What's Your Sentence?

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Last week, we visited Daniel Pink's website as a class and viewed examples of "What's Your Sentence?" responses. Students then spent some time thinking about who they are in a quest to come up with their own sentence. I found it quite incredible how much you can learn about somebody from simply one sentence. What is the essence of that person that they wish the world to see of them? Powerful!  

Students then added personal reflections about their sentence to their blogs. I am adding purposeful time for meditation, prayer, and reflection to work towards the Catholic Graduate expectations. This includes providing more opportunities for students to reflect on who they are and how they wish to impact the world they live in. 

As the students completed their own blogs, I reflected on my own sentence to model reflective and creative thinking. Summarizing oneself in as few words as possible is a difficult feat. Who am I as an educator, a leader, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a friend, a colleague? This is what I came up with ...
  
She had a feeling heart and a curious mind. 

What do I mean by a feeling heart? As long as I can remember, I have been someone who feels things deeply and seeks to understand the feelings of others. In my personal relationships I am someone who takes on the role of nurturer and caregiver. Sometimes this has led me to disappointment when others don't seek to feel and understand in the same way. This has also brought me a great deal of happiness as being valued is something that is important to me. In my role as an educator, I have the privilege of connecting with many and I believe my feeling heart helps me build relationships that encourage others to reach their potential. 

A curious mind? Just this past weekend I spent the afternoon on a forest walk. I paused on many occasions, looked up and observed the leaves falling and the clouds meandering across the sky. I am a wanderer and a person of wonder. I want to know and understand how things work, how we learn, and ways to connect this with my everyday life. I don't claim to be an expert at any one thing. I am in a constant state of learning and that's just how I like it.  

Is this my forever sentence? Likely not! I think it changes as we change and evolve, but spending the time reflecting on who we are and how we want others to perceive us is valuable. 

I wonder how conducting this activity with staff at a school might impact the culture and community....

What's your sentence? 


Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 30, 2016 at 6:04 AM

    I love this post Jess! I am interested in trying "what's your sentence" with my students...so powerful! Thanks for sharing and being so open about who YOU are!

    ReplyDelete

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