you, you know, fully understand the emotion, right? And this is, you know, one activity to do, please don't think this is like all you do and then you're like saved like, but this is one way to bring it back to the present moment of what is something I can control right now. I might not be able to control all the policies, all the things that are happening, but I can control the language I use when I speak about it. And so for me, that's one of the easiest places to start because you have full control over whether you do it or not. I absolutely love this. And it also, I think just brings awareness sometimes to the fact that like, oh I am not this person that I, I ideally would like to be in this moment. And like you said, I do have control over that and how that manifests like, oh, so good. Yeah. And I do this activity at least once I would say every like 4 to 6 months. 00:21:47 So again, once you reach that ideal state because we're all about growth and expansion. So once I get to where I read it and I'm like, I am living this, you know, most of the time, right? Everybody has allowed a bad day, everybody has allowed a bad moment, you know it, that's fine. But if you get to where you're reading it and you're like, I am doing this well, now it's time to, to push yourself right now. We take it one step further. So you do it again with the now? Ok. What, what now is this person doing? And that's really how I've gone from, um, you know, I was a classroom teacher to now, you know, I'm a, I'm a behavior specialist in a district, but I'm also a speaker and an author and a podcast. So it's like, I've been able to add not all at once but over time because my ideal self continued to shift. How else am I gonna share my voice? How else am I gonna share my joy? How else am I gonna share my energy and what is that gonna look like? Someone can feel like I love that. I love that and I'm sure that people that you coach probably do this activity and have had a lot of success with it. Is there anything that like as you're coaching them, maybe they're like moving on from that step or maybe it's even around this idea that they have had, they've seen kind of like a challenge that transcends like individuals or like this is kind of a theme of like this is part of the challenge of this work and this is something that we frequently you have to overcome. 00:23:00 Is there anything you'd want to share around? Like what's challenging? And then how do we move through that? Yeah, I think the biggest thing that comes up more frequently than not is this understanding that we truly do have the power to create change around us. I think so often we are conditioned in that. Well, if my leader changes, if my admin changes, if my school policy change, if I change schools, if something else changes, then I'll change. And I learned that that's just what I call the chase, right? That's us chasing a dream or chasing a change. That really is never gonna happen. Because until we believe it wholeheartedly within ourselves, we're gonna keep finding different experiences of the same thing. And so in educators that I coach when we finally kind of crack through this thing. So they're like, I moved grade levels and it was great. But then, you know, this challenge hit and I felt burnt out again. I'm like, right, because we didn't actually get to the crux yet of what that challenge meant to you and how you perceived it. And so once we do that, then the breakthroughs happen, not only in the classroom, but also at home, the family during, you know, their leisure time and they're really starting to see that their life is created by them, that it is not work first and then I try and fit in everything else. 00:24:16 It is no. Who are you at your core? And then all the other things will find their peace, but you get to stay in control and once we learn how to do that, then even the challenging days, I just had an educator reach out the other day. And she's like, it was one of my most challenging days as an educator. And I still left work with a smile on my face because I knew I did my best. I knew I'm learning the lesson and I knew that whatever happened that day did not define me that who I show up as after that, right? The resilience, the empowerment, all those pieces. That's who I am and she was able to continue on her day. Whereas in the past that would have knocked her, you know, out, so to speak for at least a day, if not more. So those are the moments that like, make my heart super happy because everybody has that ability within them. We just have to believe it and then take the align action to make it happen. I love that so much because I also resonate with that challenge. Like I often think of, I mean, even just in like my own like, oh, it would be so great when, you know, we could like fence off the yard and then that way it'll just be easier to let the dog out or something. You know what it's like, waiting for that day, waiting for that thing. 00:25:20 It's like, no, no, I can have the joint now. Like, what else can change like? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And it's it really is like we can have long term goals, like, absolutely. But don't forget about the short term, the medium term, the in the middle, right? And then more importantly, what can you do today? Right. And so if there's something you desire in the future, that's amazing. But if it stays in the future, it stays in the future. And this is whether you're talking about wanting to get in shape or, you know, we want change in the classroom through curriculum. Like it doesn't matter if we say one day it stays one day. And so instead we can start to think what is one thing I can do today, right? What is one step? One small, simple step I can take to build that momentum. Because what do we know about momentum? Once it starts watch out, it's gonna keep going. And that is a, that is a power that is something we all have inside. And if I think if we can get more people to, to band together on that, then then truly watch out because we really are unstoppable at that point. 00:26:24 That's amazing. And, and I, I think about the work that you do with your journaling and, and all of the different things that you have for people to be able to use and, and go to that. Do you mind talking us through a little bit? Like what for listeners, you're gonna get access to a seven day uh journaling like documents, right? And so Lindsay is sharing that with you guys so you can use it and try it out and I'll, I'll just like throw it back to you to, to see if you want to talk us through that. Yeah. So I think again, so much of what we're talking about here today starts in our thoughts, right? And if we don't have a way to ground our thoughts, then our thoughts win, right? And you are not our, we are not our thoughts. And I thought, I thought we were for a long time. Like I grew up thinking like, well, this is just the way I am, right? I have these negative thoughts about myself. I grew up very like low confidence, low self esteem um thinking, you know, I'm, I'm just a pessimist, that's just who I am. And it wasn't until I got into adulthood, but I was like, no, I'm not right, like working with a coach myself and really going all in on this mindset where I was like, no, I'm not like, but I needed a way to channel those thoughts. 00:27:28 And so like I said, for me, I am a writer and so journaling was the way, but I, I couldn't figure it out with just open journaling, right? Just kind of blank sheet of paper. Some days I can. But most days I'm like, I don't know what to write and I would get stuck on like I don't know, it's right. So I'm just not going to write. And so I created um the defining journal that is, it's kind of a combination of all the journaling practices that really resonate well with me and I've had similar success with other um educators, although it is not written solely for educators. So anybody really that's looking to help define who they are, um can absolutely use it. And so it starts out, each day starts out with a little motivational inspirational poem, message, just something to really get your mind thinking. Um There are lists for both celebrations of the day. I fully believe in celebrating everything. And I always say, I don't care if you put on there, you brush your teeth like I don't care what you celebrate, but you celebrate five, at least five things and then gratitude. Same thing does it matter if it's big things, little things, the more we are grateful for, the less we take for granted. 00:28:30 And then on the opposing page, it is all about reflection on either whatever your thoughts are saying to you or how you resonate to the poem. And so what connections did you make? What wonders do you have? What feelings are you feeling? And then words to define your day? Because I realize like we don't allow ourselves just to wonder and get curious and question things. And I think the more we do that in our daily lives, the more we're gonna feel natural doing it in the classroom and we're not gonna be so off put. Then if students right, it is a normal part of human nature to question things that are happening, doesn't mean we did anything wrong. But if we don't start that practice with ourselves, we won't accept it as, as like, ok to do in the classroom either. And so I created this um to really help people either through a morning or an evening routine. I know some teachers that use it on their lunch break as like a midday, like pick me up here we go. Um And it's just, it's, it's, you know, my pride and pride in, you know, my little baby that um um I just, I love sharing out in the world because I think it is such a, again, a simple way to really help people get their bots focused back on themselves. 00:29:38 I love that. I'm going to download it and use it because it sounds wonderful. And so as people have been like listening to this episode for a while now and, and thinking about all the things that they might want to do, where is one thing where they could start in a place where, you know, they are building that momentum that you talked about and, and really living in alignment with like who they want to be that ideal self in that triangle. So I think if you are someone like you like I don't know where to start. My number was always start with gratitude. Start with three minutes. That three minutes changed my life. I started gratitude practice um with three minutes. So I would set my alarm clock every morning for three minutes earlier than I had been waking up. And I just sat in bed and I just spewed off the most random of random things that I was grateful for. And that then turned into again, it's all about building momentum and everybody has three minutes, like even the, the, the busiest person, even though I don't love the word busy, but like the person that's doing it all has three minutes. Um You know, even there was nights, you know, I have a one year old as well and there was many nights I still do it because she's still not sleeping through the night. 00:30:47 Um, where as I'm holding her, as I'm rocking her, I am just spewing out gratitude because my, otherwise my mind is gonna go. Why do I have to do this? I'm gonna be exhausted tomorrow. This is so frustrating, even though that's not what I truly believe, that's what I feel in the moment. And so instead, it's, I'm so grateful I get to be here for her. I'm so grateful I get to hold her. I'm so grateful she's telling me what she needs right now and that just makes everything change. And so when you start to do that in the morning, you're gonna then do it in the afternoon. You're gonna, then do it in the evening. Um The second way to kind of build on that is connect gratitude to something you see all the time. I do it with mirrors. So any time you pass a mirror, it's like a p you have to say something that you are grateful for and you can say it internally, it's fine. Otherwise people might look at you, but that's ok too. But think about it. There's mirrors everywhere, right? They're in our car, they're in our buildings, they're in our homes, um Anywhere you go. And so every time you pass by now you're practicing gratitude just as a daily habit. Um And I think that is the simplest way for me that I found to just do that. And then on those really tough days, that's just what I did with like I just, I just increase the gratitude and, and fall back in love with the life I'm living. 00:31:56 Even if it's frustrating me at that moment, it's Lindsay Lances popping in here to tell you about today's episode. Freebie. So Lindsay Titus has written a ton of cool journal kind of things with awesome prompts and she is sharing with you a seven day journal freebie that you can access on our blog post, go to Lindsay Beth lances dot com slash blog slash 136 to get yours. Now, back to the episode I love that idea of the cues. I totally gonna use that. And I think I, I talk about sometimes, like, I think it's James Clear, talk about habit stacking or something and it reminds me of that. Right? Like, what do you link with something else? So good. All right. This question is just purely for fun. I just love learning what other people are learning about. But what is something that you have been learning about lately and it can relate to our conversation or be totally different? So I am all about. It's funny, I do not read fiction books. I just can, I not even, I can't, I just don't enjoy them. Um Like I once did and so I'm constantly trying to pull in. So right now, I am totally fascinated with the mind. I mean, that probably doesn't surprise anyone that's listening to this episode, but I've been really focused, a kind of hyper focus on human design and really learning about how we are all so unique but interconnected at the same time. 00:33:06 And so based on like time of birth and where you're born and all that. And I don't even, that's about the surface as I am right now. It's all about like the moons and the star, you know, all the things, but it gives you kind of this like formula for, you know, somewhere that you've been and I know there's people that are like, nope, don't believe it there's people that are like, yes, this is all I believe. And I'm kind of in the middle, right? Like, I'm kind of like reading it. Like, I believe this, I don't, but it's just fascinating to me that I'm like, this is just cool. Right. And I love, again, kind of learning things that I'm like, oh, maybe that's why I do what I do. I love that. I love fun stuff like that. And then finally, listeners are going to get and be able to download in the show notes in the blog post, um your template or your sorry, not template uh journal for seven days. Also just wanna flag here that Lindsay also has the full journal that you can buy if you're like, yeah, I want more than seven days of this. Um So we'll link to all of that stuff as well in the blog post. But where can people connect with you and get in touch and continue the conversation? Yeah, absolutely. So um define university is my website and so and university is with uh you, so you um but pretty active on most social media sites, I would say Facebook and Instagram primarily. 00:34:17 Um because those are the ones who let me write the super long captions. So just a fair warning to anybody I like to write stories with, with my posts. Um But that is where I show up most frequently. But then again, everything else links back to the website. Awesome Lizzie. Thank you so much for joining us today. Uh Thank you so much. It has been so much fun if you like this episode. I bet you'll be just as jazz as I am about my coaching program for increasing student led discussions in your school, Shane, Sapir and Jamila Dugan. Talk about a pedagogy of student voice in their book Street Data. They say students should be talking for 75% of class time. Do students in your school talk for 75% of each class period. I would love for you to walk into any classroom in your community and see this in action. If you're smiling to yourself as you listen right now, grab 20 minutes on my calendar to brainstorm. How I can help you make this big dream a reality. I'll help you build a comprehensive plan from full day trainings and discussion protocols like circle and Socratic seminar to follow up classroom visits where I can plan witness and debrief discussion based lessons with your teachers. Sign up for a nerdy no strings attached to brainstorm. Call at Lindsay beth lions dot com slash contact. Until next time leaders think big act brave and be your best self. 00:35:24 This podcast is a proud member of the Teach Better podcast network better today, better tomorrow and the podcast to get you there, explore more podcasts at teach better dot com slash podcasts and we'll see you at the next episode.
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AuthorLindsay Lyons (she/her) is an educational justice coach who works with teachers and school leaders to inspire educational innovation for racial and gender justice, design curricula grounded in student voice, and build capacity for shared leadership. Lindsay taught in NYC public schools, holds a PhD in Leadership and Change, and is the founder of the educational blog and podcast, Time for Teachership. Archives
November 2024
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