Quotes, Mindfulness, & Adventure

Hey, y’all.

This week, I’m thinking about taking care of myself while preparing for the new school year. It’s late February, and the ramp-up for the new school year is here. Meetings, quick chats, emails, and video conferences fill the calendars of many school leaders this time of year, not to mention the very sudden increase in conferences filled with pitches from every company under the sun.

When this happens, I try to remain grounded and keep doing the things I know will apply a little salve to my soul.

As such, here are 10 quotes this week to give you something to think about, something to comfort you, or something to inspire you.

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10 Things Worth Sharing

  1. “Truly clever things are said with short words. Long ones are used to hide stupidity.” (Joe Abercrombie, A Little Hatred)
  2. “Evidence of a traditional professional learning model: Decreased teacher attendance on in-service days. The experience is fully planned by the administration in a top-down approach, with little to no teacher involvement. The experience is designed with a one-size-fits-all approach. A mass exodus occurs when the required time is up. There is little opportunity for teacher feedback on the experience. Professional learning is viewed as a set number of hours or calendar days per year. Accountability is measured in hours—not in progress or outcomes over time. Supervision conversations focus on experiences attended and hours earned—not on the transformation of instructional pedagogy. Professional learning is viewed solely as a district responsibility.” (Eric C. Sheninger, Thomas C. Murray, Learning Transformed)
  3. “We don’t need to get rid of all our possessions, but we should constantly question what we own, why we own it, and whether we could do without.” (Ryan Holiday, Stillness Is the Key)
  4. “My greatest successes came from decisions I made when I stopped thinking and simply did what felt right. Even if there was no good explanation for what I did.” (Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind)
  5. “In your whole life nobody has ever abused you more than you have abused yourself.” (Don Miguel Ruiz, Janet Mills, The Four Agreements)
  6. “Time magnifies the margin between success and failure. It will multiply whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.” (James Clear, Atomic Habits)
  7. “Games make us happy because they are hard work that we choose for ourselves, and it turns out that almost nothing makes us happier than good, hard work.” (Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken)
  8. “No matter how good you were, someone was better. Live by that knowledge, and you would never grow so confident that you became sloppy.” (Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor’s Soul)
  9. “The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and rituals to your working life designed to minimize the amount of your limited willpower necessary to transition into and maintain a state of unbroken concentration.” (Cal Newport, Deep Work)
  10. “Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.” (Steven Pressfield, The War of Art)

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Rethinking & Reviewing

Happy Tuesday, folks. More appropriately (I guess), Happy Fat Tuesday.

Full disclaimer: I’m not Catholic, and Mardi Gras has no personal meaning for me. But many of you may join in the festivities and Lenten practices for the next 40 days. If you do, awesome. If you don’t, you’re welcome to hang with the rest of us heretics.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I sent out a newsletter on Tuesday. Life happens, deadlines loom, and if you’re me, there’s the ever-present anxiety beast that hangs back in the shadows, ready to rear its ugly head when you least expect it.

So, it’s been a minute. But we press on through whatever life throws our way and embrace what comes. In these times, I remember the words of Epictetus,

The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…” — Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4–5

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You and I can only control what we can control. Trying to exercise influence over anything else is fruitless and will only cause us distress. For me, that means managing my schedule a little better and giving myself grace for getting all the things that I have to get done. That’s not easy for me, and it likely isn’t easy for you, o fearless type A perfectionist overachiever that you are.

Not that I have any experience speaking about such things…

So, today’s newsletter is a little different. I’m just going to call it “Rethinking & Reviewing” because you’re about to go on a journey through Mike’s stream of consciousness, and we’ll both find out the destination when we get there.

Here we go…

What I’m Thinking

The first year of my year-long teacher fellowship is coming to a close. We’ve met over the course of this school year to chat and help each other redesign lesson plans for deeper learning opportunities using the 4 Shifts protocol as a reference. To say the program has gone well would be a tremendous understatement. The feedback I’m receiving from the fellows is great and full of deep reflection. Most are well on their way to completing their lessons with students, and I’ll share more soon. For me, this first year will inform my work with other teachers and future cohorts but will likely also lead to part of the work for my dissertation in the coming years.

Speaking of deeper learning, I listened to episode 2 of the “Redesigning for Deeper Learning” podcast and was challenged by one particular thought: what does “student choice” really mean? Depending on the context of the lesson, giving the students options to choose from may or may not truly be “student choice.” With several lessons from my fellows fresh in my mind, I’m rolling this around in my head quite a bit this morning.

What I’m Reading

One of my goals this year for reading is to finish up all the published Cosmere works from Brandon Sanderson. I’ve gotten through most of Arcanum Unbounded, which features several previously published short stories and novellas based in the connected Cosmere. I also finished Warbreaker in January, and it might have become one of my favorite Sanderson novels. My current pick of the bunch from Arcanum is “Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell,” a short story originally published in a collection, Dangerous Women, edited by George R.R. Martin. It’s a different tale from the standard Sanderson fare, leaning a bit more toward the horror genre. It was a fantastic read.

I’m also re-reading How to Write a Lot because I need a swift kick in the pants to get my writing practice back in order. There’s no better motivation to do that than when you hear the words “your dissertation starts NOW” during a Saturday morning class. Yikes.

On the academic reading side of the world, I’ve been using Speechify for a ridiculous amount of time to process articles. For my attention-span deficient brain – no formal diagnosis, just my own experiences – having the audio version of a text playing while I am reading is a brilliant focus tool. I read faster, retain more, and am able to focus far better than when I try to read text only. This is especially true for reading journal articles, papers, and so on. Speechify gives me an audio version of just about any text on my laptop or in my web browser. I now consider it an invaluable part of my productivity toolkit, right alongside Notion and Readwise.

What I’m Watching

In my random voyage of self-care, I ran across several seasons of the 90s revival of “The Outer Limits” on YouTube. If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s an anthology series of separate sci-fi stories and features some surprising guest star appearances from some popular stars of the day (heck, even Leonard Nimoy shows up). In some episodes, they do make an attempt to connect some of the stories, which makes for interesting situations. Overall, a great way to spend 45 minutes.

Oh, and Picard Season 3 just started, so there’s that, too 😉

What’s in My Ears

Two recent episodes of The Daily from the NY Times caught my interest, mostly because they deal with the recent explosion of AI tools. “The Online Search Wars” and “The Online Search Wars Got Scary Fast” are well worth the listen.

Also, I continue to update my 2023 playlist of songs I discover, or remember, throughout the year. I’ve compiled playlists like this for 20222021, and 2020.

Wrapping Up

Well, I think I’ve rambled enough. Thanks again for reading and coming along for the ride. Have a great week!


Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a completely reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to check out my recommendations or become a paid subscriber.

Running on Empty

Hey, y’all. It’s time for another “10 Things” to clutter your inbox. I don’t know about you, but it’s been a week for me. I’m looking forward to a little break this weekend.

10 Things Worth Sharing

  1. Noam Chomsky thinks ChatGPT is “basically high-tech plagiarism”
  2. ICYMI, Google debuted their own AI-powered chatbot this week, Bard
  3. What if George Lucas had directed “2001: A Space Odyssey”? (It’s flipping brilliant)
  4. Polymath Tyler Cowen talks about ChatGPT and reading in clusters
  5. We’re digging deep into crafting a profile of a graduate in my home school district. I found this great article for steps to take in that long and very rewarding process right here.
  6. Busting the attention span myth
  7. Call me a nerd, but I’m super excited about this upcoming book on the history of the keyboard
  8. I see this pop up every now and then, and I always love this Gregory Hines tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr.
  9. While some are continuing to freak out about AI, others are getting right to work. My current favorite visual AI project exists at The Visual Dome.
  10. RIP Burt Bacharach. He made music that sounds like that of no one else on earth. He had a special and creative way of making music, blending jazz, pop, and classical sounds, which made him one of the most famous and beloved pop music composers ever.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a completely reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to check out my recommendations or become a paid subscriber.

Every Day is Groundhog Day

Hey, y’all. It’s Friday, the day after Groundhog Day here in the US. And here’s this week’s “10 Things”

10 Things Worth Sharing

  1. I say “Every Day is Groundhog Day” because of the intro to Austin Kleon’s “Keep Going”. The book is the final installment of his series on creativity. Here’s Austin reading the first chapter. Also, full credit to Austin for the format of this newsletter, as I blatantly stole it from him 😉
  2. I’ve been spending a lot of time with several of the teachers in my Future Shift Fellowship as they are working through the lessons they redesigned this year. I shared a little about one of them on Twitter this week.
  3. George Couros has 4 questions to consider about using ChatGPT in education.
  4. Speaking of ChatGPT (no, I’m not going to stop talking about it and every other AI platform), here are some ideas for how to put the tool to work for academics.
  5. Learning loss: a topic I’ve heard far too much about and believe that it only exists because we measure the wrong things in education. I wholeheartedly agree with Jo Boaler’s thoughts on this one.
  6. Let’s face it: most self-help books are bad and are just generalizations put into print. Here are 8 that are actually worth reading.
  7. I read 12 books in January 2023. Here’s a recap of all of them, along with my thoughts.
  8. If you’ve never caught an episode of “Live from Daryl’s House” featuring Daryl Hall performing with some incredible (and huge) stars of the music industry, you should check it out. Here’s an episode featuring Tommy Shaw (whom I may have performed for once upon a time when he came to my church) that’s brilliant.
  9. Speaking of Groundhog Day, the almost-perfect movie turns 30 this year.
  10. Finally, here’s a documentary from 1981 featuring behind-the-scenes footage from The Muppet Show. The documentary features a “table read” for one of the episodes that confirms why I believe The Muppets are the gateway to good comedy.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a completely reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to check out my recommendations or become a paid subscriber.

Books I Read in January 2023

Good grief. Somehow, we’ve already burned through the first month of 2023. My year started with a bang with several projects at work with my teaching fellowship and with a new round of doctoral classes. Time is just flying by! I’m grateful for the opportunities, but sometimes it feels like there’s not enough time in the day. Does anyone else feel like this? How do you all manage your time? I’ll share some of my best tactics to save time and organize my days later this month.

For now, let’s dig into the books I read in January 2023. This month’s books include fiction and non-fiction titles. Two of these books are specific to my doctoral classes and, as such, won’t be far from my desk for the rest of this semester. One of the books is the first of Brandon Sanderson’s “Secret Projects,” unveiled last year as part of the most successful Kickstarter ever.

But first, here are some stats from my StoryGraph for the month of January 2023:

January 2023 reading stats for Mike Paul from Storygraph
January 2023 reading stats for Mike Paul from Storygraph

And now… TO THE BOOKS!

Tress of the Emerald Sea

The first book of the year for me arrived in my inbox at midnight, mountain time. Which means I was fast asleep when it showed up! However, bright and early on the morning of January 1, I sent the ebook to my Kindle (my physical copy will arrive soon enough) and dove in.

The wait was long, and I did my very best to avoid pretty much any plot points or even commentary Sanderson provided before the launch.

The wait was well worth it. What a joy this book was to read. I smiled while reading for probably over half of the book. And at the end, I reveled in the warm, fuzzy feeling of an instant favorite and classic. I haven’t finished all of Sanderson’s Cosmere books yet (that’s one of my goals for 2023), but this one is currently in my top three books, right behind Oathbringer and The Hero of Ages.

If you’re a Sanderson fan, this is a must-read. If you’re not yet a Sanderson fan, dive in this year. This book will be waiting for you when you’re ready.

2001: A Space Odyssey

I’m a big fan of science fiction, so I was especially looking forward to reading 2001: A Space Odyssey. I knew it was a classic, and I was excited to see how the world-renowned movie adaptation compared to the book. I’ve seen the movie several times but never read the book.

Unlike other film adaptations, this novel was written right alongside the development of the film. Stanley Kubrick (the director) and Arthur Clarke (the writer) worked together through the process, each getting the writing credit for the film and book, respectively.

The novel did not disappoint. It is an absolute masterpiece and a classic in the science fiction genre. The story is gripping and thoughtful, the setting is unique and captivating, and the characters are well-developed and memorable.

What’s remarkable about the book is how different it is from the movie. While the movie does a great job of conveying the overall plot and has magnificent visuals, it lacks the nuanced details that make the book so compelling. The book provides greater detail and helps define the scope of the themes in the film masterfully.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to any fan of science fiction. It’s an incredible piece of literature with many interesting and thought-provoking ideas. It’s a must-read for any fan of the genre.

The Great Gatsby

Yes, I probably should have read this book before I was 46 years old. Sue me. It was not on the list of required books when I was in high school, so I didn’t read it. My apologies to all fans of the book and all its various adaptations.

First, let’s clear the air. I did not enjoy the book. Not at all.

Even so, I have to say that this is a book worth reading. I respect it for its place in the classics of American literature and the impact it has had over the years.

It brings the glamour of the Jazz age alive and also offers an interesting view of life’s relationship with wealth and power. The novel touches upon themes like ambition and disillusionment, offering up a compelling psychological study of its characters.

While Fitzgerald’s writing style is sometimes criticized for being overly romantic and sentimental, there’s no denying the power of his prose. The Great Gatsby shows that it still has a lot to say about life today. It’s a story of dreams, desires, and consequences that can still be felt many decades later.

Oliver Twist

This was not my first time reading Oliver Twist. I love Dickens’s novels. Love them. This time, I listened to an audio dramatization of the novel that was stunning. It was incredibly well-acted, and the music and sound effects added to the story’s intensity.

The novel follows the adventures of Oliver Twist, an orphan in London who is tossed from one misfortunate situation to another. It’s full of incredible characters like Fagin and Bill Sykes, as well as moments of heartbreak and suffering.

It’s a timeless story that shows the power of hope, even in the darkest of times. It may be set in Victorian England, but its themes of poverty and injustice still resonate today. It is an inspiring reminder to always keep on fighting against all odds.

Elantris

After reading a large chunk of the Cosmere novels, I finally went back to “the beginning” of sorts. Elantris is Brandon Sanderson’s first published novel but the sixth one he wrote. Elantris takes place in a world of magic and wonder, but it’s also filled with tragedy, loss, and pain.

As others have pointed out, Sanderson’s writing has improved greatly since Elantris’ publication. However, the book is still fantastic and gives hints of much of the Cosmere awesomeness to come.

Sanderson has said that he will write sequels to Elantris in the future, and I’m looking forward to how they will tie into the larger Cosmere universe.

Stalking the Nightmare

Harlan Freaking Ellison. I think this is my third time reading this collection of stories from the Grand Master of speculative fiction. Stalking the Nightmare is an amazing read every time, as are all of Ellison’s collections.

Ellison grabs you by the throat with his prose and doesn’t let go, not ever. His stories are intense, heart-wrenching, and full of emotion. If you haven’t read this book yet, I highly recommend it for its exploration of themes like mortality, identity, morality, creativity, and the endless cycle of tragedy, loss, and pain.

I’m thrilled that author J Michael Straczynski is working to get all of Ellison’s works republished and finally get the anthology “The Last Dangerous Visions” published.

To be sure, Ellison can be problematic, and he certainly was not a great person to work with at any time. But his contributions to speculative fiction cannot be overlooked.

Reframing Organizations

This classic of organizational theory — this is the seventh edition — is one of the books for my doctoral work.

In Reframing Organizations, Bolman and Deal offer a unique perspective on organizations, focusing on four frames: structural, human resources, political and symbolic. They argue that all four frames must be taken into account when looking at the inner workings of an organization.

The book is very accessible and flows well, making it easy to understand even for those with little background in organizational theory. This update includes examples from more recent organizational leadership scenarios, including commentary on the Trump presidency.

Mixed Methods Applications in Action Research

The second book for this semester’s doctoral studies, this book goes into incredible detail about creating a mixed methods action research project.

Of course, it is primarily a handbook for budding researchers and not a captivating read. However, if you’re curious about the mixed methods action research methodology, you may want to add this to your reference library.

The Prestige

I have a unique connection to the film version of “The Prestige.” My grandfather passed away on the morning of Halloween in 2006. To help take my mind off that incredible loss, my girlfriend (now my wife) and I went to the movies and saw “The Prestige.”

I have loved the film ever since.

Whether I knew about it and forgot or just never knew, I didn’t realize the film was based on a novel. As soon as I did, I picked it up and dove in.

While the film for me is more enjoyable than the novel, the novel does bring a different perspective to the events and the characters. Altogether a fine read.

Deep Work

Cal Newport defines “deep work” as focused, uninterrupted, undistracted work on a task that pushes your cognitive abilities to their limit.

In comparison, “shallow work” means tasks that don’t need much thinking – like answering emails, doing paperwork, and going to unproductive meetings. These tasks don’t give much value, and anyone can do them.

Newport argues that developing new concepts and achieving great results requires deep work, not shallow work. Shallow work is small and incremental, whereas deep work can be life-changing.

Now, as an educator in the K-12 sector, much of what Newport outlines here with time blocking and other techniques don’t translate well to the daily life of a teacher.

However, there is still much to learn and apply here, we have to modify for our work.

For example, rather than blocking off large chunks of time to focus on a single task, teachers can look at ways to make the most efficient use of their limited time.

This could include carving out shorter periods for deep work focused on planning or assessment and using the rest of their day for shallow tasks like grading papers or completing administrative duties.

Overall, Deep Work is a great read for anyone looking to maximize their productivity.

Peak

Peak: Secrets From the New Science of Expertise looks at how people gain skills and how top performers in music, sports, and other areas grow their abilities. It may appear that people such as Chopin, Beethoven, or Roger Federer have a natural gift that allows them to do amazing things without hard work, but in fact, they put in a lot of effort.

The book discusses that, as your skills improve, you will come to a point that will cause you to change how you “practice” that skill to see greater improvement. The process involves moving from “purposeful practice,” a process involving setting specific goals, getting feedback, and stepping outside of your comfort zone, to “deliberate practice,” which builds on the principles of purposeful practice but applies them in a systematic, rigorous framework that leads to the kind of performances we see from acknowledged experts.

Think about all we do in our schools. Not just what our students do as part of the learning process but what we do as teachers improving our practice. By embracing the principles of deliberate practice and applying them to every, we could create a far better world, one with profound implications for technology, healthcare, public service, and countless other fields.

On War

I know, I know. You’re thinking to yourself, “why is an educator reading a book on war strategies?”

I get it, this is probably not the book you would find on most teachers’ bookshelves. However, as someone who wants to make significant changes in the educational system, I think that any strategy I can find to help me in that “war” will be helpful.

On War by Carl von Clausewitz is arguably the most influential Western treatise on the subject of war. Clausewitz was a Prussian general who fought in the Napoleonic wars in the early 1800s, and he wrote extensively about military philosophy, strategy, and tactics.

The book consists of a large collection of essays. The author intended to develop them into a comprehensive textbook for military officers, politicians, and others who needed to understand the subject of war. However, he died before finishing this project, so his writings were published in their original form.

Again, I have no intentions of going to war. But, as educators, we are continually involved in political battles, and having some strategies to keep in mind as we participate in those battles is not a bad thing.

Conclusion

Overall, January was a great reading month. I stayed in line with my reading goals for the year and knocked off several books that have been lounging on my TBR for a long, long time.

Of course, I’ll continue to recommend books that I think are great for teachers and other leaders each and every month. If you’re interested, I publish a monthly book recommendation newsletter with 5-10 books I think you’ll love.

If you haven’t already, consider signing up for my Read With Mike monthly newsletter. I’m sure you’ll enjoy getting great reading recommendations each month for free.