Latest / The Grammar of Classical Education / Week 133: Ferns & Faithfulness on the Woodland Floor | Small Shifts - Lasting Formation #10

Transcript

Week 133: Ferns & Faithfulness on the Woodland Floor | Small Shifts - Lasting Formation #10 · The Grammar of Classical Education

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Grammar of Classical Education,
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: a podcast that examines the philosophical foundations of classical education,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then seeks to help classically minded educators bring those ideas to life
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  SPEAKER_00: in their classroom, co-op, or homeschool settings.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host,
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Dr. Darlene Gomes, from Leading to Wonder, and I am so glad you've joined us today.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, or welcome if you're joining us for the first time.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: This summer, we have been spending Sometime.
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  SPEAKER_00: Time in And our beauty.
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  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful growing garden, looking at small shifts that lead to lasting formations.
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  SPEAKER_00: We'll be right back.
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  SPEAKER_00: Last week, we were reminded that even the best tended gardens We'll often.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Often have to address weeds.
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  SPEAKER_00: And as we discuss.
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  SPEAKER_00: Discussed in our newsletter,
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  SPEAKER_00: it is important to prepare the gardener before addressing the garden,
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  SPEAKER_00: examining weeds that may spring up in ourselves first.
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  SPEAKER_00: Darlene Gomes, leading2wonder, Leading to
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  SPEAKER_00: This week, we are making a bit of a shift.
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  SPEAKER_00: We're still in our garden setting,
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  SPEAKER_00: but we're stepping into a small wooded area that sets off to the side.
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  SPEAKER_00: You see,
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  SPEAKER_00: when most people imagine a beautiful garden or a lush forest,
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  SPEAKER_00: they think of the colorful flowers and towering trees, And maybe even...
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  SPEAKER_00: even I think the breathtaking.
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  SPEAKER_00: Breathtaking vistas.
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  SPEAKER_00: But Barry?
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  SPEAKER_00: Very few Ever walk away talking about the ferns.
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  SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yet in a thriving forest, we will walk past hundreds if not thousands of ferns.
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  SPEAKER_00: They aren't flashy.
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  SPEAKER_00: They don't commit.
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  SPEAKER_00: Compete for attention.
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  SPEAKER_00: In fact, And they don't compete.
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  SPEAKER_00: Compete at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: They quietly fill in the spaces between the canopy of trees And the understanding.
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  SPEAKER_00: Understory of vegetation.
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  SPEAKER_00: I like that idea of understory.
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  SPEAKER_00: We'll come back to that a bit later.
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  SPEAKER_00: But ferns don't just thrive in forests.
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  SPEAKER_00: But if you look closely, closely, you've even seen them spread throughout the garden itself.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, While they grow everywhere and come in all varieties,
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  SPEAKER_00: 12 ,000 12,000 species by some accounts, these It's unassuming.
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  SPEAKER_00: Unassuming plants Darlene Gomes, are often...
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  SPEAKER_00: often hardly noticed at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: But remove them and the entire ecosystem begins to suffer.
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  SPEAKER_00: Is It kind of made me wonder if faithful teachers aren't more like ferns than any of
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  SPEAKER_00: the flowers in our garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: They don't need to be loud and showy with bright flowers or large
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  SPEAKER_00: and domineering like an oak or an elm.
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  SPEAKER_00: They Kinshaw.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just be.
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  SPEAKER_00: And by their being...
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  SPEAKER_00: They are offering stability to the entire ecosystem of learning.
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  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunate.
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  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, In our minds.
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  SPEAKER_00: Modern culture, this isn't exactly right.
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  SPEAKER_00: Exactly how teachers are portrayed, is it?
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  SPEAKER_00: We naturally notice things that are visible in classrooms
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  SPEAKER_00: that are Can look like Pinterest perfect environments.
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  SPEAKER_00: It can be demonstrated in those really crazy.
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  SPEAKER_00: Creative lessons that look amazing.
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  SPEAKER_00: They can look like a teacher that has perfect students Sitting with perfection.
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  SPEAKER_00: Perfect posture,
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  SPEAKER_00: eyes firmly fixed on the teacher when an administrator stops in or
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  SPEAKER_00: a potential parent tours through.
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  SPEAKER_00: Goodness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Those are the things that can really catch the I, in a class.
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  SPEAKER_00: Classroom.
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  SPEAKER_00: Homeschool parents, Your presentation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Presented with that visual as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yours just looks like a perfectly kept house with your children working quietly
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  SPEAKER_00: and diligently at the table,
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  SPEAKER_00: curriculums being completed and progress being demonstrated.
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  SPEAKER_00: Magazine worthy setups for learning.
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  SPEAKER_00: Nellie Gomes, leading2wonder, Leading to
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to make it perfectly clear.
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  SPEAKER_00: None of those things are wrong in and of themselves.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do we want to have learning spaces that encourage learning?
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do we want engaging lessons?
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do we want our students to be attentive in Any teaching in environment?
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  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
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  SPEAKER_00: But here's That's the problem.
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  SPEAKER_00: Problem, the danger as it were.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we be...
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  SPEAKER_00: begin to believe that what It is visible.
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  SPEAKER_00: Visible is what is true.
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  SPEAKER_00: Truly Very valuable.
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  SPEAKER_00: Valuable, we are losing s - sight of our purpose.
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  SPEAKER_00: We must be careful not to perform as if beautiful blooms
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  SPEAKER_00: and huge spanning branches are more important than the stabilizing and health of
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  SPEAKER_00: the soil.
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  SPEAKER_00: That those are more important than preventing erosion and even purifying the air.
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  SPEAKER_00: You see, In the class.
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  SPEAKER_00: Classical mindset, we often need to remind ourselves that the deepest work is rare.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rarely the most visible.
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  SPEAKER_00: Darlene Gomes, leading2wonder.
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  SPEAKER_00: What we are doing Leading is slow.
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  SPEAKER_00: Slow.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is often behind the scenes,
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  SPEAKER_00: but a huge part of the small shifts that lead to lasting formation in our students.
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  SPEAKER_00: If...
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  SPEAKER_00: I were to summarize what ferns do,
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  SPEAKER_00: I would say they create the conditions for life in the forest and in the garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: Think how important it is that the soil is able to retain moisture
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  SPEAKER_00: and be continually enriched, Preventing a...
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  SPEAKER_00: erosions with their roots, serving Serving as an angel.
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  SPEAKER_00: Anchor for the topsoil, and Taking time.
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  SPEAKER_00: Toxins out of the surrounding air and actually putting extra oxygen back in.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, f**k.
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  SPEAKER_00: Friends.
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  SPEAKER_00: Your job as a teacher,
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  SPEAKER_00: Whether in a class,
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  SPEAKER_00: classroom, co-op,
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  SPEAKER_00: or homeschool setting,
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  SPEAKER_00: is doing exactly that for your learning spaces And for yourself.
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  SPEAKER_00: Your students.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are making sure those little plants around you are moistened and nourished.
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  SPEAKER_00: And like the ferns, you give of yourself for the growth of the garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are the only one.
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  SPEAKER_00: The anchor in stability while their roots are still growing.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I couldn't help but think how like a fern a teacher is,
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  SPEAKER_00: especially in the world that we live in.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are serving As a pill.
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  SPEAKER_00: Filter For the top.
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  SPEAKER_00: Toxic ick that surrounds Our student.
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  SPEAKER_00: Students.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are aware of all the pressure that is being put on our students, but we are serving As Eric.
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  SPEAKER_00: Air purifiers for them, letting them deeply breathe And in the front.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fresh air of wonder and wisdom.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like Bernie.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ferns, we are creating the conditions for growth and life in the hearts and minds
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  SPEAKER_00: of our students.
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  SPEAKER_00: Burns.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ferns Don't manually manufacture growth in other plants.
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  SPEAKER_00: They make it possible.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that is exactly What faith faithful teachers are called to do.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not to make the students grow.
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  SPEAKER_00: But to make their growth possible.
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  SPEAKER_00: We call.
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  SPEAKER_00: Cultivate the conditions that allow them to thrive and grow and Even Levi.
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  SPEAKER_00: Leave our little spaces.
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  SPEAKER_00: You see, students won't remember our Pinterest perfect decorations, But they will remain.
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  SPEAKER_00: Remember what we showed was valuable.
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  SPEAKER_00: They won't remember every single amazing lesson we prepared,
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  SPEAKER_00: but they will remember how we sought to lead them to wonder and wisdom.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the question then becomes, how do we successfully burn?
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not done in the big things.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's the smallest.
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  SPEAKER_00: Small moments of your everyday teaching that Formation isn't a quick thing.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a slow and steady process.
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  SPEAKER_00: It grows through repetition.
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  SPEAKER_00: It leads to wonder and eventually to wisdom in and of itself.
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  SPEAKER_00: Consider how do you prepare your lessons?
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  SPEAKER_00: How do you start your day?
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  SPEAKER_00: How do you answer questions?
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  SPEAKER_00: How do you address Issues that are.
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  SPEAKER_00: Arise?
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  SPEAKER_00: Please.
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  SPEAKER_00: How do you encourage tenacity?
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  SPEAKER_00: How do you inspire joy?
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  SPEAKER_00: How do you m - model curiosity?
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  SPEAKER_00: How do you practice patience?
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  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time.
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  SPEAKER_00: Did you realize that none of those things feel monumental?
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  SPEAKER_00: None of them Our life.
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  SPEAKER_00: Chains.
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  SPEAKER_00: Life-changing.
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  SPEAKER_00: But being a fern means truly understanding that it is indeed the small shifts
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  SPEAKER_00: that lead to that lasting formation.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is the stability that you build into your learning environment.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is the nourishing, not of the mind Only but of the whole.
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  SPEAKER_00: The heart and the soul.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's the purification of the air.
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  SPEAKER_00: Encouraging your students Not to suffer.
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  SPEAKER_00: Settle for the common, but to reach deeper.
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  SPEAKER_00: Remember how we talked about the space between the canopy of the trees and the forest floor?
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  SPEAKER_00: It was called the understory.
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  SPEAKER_00: I just can't help but think that teachers sit very close to the forest floor,
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  SPEAKER_00: unassuming and unprotected.
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  SPEAKER_00: Unpretentious,
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  SPEAKER_00: knowing that many of the seedlings that sprout around them will eventually be part
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  SPEAKER_00: of the canopy.
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  SPEAKER_00: They will reach beyond our kitchen table, beyond our classrooms, and even beyond our schools.
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  SPEAKER_00: But For a short while, they are the time.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tiny sprouts that we As spurned.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ferns will protect and nourish, Giving them strength.
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  SPEAKER_00: Stability and purifying their air, But they see.
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  SPEAKER_00: Soon grow taller than we are and become part of the understory.
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  SPEAKER_00: These little sprouts gain height and hopefully some wisdom to go with it,
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  SPEAKER_00: but they're still part of the ecosystem.
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  SPEAKER_00: And yes, even as they assume their place in the canopy And they go up.
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  SPEAKER_00: Off to college or their chosen career, we are still connected.
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  SPEAKER_00: And...
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  SPEAKER_00: From their distant positions,
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  SPEAKER_00: They will still remember the ferns that stood by their side Right here.
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  SPEAKER_00: Year after year, helping them to grow into the godly Amen.
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  SPEAKER_00: And women, Standing straight.
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  SPEAKER_00: Strong Long and tall.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tall for years and years to come.
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  SPEAKER_00: You see, students aren't formed in the extraordinary.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're formed in the moments of every day.
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  SPEAKER_00: Darlene Gomes,
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  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
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  SPEAKER_00: As we seek to create the conditions where life can thrive in our classroom and
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  SPEAKER_00: at our kitchen table, We must remember.
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  SPEAKER_00: Remind ourselves while doing our very best isn't wrong, perfection shouldn't be our goal.
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  SPEAKER_00: Recognition isn't wrong, but it shouldn't be our measuring stick.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we just need to ask ourselves, was I faithful to my calling today?
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  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time.
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  SPEAKER_00: A small shift in our hearts that can lead to lasting formations in When are we coming?
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  SPEAKER_00: Come in contact with.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the next time you walk through a wooded area, take a moment to notice the unassuming ferns.
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  SPEAKER_00: They aren't trying to be wildflowers.
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  SPEAKER_00: They aren't competing with the trees.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're simply flourishing where they find themselves, yet holding an entire ecosystem together.
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  SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
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  SPEAKER_00: You see, as teachers...
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  SPEAKER_00: We never know what encouraging smile, What quiet kind.
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  SPEAKER_00: Conversation, what patient explanation, what ordinary Tuesday God may you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Use to help a little seedling's roots grow deeper.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our calling isn't to be spectacular.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our calling is to be faithful.
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  SPEAKER_00: And while the world often celebrates teachers who stand in the spotlight,
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  SPEAKER_00: perhaps heaven celebrates the ones who faithfully tend the forest floor.
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  SPEAKER_00: Stabilizing, nourishing, and providing purified air for the sea.
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  SPEAKER_00: Seedlings and the growing understory.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because those ferns Quietly remained Where God planned.
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  SPEAKER_00: Planted them.
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  SPEAKER_00: Countless Other Plans.
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  SPEAKER_00: Plants found room to grow.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining us today.
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  SPEAKER_00: I trust that whatever your teaching situation,
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: whether it's in a classroom or co-op or homeschooling,
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  SPEAKER_00: That you have found these ideas not only encouraging, but challenging as well.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can listen to all of the episodes of The Grammar of Classical Education
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or I also have available a weekly teacher's newsletter
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: that includes some teacher tips and freebies.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can sign up for that at the Leading to Wonder newsletter found at darlenegomes.substack.com.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about me and Leading to Wonder, Please visit th - the website leading2wonder.com.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: No spaces.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to reach out if you have any questions Or if you're in interested in
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: the virtual or in-person workshops that I offer for Schools co - co-ops,
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: homeschool educators, and parent group.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Groups.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Again, my name is Darlene Gomes and thank you for joining us.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Until next week, remember, as E.B.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: White said, Always Be on the look.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lookout for the presence of wonder.