Facilitating Emotions on the Ground

On the go facilitating student emotions

A student came up to me on Friday in the midst of group work and said, "Ms. Naputi I feel angry and I don't know why." A minute prior to that interaction, there wasn't anything happening within her group to set her off and she even told me it had nothing to do with her group members or the task. In fact, she said she was having fun with the project. We talked for 5 minutes max. Then she went back to her group and 15 minutes later, participated in a pretty kick-ass presentation of the food web. 

Imagine that type of exchange throughout the day. And I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about kids who bounce around like that. Some keep those feelings to themselves, others talk it out with a peer, a few act it out in disruptive ways, and only 2 or 3 are bold and comfortable enough to approach a teacher to release those random moments of anger. 

During passing time, I had a quick discussion with a group of girls, including that student, about current events, which is a weekly discussion we have on Fridays. They were clearly animated and eager to share what mattered to them in the news, and disappointed we ran out of time. That incredibly brief exchange was fueled with anger and confusion about community and world news. The role educators play in promoting peace within ourselves and our students is tremendous which got me thinking again about being intentional and concrete as teachers. Here are two suggestions: 

Facilitate conversations about injustices. Be for real. Protecting our kids by avoiding issues of turmoil is a delay strategy. They need every opportunity to be a citizen starting with an outlet to express their feelings. For the Clinton-Trump debate, every student was required to watch at least 15 minutes. Many watched more or sat through the whole thing. The first thing on their minds Tuesday morning was downloading their feelings of anger related to the debate. They did this in community, safely, and instructionally. And in the end, I asked the question: Now what problem do you want to solve?  And most directly identified race and equality as their issue to solve. Now the real work begins. 

Call out divisiveness. Teach words like spew and variations of the word, system, so they can identify bias, points of views, threats, and preferences. They need lots of examples and modeling to be able to withhold and denounce blanket statements and generalizations. I listen very closely to what my kids are saying and the words and phrases they choose. When they overtly used "ghetto," we investigated that word historically and contextually. When they used "slay" and "bitch" freely, we went to the source and together critically analyzed lyrics and video and words in the dictionary. Words and ideas have connotations that create divisiveness. Equality suffers when even the seemingly smallest things go unquestioned. 

So that's what I've been thinking about lately, especially in response to my student's statement about feeling angry and not knowing why. I"m not saying her anger was because of injustices or divisiveness, but when you're inundated throughout the day with bits of subtle pieces here and there, the source gets muddled. So I have to start somewhere and my reflection led me there. The truth is we all have that lil bit of anger churning around and sometimes we don't know why.  But the good news is that along with waging a battle of anger within yourself, there is the chance to also wage the battle for peace, and that's one thing we can sort through with our students. 

On that peace-filled note, here's what has been happening on the home and school front. I hope you all got a chance to read Kenji's interview (my last post) and are doing something outside in nature!

Family visit to see Ms. Matson who subbed for me :)

Go see this lovely bartender in action at DLUX!

The fam all in.

Weekend pasttime with this lil guy on the quarterback sack

Teammates and friends show the love.

Nature from the football field. Love the sport and them :)

Have a great week everyone!

What's Going On: Kenji Haroutunian on Stories and Influences

Young adolescents are some of my favorite thinkers and tellers, often reminding me that grown-ups need more opportunities to reveal parts of themselves that are often hidden behind day-to-day masks. Just as I do with my students, I love probing others to think and tell their stories. This time around I asked Kenji Haroutunian about his life experiences, and man! You don't get a life of depth and dimension unless it's shaped by people, places, and events that make you so. My favorite part of Kenji's interview was learning about the small moments that shaped him, that one of his goals is to climb 5.10 trad again, and that he is grateful for Gohan. Enjoy the read, and thank you Kenji for being a part of Hafa Adai!

Favorite childhood memory as a child or adolescent? 

There was one very memorable night (2 nights actually in a row) where I was playing trombone in the district orchestra and I had a solo (Danse Macabre, by Saint-Saens), and also was picked to lead the auditorium in the pledge of allegiance, since I was the Sr. Patrol Leader in Troop 122. I botched the solo first night, but nailed it second night. I felt so honored and privileged and at the same time stressed out and pressured to perform… Guess I must have enjoyed it, since I regularly find myself in these kind of situations now. 

One other great memory was discovering Monty Python’s flying circus by accident. I was watching television with my sister while my parents were out for the evening. We were flipping through channels in my parents’ bedroom and stumbled on this strange ‘Great Gatsby’ scene with big dresses and parasols and fancy food and drink… easily found it on youtube by googling ‘monty python tennis anyone’. We laughed ourselves breathless and nearly peed our pants simultaneously from the surprise and hilarity of it. 

What is a story you remember? 

One story I like to tell was when I was about 11, and my little brother Ben was 5. I had invited him to ride bikes with my crew (of older kids) in the ‘hood, and he was tagging along on a bike he couldn’t even sit in and reach the pedals. At some point, he disappeared from the group, and I turned around to go look for him. I found him at the end of our dead-end street, where the dirt strip that parallels the train tracks was. He was off his bike, crying out loud, and 4-5 young thugs were stripping the bike with tools so they could carry it in parts back to wherever. I stopped on my bike, staring blankly and clueless on what I should do. Suddenly I just started yelling for my Dad… who was 20 miles away at work. Still, the idea that ‘Dad’ was going to show up was enough to freak these punk kids out and they jumped on their own bikes and sped off. Leaving Ben and I to walk our bikes home together.

Another story that shaped my life involves my sister Cindy. Although in our younger years I was a little ‘rough and tumble’ for her liking, and she was a bit of a tattletale, we got along rather famously. When we were kids she tells the story of how she was being bothered by some kid at school, and I came over and threatened to deck him if he continued. I don’t really remember this, but it’s actually more important that she does. 

Both of these stories reveal a lot about me. The image of myself as protector and defender of family is a very strong one that I carry in my subconscious. To a high degree, it has been with me forever. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I were the ONLY defender of my sister… after all, my parents were always there too. How many kids don’t have that? Or even a big brother to step up when necessary? Of course I never did… I was the eldest. But having her there was protection of a different sort, really, since we were so close. And my parents, together for my entire life, made a solid enough foundation for me despite my confusion and identity challenges as one of the only multi-racial people in my circles. 

Strong memory of school or an influential teacher? 

I was always curious, and so school to me was mostly something I valued and looked forward to. I never even questioned the value of school; what else was I to do? Because of this attitude about school (which incidentally my siblings did not necessarily share), I have many great memories from classes, retreats, sports and reunions. I remember all of my teachers, even kindergarten. Once in high school, it gets fuzzy, but still, I had some outstanding teachers. Some great coaches too - people I respected and admired, sometimes. All that said, not any one teacher really stands out for me; I can name special parts of many classes, and some weaknesses of a few teachers I had, but really I appreciated all of them. I suppose one instructor I had in junior College turned me on to Geography, which became my major at UCLA and is still a lens I understand the world through in a significant way today. He’s one teacher I cannot remember the name of though!

Who else has had an influence on you? 

• Bruce Lee - martial artist and life coach - shattered the Asians-in-TV barrier.
• Michael Benner - radio DJ philosopher - helped me understand the limitations of ‘either/or’ thinking. 
• Michio Kaku - Futurist and physicist - helped me understand technology’s push forward and the human tendency toward humanness… regardless.
• Ichiro Suzuki - among the most skilled athletes ever, broke through the perceived barrier of Japanese sports vs. American.
• Buckminster Fuller - a ‘Design Scientist’ who anticipated societal needs and invented many incredibly useful items like the Geodesic Dome and the Dymaxion Map.
• John Moynier - fit my first pair of hiking boots! A friend and mentor from my days in scouts, then working at A16, then wrote the freakin’ books on backcountry skiing in the Sierra. A badass but utterly humble mountaineer.
• Andres Segovia - legendary guitarist who single-handedly put classical guitar on the map of traditional classical music… saw him live perform at 86 yrs old, had a huge impact on me.
• Bonnie Raitt - beautiful songwriter, arranger and singer who may or may not have made me cry 
• Morihei Ueshiba - founder of Aikido, created an incredibly powerful yet utterly gentle art-meets-dance-meets-martial art. There is no Aikido competition or contest, only exhibition. There is no opponent, only forces and movement and energy to be understood and manipulated… in an instant.
• Jared Diamond - author of ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’, ‘The Third Chimpanzee’, and ‘Collapse’,  and Geography professor at my alma mater.
• Dalai Lama - the exiled cultural and spiritual leader of Tibet. A fascinating story of a man and a people.
• Rafer Johnson - Olympian and crasher of the race ceiling in sports; a graceful, thoughtful and generous man who I am acquainted with a bit.
• Dave Grohl - songwriter and multi-instrumentalist… I’m really in love with Sonic Highways.
• Lynn Hill - climbing athlete and iconic woman of sport.
• Terry Tempest Williams - a truly powerful wordsmith who uses silence more beautifully than anyone I’ve ever known. It makes her words even more powerful… this is true often in music writing/performance too. She is a ‘wordsician’. 

What do you think we can do to support equity and diversity? 

First is to study the phenomenon; model it to our children, and encourage and teach other adults to do the same (this part is not easy). When children grow up in a house where diverse influences flow from many directions, that becomes the expectation for work and living into the future. It's much more difficult to teach someone to think in truly equitable terms if they are raised to believe people are inherently different based on their background or race. 'Putting people in boxes' is a perfectly human thing that we all do ... and it drives people to do strange things when that becomes difficult. Say, for example, meeting a person of mixed race or indiscernible age or heritage? 

Second, is to participate in equity and diversity initiatives in your workplace and wherever you spend time. Becoming first aware of inequity in its subtle forms, and working to raise awareness in oneself, and then others. 

Lastly, hold others accountable for behavior that supports equity and inclusivity, especially if they are in leadership roles.

In what ways does community influence you and your decisions? 

That's an interesting question. In some ways, I don't belong to many communities naturally, so I participate in many communities always a little bit like I'm an imposter. There's probably a word for this way of thinking. These are the communities I belong to and engage in at varying levels of leadership from within - some I'm realizing that I organize events of group communication within. 

Climbers - particularly Southern California climbing community, but also around the country. 

Musicians - many styles/genres, mostly local circle of players/writers/enthusiasts/appreciators. 

Parents - crosses through many other communities as a common personal experiential bond. 
Outdoor Industry - local, regional and nationwide community of those who make their livings facilitating adventure outdoors and exploring (while protecting) wild places. 
Mobile Worker - a growing community of workers who don't travel to an office; it travels with you. 
UCLA Alumni - also TKE fraternity at UCLA community member
Band Member - Rustbucket and Jack the Music currently, but many bands over many years (those communities are tight and remain so regardless of proximity, frequency of communication or life circumstances). 
Multi-racial American - growing community of those who identify as mixed-race Americans
Asian Americans
Armenian Americans
Backcountry Skiers - snowsport enthusiasts who like to travel 'off piste' -- no lifts to assist, this community enjoys the winter wilderness experience. 

What are your passions? 

Climbing rocks and mountains, Wilderness, Ecosystems, Music, Maps and map-making, Aikido and other martial arts, Event-making, technology, Astronomy, team building and advocacy for expanding Recreation Economy (and keeping places wild) - more people adventuring outside, that is. 

What makes you stop and go “Wow!”

Fine musicians, giant granite domes, rivers and streams, meteor showers, the night sky. Coyotes singing. 

Short term goals? 
Survive the Grandeur10
Climb 5.11 trad again
Run a half-marathon

High point in Life: 
Hmmmm ... too many. OK, I'll say being hired by Outdoor Retailer, surviving a tornado, then magically getting a commercial that allowed my wife to quit her job and raise all 3 kids for 12 years - all in 1 year! 

Turning point in Life: 
Getting laid off at a grocery store, then getting hired at an outdoor shop for 70% less pay with no union benefits. 

What are 15 things that make you uniquely YOU? 
I'm a Japamenian.
I'm left-handed in almost everything. 
I don't have a 'regular' name.
I'm an urban mountain athlete.
I've paddled with whales.
I'm a tornado survivor. 
My voice. 
There's an award named after me.
My nickname in college was "Gramps," but my nickname at 50 years old, is "Ninja" (same group).
I'm on two bands that rehearse and play out occasionally. 
I captain'd an undefeated championship team and have played on many losing teams 
I'm a super-map-geek.

What are 20 things you are grateful for? 

Healthy kids

Loving wife (and kids)

Personal Health

My parents are still alive

Friends to play in the wild with

Close by natural beauty

Clean water and air

Having  2 college degrees

Having no college debt

A large network of contacts in several industries

The ability to make music come out of an instrument

Climbing gyms!

Running and hiking trails nearby

Limited injury history (relatively to how many times I should have been badly injured/killed)

Japanese cultural depth

Good tenants

Good landlord

Han Solo (our new-ish dog)

Ginger

Gohan (Rice)

Favorite places to recreate or climb?
Joshua Tree, Yosemite National Park, Sierra Nevada, San Gabriel Mountains, Wasatch Range, Pacific Ocean/Doheny, San Onofre, Sawtooths, Mohave Desert, Red Rocks in Nevada.

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy? Feel challenged by? 

Building my own business as a consultant is a daily/hourly 'sharp end' experience that has many ups and downs, but it is ultimately rewarding in that I am independent of any overarching company or corporate agenda. I enjoy the increased time with family as my kids grow into adults, and the challenge of doing excellent work for clients of a wide variety. I enjoy the challenge of creating and executing compelling presentations and public speaking. The very things that excite me and that I find enjoyable are often the things I'm also challenged by. Time management, and making enough time for each project from start to finish, including a lot of back-end work is a big challenge that I'm still learning to do. 

Yeah! Thank you Kenji!

BIOGRAPHY

Kenji Haroutunian is a 30-year veteran of the human-powered outdoor industry, working for many years in specialty outdoor store management and teaching outdoor skills (including advanced climbing and wilderness navigation courses) during/after completing his degree at UCLA.  In 1999 he began working for Outdoor Retailer, eventually becoming Vice President for Nielsen Expositions (now Emerald Expositions), in 2010. During his tenure leading the OR shows, he launched many innovative programs like Green Steps, Project OR design competition, Business of Backcountry Forums and even the Virtual Design Center (a live Online Event).  Kenji left Emerald to launch his own national agency focused on core Outdoor in 2014, called Kenji Consults, in service to the greater outdoor ecosystem of brands, retailers, media, agencies and advocacy groups. Beyond his work life, he is a 2010 Access Fund ‘Sharp End’ awardee for his work leading Friends Of Joshua Tree in support of Search & Rescue services in the Park and the local-meets-global climbing community in Joshua Tree. Kenji currently serves as Vice-President on the Board of Directors of Access Fund and is a founding director of TeccSociety, a new events-industry technology organization.

Wait. Their Culture? And Athletic Events

football 'n Ironman athletes

I finished two challenges: postcard poetry for 31 days to encourage writing in community, and 100 push-ups for 22 days to bring awareness to Veterans and mental health issues. Small challenges interspersed into a routine helps seemingly chaotic and uneven days. Those push ups will have to continue.

This week, both kids reiterated through our conversations, how teachers make a huge difference in their learning. John-Pio's response to the rundown of his day: "First period, boring; Second, fun; Third, fun; Fourth, fun; Fifth, fun; Sixth, not fun. Seventh, fun." Only traumatic thing about his middle school transition is having to wake up to get there. So far, so good.

Misa's challenge was battling with the idea her teacher suggested about culture. We are going to have a culture unit where you can ask your parent to come in and share about their culture. Misa was like, "My parent? Their culture? Is the assumption my parents and I are from different cultures? That teacher is like, assuming my parents don't teach me about where I come from. Or that I am not my culture and my parents are more my culture than me?" Wow. The epiphany was that she knows enough about where she came from to present it to her class and doesn't need a stinkin' parent to come into class to present an overview of her culture and race and ethnicity.

Her other thing was in Spanish class when she asked her teacher how to say, "offend," in Spanish and her teacher said, "Just stick to the curriculum. We're learning this right now." Double wow for squelching curiosity and a reminder to me not to squelch curiosity. Other than those two instances in the five days of 7th grade, both kids are eager to go to school and excited about learning.

Lots went down this week. For one, I declined three Happy Hours on Friday in favor of sprawling on the couch and floor mats with wine and cranberry juice by 4:30pm. Saturday was running, John-Pio's football game and my try at action shots with a Nikon D70, topped off with a heaping dose of Mavis Staples taken with my broken iphone.  Sunday NFL football in full swing and Ironman volunteering, with a lot of cheering. Hope you all got outside!

West Regents 

that little guy, 7th grade team west regents

Me 'n Ms. Matson at concert

broken iphone but captured the everlasting attitude of one of the Staples singers, Mavis. At 77, she was amazing

annual SUP volunteer for ironman

Thriving

Mr. Haste, Me, Ms. Page - my awesome teaching team :) 

When school started this week, I felt like my students' sweet greetings were a longing for connection. For a few, their pent-up feelings for love seemed satisfied with familiar faces and places in our school. After probably spending a good part of summer sidetracked watching various videos and other trivia, they were part ready, part seduced by friendships and community. Let me say I'm pretty psyched to be team-teaching with two really smart, dedicated, and dynamic teachers: Ms. Page and Mr. Haste. I have no doubt the three of us will be helping kids navigate the complexities in their young lives as they experience it while we teach them relevant, important topics and skills in an engaging, hopefully fun way. We are really going to thrive together as a team! 

Speaking of thriving, we did some camping and climbing and Brad and I celebrated our 14 year anniversary by repeating our set-up of Beginner's Demise, an old favorite route of ours at Devils Lake. It was super fun. Looks like the theme for the week will be about thriving, so I hope you all get out there and thrive!

watching camp set up

homework on east bluff

love of my life

on landscape 

obvious car camping

brats, potatoes, smores 

Happy Anniversary to us! 

Storytellers 'n Summertime Loves

One part sand, one part work, one part reading stories, one part writing stories, and all parts family-hood

I am a sucker for stories and storytellers. One goal I had this summer was to write a story a day. And I did. A few were long ones but most were short narratives or poems or raps. I took a stab at flash fiction which super sucked cause my imagination is a funnel. But from that process, I learned that elements of a good story can come from shared experiences - some sprinkled with exaggerations and embellished ideas and thoughts that are grounded in values and lessons, and above all, told with heart and damn good punch lines. I learned that exactness and accuracy in story telling are boring :) - that I learned from these authentic people I know along coastal California, the Wind River range in Wyoming, ridges of Colorado and Arizona, and from the lakeshores in Wisconsin.

This was a summer of stories. From my father's memories of WWII on Guam and re-telling dreams he is having of late, to Brad retracing his paper route and childhood in AZ, to Emma's early memories of Wyoming and Misa's intricate expression of the Pacific Ocean, to everyone's written goodbyes after spreading Nana's ashes, to our most recent emotional time at the 60/80 Skinner Brothers reunion where every single story had context, relevance, and depth - these were just a few of the story highlights.

I think you all got a story or more in this summer - whether telling one or listening to one - it all matters. Cause really, something I have come to realize is that even one story can be a lifeline. Even one story can help connect or make connections, release confusion or prompt a few questions, and this process is waaaay better than a series of videos or TV shows you passively watch on digital download. You know what I mean? You get real characters, a real setting, and a real plot.

So in the spirit of many of us returning to school routines, and to prep you all to respond with substance to "How was your summer?" get going on a story today.

These are my top iphone story pics.

first look first feel ocean love 

playmates good, bad, sad, glad, mad 

forever learning, searching, questioning, thinking, stressing

papa joe's calms strengthens his nerves 

first cousin love near and far 

generational love noticeable in Werntz squint 

sibling laughter transcend distance and time  

riding dirt and gears makes gnarly girl 

rise and shine for this new thing 

Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde at APT together for first family picnic :) 

mighty west coast, west mountains, midwest kids (photo credit: Becca Skinner) 

spreading ashes into the wind at Burnt Lake, dropped off some lines of love 

wyoming desert stop split rock where Brad overnighted a few times

Adding to the running and climbing Birthday Challenge year 52, a little round of pull ups

summing up summer with queen anne's lace, wildflower dedication (photo credit: Maggie!) 

Postcard Poetry

After a three week vacation to see my family in CA and Brad's family in AZ, we've been home for most of July. We'll be leaving in a few days for one last trip to CO and WY.  There's been a lot of urban and trail running, hanging around, and some climbing going on. Every time I think about that one or two domestic chore, I put it off 'til the next time. 

In the meantime, I've read a lot of books including the new literature series our district adopted (I am totally unenthusiastic about the anthologies but I think my students will like the stories ...). I got super amped after the Hip Hop in the Heartland institute. And this month, I am doing a Poetry Postcard challenge where I write a poem a day to a stranger on a list and send it off to them. It's like an exchange - so far, I've received some great poems from strangers in this big amazing world. 

Here is a beautiful poem from someone on my list. It's funny how poetry and writing brings strangers together. 

Hope you all are having a great August! 

 

Post June Short Reflection

Writing can be so easy and so hard especially without a purpose. It's now post end-of-2015-16-school year and I need to reflect at least upon the last month of school.

I finally read in detail all of their evaluations about my English Language Arts class. The overriding theme for literacy is they really liked learning about issues. They gave positive insight about writing themes and there were several students who reported their academic notebooks was something that made them feel proud. Writing back to them was a value, and the notebook check-ins with feedback was valuable too. Most declared reading, writing, and listening to poems as their fave.

Here are parts of their evaluations:

I said this a few hundred times - I had a hard year and I didn't think these words would ever come out of my mouth, but I am already looking forward to teaching these students next year. That's a pretty good feeling.