The Challenge of Teaching Like an Artist

The past year was difficult for everyone. Not that it was any worse for me personally, or as an educator, but it did certainly pose a unique challenge in my line of work. As an instructional tech, I had built somewhat of a platform about teaching to inspire. It was the basis of my presentations and my blogs.

Inspiring? As any teacher will tell you, trying to do school in any way the past year was anything but inspiring.

It was exactly a year ago that we learned schools would be shut down in our state. I had been at an ed-tech conference the day before. It was supposed to take two days. Instead, they tried heroically to put together some virtual options for the first day and they canceled the second.

My school closed a day early, so we could get a plan together. I was very happy with what the leaders and teachers from our small district accomplished in a mere four days. By March 17th, we rolled out a K-12 plan to keep in touch with students for what we hoped would be just a couple weeks.

Of course, we never returned to school that year. In those weeks that followed, I learned just how far the teachers in my district were from actually making online learning work. That's not an insult to them. Most schools were in the same situation. I did think we would have been a little more prepared, given the twelve years I worked in the district to help them do just that. 

I still maintain that if we had been prepared, it would have given our students a huge advantage. It's a relatively small number, but imagine those students who already had the skills and discipline to learn on their own when schools shut down. When almost every student was facing a setback, it was an opportunity for them to forge ahead. 

While I'd never hope for (or even imagine) such a drastic turn of events that brought us to that point, I hoped I was helping teachers and students be prepared for such opportunities. Being able to learn is a necessary skill for success in today's world. We've known that for years. I hoped I was helping teachers help students get ready. Weeks on end of non-stop work in the district served only to remind me how badly I'd missed that goal.

Followers of my work might remember I was even finishing my 2020 edition of my Teaching Like an Artist Journal. Yeah, that never came together. I was hours away from having it ready, but it was the first of many "why bother" moments that followed.

I've posted three times on this blog in the past year (counting this post). In December the bill comes up to renew the domain. I seriously considered letting it go. 

I decided this won't be forever. If anything I ever wrote here mattered, persistence now will be required to find out its value. A mere three posts a year show that I didn't persist very well. For today, though, I've had the courage to try again.

I'll try again tomorrow, too.

Seeing Our Lives as Stories That Matter

Here's a powerful video I came across over break that I think every teacher should watch as we head into 2020. It's about a story I've referred to several times here and on my other blog. It's about how Erin Gruwell used the power of story to reach students that most other teachers had given up on.   

It happened nearly 30 years ago, but she's still telling the story and inspiring the new teachers she trains.

I'm sure many factors in Erin's classroom were different from where you teach. I know they're not exactly like mine. The world has changed in a lot of ways. But the principles that led to her success come through: 

• Everyone has an important story worth sharing for the sake of others. 
• Amazing things can happen when we are fully committed to a mission. 
• It won't be easy.

I'm glad to see this story told well in about an hour. Please consider watching it, even if it's over a few sittings. It also has several shorter clips you could use in class or with your staff. Click the image below or click here to visit the page on PBS.org.

Show Your Work - Inspiration from Austin Kleon

The past year has been a rough one for me in a lot of ways. If you follow my work here or over on my ed-tech blog, you'll know the work output really dropped.

Recently I was reminded of Austin Kleon's book, Steal Like an Artist. It was a huge inspiration to me six years ago as I was forming the thoughts that birthed this blog. 

I decided I needed another boost, so I finally read his follow-up book, Show Your Work.

Like his first, this was a quick read and I highly recommend it if you're into creative work. Some of the ideas certainly aren't as fresh as when it came out, but it definitely kick-started my interest in getting my work out there.

I loved this one quote especially, as it strikes squarely on my "teaching like an artist" rally cry. Kleon is talking about art as a story. He quotes another author first:

Author John Gardner said the basic plot of nearly all stories is this: 

“A character wants something, 

goes after it despite opposition (perhaps including his own doubts), 

and so arrives at a win, lose, or draw." 

Then Kleon adds his thoughts:

I like Gardner's plot formula because it's also the shape of most creative work: 

You get a great idea, 

you go through the hard work of executing the idea, 

and then you release the idea out into the world, coming to a win, lose, or draw. 

Sometimes the idea succeeds, sometimes it fails, and more often than not, it does nothing at all.

If you've been to any of my conference presentations the past four years, you've most likely seen my slide where I define "the way of the artist". I call it the three no-so-simple steps to inspire:

Dream big

Do the work

Share it

As I said, the past year has been hard. Seeing Kleon's statement parallel my own observations is a small thing, but helpful at this time. I'm not ready to give up yet!

The Open Door

I had one of those moments this week when I feel both the excitement and terrifying responsibility of my job.

We started a new semester with the Communications and the Media class. I've written a lot about it on my other blog. I enjoy it immensely. If only we had a class like that when I was in school!

So I came in the class to give my usual pep talk. I explained the importance of being able to communicate with video and how tech allows us to be creative and reach many people. 

I talked about opening the door of opportunity. I told them I'm waiting for someone from our school, possibly that very class, to accomplish something big. I want them to discover their talents and passions as they use digital tools to reach many people in ways they never dreamed. 

I assure them this has nothing about getting an English credit. It's about personal potential and being amazed at how much we can do. I think only in epic. 

After my short intro I gave them a survey so the teacher and I could divide them into different jobs by their interest. Before I saw the results from the survey I talked with her about a couple characters in that class that I suspected could be hard to motivate. One I knew, the other not so much. Already both of them had been resistant to something she asked of them the day before. 

I looked through the surveys. Both of those students indicated they were interested in being on a tech team. One picked the live video announcements and the other chose our roaming "features and on-site" crew. 

The thing is, for both of those teams I listed an option of "not interested in this group". They heard something in what I said or saw something in our previous school news program that sparked their interest. 

I find that so encouraging that these guys, both hardened by a routine of assignments and tests for credit, had at least an inkling of interest in creating something to show the school. At the same time, it is frightening that now I have to do my part with these two. I mean, they might give up at the first frustrating tech challenge. We always have some. Could I really help them see learning can be life changing?

I have to trust we were not brought together by accident. The job I have has always felt like a gift. I believe the things I told the class about the door of opportunity and their potential. I believe they have a purpose to achieve and the technology can make it happen. 

We will see how it goes. 

Teaching Like an Artist - After Four Years

It was the summer of 2013 when I wrote my first Teaching Like an Artist post on another blog. Those were exciting days as I clarified my vision, spread the word and heard from teachers all over the world who were encouraged by my work.

That simplified message quickly developed into "Say inspired to inspire others" and I boiled down the essence of The Way of the Artist to three "not so simple steps:

• Dream big
• Do the work to make it real
• Share it

After four years of embedding this message in my ed-tech conference sessions, my blog posts and my job, I'm still a believer. 

Yes, in 2017 I openly wondered if I was crazy. Still, I know inspiration is what's missing in school and I know those ideas I was discovering are worth repeating. I still used those key ideas word for word in nearly every presentation I made in 2017. I'm always grateful for those insights and the blessing of seeing them connect with teachers.

But if anyone looked at this blog in 2017, they wouldn't know the message still excites me. I wrote only a handful of posts the whole year. And I'm sure even the teachers who work with my each week would think some of the fire has gone out.

 As an important reflection exercise and in case anyone cares to hear it, I wanted to think aloud about some reasons for this.

• While the truths are vital, the delivery needs an overhaul. I started to see this in early 2016. I gave it everything leading up to a large conference presentation in March that year. It was quite positive, but it didn't catch on as I hoped. It was the best I could do at the one big shot I'd have, but it didn't connect with teachers in a big way. After that, I felt I was knocking on a door that had been closed. Again, the ideas need to be sold, but I haven't found the right package to grab attention.
• I kept trying some tweaks on the delivery this past year, but admitted by the end of 2017 that most people don't get very excited about being "like an artist". Part of my initial excitement of these ideas was the realization that we're all making art in one way or another. That's a new idea to most people, though, and getting that essential part of the message through takes more than the one to three seconds I'm allowed to grab their attention. By the time I get to the important, practical insights, I've lost them. I might be able to repackage the ideas, but let's face it. The blog is called "Teaching Like an Artist"! It would have to be a complete restart and I haven't had the time or energy to do that.
• And that's largely because life is steering me in a different direction. Practically speaking, this blog got less attention in the past six months because I've been very busy with an exciting ministry I'm involved with. Just like in the summer of 2013, I had a mini revival in August. It resulted in a bigger leadership role in the worship team at my church. The creative opportunities there and the far more significant results in the lives of the people I serve captivated my attention and energy. The work will not pay the bills, so I'm still working in education. I do still want to solve the problems in school and help as many students as possible, but there's no way around it. My heart has been set on worship. When I first started the Teaching Like an Artist series, I acknowledged right away that God is the great artist. I'm grateful for this latest surprise in His work.

I don't plan on shutting the blog down and I still want to keep the heart of the message in all my work in education. I still get excited when I read  the most popular posts (like this one) or my favorites (like this one). I start to dream big again whenever someone tweets the ideas out at my conference sessions. 

I want to continue the work if it's actually helping. I'm just not sure how to fit that in yet. For now, I'll keep my eyes open for opportunities rather than try to create them.

 

Just Watching

Before I say much about this, can we agree that it's possible to do too much of something even though that "something" isn't wrong itself? Like drinking a soda. I don't think anyone would say it's really wrong to have one now and then. Is it possible to have too much? Sure.

With that out of the way, I have been pondering something lately that, at first glance, will seem like no big deal. If I act like it's a big deal, some people might be offended. I'll proceed anyway.

Why do we stop doing things in life and instead start being content with just watching other people do them?

When we're kids, we act out what we see. We play house and pretend to have jobs, just because we see our parents do it. Kids want to act on the things that interest them. As they get older, this continues in appropriate ways. With sports, music, art and so much more, teens dabble in their interests. They want to do.

But it seems at some point the constant stream of opportunities to watch takes over and there's not as much time for do.

I suspect there's something going on in our brains that lets us identify somehow with the doing that is going on. We witnessed the big game, the amazing concert or the inspiring church service. Even though it wasn't us taking action, we were there and we saw it. We were somehow in on it. It's not the same, but it's enough.

And this doesn't even have to be real stuff we're watching. Fiction will suffice. An exciting story that never happened captivates our imagination for an hour at a time, week after week.

In a world that has mastered the art of grabbing our attention, this bears some honest reflection. Have we been content watching (or reading about) someone else doing something exciting instead of taking action ourselves?

If so, we are missing out and so are the people we could inspire.

Five Thought Provoking Questions for Teacher PD, PLCs or Personal Reflection

Image by Bart Everson from here.

If you’re interested more about good questions for reflection and PD, please see:

• My free daily journal, 31 Days of Teaching Like an Artist.
• Finding the Strength to Do the Real Work of Teaching
• A Note to Myself as a First Year Teacher

________________________

Asking questions is probably my favorite part of teaching. Whether it's in the classroom, at a conference for teachers or just while talking with friends, I love giving people something to think about. (I even made a party game about asking one really BIG question.)

My math students weren't always thrilled with my idea of a good question in that subject! From my career and college class to my teacher professional development sessions, though, I've received a lot of thanks and appreciation for thought provoking questions I've raised.

Good questions at the right moment can make a tremendous impact on our lives. In searching out the answers, we experience the excitement of discovery. They help us see the wonder that is around and within us.

I like to ask teachers questions that remind them why they chose a career in education. I want to awaken dreams and that vision they once had of making a big difference. Questions can draw us back to those moments and give us a fresh perspective on the daily challenges we face.

So here are some of my favorite questions for teachers. With each one I'm also including followup questions for further reflection or discussion. For all of them, keep in mind:

• You should alter the wording and list of followup questions to fit the specific needs of time and the purpose of the meeting or activity. (As worded here, some of these could be too personal or time consuming for some settings.)
• Some of these are suitable for small group discussion or sharing in pairs. Others are probably best for each teacher to write a response individually that no one else will read. 

1)  What is your favorite advice that you share with students? 

This might be something you have told students for years or something you recently started saying. It might be that thing that they say in a mocking voice, to make their classmates laugh when you're not in the room.

• Is there a particular way you say it (or otherwise present it) to help them remember it?
• Why is this advice particularly meaningful to you or how did you come up with it?
• Do you have a story to tell about how students have received it or what difference you have seen it make?

2)  When did you first realize you wanted to be a teacher?

• What do you remember about that moment? Explain it in detail.
• What appealed to you about the job?
• Who did you first share that dream with and what was their reaction?
• How does the vision of yourself that you had in your mind then compare to the reality that you see in your classroom each day?
• Did you believe that those early moments of the dream to teacher were, in some sense, a calling? Explain.

3)  Imagine writing a letter to yourself as a first year teacher. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give yourself?

I thought of this question after reading Austin Kleon's book Steal Like an Artist. See my own letter to myself here.

• What struggles and successes did you experience that first year that relate to this advice?
• Would you try to talk yourself out of the job (maybe even just a little) or encourage yourself to stay in it?
• Did this activity bring back a memory or make you think about your work in a new way? Explain.

4)  What are your three favorite books and why?

• When did you read these? If it was years ago, do you think they'd affect you the same way if you read them now for the first time?
• Do you recommend them to your students or colleagues?
• What is the most recent book you've read that had a big impact on you? Explain.

5)  Imagine your retirement party. Three people stand up to pay a tribute to you and your work. Who would these people probably be and what would they say? 

This is a spin on Stephen Covey's excellent Funeral Exercise in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. One of the most memorable, emotional moments that took place in my classroom was the day I had high school seniors work through that exercise.

• Also imagine you give a closing speech to the friends and colleagues in attendance. What message would you most want to leave them with? What story would you almost certainly share?
• The purpose of this type of exercise is to know what you're aiming for. What did the activity reveal about the mark you want to leave?
• How well have you done so far at making that mark?
• What changes could you make in the remaining years of your career to be sure you have this desired impact on your students and colleagues?

You can get a link to download your free copy of my journal 31 Days of Teaching Like an Artist by subscribing to my monthly newsletter. 

Like my blog posts, it comes with inspirational thoughts, tech tips and insights on teaching and learning. Just enter your email address in the form below to sign up!

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Free Daily Reflection Journal: 31 Days of Teaching Like an Artist

I'm happy to say my reflection journal guidebook is now available here to anyone who takes my reader survey. I'm also giving away two free copies of the print editing.

It's designed to help teachers "stay inspired to inspire others".

Over the course of 31 days, the short activities and entries will raise thought provoking questions to get you started along The Way of the Artist. Each is meant to take about 10 - 15 minutes.

They come from 22 years of my own experience as a teacher, with some based on the most powerful lessons I've shared with students and teachers.

I trust that as you work through the journal on a regular basis, you'll see your work in a new light. It's my hope that it will help you:

• Connect with your passions.
• Find a deeper sense of purpose in your work.
• Get exciting ideas to recharge creativity in your classroom.
• Gain some practical experience in making and sharing amazing work.

The journal is a Google Docs booklet so you can type your entries in it and easily access online resources that it refers to. I should have a print version available shortly, but you can get started with this flexible, portable digital version right away.

Please visit this post to find out how to get your copy!

Doing the Real Work of Art

The second step in the Way of the Artist is to do the work required to make our dreams real. This is hard work and, at times, it will seem to be beyond what we can handle.

While I think everyone can be an artist to some extent, we know most people are not. Many who are still will fail inspire as many people as they could. This isn't due to a lack of dreams. From my observations, it's because the work is difficult and they have learned another way to cope.

On the path to real art, there's no way around the work. Though we want to believe that talent and lucky breaks will make our experience easy, they almost certainly will not.

Now we all have heard those successful people who tell how things fell in place for them. If they're actually being honest, we have to be impressed by their stories only for the fact that they are so rare. Most artists can tell of toil, effort and cost required to craft their art.

We must not hold on to those few counterexamples as signs that getting it right means the going will be smooth. It's like winning the lottery. Somehow it happens to a few, but most who play just lose a ton of money hoping for luck to come. Believe the lie of easy success and you'll soon see challenges as a sign you're off course.

Instead, those challenges and obstacles could well be the mile markers on your path to fulfillment.

When it comes to teaching, I reject any methods or approach that promises an easier road. Good teaching that inspires and transforms lives is difficult work that will cost a great deal. 

We all had dreams in our heads of the great teachers we wanted to be and those dreams still matter. Only real work can turn them into anything close to reality. It's through that work that we make lessons and we make learning happen, but it is also through those struggles that we ourselves are being made.

That is painful.

And it can hurt when we give everything, yet feel it didn't make a difference. It's hard to give up time and feel we missing out on those things our colleagues are enjoying.

But I want to encourage you that there is strength in becoming the person you were meant to be. I don't hear many people talk about this, but I have found it to be true. It can be energizing.

For me it is a spiritual matter and I have to call it as I see it. It's God's leading. When I can trust that I'm on track in the way I should go, I find the hope and strength necessary to press on.

_________________________

I'm doing a challenge this month to post on one of my blogs every day. It's in preparation for my conference session, The Way of the Google Drive. Be sure to follow me on Twitter or on either blog to keep up with the "thoughts and tools to inspire". 

Click here to see all the posts from this blog with the tag The Way of the Google Drive.

The Way of the Google Drive

I'm wrapping up a short series of posts about an upcoming conference session at miGoogle 2015. (And I was thrilled to find out today we'll be presenting it at the Michigan State University College of Education Technology conference too!)

The first two posts in the series were:

• Starting at the Crossroads between The Way of the Artist and The Way of the Google Drive
• The Way of the Artist

Now it's time to look at The Way of the Google Drive, which happens to be the name of the conference session.

I'll start at the end of the story, when I first heard the phrase. 

I had just finished introducing a class of fifth graders and their teacher to Google Apps. They all wrote to me about it shortly after. 

The teacher thanked me for opening her eyes to technology as a tool. Many students thanked me for encouraging them to use technology wisely. I loved hearing from all of them, but one touched me in a special way. A boy wrote, 

"Mr. Petty, Thank you for teaching us the way of the Google Drive."

Now, I always start my presentations with the big picture, far beyond the "click here" and "follow these steps". But I loved how weighty that student made it sound--"The Way of the Google Drive".

So what did I tell them? What is this "Way"?

I gave them what I call my Tools talk. Using the example of digging holes with hands, toy shovels, real shovels and then enormous digging machines, we talk about how better tools always help us do more. 

Of course, so many people think tools are here to make things easier or to save time. They do those things, but there's always some innovative thinker who can see beyond saving time and he or she accomplishes something with the tool that blows away the competition.

I remind students that the computers on their desks or the phones in their pockets are the most powerful tools the world has known. 

So what "more" could these tools help us do in school? 

Here are three ways in which technology can do more amazing things:

• More learning
• More connecting
• More creating

That is where technology can shine in school. Or I should say teachers and students can shine by using the tools. We can learn, connect (collaborate) with others and create in amazing ways that were never before possible. 

I connect it with their dreams. How much further could they go? 

With most classes, I can feel the life returning when I tell them this. I see it in their eyes. Their thank-you notes are evidence.

In reflecting on that student's nearly spiritual expression of what I had presented--this "Way of the Google Drive--I have added one more thought. I love the Google tools because they are so simple and accessible that they get out of the way and let the good ideas come through.

Google tools are not the only ones that do this, but they do it incredibly well. I'd say Twitter and even Facebook are good examples of this Way as well. What the users care about comes through loud and clear.

And like any good tool, the ideas become something more. They are amplified.

A note about the conference

We will not dwell on these big picture ideas in the session. Instead we will see how they play out through practical examples. 

What have we seen happen when the inspiration of art meets the power of technology in school? Which tools lead to amazing learning or impressive creations? How are students and teachers changed? Those answers will be the real focus of our presentation.

_________________________

I'm doing a challenge this month to post on one of my blogs every day. It's in preparation for my conference session, The Way of the Google Drive. Be sure to follow me on Twitter or on either blog to keep up with the "thoughts and tools to inspire". 

Click here to see all the posts from this blog with the tag The Way of the Google Drive.

photo credit: Beach Shovel via photopin (license)

The Way of the Artist

Yesterday I wrote about being at the crossroads between The Way of the Artist and The Way of the Google Drive. The two paths form the big idea backdrop for my session for the miGoogle conference next month and I wanted to present both them in a broad, relatively short form in this series.

I'll start with The Way of the Artist. 

The main ideas began swirling in my mind almost four years ago. I had been reading some books by Seth Godin and I was following the work of Kevin Honeycutt. I also started using more project-based learning in my teaching. I discovered it was recharging me and I liked the impact it was having on the students.

At the end of the summer, in 2013, I first tried to put thoughts to words in my post 6 Ways to Teach Like an Artist. It got some good comments and I'm forever thankful to those who encouraged me to keep exploring the ideas. It took me almost another two years before I could state it concisely.

The first principle in The Way of the Artist is to realize art is how you do something, not something you do. We think of songs, poetry and paintings as art, and they are. But anything can be done as an artist if you approach it as an artist. 

And here's how to do just that: (I call these the three "not so simple" steps.)

• Dream big
• Do the work to make it real
• Share it

That's it. Simply stated, but pure hell to accomplish sometimes. 

So why would anyone try to approach something as art if it wasn't necessary? If "the work to make it real" is so hard, why bother? 

Because art is inspiring. I define art as anything that lets "life shine through". 

When life shines through, others come alive. Dreams are contagious and they spread. Doors of opportunity open.

I talk this way around students and teachers and they thank me for the ideas they get. And some will jokingly say they blame me for the work it gets them into!

Teaching like an artist is my way of staying inspired so I can inspire others. There's more than that, but we'll stop here for now.

Tomorrow we'll look at what technology can add to the mix, with The Way of the Google Drive.

_________________________

I'm doing a challenge this month to post on one of my blogs every day. It's in preparation for my conference session, The Way of the Google Drive. Be sure to follow me on Twitter or on either blog to keep up with the "thoughts and tools to inspire". 

Click here to see all the posts from this blog with the tag The Way of the Google Drive.

photo credit: 325/365 - Guest Room via photopin (license)

Why it's great being connected

 October is Connected Educator Month and here's an example that illustrates why I love living and learning in these connected times.

This morning I listened to Vicki Davis' interview with Kevin Honeycutt. I loved it (and highly recommend it), so I sent out this Tweet. Later in the day both Vicki and Kevin replied. It's one thing to learn from your heroes, but when they're in your PLN they actually pay attention to you!

@mpetty39 oh @kevinhoneycutt was so awesome. Moved me.

— Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) October 2, 2015

@mpetty39 @coolcatteacher Honored Mike! Thanks for staying in the game!!

— Kevin Honeycutt  (@kevinhoneycutt) October 2, 2015

Being connected goes both ways. We take from and give to each other, making it encouraging and inspiring to all involved.

_________________________

I'm doing a challenge this month to post on one of my blogs every day. It's in preparation for my conference session, The Way of the Google Drive. Be sure to follow me on Twitter or on either blog to keep up with the "thoughts and tools to inspire".

Two Years of Teaching Like an Artist

It was two years ago this week that I wrote my first teaching like an artist post. It was the end of a difficult summer. After I pulled through the worst of some personal struggles, I put some hopeful thoughts into words. I ended up launching into the two best years of my teaching career.

I share the good lessons I learned, explicitly and indirectly, whenever I get a chance to speak to educators or students. I’ll give you the condensed version below, but first I have to spend a few paragraphs on a difficult experience.

The Dark

I don’t say it publicly much, but I had been deeply depressed in 2013. By that time it had been going on four years of depression, with the last two being particularly difficult. I couldn’t see an end to it. 

During the school year the busyness of work allowed me to keep my mind off it, but breaks were brutal. I would usually spend half the days stuck in bed. Immobilized and alone, I’d fight a silent battle in my mind.

Depression robs many of us of life to different degrees. Some lose life in the literal sense. Was I to the point of being suicidal? I realized early on in the conflict that I would not put my family through that experience. I rarely considered it. I wouldn’t say I wanted to die, but I certainly didn’t care to live. 

That was my reality. Month after month, when I had time to think about it, I didn’t care to live. It was terrible, but I know it was necessary. I had to face the emptiness and questions head on.

Some Light

That summer, after a rock-bottom experience I’ll always remember, I started to pick myself up with help from no one but God. Two steps I took made a difference and I’d recommend them to anyone suffering from depression. One is chemical and the other was spiritual.

• I stopped drinking coffee. This seems crazy, but I can’t believe the difference it made. I loved coffee. It was difficult to give up and I still miss it nearly every day. After a few days without it, though, I started feeling better than I had in years. (I have since learned I have to avoid much caffeine in general.)
• I read Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. I had read the book many times previously. I used to make it a summer routine. Every time through the book something new would jump out at me. That summer I was struck by Manning’s trust that God would do the work that needed to be done, even through people (like me) who messed things up. It was a hope I needed to hear as I looked back at the time I’d lost.

Two years later, I know depression is always there with me to some extent. It’s wired in my brain. I have felt better ever since, though, and my work has been recharged.

The Way of the Artist

In all the darkness of my personal life, I had been paying attention to life’s lessons. I can see now I was zeroing in on a message that needed to be heard. That battle with depression would determine if it would be hidden or come to light. (I pieced together some that progression of lessons here.)

I’m happy to say it did finally come. It showed up first in a post from August 21, 2013: 6 ways to teach like an artist.

I didn’t express it perfectly it in that first attempt, but I thank the people who found a hint of hope in it and cared to tell me. I’ve written about the ideas extensively since then, though, and I honed the message through thought and experience. 

Here’s what I’ve got.

Art is not something we do or make. It’s not like paintings and songs are art, but math equations and science experiments are not. Art is the result of a certain approach to any task. 

In that way, we all can be artists.

Anything we do can be art.

Why would we care to make art? Because it inspires us and can inspire others.

We are fully alive when we enjoy our blessings and fulfill our responsibilities to others. It is a mix of take and give. Stay inspired to inspire others.

So what is this way of the artist? Three steps:

• Dream big.
• Work hard to make the vision real.
• Show it off.

This approach can transform and recharge any work. As educators, though, we touch the lives of hundreds and maybe thousands of young people. They’re all filled with dreams and possibilities. Even if they’ve forgotten, deep down they want to live, in the truest sense of living.

And what happens when teachers approach their work like artists? Here are a few things I’ve seen:

• Doors of opportunity open.
• Dreams take shape.
• Purpose becomes clear.
• Hope is renewed.

There are students who need to hear these things are possible. Maybe for some it will be the first time in their lives. There are other educators who need to be reminded. 

In this moment, you might be the only person who can do it. 

And when it’s most critical, you might feel like the whole universe is teaching you a different, darker lesson.

I’m hoping to shine in some light and ask you to keep trying.


Photo credits:

• Over the Crooked Roofs (hdr) via photopin (license) 
• "Be Careful Lest the Light in you be Darkness" via photopin (license)

Every Day

photo credit:Golden Cottonwoods via photopin (license)

I've been getting this message loud and clear lately: It's what we do every day that makes the difference.

Today Donald Miller tweeted it this way...

Get up day after day and plow a field. Plant seeds and pray for rain. The desire for instant victory is akin to playing the lottery.

— Donald Miller (@donaldmiller) July 24, 2015

Whether you want to write books, draw comics or master an instrument, the advice is always the same.

Do it every day.

If we can keep it up over time, bit by bit it changes us. We get better.

But the vision changes too. It has to. We're older and wiser by the time we're good enough to finish it.

Unless there's the luck of the lottery, like Miller says, it takes longer than we imaged. Who has the patience to wait and work for it? Who will want to keep working when it doesn't look the same or it no longer seems worth it?

On the other hand, look what we become when we give up. Day by day, step by step, we forget how to dream. We don't learn how to chase an idea to the end and share with people who need to see it.

Instead of dreams, we chase other things. I'm sure we all have our list--the next thing I want to buy, the next place I want to visit. Making lists, letting other people make lists for us, that's what we do every day.

I wonder sometimes if the steady flow of new--the movies, the thousands of gizmos and gadgets in every hobby you could find yourself, the good and bad news stories that dominate our conversations--is really just some distracting filler. Is it keeping us from the new we were meant to become and the new we were meant to create?

What voices will I listen to every day?

The Spark of Life

One time I was told by an older, very successful game publisher that he looked for "the spark of life" when people would show him their game ideas. Talk was one thing, but he wanted to see the game being played and he looked for the spark.

It was hard to define, but unmistakable when he saw it. 

Now I spend more time teaching than making games, but everyday I see a similar phenomenon as I craft learning experiences. To me, education is about helping people reach their potential. In the span between physical death and achieving one's life purpose there are various levels of existence. I want to help others get closer to the end of fulfillment, to becoming fully alive.

As with games being played, there is a spark I've seen. It's the moment of vision, when the learner sees what isn't there, but what could be. 

Whether I'm training teachers or helping with a lesson in class, I notice the spark. I introduce someone to a new tech tool and they realize how it can be used to bring out something they love about life.

I showed some students how to edit movies last week. One student realized his iPhone could be used for this and I heard him telling his friends how he wanted to make movies at home. He would like to be an actor. I asked him to share any movies he makes with me. I try to blow gently on the spark, hoping to make a flame that will spread.

I show teachers how to do something with Google Apps. Several are in the room and they go through the motions, but some move ahead and go further than what I asked. I talk to them and they can hardly contain the excitement of the learning experience they are planning.

Say what you will about what sets us apart on our journey toward success. It might look like grit, intelligence or a lottery involving DNA and opportunity. I think it is simply the ability to see the spark and to know what to do with it once recognized.

This goes for seeing it in my own life or recognizing when someone else catches a glimpse.

I don't believe this ability to see it should be viewed only as a gift. I don't think the failure to see it is like blindness, as if something just isn't working and could never work.

I have to hope we all can see the spark of what could be. It's just that many forces in life have made it more or less likely that we'll notice it. Some have learned to recognize it. Even once they see it, some have learned to fan ideas of what could be into flame while others were taught to smother them out.

The art of staying inspired so we can inspire is nothing more than looking for the sparks and letting them burn as long as as far as possible.