The courage to teach, the courage to change

We teach who we are, but we need to make the needed changes to be what our students need us to be to help them become 21st Century skills leaders.

ISAS CONFERENCE:TEACHING MATTERS-Official blog of the conference at http://21k12blog.net/2010/02/

ENSURING THE SUCESS OF ALL STUDENTS SAMUEL BETANCES: Contact: Samuel@betances.com, www.betances.com; his firm is diversity consulting, and his motto is “strengthening the world of work through diversity.” He will return emails. Find his bio at http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.php?SpeakerID=92.

Stop stereotypes such as the way he is described when confused as Arab: Arabs:=3B's= billionaires belly dancers, bumps. Laugh and grow together as we deal with the top topics. Remember our President could have been legally own by the first 16 presidents. He was elected by the ballot not the bullet.

Proud blended heritage children! Let’s do not burden our children with the fear of opresion. Teach the children to reject rejection. Do not internalized separation. Schools are middle class places of learning…3500 words instead of 1000-2000 words from street children. Read, read. Read!!! Get inspired that this country-WORLD- does not owe a living, only an opportunity. Empower to have a middle class performance. If you do not read, you cannot lead! Make the impossible possible


YOU CANNOT BE TRANSFORMING UNTIL YOU HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED. Develop the capacity to preach. Read to enrich and to survive. Create coalisions of interest, not of gender. WHATEVER DOES NOT DESTROY YOU CAN BE MADE INTO A STEPPING STONE TO ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS!!!Create teams like "Remember the Titans"

Empower first generation students to have the tools to make in the “middle class” environment. Nobody knows what they want until they know what options they have! Guide inclusive teams across generations and races.



WEBB 2.0: REALITIES NOT A HYPE: Andrew Zucker: has had a long career in teaching and technology, beginning with years teaching at Milton Academy and the US Department of Education.

Take your time, you need to innovate, you cannot keep up with it.”
Write and share what you do globally! Everything is done in nanoseconds!
Transformation= People+process+technology. Change is a process not a purchase

Top three reasons our students’ homework is missing in the new century
I emailed it, didn’t you get it?
Tech support help was down
I had to delete, needed space for iTunes

Digital tools to transform schools: Why Innovate?
Independent schools have a higher proportion of great teachers than other schools!



TSL is significantly less at independent schools, (total student load).
Our schools and teachers have significantly more autonomy and less bureaucracy than public schools

Web 2.0 is still brand new, 1994: First practical web browser. Zucker argued that we are still only just learning. the early web was very slow and very much a broadcast, but it is now interactive and faster and richer and more engaging.

Zucker offered technologies, for free:Video, navigation of records, documents availability… effective use depends on the CREATIVITY OF THE TEACHER

Screen Recordings: This is a way to record video and voice, with a url, to share and email.
www.jingproject.com, www.screencast.com, camtasia (paid) http://www.jingproject.cohetm; SCREENCAST.COM 5 MINUTE limit, screen cast.com
CLICKERS: HTTP://WWWW.ISTE.ORG/CONTENT/NAVIGATIONMENU/PUBLICATIONS/LL
POLL EVERYWHERE poll everywhere.com
Survey Monkey www.surveymonkey.com
Molecular workbench workbench.concord.org
VIRTUAL LAB: Phet.
MOODLE.ORG
CLASSBLOGMEISTER.COM
NICENET.ORG

Clickers are recommended, with a very brief discussion, and ExamView is also suggested, *but which is not free.” Poll Everywhere and Surveymonkey come next, as suggested tools for classroom use.Models and Simulations; Course Discussion and Management Tools Moodle and class blogmeister.

Daniel Pink: Education and the changing world



AUTONOMY, MASTERY, AND PURPOSEwww.danpink.com; twitter.com/danielpink, dp@danpink.com

Biological motivation +Responding to environment+Part of the larger purpose
Education is not a contest to be won. It is a journey of exploration
How are we rewarding? What are we creating?

Rewards get attention in a focused way which restricts our ability to create. The motivation now is different.
The rule for high school students to be successful, in the old model: “Give the authority what they want, and get it in time, neatly.” “The ‘good’ kids comply and the ‘bad’ kids defy but no one engages;” is that school today?

First, the new rules require Autonomy!FedEx Days– An example is a company called Atlassian, in Australia, which provides employees a day when employees can spend their time doing whatever they like, but then have to, the next day (overnight) deliver something new. At Zappos, the call center employees have one mandate, and one only: Solve the customers’ problems. That’s it.

20% time: At Google, employees have 20% time, when they can do whatever they like, and gmail came out of it– in fact, one person at Google says that all the good ideas at Google come out of the 20% time.

Autonomy Ideas for Schools: FedEx days for Teachers. For the next 24 hours, we are going to come up with something NEW to do at school– a new class, a new system, a new process. We could create new projects. YAC organization and projects!!!

For Students: Students would go bonkers during a 20% day– and we in independent schools have the autonomy to do so. For 24 hours, do whatever you want (with some parameters): a new idea, a new offering for the school. Kids would really respond to this kind of autonomy! service-learning in the curriculum!!!

Mastery: Humans are mastery seeking guided missiles. The levels of worker disengagement (in the workplace) are frightening. People are bored. But not in Open-Source– where the engagement is high. Linux, firefox– these are projects that are technically sophisticated creating valuable products for which people are unpaid! Because these endeavors provide a sense of mastery! “Enjoyment based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on a project, is the strongest and most pervasive driver.” Reference to “Why Hackers do what they do” by Lakhani, et.
HBS researchers, published in HBR recently: “The Top Motivator at work, by far: Making Progress in One’s Work.” Not incentives, not rewards, not bonuses. Search for mastery and making progress is a great motivator.

How to do this for Teachers and Students: Performance Reviews: Nobody likes performance reviews, neither giving nor receiving.
DIY Performance Reviews– Do it yourself. Beginning of the month, beginning of the semester, set out your goals in writing (!), goals and objectives, and then you call yourself into the office– how am I faring? What do I need? What do I need in resources to do my job is better?
Grades ought to be a form of feedback to help you toward mastery. Can we encourage students to do this? (advisors-Congressional Award for Service)
Here is what I want to learn in Chemistry! Then self-assess regularly, and compare self-assessments with those of the teachers. Any great athlete, art, musician: they have ways to self-assess, to measure how they are doing. My question is how can they assess what they do not know...their potential in the course, maybe, but they do not know the content of the course..???

Purpose! We have lost a sense of doing things that serve a cause bigger than themselves. Pink thinks teachers are animated by purpose, more than in ANY other white collar profession in the US.

An idea for determining purpose, from Claire Booth Luce: A great man is a sentence. “The great President are not doing a lot of small things, they are doing one big thing. If you try to do too much, you don’t have a sentence, you have a muddled paragraph.

What is your sentence?” To determine your purpose, you must determine your sentence!

At the end of the day, was I better today than yesterday? Some days the answer is No. Sometimes it is, sometimes it is no. But, it is rarely "no" two or three days in a row.


THE GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT GAP: Tony's contact information: http://www.schoolchange.org/



Teaching matters, learning matters more, mastery matters most!K-16: SCHOOL REFORM: EMPOWER THEM TO CHANGE THEIR IDEAS INTO ACTUAL WORK. From the kids in the video:I KNOW THIS KNOWLEDGE, BUT WHAT I AM GOING TO DO WITH IT. IT IS WORTH doing SOMETHING HARD AND BIG EVERY ACADEMIC CLASS BECOMES A PERFOMANCE CLASS

VIDEO EXAMPLE FROM: Quest High School facilitators seek to use individualized knowledge of each student to shape student's schooling and to teach habits of the heart and mind through three core curriculum areas: Academic Foundations are based on state and national standards and include language arts, social studies, fine arts, mathematics, the sciences, health and Spanish. Learner Behaviors are affective proficiencies such as problem solving, critical thinking, self-discipline, social cooperation, communication and citizenship that are essential for student success in school and work. Workplace Tools teach technology and research skills such as computer graphics, word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation software. Quest High School Contact: http://www.humbleisd.net/education/components/sectionlist/default.php?sectiondetailid=486&category=0

VIDEO (Must get a copy) SUSTAINABLE LIVING GROUP…Very much like Challenge 20/20 has potential to be.




Tony asked us to answer the following questions after watching the video
What skills are these students learning?
How they are being motivated to learn?
What is the teacher’s role in how they are being asked to learn?

My notes: Senior exhibition: proceess to be a leader and be empowered as a citizen and a learner. More than writing a research paper…something that matters to you…if not is far less rewarding to you. What are the kinds of things that allow you to do that work? Seniors divide into groups. service learning….attached to the research paperWhat are you interested in it? Combine them into one…What are you passionate about? What interest concerns you? Then, Interview experts in the community: Professional attitude, phone calls, environment sustainability. They find experts and mentors, they explore what they want to do in life. I saw a clear redefinition of my job-provided that every class has a senior exhibition! I think I now understand the "upgraded" role of YAC!
Teachers as Coaches or facilitators of learning!!!! Students self evaluating with accuracy and without fear: PROCASTINATION, GROUP…COMMUNICATION…IF YOU ARE SLACKING, THE GROUP COMES TOGETHER, SENIOR EXHIBITIONS….THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY…THEIR SOCIAL ACTION to REAL WORLD SETTING

Practical suggestions from the lead adult facilitator:
WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE AND HOW SHOULD I HAVE BEEN MORE EMPOWERING?
TEAM OF ADULTS COLLABORATING AND ASSEST BUILDING.
REHEARSAL….MUST BE DONE TO BE. PRESENTATION IN FRONT OF DIVERSE JUDGES
RESEARCH SOCIAL ACTION PRESENTATION EVALUATED BY A RUBRIC
CULMINATING PROJECT: SUCCESS SIGNIFICANT INVOLVEMENT IN EXTRA CURRICULAAR ACTIVITY OR SERVICE LEARNING


Tony's recommendations
Harvard admissions changing: LEADERSHIP, EVIDENCNE OF SERVICE enhanced

Cornerstones of School Reinvention:

1. Holding ourselves accountable for What Matters Most.

Use the CWRA.
Survey recent graduates, and go beyond surveys, conduct video focus groups to show your faculty.
Monitor your student college graduation rates, using the National Student Clearinghouse.
2. Doing the new Work: Teaching and Testing the Skills that Matter Most

Start with the Three C’s: Critical Thinking, Communications, and Collaboration: in every class and at every grade level.
Require all students to do internships and group service projects, and consider
3. Doing the New Work in New Ways

Every teacher on teams for collaborative inquirey.
Video teaching, supervision, and meetings.
I want to see schools using for students Digital Porfolios, from K-12 , publishing each year four or five published, public documents on-line. And then we can link these fine published work to a teacher’s digital portfolio.

The flip video camera is the most disruptive (in a GOOD way) technology for teaching and learning today! We must videotape every lesson, and review them regularly with our colleagues.

A question is asked about how to define critical thinking, and Tony directs people to the Mission Hill School website, a project of the legendary Deborah Meier, which features this discussion of critical thinking. http://www.missionhillschool.org/mhs/Habits_of_Mind.html



REAL PRODUCTS FOR REAL AUDIENCES. http://www.essentialschools.org/ Get rubrics and video from them.

PROJECT BASED LEARNING and INQUIRY LEAENING.. ESSENTIAL QUESTION, a must. WE AS ADULTS HAVE TO ENGAGE INTO INQUIRING LEARNING
Grades: A B OR INCOMPLEETE….MY JOB IS TO GET THEM TO COMPETENCY TO A MINIMUM STANDARD. TAKE TIME TO GET THERE AND RECOGNIZE EXCELLENCE. INCOMPLETE UNTIL student MEETS THE STANDARD.
WHAT DO I WANT STUDENTS TO REMEMBER A Year after …..what is that core knowledge for the development of core knowledge
Engaging the entire community in a conversation ENGAGE THE ADULTS IN A WORLD CAFÉ How has the world change and what our kids need to live there.


First Part of his presentation School change consulting: http://www.schoolchange.org/

DEFINITION OF CRITICAL THINKING: ABILITY TO ASK REALLY GOOD QUESTIONS
How do we parent for kids to become entrepreneurs? The longer our kids are in this school, the less curious they are. The curriculum is test preparation….too much time in content driven…IB is a better system than AP.

Students lack of work effort: Keyser Family Study…They are motivated to be in the Internet…a bad day is a bad internet connection, why? It is is discovery driven learning and innovation. Experiencing learning and connectiveness. There is a global learning gap… Kids in science classes google to see if the information is still good. Engagement with adults: To empower them, to motivate them.

New Habits: Weighing Evidence: What tasks they were given and what students are producing….work collaborative, Qualities of questions being asked…

Do internships and service in groups. Video tape your lessons and sit down with a other faculty to discuss. We need laboratories of innovation… Common time in the summer…FEDEX and 20% in the summer: Strong incentives keeping a job in a jobless market, but most important making a real difference in the kids and through them in the world we live...the sense of purpose.

Critical thinking rubric: Habits of mind. Habits of question asking…A teacher's passion and care about students…the tasks you give, the passion you give, What is going on? What is not? What could be improved?


Introducing Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness: Shawn Achor






Tetrais Effect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2QNsxXTuuQ. Contact information: http://www.aspirantworld.com/

Traditional psychology is about how we can move depressed people back up to average; but Achor worries that only reduces the purpose and project to only how we help people become average. If we study positive outliers, we can move up the average to a higher place, and help everyone to become happier. We need to stop focusing on ‘getting rid’ of the bad things and focus on “other side of the curve” towards thriving.

Our brains are not just hard-wired for sympathy, but we are also hard-wired for empathy. Just as we pick up smiles and yawns so quickly, and so powerfully, we also can mirror (in our mirroring nuerons) others’ anxiety, stress, sadness. We need to watch for this in our schools.

90% of our longterm happiness is affected by the lens through which people view the world around them, NOT by the actual realities of that world around them. So no matter how fabulous your external circumstances, 90% of your experience will be subject to how you see and feel those externalities.

Harvard is Achor’s focus: “the more I loved Harvard the better I did there:” we need students and teachers to love being in our schools.

So the project we have is how to help people see the world around them. Achor tells of a study of 1600 students at Harvard.




75% of your job success is predicted not by your intelligence, but by your positivity and performance. “If I know your level of intelligence, I can ONLY tell 25% of the reason you may or may not be a success in life.”

Dopamine, the happiness hormone in our brains, turns on all of our learning zones in our brain. A brain primed to be positive has higher success rates than one primed to be negative or neutral. Hapoiness is a precursor of success, NOT merely the result of it. If we can get teachers and students positive going into learning, we can have higher results.

The Happiness Advantage: better secure jobs, better keeping jobs, better productivity, more resilient, less burnout, less turnover, greater sales.

Another wonderful video about the value of joy in the world



Achor makes the point that when these people, happier, go into their classrooms, they are that much more primed to be successful in their day.

How create this happiness advantage?

Raise optimism and success rates for six months, after 21 days of training. 21 days is enough to create a habit.

3 Gratitudes: 2 minutes a day writing what you are grateful for.
Journaling: Five minutes a day about a positive experience.
Exercise
Meditation
Random Acts of Kindness: praise somebody, five minutes day, in a way different from usual.
What is the mental barrier that gets in the way of doing all the good ideas we have learned?

Achor urges people to retrain your brain, using these five tools, which are available at his site here.

THINGS I WANT TO REMEMBER: MIRROW NEWRONS: SMILE CONTAGIOUS, DOPHAMINE Why important: MIRROW NEWRONS BEING ACTIVATED, our brains are linked to one ANOTHER

WE NEED TO FIND A WAY TO BUFFER OURSELVES, BUT NOT TO LOOSE THE MIRROW NEWRONS
HOW CAN WE RIPPLE OUT THE POSITIVE CHANGES…for him going to Harvard: FOCUS ON THE PRIVILEDGE, not focus on the NEGATIVITY…NOT AS SMART AS OTHERS….

THE LENSE IN WHICH YOU VIEW what happens IS WHAT DETERMINES HOW HAPPPY YOU ARE

OUR ATTENTION IS MOTIVATED….if OUR BRAINS are FOCUSED ON THE BAD, THAT IS WHAT WE WILL SEE. YOUR SUCCESS IS PREDICTED NOT BY YOUR INTELLIGENCE BUT BY YOUR BEHAVIOR MATTER! POSITIVE FAMILY SUPPORT SYSTEM

EVERYONE EXPERIENCES STRESS, THEY MANAGE IT IN A POSITIVE WAY

Brainstorming Six Billion Paths to Peace Retreat in OKC

Participants: Respect Diversity Foundation: Joan Kornblit; Peace Education Institute: Rachel Rettinger; Casady School: Father Charles Blizzard, Carmen Clay, Jeanie Johnson, Sarah Cox, Emily Skalovsky; Silence Foundation: Pat Webb. Not Present: Learn and Serve: Charles Mohr, Putnam City North: Linda Esser. Oklahoma City Univeraity will be contacted by Carmen Clay as a possible retreat site.

Minutes of brainstorming meeting Six Billion Paths to Peace, Find Yours Retreat
1. What? Experience the ShinnyoEn Foundation Six Billion Paths to Peace and Be the Peace initiatives
2. Why? Invitation to slow down, de-stress, explore inner peace, service, spirituality, silence, and peace activism
3. When? Hard to find a date without conflicts: June 18-21 (Casady Alumni Picnic: June 19) Friday starting at 6:30, ending Sunday after late lunch
4. Where? The Sullivan Retreat Center in Norman http://www.sullivantretreat.com/ being explored by Carmen. Thank you Jeanie for the suggestion.
5. Who? X# participants per organization by electronic invitation with application. First come, first served keeping diversity and intergenerational balance. We are still not sure how many people we want for our first retreat. There was a suggestion of 10 people per organization. We will request guidance from ShinnyoEn.
6. How much? We are considering $70 for adults and $30 for youth. ($50 per night per person-Participants cover the cost of one night)
7. How? ShinnyoEn trainers will guide here, but Respect Diversity and Silence Foundations as well as Peace Education Institute are willing to provide workshops on Saturday afternoon-open time (Explore the retreat area/ Attend workshops). Casady Service-Learning will handle retreat logistics.

Possible locations of retreat
1. Rachel will see if the Peace Education Institute can handle marketing, invitation, registration and application process; in case Learn and Serve is unable.
2. Carmen will contact Sullivan's Retreat Center Director: Drew LaMunyon, 405-329-2990 - Booking office, 405-321-4700 - Grounds.
Preliminary Research: The retreat center is reserved for college age and above. Discipleship Lodge: 15 rooms minimum, $750 per night , capacity for 112 people. Home Stead accomodates 24 people $352 per night for 16 people with each additional person for $22. Meeting rooms: $250 per day, $25 to set-up tables and chairs. Entire retreat center for exclusive use by one group: $2,700 regarless of the number of beds (capacity 150), $1,350 due the week the retreat center is booked. This does not include meals, just kitchen facilities. I will ask Drew about a catering service for meals, snacks, non alcoholic drinks and fresh flowers for meeting rooms. No smoking allowed on premises. Carmen will update via e-mail.
3. Carmen will explore funding sources for retreat with ShinnyoEn and local businesses in December. Carmen is going away next week, but will return to OKC on December 23.
4. Carmen will request a conference call with ShinnyoEn trainers in January.

December research of possible locations
1. Quartz Mountain Resort and Conference Center: Great beauty, expensive, about two hours from the city. Most like Marconi http://www.quartzmountainresort.com/ (Left message for group reservations director to call me tomorrow, on line the week of August 20-22 is full until 2016 http://www.quartzmountainresort.com/pdf/doc-meeting-planners-guide-1235509500.pdf ). Thank you Dr. Davis for this suggestion during our preliminary meeting.

2. Saint Crispins: http://www.episcopaloklahoma.org/conference/stcrispins.html (Hollie Massay, Director, 36302 State Highway 9, Wewoka, Oklahoma 74884, 405/382-1619,e-mail: stcrispins@yahoo.com) I have called several times but yet to contact them. I have personally attended two retreats here, one for Casady faculty, my first year at Casady School, and one as part of my Leadership Oklahoma City training and Colors test retreat. This is also a lovely place. Father Blizzard will be a great connection for this location

3. Ok Christian Camp in Guthrie, One Twin Cedar Lane, Guthrie, Oklahoma 73044,(405) 282-281, 1-800-299-2811, fax (405) 282-1367: http://www.centralchristiancamp.org/. Left message for Susie Shield to call me tomorrow. Thank you to the Respect Diversity Foundation for this suggestion.

4. Catholic Retreat Center are also a possibility. Some have labyrints on site.

A beautiful reflection

I arrived at the Marconi Center not having the slightest clue what to expect.

I also didn’t know that just over forty-eight hours, particularly a one-hour block of time spent merely staring and a timeless and seemingly endless experience that others have assured me was no longer than forty-five minutes, could completely change my outlook on life.

Within five minutes of being at the Marconi Center, five minutes of breathing the pine-filled air, five minutes of examining the bell-like poppies, five minutes of gazing at the ocean, all of the stress that not only constantly surrounds me but follows—no, chases, pursues me wherever I go, simply melted away, surrounding my feet but not being able to touch me. I had always known that school was not, contrary to popular belief, the purpose of our lives (and that one’s education is actually hindered by trying too hard to excel at it), but I had never been able to truly feel it until that first breath of pine-air.

The first thing we all did after marveling at our heavenly living quarters for longer than expected was explore the place, since we were several hours early to the retreat and honestly had nothing better to do (actually, I can’t think of anything I would rather have been doing at the time) only to discover the reason our bedrooms were so heavenly: we were, in fact, in some lower level, some earthly level, of Heaven. I would be glad to go further into the beauty of this place if you happen to have the floor-plan for Heaven with you right now. Otherwise it would take too long, and since my name isn’t John Steinbeck I won’t pester you with the details.

Along our journey two things stuck out as particularly incredible to me. The first was a miniature multi-tiered waterfall reminiscent of a Japanese garden in all its divinity. The other was a redwood tree. I never could find that tree again, although it did change the life of at least one other person at the retreat.

Later on that night when the other sixty-some-odd people arrived, we were split into nine “Home Groups”, each consisting of retreat-goers between the ages of fifteen and eighty-five. None of us will ever know how, but the “random” assignment of people to their respective Home Groups somehow managed to give each person at the retreat the perfect group of people to help them evolve spiritually.

I awoke unnaturally early the next morning and decided to walk around the Marconi Center on my own. Noticing only the plants, rocks, chipmunks and jackrabbit, but most certainly not where I was actually going, I found myself back at the waterfall. I decided to sit down on a rock on its bank and, as I so often do when I really don’t know what else to do, I just stared. I stared at the water. I am not confident in my ability to describe things without drawing them so bear with me: the top of the waterfall is of course just a clear pool. After the first fall the water is allowed to flow freely for a short ways, but is soon interrupted by small boulders that block part of its path. It is then free to flow a short distance until it falls down another waterfall. This continues for several tiers, the layers of rock becoming increasingly denser, making it more difficult for the water to pass through, but somehow it always does. But right before the last fall, there are no rocks. Instead there is a sheet of tall grass, like small stalks of bamboo. Certainly no insect or hummingbird that was on the water was able to see over the grass without flying above it. And over that last fall is a large, open, clear pool, where the water may flow as it pleases. And as I stared at the water I noticed bubbles forming at the top of the first fall, and I noticed that some of the bubbles flowed down the first waterfall, while some went the other way, and simply disappeared with a small pop. And I noticed that most, but not all, of the bubbles that made it down the first waterfall made it past the first set of rocks to the next waterfall, and most of the ones that fell down it continued to the next, until only a few of the original bubbles made it past the reeds to that final pool; and as I noticed these things I realized that this was all a metaphor for life: we are but bubbles in a fountain, and in order to make it to that final pool at the end, we must all find a way around the rocks and falls that block us, until we finally reach, at the end of each lifetime, the curtain of reeds, and the uncertainty of what lies beyond, and we must not be afraid of it, but instead we must—

I had just missed an incredible (or so I’m told) banana pancake breakfast.

As wonderful as the rest of that day was, I wish only to bring up an unknown quantity of time (though I know it was more than twenty minutes and less than three hours) spent sitting on a rock in between two forest paths where I had followed a chipmunk and two jackrabbits. My original intent for sitting on the rock was to observe the behavior of the two wild jackrabbits, for I often think of myself as a scientist and naturally am curious about many things, especially since the behavior of jackrabbits is not something easily observable in the heart of Oklahoma City. Eventually the jackrabbits left, and I was left grass and twigs on the ground, the rock I was contentedly sitting on, and two young trees to the left of the rock. I was bored, so I picked up a twig and tossed it between the trees. A recently-finished spider-web caught the twig in midair, and I watched as my inner child gaped in absolute wonder at the twig that could make itself fly. I tossed more twigs next to it, and there they were, standing in midair parallel to the trunks of the trees as the child marveled at what magic could possibly be at work here. And suddenly my heart became a metronome, and everything began to harmonize with it, though I could hear no sound but the occasional conversation between far-away sparrows. This is what I will define forever as “inner peace”.

The eighty or so people at the Retreat were to go through the Labyrinth in two waves, and I was in the second wave. I decided I’d go into the room with the Labyrinth while the first wave was going through just to see what exactly was going on. I’d had a crazy obsession with hot tea the whole weekend, so it came as no surprise to me that when I walked into the circular room containing the Labyrinth, the first thing I thought was that the room looked oddly like the cup or orange spice tea I was drinking at the time. Then I noticed the people. The people in the room were either sitting calmly, not saying anything and maybe drinking a cup of hot tea, or they were on the Labyrinth, walking or dancing along, completely unaware of their surroundings, each engaged in their own form of meditative movement. Outside of this room, any of these people would have been labeled a freak or an outcast by any other “normal” person, but not inside of it. Inside everyone’s inner mind seemed to surface and take over, and the body of each person was no longer under their conscious control.
And all I could do was watch and wonder what exactly this thing on the floor in front of me was that was causing these people to act like this.
The last person in the first wave left the room, and the spaces on the walls had filled with an entirely new group of people, the second wave of meditators.
“Welcome to the Labyrinth. Going through the Labyrinth is a form of meditation known to provide answers to those who seek answers, questions to those who seek answers, and answers to those who seek questions.” All three applied to me. “When I tap you on the shoulder, you may proceed into the Labyrinth. All I ask is that you stay within the path and not run into others. Now….we begin.”
After finishing the remains of my tea I entered the Labyrinth. The music playing sounded like the orange spice tea tasted, if that makes any sense. As I walked, I wondered what I was even doing there. After some unknown amount of time (it could have been a few seconds or an hour as far as I was concerned), my mind began to wander into a complex stream of something deeper than thought, or perhaps it just felt that way. I was suddenly aware of nothing but the inner workings of my mind, yet at the same time completely aware of everything in the room, the floor, the music, the people, and I was completely aware of the fact that we were all dancing like the steam on top of a hot cup of tea, not in unison but still somehow together, connected somehow by the environment the room created for us, connected, even though we were all perfect strangers.

The rest has been omitted for personal reasons.

July 26-July 27: San Francisco

Afternoon of July 26: We arrived to the Radisson at Fisherman's Wharf (415-392-6700; reservations: 1-800-395-7046) in the afternoon. If we go back to San Francisco, this is a perfect location. The hotel is in the middle of everything.


We started shopping together, but decided to go on age cohorts according to interest. We met for dinner at Bubba Gump. The experience was good, but expensive.

In the evening, WE EXPERIENCE a memorable time together. Emily led us in the most powerful reflection. We discovered how much we had enjoyed the retreat. Words such as forgiveness, discovery, focus, connectivity, and change were delivered in powerful reflective dialogs.






July 27: Desire to sleep late divided our group in age cohorts. Jeanie and I began exploring the Wharf before 8:00 a.m. while the grils slept. We shopped at Wall Greens and had a wonderful breakfast at Boudine's. After breakfast, the girls still wanted to sleep and we went exploring the pier with the intention of meeting the girls for lunch at LA MAR, a high scale Peruvian restaurant.



Jeanie and I had decided to have lunch together while the girls went shopping. We loved the Pier and walked to downtown San Francisco. Our goal was to see the Shynno-en Foundation headquarters. On our way to the headquarters, I discover Jeanie as a walking encyclopedia and acute observer.

On our way to the headquaters, many surprises, unexplainable "good things" happen to us. One of them was that Jeanie bought Steven Covey's books and CD's for the library. I can hardly wait to read them and use them.

At the headquarters, we saw Haru and Liane. That was a wonderful surprise. I asked Liane for "Be the Peace Cards" for Casady and told her that the cards were the foundation of my freshman facilitation of service learning. When I arrived to Casady in August, the cards were waiting for me. Also on a sad note, I found out in early September that Liane and Maura will no longer be directly working for the Foundation. New wonderful people I am sure will be in their place, but they both were very special to me.

Everyone was debriefing the retreat at the headquarters so we stay only a few minutes. It was great to see where everything starts.





Jeanie and I had lunch at La Mar. It was expensive, had a wonderful view, but the food was not what I expected. I was glad the girls did not have to experiene our expensive dissapoitment.





We met the girls at the famous book store, "City Lights." We had a wonderful time there. Then, we had dinner in China town and the girls and Jeanie had dessert on our way back to our hotel. The quality of the food was incredible!



We walked around town and went to bed with the sweet memory of seals and beautiful San Francisco flowers.



The next day, the adventure ended with a relaxing trip back home for the girls and I. Jeanie did not get home until much later because she could not get in our connecting flight, but she had an adventure of her own that day.

Personal reflection and evaluation

In a scale from 0-5, the retreat was a FIVE for me.


The retreat provided the balance and focus I needed to try to work-out some personal issues and gave me clarity on my mission to trust PEACE as the vehicle empowering my service-learning program. Service as a path to peace and stress buster = inner and outter peace.

I hope the foundation will sponsor another retreat next year and I hope Casady is lucky to be asked back one more year. The most memorable times for me were my hours with my home group and the labyrinth experience. The moments that build my capacity to trust "change becomes peace" were the explanations of the projects the Shinnyo fellows were proposing for this academic year. It developed clarity of mission, vision and purpose. The "Be the Peace" and "Six Billion Paths to Peace" cards provided parts of my process.



The only change I would recommend for next year is to allow time for home groups to share what was discussed in age cohort groups. Hearing -our aged-based differences and similarities -is empowering and inspiring.

July 26: Integrating service, peace and spirituality

De-stressing YOGA with Samantha Doak was incredible (samanthad08@gmail.com, 703-209-5336). During breakfast we found our ride back to San Francisco. Emily's roommate had a car large enough for the 4 of us and our luggage.

After an energizing healthy breakfast, we joined Jeanie's Age Cohort Group to reflect the retreat. Our task was to answer How has the retreat experience been for you so far? What are your thoughts about the value of talking with people from different age groups?

We all wanted to reflect the effect of the labyrinth first. The experiences were similar in the area of connecting to others, but each one of us found an answer or a path to follow to a deep question we were personally searching. It was a conversation that matter!

We were thankful to have had the opportunity to experience the retreat! I liked talking to my same age groups, but I missed the reports to the homegroups of what was discussed in the age cohorts. Last year, hearing the ideas expressed by the different age groups on the same subject areas, were eye-opening, especially from the teenagers point of view.

After a few hours to check-out and place luggage in cars, we gathered to hear Stories of Integrating Service, Peace and Spirituality: Mark and Amal stories were heartbreaking!

In our last home group meeting, we were to create a home group rhythm represntative of our story/experience together. We used a circle, our shoes, walking, the power of silence, our connectivity to each other and nature. Our rhythm was our path to peace. It was a nice way to end our time together.



At lunch, we were families sharing talents. I cannot believe how much I value meals shared with people you enjoy being with. I guess that is for me now a source of joy and a source of pain, for how long? I hope not for ever, but I am still in pain.

It was also hard to say good-bye.