Hey friends!
Happy New Year and welcome to the first edition of my Fab Fridays newsletter.
First and foremost, thank you for being an early supporter. Among other things, I’ll be sharing what I’m learning and building, my take on the latest research on education, and powerful ideas from experts in ways that are easy to digest.
I promise to keep it simple, relevant, and interesting.
Thanks for joining me for the ride!
What I’ve been up to
I’m writing to you from Puerto Rico, where I welcomed 2020 with family and friends, and reflected upon the past year.
The second half of 2019 was a moment of important transitions. I left teaching after 5 years and decided to take a step into the unknown—embracing the uncertain, and adopting a “serendipitous attitude”. Those who know me know I’m a big planner, so this is a big change for me. Here’s a quote that has kept me going:
“People who maximize serendipity balance the humility of not knowing where their next big break will come from with the arrogance of knowing that it will come from somewhere.” - David Perell, How To Maximize Serendipity
In November 2019, I enrolled in Write of Passage, a transformative online course taught by David Perell that both changed by identity as a writer and accelerated my learning. In just 5 weeks, I unlearned and relearned how to write, connected with a community of like-minded writers from around the world, strengthened the quality of my ideas and sharpened my thinking, built an audience online, and became a citizen of the internet. Intense is an understatement—think of it as mental CrossFit.
Write of Passage gave me a whole new perspective on how to teach and learn in modern times and I can’t wait to share more about it with you. It also led to unexpected opportunities—including a super-duper exciting project that I’ll be embarking on this year. I’ll be sharing more about this in the coming newsletters.
This is hands-down the most excited I’ve been in a while and I can’t wait to share my journey with you.
Recent Ideas and Posts
In case you missed it, here are my most recent blog posts:
KIDS ARE NOT AS FRAGILE AS WE THINK
We are dealing with a generation of children that are sensitive and risk averse—children that tend to seek adults to solve their problems and protect them from discomfort. As educators and parents, we must stop this. Kids are not as fragile as we think.
ENGAGING CHILDREN WITHOUT REWARDS
In today’s fast-paced world, keeping children engaged seems impossible. Here’s what worked for me: I said no to rewards.
That’s all for this week!
Thank you signing up. I’m SO excited that you are here.
Ms. Fab