Pushing Forward

With Spring Break on the horizon it’s a great time to stop and check-in with yourself.  Take a few moments to step back and think about where you are and what you need/want during your time away next week.  One of my favorite tools for doing a self-check is the Blob Tree.  Taking the time to reflect and explain why you are identifying with a particular Blob is where the true check-in happens.  From there, you can begin to think about what you need or want to either stay locked in on that Blob or to begin feeling like a different Blob.  

I love this tool because there are no black or white answers.  No matter which Blob you identify with the most, you need to explain (to yourself) why you are identifying with that Blob.  There are no right or wrong answers either, this is merely a tool for checking-in with yourself at the present moment.  

At about this time last year I hung one of these in our apartment.  Amy and I used it often, to pause and check-in with ourselves and each other.  Being cooped up in a one bedroom apartment, both working from home, pregnant, and in the middle of a pandemic, we moved from one Blob to the next quite frequently.  We used this graphic as a reminder that it was okay to do so.  The Blob Tree represented all of the mental space we were allowed to occupy and the Blobs and their numbers gave us a common vocabulary for communicating, even in the hardest of times.  

You may find this tool silly but I think you may also find it very useful.  As a tool for working with students I find the Blob Tree to be very handy. No matter the age, students will find a Blob that they identify with.  It could very easily be used as a way to check-in with your students in the morning, at the end of the day, or any time in between.  For many, they will identify with multiple Blobs at once.  That’s okay too.  Sometimes we are feeling a range of emotions and limiting ourselves to one Blob feels constrictive, multiple Blobs are allowed 🙂   In either case, as a teacher, you may find it helpful to know which Blobs your students are identifying with at any given time!  

Take a few minutes to check out the Blob Tree.  Which Blob(s) do you identify with today?  What do you need/want to either stay with this Blob or move to another?  Imagine the different ways this tool might be useful for you, your students, or both.  

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