Promoting and equitably assisting organizations in the integration of animal-assisted therapies for the physical, mental, and emotional benefit of individuals in public and private settings, one paw at a time.
I recently stumbled upon a TikTok post featuring a table-read for the sketch comedy show, The Muppet Show (1976 – 1981). The clip, posted by TikTok user, @muppetmarissa, includes the voice-overlay of creative mind and Muppet creator, Jim Henson, along with his perspective on the collaborative creative process. The clip progresses, there are many other voices of Muppet Legendary, and then comes the wave of nostalgia.
The Fabric
Now, if you made it this far, it should come as no surprise to learn the obvious. I am a huge Jim Henson fan. I mean, I am writing a reflection on educational leadership with an ode to The Muppets. Don’t worry, it has a purpose, I promise.
I am unsure where @muppetmarissa found this particular clip, but very much look forward to viewing what appears to be a documentary on Jim Henson that I have yet to review. I do know there is a highly anticipated documentary in the works about Jim Henson, directed and produced by the dynamic duo of Ron Howard and Brian Glazer. The release date of the Disney Original Documentary is still to be determined and you can read more about it here in this 2022 press release by The Jim Henson Company.
You see, I consider myself a creative. I allow myself the time, space, and flexibility to be creative in all aspects of my personal and professional interests. I credit my creative identity and all my ventures, from childhood to this very moment, to Jim Henson, his circle of like-minded creatives, the imaginary world they conjured for us kids in the 80s, and how that imaginary world has now transcended space and time.
Ed Sullivan, Kermit the Frog and Jim Henson; The Ed Sullivan Show, N.D.
Shared Experience
I also know, I am not the only one who feels this way. Take actor Jason Segel, for example. Segal is best known for his role in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005 – 2014), writing and starring in the iconic film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), writing and staring in the recent the AppleTV series, Shrinking (2023), and [drumroll please], his love of The Muppets.
Segel does not shy away from his love and appreciation for The Muppets, and even refers to them as his “childhood idols.” An additional interest worth noting is Segel’s idolization of Kermit the Frog, the amphibian embodiment of Henson’s legacy. Segel reveres Kermit almost as much as I revere the little green frog. During an interview to promote his mid-2000s film, The Muppets (2011), Segel was asked to divulge his favorite Muppet, to which he replied “… it’s Kermit. It’s always been Kermit.” I get it.
I get Segel’s #ItsAlwaysBeenKermit belief statement because quite frankly, I have an #ItsAlwaysBeenKermit belief statement, too. So here it goes, my Kermit belief statement:
Everything I learned in life, I learned from a little green frog.
I really get it.
In 2011, Segal took it upon himself to dust off the Muppet memories for us “80s kids,” thanks to writing and staring alongside them for their return to the big screen. That summer, I took my son, who was then 4 years old, along with his cousins, to see Segal’s major motion picture production. We sat in a quaint, Berkshire, Massachusetts movie theater. What could be better than a summertime movie, in the Berkshires, and watching The Muppets? Nothing. There is nothing better. Trust me.
The lights dimmed. The credits rolled, and so did the tears. Let me be more specific. The credits rolled, and so did my tears.
I wish I could say I was overcome with emotion because it was my son’s first time in a movie theater– it wasn’t that. No, it wasn’t tears of joy. Tears of sadness? Nah. Nope, not tears longing for the days of yesterday. I pretty much cried throughout the entire movie.
The Act of Being
For the duration of the film, the adult me was very cognizant of the fact that I was in a theater, surrounded by children, one of them being my own, to watch a film in which my own childhood icons paraded on screen. The film, for all intents and purposes, was presented under the auspices of a children’s movie. But to me, I knew this film was not exclusively targeted to the 4-12 year old demographic, but to their parents, guardians, aunts, uncles, neighbors– to those “80s kids.”
The Muppets (2011) was a film targeted to me, and my tears were tears of being; being seen, heard and valued.
It was so very apparent, how by watching this film, my personal roadmap, goals, dreams, and aspirations were emphatically validated, and not just by any other person, by another like-minded creative, personally and professionally influenced by Henson and his Muppets.
Jason Segel got it– he got me.
I was beingseen, valued, and heard as a person in need of a reminder, a reminder to remember….and I wasn’t the only one. I wasn’t the only one positively influenced by the creative masterminds behind The Muppets. I wasn’t the only one still using the efforts of ingenious creatives, like Henson, to fuel my purpose. I wasn’t the only one who wanted to genuinely find opportunities to advocate for empathy and understanding, to leave my mark on this world, and make it just a little brighter than it was the day before.
There are people, like Segel, who are like me. There are people, like Segel, who, like me, want others to know that even during some of life’s most [fill in the blank] moments, they are seen, heard and valued.
Educational Leadership
As I reflect on my own educational leadership journey, there is the running motif and thematic concept within my writing and it is centered around those three words: seen, valued, and heard (I’ve coined it “the trifecta”). All individuals in an organization need to feel truly seen, valued, and heard for a plethora of reasons; the multitude of stakeholders: who is the cultivator of “the trifecta” one day and who is the receiver the next; interwoven relationships between district, school building leadership and the trickle down effect; leadership philosophy and philosophical approaches to management, transactional vs. transformational…
Now, enter students into the equation. Students must feel seen, heard and valued, and if teachers are the ones to help cultivate and nurture “the trifecta,” then teachers must also be a receiver of those feelings, which then means district and school building leadership must …. round and round we go.
All stakeholders must have equitable access to “the trifecta.” Easier said than done? Meh.
Everything I learned in life, I learned from a little green frog.
I get it, because I believe it. And I also believe in order to cultivate authentic opportunities for others to feel all those things, and more, it takes creative ingenuity, it requires safety and security, transparency, honesty, love, kindness, trust, empathy …. it requires a Kermit-like mindset.
A Kermit-Like Mindset to Leadership and Beyond! That reads as if it’s got some potential, and that is where the next chapter of my leadership journey will start.
During my most recent school building leadership internship course, students were to read one of five articles and provide a response. Below you will find my original thoughts inspired by the reading and analysis of Larry Ferlazzo’s the March 7, 2022 EducationWeek article, entitled, “It’s Time to Debunk the Myths About Standardized Tests.” I had fun writing this piece and hope you enjoy the read.
Standardized tests. Okay, fine. To appease the quantitative data driven mind reading this response, I will give you the token line you know I am programmed to say. Yes, the data produced from standardized tests provides insight into the abilities and deficiencies of students, areas in need of improvement, yada yada. Can you pick up on the sarcasm? Well, it’s there, along with a dramatic eye roll.
Please do not confuse my position around the quantitative data put forth by standardized assessments with my position on data as a whole. I actually love data. Data! Data! Data! I love data. I think that might make for a good bumper sticker, maybe a t-shirt. No, I really do.
Data is evidence.
Data is what I need to prove my point, to validate my position, because my position is never enough to stand on its own, it needs some support.
For example, I can’t rely on a singular data set when it comes to making a statement like the New York Yankees are the best team in baseball (we all know they are the best team in baseball, but still). And that singular data set cannot be my own opinion. Sound the bias alarms.
Following this line of thinking, why should one type of data set, say the data from standardized tests, trump all other data collected specific to evaluating a student’s performance? There is still the need for multiple data points for triangulation purposes, a system of checks and balances, etc, to ensure the findings reflect the data, the data-driven findings are reliable and sound, otherwise, nullify the recommendations.
Data does have a place, but only when that data is well-rounded data and truly meaningful to reflect and act upon. Data becomes meaningful when it reveals evidence, from multiple sources, to support or negate a school or district’s current curricular pathway, or the degree in which teaching practices/protocols established within that school or district effectively meet, or exceed, district, state, national, and at times external learning standards and benchmarks.
The data of value, the data I’m talking about, is the data the standardized test fails to produce.
The data of value, the data I’m talking about is the data society has deemed as a less valuable marker.
You see, data most definitely has value, but that data is “no good,” especially when it suggests there are inequities at play.
That data is “no good,” when it takes a stand-alone moment in time, and gives that moment such tremendous power, quite possibly the power to determine the trajectory of one’s academic career, maybe even their life.
That data is “no good,” when it stems from an assessment catered to the student with just the right amount of socio-economic clout. Clout that, in turn, provides a cushion of support for almost guaranteed success, but does not guarantee the success of their classmate because of that impenetrable socio-economic stratosphere.
Any data produced from an assessment that reveals society’s interference and influence on determining who deserves an opportunity and who does not, is of no value. And it is society, government, the hierarchy established by the macro, and carried out by the micro, that continues to perpetuate this vicious cycle. What does all this “no good” data really try to remedy, or prevent from happening, anyway?
[and then there was silence]
Exactly.
There is no better time than now to make the academic playing field an equitable one, not one determined by the perfunctory toss of a scantron and test booklet– one to the student the system wishes to promote, and one to the student the system wishes to leave behind.
On the daily, I am the recipient of beautiful, heartfelt comments commending the person that stands by my side in this photo. Many of those comments conclude with a variation of the phrase, “it takes a village.” To which I reply, “Yes, yes it does…”
I am so proud to stand next to my not-so-little-boy, a young man who proudly holds a love for all beings, great and small. It’s a love delicately nurtured and handed down from those who came before him, before me.
Our shared empathic love for animals and ability to recognize the powerful benefits of the human-animal bond is innately within our core— the result of a generational love that transcends all barriers within a given space and time.
And from that love shines a hopeful conviction; he too will use this coveted passion and make this world a better place (in fact, he already is).
For it takes a village— yes, yes it does. But not just any village, it takes a dog-friendly village.
It takes a dog-friendly village to nurture the loving boy and guide him as he becomes the loving man he is destined to be.
My recent post is associated with a school building leadership assignment. Below is the prompt and my response.
Prompt: During your internship, has anything occurred that was unanticipated or surprising? Is there anything you encountered that was unexpected? If so, what was your major takeaway? If nothing was unexpected or surprising, why do you think that is the case? After the class session, post a reply to this inquiry on the discussion board and respond to at least one other classmates post.
This is the second semester of my school building leader internship. Interestingly enough, I find myself much more astute at identifying areas of need, at both the building and district level. Additionally, I find myself considering those within the organization, other than individuals appointed to leadership positions, equipped to address those identified areas of need.
I’m aware that there are resources, human resources, readily available to assist those in the designated leadership position, human resources who may in fact be more equipped to address the identified area need than the person in the designated leadership position to typically address those needs. But for leadership to truly benefit from the human capital within the organization, it requires a transformative mindset, or at least a mindset working towards a full transformative overhaul and cognizant of the need to be open minded, as well as a fortified ego, ready to withstand some of the most daunting moments of self-doubt.
I often find myself thinking, if I were in a current leadership position, how I would incorporate these outstanding educators, to honor their strengths and their desire to be a part of the larger systematic plan of improvement? If students want to be seen, heard, and valued by their teachers, wouldn’t teachers want to be seen, heard, and valued by their leadership team? At the end of the day, people are people.
I always tell my colleagues how proud I am to work alongside them, wish for more time for collaboration, to learn from one another– my colleagues know they are seen, heard, and valued, but it’s me that’s doing the seeing, and hearing and valuing. As one colleague said during a recent conversation, “You’re going to make a great principal one day….” I brush those comments to the side and change the subject, not because it doesn’t feel good to hear, but because of what their comment really says about how they feel, and how their words that followed directly reflected an area of need: school culture the teacher’s perspective on their value and worth, and the degree to which the teacher perspective was aligned with the leaderships’ perspective.
How does one address an identified area of need specific to the school culture from the perspective of the teacher, when it is assumed by some (not all) in leadership positions that there isn’t a problem at all? When does an identified area of need become an identified area of need? Is it in the eye of the beholder, or the one in a leadership position? And if the role of the leader is integral to addressing the need, is the need only a need worthy of attention when it directly impacts the transactional leader? More questions than answers.
I’ll continue to lift my colleagues, and contemplate all the possibilities to address the embedded needs in questions like those above. In all honesty, I would be disappointed if the only thing to come out of this reflective response is further confirmation for how I want to lead as school building leader, but it just might be all that a response like this is destined to reaffirm.
An excerpt from my most recent blog, “Dog Save the People: My Conversation with John Bartlett.”
21st century students need more of the tangible, more ways to feel safe, secure, valued and loved, with opportunities to reciprocate those feelings towards another, without judgement (Maricevic, 2022).
Dr. Jessica Maricevic
Why therapy dogs? Why now?
This pseudo post-COVID America has unearthed a tremendous amount of pain, a pain some have tried desperately to suppress, or flat out ignore. Secondary stakeholders who acknowledge the macro reality of the invasive impact of the current geo-political climate are better equipped to consider the micro implications in the high school setting. And to those stakeholders who believe they must personally observe the influence of the macro reality in the micro setting, see with their own eyes presentable evidence of societal stressors, complex anxieties and invisible traumas to adequately address the social and emotional needs of students…
Well, read a little bit more of this post, because today’s high school students are carrying more than a load of books and a laptop with little to no storage.
So say you.
I’ll hold off on the details of my own research and findings for the time being simply to prove you don’t need to read academic journals and peer reviewed articles to establish an understanding of this crisis.
Yet, even with their respective leans, the conscious decision to report on the social and emotional concerns of teens suggests a unified effort to convey the severity of this stark reality.
Dr. Jessica Maricevic
Here are some statistics presented from three national cable news outlets within the last 12 months:
An image I captured from my television during an early morning CNN live broadcast (February 14, 2023).Read Elizabeth Pritchett’s article in its entirety: Teenage brains aged faster…
April 26, 2022 segment from MSNBC’s Morning Joe; guest Harvard University’s John Della Volpe.
Understand, the above sources are a mere snapshot of reporting from three national cable news outlets, and yes I am well aware each source brings with it their own distinct bias. Yet, even with their respective leans, the conscious decision to report on the social and emotional concerns of teens suggests a unified effort to convey the severity of this stark reality.
It is extremely important to note the three news outlets referenced here in this post have observed an increase in viewership during the years of 2016 – 20220 (Pew Research Center, 2023). The research suggests such an increase in viewership is most likely connected to presidential elections, societal conflicts, and the coronavirus pandemic (Pew Research Center, 2023).
Hypothetically, if the Pew Research Center reports either (1) a decrease the numbers of viewers, (2) a plateau of viewership (it remains at its current rate), or (3) a continued upward viewership trend for the period of 2020-2023, millions of Americans would still receive the message loud and clear, teens are hurting, they need something more, and it’s up to the adults in their lives to make it happen.
As students go from class to class, they carry the weight of the world and the plight of America’s transgressions on their shoulders, they are accompanied by feelings of sadness, hopelessness, feeling down, and depressed. And then, some students hold their breath when a school wide announcement interrupts a class period without warning, flinch upon hearing an unsuspecting sound, and ask what if questions the day after cable news outlets, those very outlets referenced above, consume airwaves with incessant reporting of yet another unthinkable event.
Even with all of this chaos, students aren’t desensitized by their reality. They remain hyper vigilant, in-tune to their emotional responses, and astute to the emotional affect of others in their orbit. But that doesn’t mean they are okay.
The last thing adolescents need is another adult telling them how to manage life as a teenager, or why they need grit and perseverance to get through “these unprecedented times.” Unfortunately, the reality for today’s teens requires more than “Back in my day” talks and harping on trendy jargon (I wish it were that easy). Couple that with the contradictory expectations to prioritize emotional wellbeing and academic performance— students need something more than whatever is provided at the secondary level to meet or exceed their social and emotional needs.
I can hear stakeholders’ “yeah, but…” phrases, ready to launch their counter claims:
Yeah, but their grades are fine.
Yeah, but they’re participating in sports.
Yeah, but they’re not alone in the cafeteria.
Yeah, but they’re taking selfies.
Yeah, but they’re friends with that student; they’re not a bully.
Yeah, but they seem happy.
It’s time to stop assuming. It’s time to stop dismissing the teenage experience. It’s time to start listening, and infuse differentiated support systems that are more real-world centric.
21st century students need more of the tangible, more ways to feel safe, secure, valued and loved, with opportunities to reciprocate those feelings towards another, without judgement (Maricevic, 2022).
Establish a therapy dog program (start today).
Now more than ever, therapy dogs are a viable resourceto meet those needs for all high school students— no matter the zip code, regional location or poverty designation of a given school or district.
Yeah, but…
I know, I know! You’re asking yourself, “Yeah, but what about the challenges?” Mitigating challenges, is a totally different blog all together, but believe you me, I’ve got it all covered. I will tell you this, any perceived challenges from fears to allergies can be addressed to ensure the efficacy of board policy and the sustainability of an in-house therapy dog program in your high school (Maricevic, 2022).
This is my original gif which includes slides displaying my research and findings. These slides appeared in my Fall 2022 presentation to members of Association of Professional Humane Educators (and that presentation was an awesome experience).
I’ll also tell you that any stakeholder who flat out says no to an in-house therapy dog program to meet the social and emotional needs of students, is saying no for the sake of saying no (Maricevic, 2022). Don’t forget it.
The student-therapy dog relationship in the high school setting is an indelible, transformative fixture, a relationship with the infinite ability to transcend the four year high school experience. My findings suggest the omnipresence of a therapy dog in the high school setting does more than influence the social-emotional competency development in adolescents (Maricevic, 2022). In fact, the organic development of the student-therapy dog relationship may very well be the antidote to [feel free to fill in the blank to reflect the needs of your students and high school] (Maricevic, 2022).
My study reveals much more about the therapy dog phenomenon, its profound impact on secondary students and the high school setting. I’m proud to say my study also exposes inequities that must be addressed to ensure all students are afforded the opportunity to benefit from the student-therapy dog relationship during their high school years.
The above is a mere snippet of some of the points touched upon during my conversation with John Bartlett, host and founder of Dog Save the People. I encourage you to listen to the podcast in its entirety through any of the following platforms:
In the fall of 2022, I received an email from the amazing production team behind John Bartlett’s podcast, Dog Save the People. John and his team stumbled upon my website, were intrigued by the novel nature of my qualitative study, impressed by my steadfast research-based mission to dispel misconceptions around therapy dogs in high schools, desire to educate stakeholders on why therapy dogs are needed, and how to implement a therapy dog program with efficacy.
Dog Save the People have welcomed some unbelievable guests. Writers, professors, even Nobel Prize recipients, and now, to be added to this list, Dr. Jessica Maricevic— I’m humbled.
So here I am, and yeah, I know, I was always “here,” but I am forever grateful for Dog Save the People’s equally steadfast position to illuminate the voices of others (which in this episode, happens to be my voice).
Thank you John Bartlett, for providing a platform for my research, honoring my commitment to secondary education, the student-therapy dog relationship, and helping me educate others on how a vital relationship like the one between a high school student and a therapy dog needs to be an equitable norm for all high school students across America.
I welcome you to listen to the episode in its entirety (click here) and to explore some additional thoughts below.
Why therapy dogs? Why now?
This pseudo post-COVID America has unearthed a tremendous amount of pain, a pain some have tried desperately to suppress, or flat out ignore. Secondary stakeholders who acknowledge the macro reality of the invasive impact of the current geo-political climate are better equipped to consider the micro implications in the high school setting. And to those stakeholders who believe they must personally observe the influence of the macro reality in the micro setting, see with their own eyes presentable evidence of societal stressors, complex anxieties and invisible traumas to adequately address the social and emotional needs of students… well, read a little bit more of this post, because today’s high school students are carrying more than a load of books and a laptop with little to no storage.
So say you.
I’ll hold off on the details of my own research and findings for the time being simply to prove you don’t need to read academic journals and peer reviewed articles to establish an understanding of this crisis. Here are some statistics presented from three national cable news outlets within the last 12 months:
An image I captured from my television during an early morning CNN live broadcast (February 14, 2023).Read Elizabeth Pritchett’s article in its entirety: Teenage brains aged faster…
April 26, 2022 segment from MSNBC’s Morning Joe; guest Harvard University’s John Della Volpe.
Understand, the above sources are a mere snapshot of reporting from three national cable news outlets, and yes I am well aware each source brings with it their own distinct bias. Yet, even with their respective leans, the conscious decision to report on the social and emotional concerns of teens suggests a unified effort to convey a stark reality to their audiences.
It is extremely important to note the three news outlets referenced here in this post have observed an increase in viewership during the years of 2016 – 20220 (Pew Research Center, 2023). The research suggests such an increase in viewership is most likely connected to presidential elections, societal conflicts, and the coronavirus pandemic (Pew Research Center, 2023).
Hypothetically, if the Pew Research Center reports either (1) a decrease the numbers of viewers, (2) a plateau of viewership (it remains at its current rate), or (3) a continued upward viewership trend for the period of 2020-2023, millions of Americans would still receive the message loud and clear, teens are hurting, they need something more, and it’s up to the adults in their lives to make it happen.
As students go from class to class, carry the weight of the world and the plight of America’s transgressions on their shoulders, they are accompanied by feelings of sadness, hopelessness, feeling down, and depressed. And then, some students hold their breath when a school wide announcement interrupts a class period without warning, flinch upon hearing an unsuspecting sound, and ask what if questions the day after cable news outlets, those very outlets referenced above, consume airwaves with incessant reporting of yet another unthinkable event.
Even with all of this chaos, students aren’t desensitized by their reality. They remain hyper vigilant, in-tune to their emotional responses, and astute to the emotional affect of others in their orbit. But that doesn’t mean they are okay.
The last thing adolescents need is another adult telling them how to manage life as a teenager, or why they need grit and perseverance to get through “these unprecedented times.” Unfortunately, the reality for today’s teens requires more than “Back in my day” talks and harping on trendy jargon (I wish it were that easy). Couple that with the contradictory expectations to prioritize emotional wellbeing and academic performance— students need something more than whatever is provided at the secondary level to meet or exceed their social and emotional needs.
I can hear stakeholders’ “yeah, but…” phrases, ready to launch their counter claims:
Yeah, but their grades are fine.
Yeah, but they’re participating in sports.
Yeah, but they’re not alone in the cafeteria.
Yeah, but they’re taking selfies.
Yeah, but they’re friends with that student; they’re not a bully.
Yeah, but they seem happy.
It’s time to stop assuming. It’s time to stop dismissing the teenage experience. It’s time to start listening, and infuse differentiated support systems that are more real-world centric.
21st century students need more of the tangible, more ways to feel safe, secure, valued and loved, with opportunities to reciprocate those feelings towards another, without judgement (Maricevic, 2022).
Establish a therapy dog program (start today).
Now more than ever, therapy dogs are a viable resourceto meet those needs for all high school students— no matter the zip code, regional location or poverty designation of a given school or district.
Yeah, but…
I know, I know! You’re asking yourself, “Yeah, but what about the challenges?” Mitigating challenges, is a totally different blog all together, but believe you me, I’ve got it all covered. I will tell you this, any perceived challenges from fears to allergies can be addressed to ensure the efficacy of board policy and the sustainability of an in-house therapy dog program in your high school (Maricevic, 2022).
This is my original gif which includes slides displaying my research and findings. These slides appeared in my Fall 2022 presentation to members of Association of Professional Humane Educators (and that presentation was an awesome experience).
I’ll also tell you that any stakeholder who flat out says no to an in-house therapy dog program to meet the social and emotional needs of students, is saying no for the sake of saying no (Maricevic, 2022). Don’t forget it.
The student-therapy dog relationship in the high school setting is an indelible, transformative fixture, a relationship with the infinite ability to transcend the four year high school experience. My findings suggest the omnipresence of a therapy dog in the high school setting does more than influence the social-emotional competency development in adolescents (Maricevic, 2022). In fact, the organic development of the student-therapy dog relationship may very well be the antidote to [feel free to fill in the blank to reflect the needs of your students and high school] (Maricevic, 2022).
My study reveals much more about the therapy dog phenomenon, its profound impact on secondary students and the high school setting. I’m proud to say my study also exposes inequities that must be addressed to ensure all students are afforded the opportunity to benefit from the student-therapy dog relationship during their high school years.
The above is a mere snippet of some of the points touched upon during my conversation with John Bartlett, host and founder of Dog Save the People. I encourage you to listen to the podcast in its entirety through any of the following platforms:
Even though you might think otherwise, an outing with your doggo is never just a walk. Found moments for cognitive stimulation, whether one-on-one with a doggo, like here with Judgie Boy or the entire pack, requires just as much from me, the human, as it does for my doggo(s). It also allows me to stay current with my doggo’s communicative ways and presents opportunities for creative ingenuity to keep the fun fresh (yes, even when revisiting cognitive challenges for practice, that’s fresh-fun too)!
Our human-animal bond is strengthened by infusing opportunities for cognitive stimulation when on any venture together. And it’s this active-time spent together that invigorates the body, mind & emotions; allows for new perspectives to the world on a micro & macro level; cultivates empathy… it’s never just a walk.
So give it a try! Spice up the active-time with your doggo. Start small. Make it manageable. Enhance the good stuff you’re already doing. Consider your usual active routine & possible on-the-spot opportunities the routine itself may provide (i.e. setting), try-out an added layer of cognitive stimulation (like I’m doing here with weaving between the pillars), evaluate your doggo’s response to the activity, reassess & revise as needed.
There is one non-negotiable, no negative reinforcement! If your doggo presents a hesitant response to the added activity, respect the presentation of the doggo’s feelings with love & reassurance. Empathize with your doggo, even say “let’s try again tomorrow,” & resume the enjoyable aspects of the routine as you and your doggo have established. Build upon the fun and cognitive stimulation, love the moment, love your doggo for trying something new, & give yourself a pat on the back while you’re at it, your efforts are noticed by the one who matters, your doggo.
Don’t have a doggo but still want “in” on some of this good stuff? Here are a few ideas:
Join a friend on a walk with their doggo(s)
#Volunteer at a local animal shelter
#Foster! Give some one-on-one active time to a doggo who needs it most! The result (1) you adopt the doggo or (2) get that doggo ready for their furever family
Currently, I am three weeks into the second semester of my year long, school building leader internship. This time around, I find myself contemplating a myriad of hot topics as a parent, secondary educator, aspiring school leader, and advocate for the social-emotional well-being of adolescent students.
Last week, my professor posted the following assignment:
Prompt: In this week’s discussion post, please select one quote, then make one comment on how you believe this technology may impact education. Please respond to at least one of your classmates (sic) posts. Do not create a new thread, simply respond to my post and to classmate’s (sic) posts.
During the fall months of the 2022-2023 school year, the one and only AI platform, ChatGPT, commandeered secondary department meeting agendas, as well as the group text threads and Snapchats of secondary students. There were mainstream publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, presenting bold-print, ominous headlines of the AI platform’s stealthy omnipresence. Then came The Atlantic’s subsequent op-ed from a high school English teacher, how cliché.
ChatGPT was a topic of conversation among parents while I stood on the sidelines at youth sporting events, during holiday celebrations with family, and even among my extended PLN of educators and other professionals. In all three scenarios, I listened to concerned perspectives. Statementslike, It’s the end of the world, there goes humanity, teachers are insignificant, here come the robots, and variations of such, were followed by a barrage of rhetorical questions.
Do students need to learn how to write?
Why do students need to learn how to write?
If there are computers that can do it for them, why waste their time with writing?
As people prepared for the end of the world as we know it [cue REM], I kept reading, listening, and observing fellow educators and non-educators alike.
The words I read, the voices I heard, and the actions I observed were mere reflections of the dubious undertones emanating from those mainstream articles alerting readers, education and humanity of … what exactly?
The more I read, the more I listened, the more I observed, the more convinced I became that there was something worth adding to the docket.
Pre-ChatGPT Era. Let’s be real for a second. I’ve been in secondary education for 18 years. ChatGPT is no different than the tutor who only “helped,” the Google search results producing a plethora of graduate school level work worthy of a ::highlight, click-copy-paste::: into an 11th grade essay of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, or the older sibling/neighbor/cousin assigned the same senior thesis assignment 5 years prior, etc. Educators today need to consider how, if at all, pre-ChatGPT era students are more similar than they are different than students of the ChatGPT generation.
I asked my students their thoughts to that same very question. Their collective responses are captured in this paraphrased statement, If a student wants to cheat, they are going to cheat, and they don’t need ChatGPT. It needs to be known my students also provided an empathic rationale for why students might feel the need to submit something that does not represent their own original thinking, resort to cheating or using an AI platform like ChatGPT.
We have to get into college and get money.
All everyone cares about are grades.
Sometimes you aren’t prepared.
There isn’t enough time.
Stuff happens, and sometimes people don’t get that stuff happens, so what else are we going to do?
I’d rather play with my dog…
Keep this empathic level of adolescent transparency in mind as I share a recent comment and rhetorical question from a professional colleague with no affiliation to my current place of employment. The professional colleague stated, “If there was ChatGPT when I was a student, I would’ve used it. Wouldn’t you?” While I believe the intentions of the statement to be rhetorical, I vehemently responded, “No.” My answer was no, is still no, and will always be no, and here’s why–– the adolescent voices represented above.
Those voices, all of them, make me think about my own high school experience. I loved my formative high school years and believe they contribute to my pedagogical stance on education and curriculum. As a result, I skillfully craft authentic curriculum for my own students and continuously create organic opportunities for students to demonstrate learning on their terms, as much as possible. Nothing comes from a handout, or a book, or an online platform which allows educators to pay other educators for their products. My lessons today, look nothing like my lessons from 2005, the year I started teaching, nor should they reflect the needs of students from almost 20 years ago! Same goes for assessments. Formative and summative assessments are not the same from year-to-year, not the same from class period to class period, sometimes not even the same within the class period. I am always fine tuning lessons, assessments, differentiating and giving autonomy to the students (it is their learning after all). I am reflective, constantly wondering if I am being culturally responsive to the ever-changing needs of my students, diversifying texts and text types, and asking for their feedback.
When I was a high school student, I knew I was seen, heard, and valued by the way my teachers interacted with me, the lessons they created, the diversity of the texts, the way they allowed me to creatively represent my learning, by the way they listened, allowed me to be the gregarious change-maker who challenged norms and advocated for others, and they acknowledged my reality in a non-judgmental way.
Now, I pay it forward.
Seen, Heard, & Valued. Whether pre-ChatGPT era students are more similar than they are different than students of the ChatGPT generation really depends on three seemingly simple, yet ever-so necessary words–– seen, heard, and valued. The trifecta!
My students, your students, they are people, and I believe, as I am sure you do too, all people deserve to be seen, heard, and valued. Students want to know they matter, not just to any person, they want to matter to you, their teacher, their parent/guardian, their adult role model. And not just sometimes. Students want to matter all the time, for all their thoughts, ideas, mistakes, wrongdoings, successes, and they want to matter when it comes to their learning process.
I believe it is essential to unearth a student’s root decision to utilize AI platforms like ChatGPT, rather than submit their own thoughts and ideas. I believe it is essential to evaluate the extent to which a student’s perception of themselves as a learner, influences their decision to utilize alternatives like ChatGPT, and to what degree their actions are influenced by their perspective on how others may see, hear, and value them as a learner. In short, we need to illuminate the influence of the trifecta’s presence, or lack thereof, on the secondary students perception of self, and understand the possibility of such a factor influencing the decisions of secondary learners.
Today ChatGPT, Tomorrow Robots. No, I don’t believe robots are going to take over the world, or America’s classrooms. Do I think there is a concern for the well-being of humanity? Maybe, but my concern for the well-being of humanity is not because of an AI platform.
Humanity’s well-being can teeter if today’s students become the adults of tomorrow, who are one day responsible for humanity’s survival and simultaneously harbor self-doubt, the belief their words and the words of others are insignificant, the belief their thoughts and the thoughts of others have no purpose or aren’t good enough, the belief they aren’t good enough, the belief there’s no need to write or communicate or advocate, or the worst case, harbor the belief it is easier to embrace apathy because… why bother with any other mindset?
Who You Gonna Call? To protect humanity, we don’t need to condemn innovation. We must deconstruct the illusive apathetic mindset. Psst, I’ll let you in on a little secret, the apathetic mindset is creeping behind the letters, C-H-A-T-G-P-T, and it is looking for a spot to take root, but ChatGPT didn’t disperse the seeds of apathy.
Before any deconstruction takes place, we need to ask some questions, which may or may not start with the word, Why:
Why was the ChatGPT platform generated in the first place (think about Stone’s concepts of welfare and security)?
Literal rationale for its creation
Figurative rationale for its creation
Why would a student opt to submit anything other than a product representative of their authentic voice?
Why would a student resort to a sterile computer response, a response that could hold serious inaccuracies intertwined with “big SAT words,” rather than their own?
Why would a student resort to a sterile computer response that could violate a student code of conduct and result in serious consequences?
Why does the student value the “thoughts” of AI over their own thoughts?
Why would a student think their teacher would prefer the submission of AI generated “work,” over age and skill appropriate submissions which reflect who they are as a person and learner?
ChatGPT is here for a myriad of plausible reasons. I am highlighting one plausible reason being the messages students receive on the daily; messages of who is seen, heard and valued; why they are seen, heard and valued; and the need to figure out a way to be seen, heard and valued.
But, who would send a message like that, you ask? Schools, towns, stakeholders (educators, school building and district leaders, parents, state and national figures), external curriculums like AP and IB, state standards, national standards, SAT, ACT, societal norms and expectations, all send messages, intended or not. Which brings me to another set of questions to ponder:
To what extent do the intended messages sent differ from the messages students’ receive?
How, if at all, do parents and/or guardians contribute to disseminating messages which compel students to turn to AI platforms like Chat GPT, rather than their own thoughts and ideas?
Ready, Set, Deconstruct. Good educators will keep asking good questions, and by good questions, I mean challenging questions, like those I crafted above. Good educators will keep creating a good curriculum, and a good curriculum is differentiated, student centered, authentic, inquiry based, rooted in student choice, performance based, and sends an important message to the student they are seen, heard, and valued. Good educators will keep incorporating purposeful technology use in the classroom, for who are we to deny students with the 21st century skills needed to communicate, create, advocate, and protect humanity.
Now is not the time to get distracted from the good stuff. We cannot get caught up in futile efforts to catch or prevent student use of technological advancements. We cannot have a John Lithgow, Footloose (1984) level of control in our schools when it comes to mitigating the rapidly changing contours of technological innovation.
Footloose(1984)
We cannot run away from technological advancements– just think if we took a defensive stance against the printing press, or “the calculator, which was decried as the death of math” (Rosenblatt, 2023)! We cannot point fingers and place blame for ChatGPT indiscriminately; technology is not the enemy here. Neither is innovation or ingenuity–– Elon Musk, is not the antagonist of this dystopian tale. I’m not certain it’s even a dystopian tale, at least for right now.
Balance is Key. I’ll stick with the Hollywood motif a little longer and quote Mister Miyagi from the 1984 classic film, Karate Kid. During the “Rowboat Scene,” Mister Miyagi, the film’s archetypal sage, guides protagonist, Daniel LaRusso, with inspirational words. Mister Miyagi states, “Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home. Understand?”
The Karate Kid (1984)
No one is walking away from technological advancements in the classroom. No one is packing up their bags and going home.
We need to “get the balance right” (Depeche Mode, 1983) when it comes to technological innovation, which requires trial and error.
So let’s embrace technological innovation!
Incorporate it!
Model it!
Respect it!
Learn from, and with one another (and I am talking about collaboration with students)–– about the emerging technological trends, model the behaviors we hope to instill in our students through our own responsible use of technology to present a true, unified digital citizenship initiative.
Maybe this offensive-line strategy will help to realign the messages we send, reflect their true intentions, and be received as such in the hearts and minds of our students. At the end of the day, our students are people–– people, sitting in a class, hoping their teachers see, hear, and value them (that has some Julia Roberts Notting Hill (1999) vibes, no?). Our students deserve to receive this message, and then some.
Notting Hill (1999)
As educators and emerging school leaders, now is the time to reflect upon the individual and collective messages we send, the messages students receive, and recognize our contribution to the inception of ChatGPT, a technological response to an identified need we, inadvertently, created (and there are a lot of people, places, and things falling under the words our and we in this post).
But we do need to act, or the only fingers pointing will be those placing blame where it belongs, at ourselves–– and nobody likes fingers pointing while hearing the words, “I told you so.”
Disclaimer: I cannot present an opinion piece about students accessing AI technology without acknowledging an AI tool afforded to teachers! The a-ha!, we gotcha AI platform to determine a submissions level of authenticity, turnitin.com. Full disclosure, I use turnitin.com, but I didn’t get into teaching to complete a crime scene investigation on work submitted, and turnitin.com is so much more than a plagiarism “checker.”
Wait, does that mean ChatGPT is so much more than an AI platform doing the work for America’s students? A conversation for another day.
Collaboration, in any organization, is key— especially when the goal is to create an inclusive environment for all individuals to feel valued and respected. The people within an organization, for the most part, want to experience an enriching workplace. Some may even wish to pay it forward.
Five years ago, a fellow English teacher and myself wanted to do just that, pay it forward. We took it upon ourselves to complete our Google Certification. We taught an in-district summer professional development course. We were selected to present at an annual English Teachers Conference in Albany, New York.
Our vision, The Trendy English Teachers, was coming to fruition, website and all. Unfortunately, the vision was placed on the back-burner, and not entirely from our doing alone.
Once the 2022-2023 school year rolled around, my fellow English teacher (yes, that same fellow English teacher), shared how she wished to somehow participate in my school building leadership internship experience. Like many other educators, my colleague is very much aware of the strengths she has to offer to the organization. Me, being the collaboration, true collaboration, advocate that I am, excitedly said, “Of course!”
So, as we always do, we got to work.
We sat down, made a tentative date and schedule for school-day availability, how we would construct courses based on teacher-driven needs. What would that look like? How would that look? What is required of us, and our participants (faculty and staff), to prepare for, and participate in, meaningful, voluntary, school day professional learning opportunities?
We listed “trendy” articles, “trendy” videos watched on social media, and shared our own “trendy” creations with one another.
We made a list of all the topics to cover, the target audience, the faculty. But there are others to consider, like the staff members of our building. The staff need to be equipped with the technology foundation because students look to them for support and guidance.
Would we include the administration? Yes! Of course! Why not? If the administration suggests technology be used in the 21st century classroom, then they too should have the knowledge of the types of technologies readily available to enhance student learning, performance and progress.
The origin of transformative change rests upon transformative leadership. Highlighting the positive contributions of others within an organization can possibly ruffle some feathers. However, the positives outweigh the negatives. As a future school building leader, I know I must honor the strengths of others within an organization. I must, in some way, make certain the individuals who wish to be directly and indirectly a part of the vision and mission’s sustainability be included, supported, and celebrated for their efforts.
Nothing speaks more to me as an aspiring school building leader than the concept of enacting transformational change rooted in a “humanity-based model” (Fullan & Rizzotto, 2022). It seems as though the attention given to the “business capital” model (before the pandemic), inspired what now appears, in hindsight, as empty promises— promises to value innovation and creativity, for students and teachers, when things returned to normal. There was hope that maybe a silver lining coming out of this pandemic would be society’s acknowledgement of education as a non-gendered profession, compensate teachers for their years of expertise and degrees, etc. Unfortunately, the swift arrival of phrases like learning loss, constant references to a blanket academic deficit plaguing the intellectual development of America’s children, and the politicizing of education, accompanied fingers pointing in one direction, the classroom teacher.
Interconnected: Teacher-Leader Relationship
Interconnected with a teacher’s post-COVID experience is the role of the school building leader, district leader, and respective leadership teams. Individuals in these leadership positions must counter the destructive noise from outsiders and demonstrate to their faculty and staff that they are seen, valued, and heard (the essence of the Humanity-Based model). If students are deserving of an environment “where ‘belonging, purpose, individual and collective problem solving’ is fostered,” so are teachers. It comes as no surprise that many people will take the stance, teachers are abandoning students! Teachers are leaving the profession not because they forgot why they entered the teaching profession. Teachers are leaving the classroom because they never lost their “why” for entering the teaching profession in the first place, and their “why” is no longer valued.
The System Failed the Teacher
As a parent and educator, I sadly agree with the conclusion presented in the article, “that the old, deeply flawed system has de facto abandoned the teachers, not the other way around” (Fullan & Rizzotto, 2022). The challenges plaguing education, its teachers and students, are systemic, and any systemic challenge should be of great concern for educational leaders. Whether a school building leader or a district leader, those in coveted leadership positions must not only prioritize supporting students in all facets associated with the learning experience. School and district leaders must also prioritize and demonstrate to stakeholders how, and why, they support teachers in all facets of the post-COVID professional demands. A model of appreciation on the part of school and district leaders yields tremendous transformational power, exactly what the profession needs and deserves; nothing less.
Empathic Paws 