This episode offers a profound look at the transition back to the classroom, exploring the nuanced feelings and thoughts that come with resuming educational responsibilities after such a significant event.

Key Highlights:

1. Desmond's Dilemma: A Teacher's Crossroads: Peek into Desmond's inner world as he grapples with tough decisions about his teaching career. How does an educator reconcile personal well-being with professional duty?
2. Jesse's Transformative Experience: Uncover the emotional journey Jesse undertook during the strike. What profound realizations emerged from this blend of pain, joy, and gratitude?
3. Thriving in Adversity: Dive into the discussion on thriving post-strike. Can maintaining an open heart in times of challenge lead to personal and professional transformation?
4. Envisioning Education's Future: Explore Jesse's 'Genius Awakening Curriculum.' How can tapping into collective and individual genius revolutionize the educational process?
5. Healing and Hope in Education: Join the conversation on navigating systemic challenges with honesty and kindness. What does a future built on open-heartedness look like in education?
6. An Uncertain Yet Hopeful Path Forward: Contemplate the future of the podcast and the education system. Will the mantra "genius over doubt" guide educators and students into a new era of learning?

Tune in for an episode that not only reflects on the aftermath of a teachers' strike but also delves into the broader implications for personal growth, systemic change, and the art of thriving in the complex world of education.

Welcome to 'Worth Work: The Strike Work 3', it's Jesse, the Imaginer here, going solo in this episode to share some vital insights from the Portland Association of Teachers Strike. Today, we're deep in the heart of the strike, facing some tough realities regarding the recent decision Portland Public School Management about our health insurance.

I'll share clips from today's rally to help us align with the themes of community health and individual well-being. This episode isn't just about listening; it's an invitation to join in a journey of understanding and contemplation.

We explore the deep connections and support systems we've built on the picket lines, the power of community, and how we're facing our fears head-on. There's an urgent call for our leaders to face their fears too, to engage in honest, vulnerable communication. It's time to question and dismantle the fear-based structures in our schools and replace them with systems that recognize our humanity and genius.

I'll share some personal reflections and a rap I wrote, capturing the emotions and vibrations of this historic time. It's about seeing every obstacle as a pathway to new possibilities and transforming our struggles into a thriving way of life.

-Jesse the Emajyner

Welcome back to 'Worth Work: The Strike Work 2'. I'm Desmond Spann, joined by Jesse Gardner, and today, November 15th, marks day 10 of the Portland Association of Teachers Strike.

In this episode, we explore the emotional highs and lows of the strike, from the strong sense of community among educators to the looming uncertainties and fears. We delve into the recent negotiations, the complexities of union decisions, and the ongoing challenges with PPS management.

This strike isn't just a protest; it's a deep dive into the systemic issues facing our education system. We're not only fighting for better conditions but also for the recognition and respect of our profession. It's a historic moment for Portland Public Schools, and as we navigate these uncharted waters, we're reminded of the power of community, the importance of honest dialogue, and the need to stand up for what we believe in.

As always, genius over doubt.

Enjoy the Episode

-Desmond

Welcome back to 'Worth Work: The Strike Work 1'. I'm Desmond Spann, and it's been a while since we last connected through this podcast. After a hiatus of one year, we're reigniting this platform due to the unprecedented and historic nature of the Portland Association of Teachers Strike. As we enter Day 9 of this groundbreaking event, I find myself deeply immersed in the challenges and triumphs of our collective action.

In this episode Jesse interviews Desmond about his upgrading practices to stop using grades to have power over students but create a classroom culture increase learning through enriching classroom experiences. Desmond talks about the joyful mess of this process and in this short bonus episode there are many gems. So many gems we had to contemplate in silence and not lay down our usual freestyle at the end. Ha. Enjoy!

03:02 Desmond "We want there to be an objective measurement of learning, however when you start diving deep into what learning is... the learning experience is inherently a personal one. And there is no real way for me to know actually know what a student has learned. I know what they choose to show, I know what they choose to do.... and I can make a judgement that they've learned something based on that. But the actual experience of them learning and internalizing that connection is ultimately theirs.

04:36 Desmond "I noticed I was holding back creative ideas and insights that could really make a difference for students because I wasn't going to grade it. If I'm not going to grade it then what is the incentive for them to do it? I'm giving them less than my best creative thinking because I'm trying to manage my work load of all I'm trying to do. Then when I did my little tricks of like alright I'm going to make you think I'm grading this even when I'm just grading a small piece of this... it didn't feel right.

05:36- Desmond "It got to the point where I'm like alright, I'm not doing my best work and I'm not liking the dynamics it creates amongst students with myself. And I also don't like the effect it creates on students."

06:22- Desmond "I would create a system where I would try to promote action and thought from my students. As long as I had the power to evaluate their work and have real outcomes for them, they were trying to figure out the cheat code to get the A and not actually learn."

06:45- Jesse "What I hear you saying is that grading was preventing a depth of learning. For genius to awaken, to get into the meat of learning, was prevented by grading."

07:00- Desmond- "I want to be very clear when I say grading, I mean when you get a whole bunch of assignments ini,ts when the only feedback your giving is a number. They can't do anything about that. There is a lot of work of being done to put the check marks into the system...and the feedback on the paper is greatly ignored because students are conditioned to only look for the grade."

07:54- Jesse "How would you describe upgrading for our listeners?"

8:00-9:26 Desmond answers the question...

08:25- Desmond the feedback you give is specific to what you see in the work... talk to me about your process... learn through the mistake... mistakes are necessary for learning...

09:25- Jesse "In your class how is this process facilitated?"

09:34 Desmond- "For me, I'm okay with the messiness.... There is what I'm actually doing and there is what I want to change as I get further along in the process of it... A lot of self reflection, the grade comes from students, we do self evaluation. Students assign themselves a grade based on the work they've done, what I'm calling the process portfolio... I would rather document that they are engaged in the class and thinking...

12:23- Desmond "The accountability comes in through frequent reflection... I give them guided reflections to probe them deep into their self awareness."

13:47- Des- I have a process where students post questions to a service called Packback. Which focuses on inquiry. Shoutout to Packback. They post one question and respond to two. Thats minimum. I say minimum is average and average a C. 'your still using that grading language?' A little bit because they are still in it.

14:33- Desmond "We've trained them with escapism; the game they (students) are playing is what is the least I need to do to get the maximum...

Welcome! This episode invites listeners into the heart of Worth Work: story telling and practices that help us tell our stories from our depths. Desmond shares triggering experience of racism at the school he works at. The practices Desmond is immersed in help him navigate the experience, feel it deeply and authentically express himself. Take this story in like you're sipping a special beverage.

01:35- What comes up for your when you think of worth work practices?

01:58- Jesse "Embracing our whole selves so that we can embrace others. In a quantum sense- 'you are my other me' and that comes from the In Lak Ech poem, that ancient Mayan concept. We are all connected, so its practicing that connection. Practicing our humanity."

02:36 Desmond- "There are a lot of folks dealing shame, a lack of self worth. Which creates all sorts of ways that our pain in manifesting in the classroom and in the systems. The idea is worth... of self worth, the value we innately have by being here and being here another day.... every time we see the next day there is something that decides we are worthy of seeing another day, without having to do anything. If we can stay connected to that, we don't fall victim to the way we convince ourselves that we're not enough."

03:32 Desmond "There is the work piece and the practice piece. Not just showing up to do the work when the work is needed, but practicing the skills you need in order to do the work. Its continuous, its daily.... there are times when we lose the human connection and we need to practice the skills that help us maintain the human connection while we deal with the challenges of meeting everyone's need in the system."

04:21- Desmond "A worth work practice is something you create yourself to practice internal skills, so when its no longer a drill, you're ready to act."

05:15 Jesse "In Worth Work- the vision is to create a world where everyone has access to everything they need to live their highest selves. In our context- eradicating white body supremacy.... we need practices to evolve. Some practices are passed down from our ancestors and then we also need to develop and expand new practices to adapt to what our times are calling for."

05:55 Desmond - "And having the skill set to adapt. Which may not be present if your don't have a creative practice... We are attempting to create something new...humans have always been dealing with the human condition... What we are trying to do is deal with the human condition together. "

07:00 Jesse- "These practices are way to deal with out pain. Like Resmaa Menakem says, clean pain over dirty pain. Pain will be expressed some how. Our practices help us express pain in productive ways, in ways that bring connection.... With worth work we are trying to build that human connection in the context of the institution of school despite all the obstacles we face on the daily. Which might be a good segue into your story of how to channel pain and the value of having practices."

08:18 Desmond "Yea cause when you said how to bring humanity into it. The simple answer is allowing our stories to be heard and told in community, in our classes."

08:45 Desmond sets up and shares an experience 2/15/22....

14:02- Desmond "It got to the point where I said 'the human part of me wants to go and have a conversation with the other classes, the teacher part of me is hesitant to do so. It was in that point that I realized, 'oh I'm a human before I'm a teacher.' I experienced the dehumanization of what was happening, through the word and the culture context that we're in..."

As the school year rolls into its start, this episode is a reminder that human connection transfers real learning to students.

Enjoy this episode. More show notes on the way.

https://worthworkpodcast.substack.com/

Today, in Portland Public Schools, we start planning for the year.

It's a great time to think about our systems. So enjoy this episode. It's one of my favorites.

-Desmond

Show Notes:

03:05- Desmond- "The book I pull from heavily is Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows ... and Systems Thinking for Social Change by David Peter Stroh"

03:36 Desmond- "Thats when the lightbulb went off, Oh! that's why I'm good at systems thinking because its about the inner connection between all things."

04:22 Desmond "The only way we can understand and conceptualize this stuff is by creating separation between ourself and the system and the different components of it. But the reality is that the separation only exists in our understanding of it, not in the lived day to day experience of it. Thats the hard part... when we begin to think about systems..."

05:37 Desmond "When you here the term (systems thinking) Whatever comes to mind for you is essentially what your operating with... When we think about systems we often think about it as something separate from ourselves. We often thinking about the conglomerates of corporations and institutions, bureaucracies and school districts....the problem is that we start to think that the part is the whole. We start to think that our experience is the only experience, that the system is in charge and has all the power."

07:18 Desmond "We separate the mind from the heart, and the mind from the body but it's all one body. We separate them to have different kinds of conversations, but we don't have a practice to brining them back together and having conversations about how they relate to each other as a whole system."

09:24 Desmond- "Its important to understand: The system is the map and the map is never the terrain...."

11:51 Whats the relationship between systems and culture?

14:03 What is the purpose of our education system? Desmond- "I'm gonna give you a quote from Thinking in Systems- The least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinate of the systems behavior. I don't have a straight answer for you about what is the purpose of the education system. Because it's the least obvious part. You get what I'm saying? I know what I think the purpose is and that's what I teach from. But is what my purpose of education- human being development. "

15:20 Desmond "If I had a false dichotomy choice between giving a student all the skills in the world vs. Know who you are. I'm going to go with the know who you are."

16:08 Take two BARS guided mediation. Breathe Align Relax and Shine.

18:15 Jesse shares how the education system doesn't value the knowledge of self by how the system is set up. He shares story of the power of Step Up Camps. "I learn more about my self in those five days than a whole school year."

23:22 Desmond- "When I get excited about systems thinking is because Oh this explains how the system is fundamentally human because it becomes hypocritical at some point... "

26:26 Colleague clip- Sam "I think we need to blow the whole thing up. I think the way we educate our students is preparing them for either jail or becoming robots. Just the way that we make em line up, sit and not say anything in class. All that is preparing you to be a worker and not a boss."

Not said in the episode but this quote makes me think of another quote by Buenaventura Durruti “We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest