The Power of Pressing Pause

Posted Date: 09/15/2022

Consider how it feels when you are driving along smoothly and hit a sudden traffic jam. Or the odd feeling you get when you are in a loud place and the music and noise suddenly disappears. Or even the social anxiety we feel in a conversation when someone pauses in the middle of a thought, even for a few seconds. In a world that worships productivity, efficiency, and expediency, the idea of "Pressing Pause" is inherently uncomfortable. But what if we tried Pressing Pause more often? I paused after feeling uneasiness about my children's back-to-school list, which led me to writing my latest piece about the back-to-school list that really matters. I paused in the midst of spreading thinkLaw's Critical Thinking Revolution at lots of gifted and talented conferences nationwide. Until that pause, it never occurred to me that if we could change the face of who gets to TEACH gifted children, we might be able to change who gets to BE a gifted child - the main premise of The BEE Project, thinkLaw's new nonprofit arm that is already showing a positive impact on its inaugural cohort of 14 teachers of color. This month, practice our Pressing Pause strategy to see what this does to your ability to embed critical thinking seamlessly into your work as an educator, as a leader, and in your family. - Colin     Join the Critical Thinking Revolution!     Pressing Pause - A Call to Action for Teachers, Parents and Leaders   We know how important it is for kids to have the ability to think critically, but why is it that some kids in today’s generation might struggle with critical thinking more than kids in past generations?    Join us all throughout September as we explore the power of Pressing Pause in our decision-making processes and experience how transformational it can truly be.  Learn More         Bulk Book Purchases Available Here!       Tangible Equity - Order Your Copy Today!   Colin Seale's 2nd book, Tangible Equity: A Guide for Leveraging Student Identity, Culture, and Power In and Beyond the Classroom, is available for purchase on Amazon.  Move beyond the "why" of equity and learn what it actually looks like in the classroom. This powerful book shows how you can overcome barriers and create sustainable pathways to realizing equity for your students.  Order your copy today!         The Back to School Lists Hide What Really Matters  “My back-to-school stress is not about and has never been about “all the stuff.” It is about the disconnect between “all the stuff” and “the stuff that really matters” when it comes to the true essence and purpose of education.”    We know that getting all the things on the supply checklist still matters. But in his article for Ed Post, Colin Seale argues that what matters even more is that teachers can collect the checklist of our children’s expertise, superpowers, interests, struggles, and joys.  Dive in on our blog: Continue Reading       Listen up - Tangible Equity in Education Real equity work should help reduce the predictive power of demographics on outcomes. In order to do that, we need to teach kids how to think for themselves, so they learn to question instead of comply with unfair systems.  Listen in on this powerful discussion about Tangible Equity in education on The Psychology Podcast. Listen Now