Monthly Archives: June 2024

The Crash

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So often when a break in the school year comes my body crashes. Often I end up sick with a cold, because I’m too busy to let myself get sick, then the lull comes and my body lets go. Luckily that didn’t happen to end the year. But yesterday I was doing a leg workout and on my second goblet squat my right knee did a little buckle and I twinged a muscle in my mid back.

This morning I took a deep breath in and my back seized. It’s a brutal recognition of my age when breathing can be the trigger to pain. It has been several years since I’ve had a crash this bad, my whole back has seized to protect this one overstressed muscle.

The stress of the last 3 months got to me and now I’ve got to take it really easy. My Norwegian Protocol won’t happen on this Sunday, I’ll have to make it up next week. Today I stretch, hot tub, stretch, and rest. And hopefully my recovery is swift. I didn’t get sick, but my body still crashed.

The Finger

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At almost any other school this would have been an immediate suspension. But this was an alternate school, and attendance for this high needs kid was more important than a consequence that kept him out of school. He had already been sent home the day before and it was the morning of the next school day. I had the kid in my office with his foster mom. We discussed what was done, the seriousness of it, and laid out future consequences if it were to happen again.

This kid sat silently staring at me the whole time. In the year and a half or so that I’d been principal of the school I think he’d never kept eye contact with me for more than a second, but now his stare was unwavering. His foster mom, whom he had a very good connection with, spoke on his behalf while he sat staring at me, no emotion expressed on his face.

This was a first offence and I didn’t believe it would happen again so I looked at him and said, “All you need to do now is tell me that you won’t do this again and you can head to class.” He sat and stared. In these situations I allow a lot of silent pause time. I don’t get uncomfortable with silence nearly as quickly as others, so I waited. It only took four to five seconds then he moved.

He slowly took his hands out of his pockets, staring at me the whole time. Then looking me right in the eyes he said, “Every time I see your face, my fingers get a boner.” And his hands made fists resting on his legs, with both his middle fingers stick up in the air at me.

His foster mom breathed out a sigh, and said under her breath, “Oh Jesus,” as she turned her head to look out the window. I bit my cheek. I wanted to burst out laughing but that would have been the wrong kind of encouragement for this kid. I bit harder, forcing myself not to laugh, trying to show as little affect as this kid was showing me. He slowly lowered his finger boners and tucked his hands back into his pockets.

Silence.

“All you need to do is tell me that you won’t do this again and you can head to class.”

Silence.

He stared. I waited. The wait time didn’t seem to bother either of us, but his poor step mom looked tortured. It had to be about a 10-12 second pause. An eternity of silence in the moment. Then he spoke up.

“I won’t do it again… can I go now?”

“Yes.”

The only further consequence was that I didn’t get any eye contact from him the rest of the year. At first I would walk in the room and see him turn away, and I wouldn’t address him at all, I gave him space. Later I’d greet him with a ‘good morning’ just as I would any other student, and he’d turn away and ignore me. It took until June before he’d even acknowledge that I was in the room.

He graduated that year without any other incidences.

Persistence and Patience

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I like images and graphics that make you think, and especially ones that are motivating. But sometimes for the sake of an image trying to tell a story, another narrative can either be missed or take over from the intended message. That’s something that immediately occurred to me when I saw this ‘inspirational’ image.

To me, the intended message is that we always need to keep learning, but it suggests a uniformity of practice and process that’s just plain wrong. To the person who posted it, Steven Bartlett, the message was about relentless consistency. He said,

For anyone frustrated with how long something is taking you right now…

Remind yourself of this.

Relentless consistency is usually the answer. I’m not talking about a sprint, I’m talking multi-decade.

What’s one thing you do to remain consistent?

But that uniformity between LEARN and APPLY in the image really bugs me no matter what the intended message. While other commenters mentioned positive interpretations like, ‘Consistency is key’, and ‘Focus on the long game’, I commented:

I think my greatest learning is that application always takes longer than you think. Persistence needs to be tempered with patience.

I wish learning was that easy. I wish I could apply everything I learned so consistently and effortlessly. I can’t. And I don’t think anyone can. There are hours of practice, there are mistakes made, detours and distractions. There is never the consistency and uniformity off application of learning seen in the image.

Is the message of relentless consistency over a long period of time important? Absolutely! But I really think this image misses the mark in sharing what relentless consistency looks like. The hardest part of relentless consistency is when application of learning does not go smoothly and application of what you’ve learned takes months to accomplish. And yes, sure that also often means more learning, but the grunt work of making things work can often be the times when consistency really matters, and isn’t so evenly worked through as suggested in the image.

Persistence needs to be tempered with patience. If constant results and application of learning are expected, this will lead to disappointment and frustration… neither of which inspires consistency.

Now and the Future – iHub Grad Address 2024

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I can’t describe the joy of participating in grad at Inquiry Hub. These students are amazing. Our student focused show, with performances and videos that highlight the whole school are such a community building and community honouring event. The night warmed my heart, and I teared up more than once.

Here is my grad address. I really don’t have more to say, other than it was an evening that recharged my battery. It reminded me of why I love my job.

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Now and the Future – iHub Grad Address 2024

Greetings Honoured Guests, Parents, Family Members, Teachers, and Students including our very special Grads of 2024.

In your yearbooks, I wrote this as part of my message to you:

Asking questions is key to learning and I think at Inquiry Hub we do a pretty good job of getting students to ask good questions… and then answer them. There is a lot of conversations, dialogue, and debate that happen inside our school walls, and from that students learn not just about things, but they also learn the skills to discuss and negotiate and support their ideas in meaningful ways… and sometimes even to change their minds. A growth mindset is so much better to navigate life with, compared to a fixed mindset.

In a civil society, dialogue is the one problem-solving strategy that should be sacred. To do this, free speech is essential. But right now, outside the walls of our schools, there is a culture of ‘attack the opposition’ that is very scary. We need to be resilient when hearing opposing views, and understand that, we must be tolerant and accepting of opposing views, unaccepting of hateful and hurtful acts, and smart enough to understand the difference. When we can’t have conversations with people that have different views, we don’t grow as a culture or as a society.

That was a message for right now. There is so much conflict and strife in the world, and it can sometimes feel a little bleak.

But here’s the thing, I’m really excited about the future our grads have before them. It’s a future that is beyond my ability to predict, but I’m going to try anyway.

Our grads understand how to see the world from multiple perspectives.

You understand the challenges but you are also solution oriented. And you are going to have tools and strategies that no other generation has had. 

Here are four predictions:

  1. You will have better AI than we can imagine. What we think is amazing now will look like child’s play in the future. I didn’t have Google growing up, I had paper encyclopedias. In a few short years the Artificial Intelligence available will look to us now like what an iPhone would be to someone living in the 1920’s. (Oh, and by the way, I did not use AI to wrote this.)
  2. You will not live in a world that has an energy crisis, or one that harvests natural resources to create energy. Energy will be almost free if not completely free.
  3. You will live longer. Longevity research is reaching a point where more and more healthy years will be added to your life faster than you age.
  4. You will retire sooner. More of your life will be filled by doing want you want to do, rather than what you need to do to work and make an income.

All this to say that while it seems like us old folks have left you a pretty messed up world, we are less than a decade away from some key turning points where you have more freedom and choice, more access to cheap energy, and more free time than we could ever have imagined as recently as when you were in Grade 9.

It’s an exciting time to think about what the future holds, and when I think about you all as creators, artists, thinkers, dreamers, and leaders, I’m excited about your generation building the future I get to grow old in. 

Inquiry Hub isn’t perfect, but it is a very special school. It is a place where our students feel they belong. A place where you get to be courageous learners and leaders, and a place that I hope you carry fond memories from. 

To the class of 2024, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you… and for what you will do to help shape that future. Be brave, be strong, and help build a community where everyone feels they have a place, and a way to contribute. 

Thank you.

Go, go, go

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The year has come to an end. Almost. Our grad is tonight night, I have a second grad to attend tomorrow night, as well as a couple luncheons… and the ‘To Do’ list seems endless.

There is always so much to do at the end of the year, but there are also celebrations and gatherings that need your full attention. That’s the trick, how do you squeeze everything in, and still give everything the time and commitment it all deserves?

You’d think I’d have it all figured out by now but I don’t. I’ll just put my head down and make the most of it. Friday afternoon will be here soon enough, and I’ll pick up all the pieces after the long weekend. The most important thing this week is fully committing to the task at hand and to the events I attend. Worrying about the next thing robs us of the joy and celebration of the end of the year. Go, go, go doesn’t work unless you spend time at each place you go to.

Seeing the game

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When it comes to seeing the game, while also playing the game, I’ve already shared my story of thinking Wayne Gretzky was an overrated player, until I watched him play live. In a professional sport, being able to play, while analyzing the play, is an amazing feat. To do so day after day comes from years of dedicated effort, and also a gift of perspective that not everyone has… because if everyone had it, the person with the most time practiced would always be the best, and that’s not always the case. That said, hard work and hours of committed practice can’t be underrated, and most great players put more time in than average or even very good players.

Such is the case with playing Chess. The best players have played so much that they are able to see the game in a way that regular players simply can’t. They can see many moves ahead, eliminating unlikely moves so that they can see the likely position of the board 8, 10, 12, or more moves ahead. Meanwhile I struggle to see past 2 moves.

I like to do chess puzzles. They are challenging, and yet they don’t take nearly as long as a chess game. I can stare at a puzzle for a minute or two and then solve it. Or I make a mistake then it’s another 1-2 minutes of studying the pieces and I try again. Sometimes I take a hint and see which piece I’m supposed to move. But seldom does it take me longer than 5 minutes and sometimes I can do 3 puzzles in 5 minutes.

But then I watch the masters play and I’m simply amazed. Their ability to analyze the board and play the best possible moves, knowing what their opponent will do next, is so brilliant it seems like magic. And if you want to have your mind blown, watch these chess gurus play speed chess. I can’t think that fast much less play a strategy game that fast.

It’s simply incredible what these players can do, how they see the game, and how they can still stump each other and not have every game end in a draw. Meanwhile I’ll keep having fun with my short puzzles, challenging my brain but never getting close to seeing the game quite like they can.

Inflation Nation

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My wife’s family from England came to Canada and one of the things they complained about was the cost of everything. It wasn’t just the taxes and tip at the till that they struggled with, it was the overall cost of everything. This completely surprised me because on trips to England I have consistently found that country to be one of the most expensive places to visit after converting from Canadian to Pounds (or Euros).

However, I’m not surprised. I’ve been shocked by prices too. A pack of chicken that used to cost $12-$13 pre-Covid is now $18-$20. Two bags of groceries that used to cost $50-$70 now routinely costs $100-$120. I can’t remember the last time I went to the grocery store to pick up a few items and didn’t spend $100?

Hearing them complain about the cost of food made me realize just how acclimatized I’ve become to the new prices. We mostly shop at No Frills, which is a Loblaw Company.

Their stock price has more than doubled since 2021. Stock dividends are up. And a quick look shows profits in retail up 4.4% on 3.4% growth this quarter… so maybe it’s just my non-economic math brain but that looks to me like they’ve bled consumers of an extra 1% profit.

I honestly don’t know how anyone working a low hourly wage job can support a family these days? This is why companies like Uber can get drivers, because so many people need a gig-economy second job to make ends meet. The cost of basic living has skyrocketed, and I can foresee quite a few people struggling who would not have just a few years ago.

When I was in England in 2018, I had to stop converting from Euros to Canada dollars because it was ruining my holiday thinking about the cost of everything. Hearing our English relatives complain about Canadian prices has been a wake up call as to just how expensive things have gotten here. While I can pretend a Euro is a dollar on a short vacation and just pay a bit more while vacationing, it’s really hard to accept these inflated prices on a day-to-day basis here at home.

Norwegian Protocol

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I’m procrastinating. I should have got on the treadmill a couple hours ago, but I’m wasting time and avoiding it. Sundays have become my Norwegian Protocol days: 4-minutes running at the maximum speed that I can maintain for the full 4-minutes, followed by 3 minutes at a very slow walk to recover. It takes me 32 minutes because I start with a 4-minute warm up.

This is one of the best ways to improve Max VO₂, which is the maximum amount of oxygen that your body can absorb during exercise. This is a measure of aerobic fitness and has one of the highest correlations with health-span, meaning maintaining good health at an order age.

This is my tenth Sunday in a row that I am doing this. And today it’s messing with my mind. I know it’s only 16 minutes at my maximum speed. I know I’ll feel great when I’ve finished. But the idea right now of willingly stepping on that treadmill knowing that I’m gonna put myself through this is something I’m suffering with right now.

I need to get past this mind game I’m playing with myself. The reality is that when I played water polo almost every workout was harder than this. I am a crappy, inefficient swimmer, and I trained at a pretty high-level. What that means is every workout I was the last person in my lane; the last person to finish a swim set; and, I worked as hard or harder than anyone else in the pool. I know how to push my body hard… that’s what I have to remind myself as I get older.

Because I’m not on a team anymore, I’m not training with a group of people who I don’t want to let down. It’s just me. Me and this once a week push for a measly 16 minutes broken into 4 sets. This is my reminder that I know how to push, how to mentally psych myself up to do something hard.

However, right now I’m kicking myself for doing a quad and glute workout yesterday. My hip flexors are sore and I don’t want to get on that treadmill… and yet I will, so this procrastination delay is just torturing myself for no reason. It’s time to rip the metaphorical bandaid off and get my butt on the treadmill.

Norwegian Protocol, here I come!

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*Update* – Protocol completed. First time that I’ve done all four sprints at 8.2MPH (7.31 Minute mile or 13.2KMH). But I’m not writing this update just to share that I pushed myself, I’m also sharing to make a point: I feel great now and the pain of procrastination wasn’t worth it! I gained nothing but mental anguish by delaying my workout.

Strangers in a familiar land

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My wife’s cousin and her husband are visiting from England. They did a bus tour book-ended with family visits. Listening to their itinerary made me realize just how little of BC I’ve actually seen. I’ve now lived in this province for over 30 years and many tourists have seen more of it than me.

I spend so much time thinking about all the countries I want to visit, in order to explore more of the world… and yet I’m a stranger to where I live.

If I’m not learning…

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I’ve had a connection on LinkedIn invite me into some conversations that he hosts. So far I’ve declined. In writing this. I was planning on sharing my full correspondence, but really it’s the last sentence I wrote that inspired sharing. Here it is:

If I’m not learning something new, I’ve got more important things to do!

The full, 2-sentence paragraph was:

“Sounds selfish, but I’m too old and too far into my career to waste my time:) If I’m not learning something new, I’ve got more important things to do!”

I don’t want the sales pitch, I want to see excellence and learn from people doing good work. I don’t want the conference session that’s about inspiration, I want to learn about the perspiration and the hard work that got results. I don’t just want the showcase of results, I want to understand the messy failures that helped get you there.

If I’m not learning something new, I’ve got more important things to do!