Description
Quarantines, school closures, online school, shelter in place...if you watch the news you might think, what can I possibly be Joyful about? I can’t hang out at my favorite coffee joint, enjoy a meal at my favorite restaurant,  I mean, even Disneyland is closed! The happiest place on earth just furloughed 48,000 folks. It’s pretty difficult to FEEL joyful.  And if there’s one thing our students, teachers and parents need right now it’s Joy.  Well perhaps joy is more than just a feeling.  Perhaps it is also a choice.  On today’s podcast we will revisit the idea of bringing  Joy back into education as we look at what WE can do to BE JOY online!
Lessons Learned
Dennis - Snapshot Safari - Participate in research by looking at photos from wildlife  reserves in Africa and identifying animals in the photos. https://www.zooniverse.org/organizations/meredithspalmer/snapshot-safari (https://www.zooniverse.org/organizations/meredithspalmer/snapshot-safari)

Daniel - Typing.com - Great opportunity to teach fundamental skills.

Chris - Don’t check your social media or emails right before going to bed. Just as you help your body to relax by avoiding bright lights and screens prior to bed, so too should you help your mind to relax.
Fun Fact

* Phone Calls Are Better for Happiness Than Texts
* Pets Make You Happy
* Coffee Increases Happiness
* You Can Literally Throw Unhappy Thoughts Away
* Happiness Is Contagious

https://bestlifeonline.com/happiness-facts/
Notes & Links
Last year we interviewed Dean Shareski, the author of “Embracing a culture of Joy” and as we enter Week 10 of Home-Based Learning I can’t think of anything we need more of right now than Joy - or perhaps maybe toilet paper.

 

What is crushing your joy right now?

In the book, which refers mainly to the institution of education, Dean discussed 4 things that can crush your Joy:

* Rigor - learning should be challenging, but the goal of learning shouldn’t be to make it difficult
* Accountability - whenever you hear that term, there’s a subtle message that “you’re not doing your job”
* College and Career Ready & Student Achievement - these put curriculum over relationships. It should be the opposite.

“Relationships then content. Both matter. And so does the order.” - 2014 Teacher of the Year Jeff Charbonneau

 

He also talked about what brings Joy back into your classroom

* A Sense of Wonder - value questions more than answers
* Play as Research - active engagement is the essential component and the end results are welcomed but not necessarily the focus
* A Sense of community - Communities are about a shared purpose and belonging (Think: Maslow)
* Gratitude - be intentional about finding things to be thankful for.  (Model for your student a heart of gratitude)

What can we do with Online Learning to #BeJoy?