An Ignite: Be You.

So I lifted my pseudo-self-ban from twitter and blogging somewhat over the past few days.

I am seeing an end to the end of most of my writings (not to mention some person life things are resolving) and so I am really really looking forward to coming back to #MTBoS in full force again.  Because I truly enjoy that experience and always get a lot out of interactions there (as well as on people's blogs).

I didn't plan on writing this blog post.  However, I had so many DM's and 'thank you's and requests for a post - that I felt that it was important for me to share this.  After this post I'm diving back into the water to finish off my commitments and then will certainly come back in a few months :)

For OAME Annual conference (Ontario Association of Mathematics Education) in Kingston this year I did an ignite.

A huge thank you to Kyle Pearce (@MathletePearce ), Jon Orr (@MrOrr_geek ) and Al Overwijk (@AlexOverwijk ) for recording my ignite and sharing it with me.

**note
Also check out Kyle Pearce's blogpost about his ignite here: The Beauty of Elementary Mathematics
and Jon Orr's blogpost about his ignite here: Being Picky

I begin with the recording and I will follow up with the poem.  I packed a lot of into this poem and so there are lots to be elaborated on.

I had initially planned on elaborating in this post -e.g. on the struggling with the choice of people's faces in the first slide, or the decision on writing 'vertical non-permanent space' instead of 'surfaces' - but I think I may have to save those discussions for another post.

So I wrote and performed a piece of spoken word poetry called

Be You.

I must say that I stumbled a bit in the beginning and messed up a few phrases but hopefully the message still got through.

I highly recommend scrolling down to the text and images as the video plays - since I think the slides are more important than my face.  A note that there will be an official Ignite video that will come out as well - since we were video recorded.

Huge thank you to @MathletePearce  and @MrOrr_geek for recording this one

Huge thank you to @AlexOverwijk  for recording this one

--------------------------------------
Text (with images)

Be You.

You all have these people.

They are wonderful

teachers or

researchers or

originators of your inspiration and their innovation and passion have often

astounded you, challenged you, supported you,

or led you here.

But let me be clear.

They are not

You.

Your classrooms are not made of

three cups of Mary,

two table spoons of Dan,

one teaspoon of Peter, topped with some basil and sauce,

and baked at four hundred and fifty degrees in Desmos. No

it's not

some puzzle

with pieces that don't belong to you.

And while even with the best intentions

you cannot forcefeed students information

you are still there in your actions

in what

you do and how

you do it.

You matter.

You

are more than whiteboards, patterns, or cups stacked

more than soccer balls, lanterns, pikachus, or videos that start your 3-acts

You 

are 

more

than all of that.

Because these

are merely beginnings,

static pictures on some ignite slides,

on some very restricted timing. Because

Every

Day

you are also a you that you couldn't have been before.

Maybe last year at the end of your spirals and plans

you came across these kinetic sands, and

maybe this year you spiral around your students' wonderings and questions about these sands and

from exploring those questions you tie-in the curriculum strands.

Maybe at the beginning of your semester

you noticed your students didn't work well together

and even with continued visibly random grouping

there's still an undercurrent bullying

based on superficial judgements

of mathematics,

of peers,

of what's important.

And so maybe

you explicitly

discuss and model positivity

that mathematics

is constructive

collaborative

about creativity

and for all students

no matter their race, gender, or beliefs

no matter these -

identity

politics

Maybe with statistics and scenarios you start conversations,

turning their weapon intentionally

into lessons in empathy.

And maybe yesterday,

you heard one student say

"I just can't -- math isn't in my DNA" when she noticed that she made a mistake
and then quickly erased it from her vertical non-permanent space

and

so

today.

when you select,
sequence,
and connect,

besides advancing mathematical thinking
you pay attention

to the multiple representations

including

the one

she made

disappear.

Because you

play

a major part in

building

their sense of agency

and

mathematical identity.

There are countless opportunities

for you to learn and talk

with one another.

To grow and push your thinking

and your doing

further.

To not stop at being good enough

but to 

always

strive

for better

And this means looking through mirrors

which include you, your students, and other educators

and can only ever

be seen through

your-eyes

and moved with

your-hands.

Because reflections

are the only chances we have to discover

our blindness

and to recognize

that the certainties and knowledge of others are,

respectively,

as overwhelming

and tenuous

as our own.

So be you.

There's no point in trading old shackles for some other restrictions.

Be you

because your students 

need you

to be you.

Don't just follow blindly, be --

a you that integrates the resources that you have encountered

and the experiences you have shared with your students

and then channel that into your

own

flow.

because it cannot be anyone's flow

but yours.

so be here --

learn,

be inspired,

but don't 

stop 

here.

Every.

Single.

Day.

Be a you

That you couldn't have been

Yesterday.

If you know me,

you know I can't speak

without asking questions

and so I ask you these:

Who are you?

and

Who

Can

You

Be?