inspiration
A Retirement Love Letter
In August of 2019 I left the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District after thirty-two years of service. In my time in FSUSD I provided service as a School Psychologist, Assistant Principal, Principal, Director of Human Resources, and I was in my sixth successful year of service as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources when I left the District.
I then became the Superintendent of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District during a difficult budget year when the pandemic literally forced us to close schools to 30,000 students in a day’s turnaround. I then served as both the Assistant Superintendent of Business Services and Human Resources for the Washington Unified School District, prior to being named as Superintendent and Chief Executive Officer for the Griffin Technology Academies in Vallejo for the 2021-2022 school year.
After a challenging year at GTA, in June of 2022, I actually submitted my formal retirement paperwork with the California State Teachers Retirement System. As I contemplated retirement, I decided to apply for one more position as I was intrigued about the District and the services they were aspiring to provide to students. When the position was offered, I recalled my STRS documents, and I accepted the assignment to become the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Antioch Unified School District. While retirement was enticing, I decided that I wanted to continue my career of service and I opined, “What better place to continue my service than Antioch?”
Over the last three years, I have strived to be the best school administrator that I could and tried to model exemplary service and leadership to all. I hope that I have provided the service, support, skills and guidance that was needed by employees to serve all of our students in this capacity. I worked to foster better communication with the employee representative groups, individual employees, and worked to elevate the administrative team at every turn.
I can truly say that on the whole the employees in the Antioch Unified School District are some of the most dedicated people that I have ever worked with in my thirty-eight years of service. It has been challenging to say the least, however, I feel fortunate to have been able to return to a TK-12 -Adult School District and connect with so many caring educators. I feel strongly that I am leaving behind a positive legacy of service that I am extremely proud of.
In April of 2024, when the Governing Board asked me to step up to serve the District as Superintendent, in addition to carrying my Human Resources responsibilities, I said, “Yes” and took on the responsibilities of both of these high-level positions. School leadership is never for the faint of heart, and yes, this last year provided some of the most challenging meetings, conversations with Board members, and struggles along the way, and yet, I was able to meet and fulfill the rigorous commitments of both positions to keep learning moving in the classrooms.
As the year progressed I felt the heavy responsibility to bring about equitable, high level, and compassionate care and education to the almost 16,000 students of the District, and I’m grateful that I was not alone in this endeavor. My Human Resources Team is simply incredible. My Administrative Assistant is tops bar none. My second in command who took on a substantial level of responsibility during these months, extraordinary! My Cabinet Members were all on-point, focused on what mattered, and were each outstanding in their commitment to students.
We finished the 2023-2024 school year strong. One of the highlights for me was being able to accept thousands of new graduates during the commencement ceremonies. We also worked to prepare for the 2024-2025 school year, and sought to promote the District in every way possible to be able to tell the positive stories and activities that were bringing about needed change for students and the community.
Our beginning of the year staff development for everyone was inclusive, specifically focused on equitable and ethical practices, and focused on building authentic relationships that could endure the challenges ahead. Our employee representative groups were willing to work together to bring about a more swift conclusion to negotiations so as not to distract from the real work of creating equitable opportunities for students, and I believe that I was even able to begin the alignment of the Board as they transitioned to new leadership. Knowing that I would be leaving at the year’s end I was able to guide them to initiate the initial steps towards finding a new Superintendent.
While the work of both positions was extremely rewarding, and the team of administrators with whom I worked with is extraordinary, in January of 2025, I did make the decision to pull back my services from the Superintendency to facilitate a better transition to new leadership for the District. Over the last three months I have concentrated my responsibilities on ensuring that there was a succession plan in place for both of the positions that I was filling. I am now focusing on my next and important promotion to retirement.
I have heard it said that sometimes the transition to retirement can be a challenge for Superintendents and high level administrators, and I can now understand that a bit more. The jobs of top-level education administrators can be unnerving, making you lose sleep with worry as if all the children of the District are your own who are not home before their curfew. I anticipate that there will be a dearth of emails, phone calls, text messages, which might ring loud with their silence, but I think I am more prepared than most. I know that this silence will be filled with new songs, new refrains, and new experiences.
Some have asked me, “What will you do when you retire?” and if you know me, you know that I have a long list of things planned and will be willing to add more every day. I know that I will write more, speak more, publish new products, and somehow be on stage. I will determine if I will choose to provide coaching, consultation, or create my own side hustle. I will rest, then go, then rest some more, then go farther. We will travel, breathe, and work to enjoy each and every moment of living. I will walk, hike, exercise, sing, dance, and branch out to new activities with the glee of a child.
My last official day in the office is Friday, May 2, and then I will officially be on vacation through the last day of the school year, June 10, 2025. This will mark 38 years of service to public education. With some simple math, I believe that includes service to well over 200,000 students in some way that I have worked for during that time.
To the literally thousands of people I have worked with in this amazing endeavor, I sincerely want to share my thanks for what each of you have done in support of children as well.
In closing, I’d like to share two quotes with you that I have worked to keep in mind as I tried to be the best educator that I could be.
The first is from Ralph Waldo Emerson.
“Successful is the person who has lived well, laughed often and loved much, who has gained the respect of children, who leaves the world better than they found it, who has never lacked appreciation for the earth’s beauty, who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves.”
The second is one of mine, Dr. Rob Martinez
“Let the lives we help others live be the measure of our success.”
I like to think that I’ve tried to do just that throughout my career and life, but don’t worry, I’m not done yet! There will be more to come!
Again, my sincere appreciation and with thoughtful consideration,
Dr. Rob Martinez, AKA “Resiliency Guy,” AKA “Papa Rob” You can reach out to me by email, ResiliencyGuy@gmail.com and find a number of my writings at https://resiliencyguy.com/
Interested in Dr. Rob’s latest book? You can find it here: “Recipes for Resilience, Nurturing Perseverance in Students and Educators.” http://amazon.com/dp/1956306439
The Power of 12: Nurturing Positivity and Resilience in Students and Educators
From his recently published book, “Recipes for Resilience, Nurturing Perseverance in Students and Educators”, Dr. Rob Martinez shares the concept of “The Power of 12”.
How do we make sure that we capture the essence of each positive thought, action, and feeling so that they trigger more positive results, creating a snowball of success? Well, we take action to initiate positivity; we watch for it, we share it, we promote it, we use it to build ideas in the community we live in, and we spread it on everything!
Each and every positive experience we encounter is part of our story, but far too often we allow those who languish in negativity to influence us. Negativity can be found on the local news, in our offices, and even in our personal thoughts, so we must consciously work to listen and be prepared to contradict inaccuracies when we meet them. We must seek and share the positive comments, acknowledgments, successes, and steps taken toward healthy growth, and use this information in our own stories. We must share this information with our neighbors and colleagues, and even, for that matter, on the local news!
If we want the world to know about the great things that are happening in our environments, we must shout it from the mountain, whisper it to each other, share it on every screen, and print it on every piece of paper that exists! Here are a few ways:
• Build a class story. Each day, or at least once a week, give your class some time to acknowledge and show their successes, growth, and development. Write it down, capture it in pictures, or heck, even go live on social media. Create a library of experiences that tell the story of this group of amazing people.
• Use a class, school, or district website to tell the incredible stories of advancement, success, and good things that are happening in your environment. You don’t have to do it alone. Let your students take charge! Include them and put their ingenuity to work.
• Get out there and talk yourself up. Whether you speak up in staff meetings, parent-teacher organizations, local community groups, or even at board meetings for your organization, tell the story of success that you see.
The Power of 12!
I’ve said it a few times in this book, and it bears repeating: we must consider the hearts, minds, souls, and actions of all individuals as we strive to build and enhance our own resilience and that of our community. We can do this through a purposeful approach that seeks to acknowledge positivity when it presents itself to us. The Power of 12 is one such way. You must take on this challenge yourself, and to truly create an upswell of positivity, you should also enlist every adult in your organization to take part in these simple steps:
Step 1. Each week, tell at least one student and one colleague that you saw their heart. What does it mean to say that you saw someone’s heart? You will know it when you see it. You will see it in the way people care for each other, the way they take a second to think of someone else, the way they make life just a little easier for others or lighten the load for another person.
Step 2. Each week, tell at least two students and two colleagues that you appreciate their mind and the way they share their perspective with you or others. In our world, we are often connected by being disconnected. Many people would rather get a text message than a phone call, would rather read a Facebook post than have a conversation. Self-expression is becoming a lost art. Even at our dinner tables, we far too often look up and see those in the room watching their phones rather than really engaging. We communicate verbally and in person less than ever before. We must remember that we shine our brightest when we are actually locked in true discourse and connected by being with each other.
When someone actually takes time to share their thoughts and perspective, we should stop, focus, and listen. We should strive to really understand their intent and then seek clarification so that we understand them. In many circumstances, when we misunderstand someone’s words and ideas, it isn’t because they didn’t communicate clearly; it’s because we didn’t listen appropriately. Telling someone you appreciate their mind lets them know that they are meaningful to you, that they hold innate value as a person, and that you’re interested in what they have to share. So many of us feel devalued in our society, and I often wonder if some of those feelings come from not being listened to and appreciated for our thoughts and words.
Step 3. Each week, tell at least three students and three colleagues that you saw them help someone’s spirit soar. Did they offer a kind word, give encouragement to a friend, offer compassion and caring to another? Did they give a blessing to someone in need or support someone having a tough day? Did they give an unsolicited cup of coffee, snacks, or written words of love to someone? The examples can fill a book. Our acts help others’ spirits soar just a little higher all the time, but we are often not looking for these moments.
Okay, did you add them up? Step 1 calls for you to tell two people that you saw their heart. Step 2 calls for you to tell four people that you appreciate their minds. And Step 3 calls for you to tell six people that you saw them help someone’s spirit soar. So, each week, you would personally be connecting with twelve people, hence, the Power of 12.
If you want to start out in your classroom and keep it simple, start by saying to your students: “We are going to have a challenge over the next week. We’re going to focus on being kind, smart, and helping others, and we’re going to try and catch everyone doing it. So, during this next week I challenge each of you to tell at least four different classmates that you saw them do something kind, do something smart, or help someone. Then, at the end of the week, during our reflection time, we’ll hear about the amazing things our class has accomplished to make life better for everyone here.”
If you happen to have a teaching staff of twenty people and you enlisted each of these teachers into this simple activity, you all can connect with 252 students each week with a personal communication that is meaningful and provides feedback about their heart, mind, or ability to help someone’s spirit soar. Think about it: in just two and a half weeks, each child at this school would have been personally acknowledged by a member of the teaching staff!
What if you added your classified staff—everyone at the school site who doesn’t have a teaching credential yet cares about these children? Let’s add another twenty, even though some of them work part-time. That’s right, include your yard supervisors, custodians, parent volunteers, and anyone who is on your campus. With 41 adults participating in your school environment, collectively you can connect with 492 students each week!
Okay, now, just for kicks, imagine what happens if all 650 students were supported and empowered to exercise the Power of 12 each week of the school year. So, now there is you, the teaching staff, your classified staff, all adults on campus, and all the children participating. What you have is an explosion of positivity! If all 691 people participated in the simple practice of the Power of 12, each week there would be at least 8,292 positive affirmations occurring.
Over the course of a thirty-six-week school year, this would bring 298,512 positive interactions into existence that would lift up the entire school population. Talk about the Power of 12! This would garner some positive attention across your school community for sure!
This idea can be implemented in any environment, with any number of people. It’s another way to take back control of the narrative and the environment for everyone in the community. Will it stop all negativity from occurring? Perhaps not. But when each of us is engaged in planting the seeds of a positive environment, we’re taking fertile ground away from negativity, and we’re choosing what will be cultivated in our island paradise.
Our children are kind and good natured, and when we give opportunities for them to show these traits, they’ll be eager to please. In several schools where I presented this idea, the idea grew into an explosion of kindness. We had teachers creating social media posts with positive actions from their students. We received reports of kindness and care being extended to siblings and parents at home.
In parent-teacher-organization meetings, adults took it on and were really seeing each other differently—to the benefit of the children. I have even seen several of my more experienced teachers who have discounted many positive-behavior intervention strategies use this approach, and when they do, they get a renewed perspective on the power of children to make the world a better place.
If you would like to read more about my thoughts about nurturing perseverance in students and educators please go get a copy of my new book, “Recipes for Resilience, Nurturing Perseverance in Students and Educators.” http://amazon.com/dp/1956306439 And, better yet, get your entire staff a copy as well.
Dr. Rob Martinez, “Resiliency Guy” is a lifelong educator and now serves as the Chief Human Resource Officer in the Antioch Unified School District. You can find him on all the social medias as @ResiliencyGuy
Don’t Dwell in Doubt When Your Tide is Out
Don’t dwell in doubt when your tide is out.
From time to time you might feel that your passion is depleted, your work is overlooked, or that you are not making a difference in the world of those you care for. Well, I’d like you to think of it this way. It might be that for the moment, your tide is out. It might be that when you took that moment to measure your success, your ability to make that difference, or to try and see the impacts of your work, you took at look at the shore deplete with water.
This is the time that you simply cannot dwell on the low tide. You must work to understand that this perspective is not the real result of your actions. This view is not the final judgement on your person, passion, or persistence. This view, albeit, real at the moment, is only part true. It probably true that you feel down, may be discouraged, and may be feeling yourself with doubt, but this is not all that the world has for you.
If you give yourself some time to actually take a measurement of your success, I hope you truly reflect on the impact you have made over time. I hope you can see that you didn’t learn everything you needed to know in one moment. I hope you understand that each and every day is part of your journey, part of your growth, part of your failures, and then your abilities to overcome and persevere. Your actual success, much like the tide, will ebb and flow. Will it sometimes look and fill low? Of course. Will the water return so that a real measurement of the bounty of water available over time? Yes.
It is true that for you and your success, you must seek to understand that your tide will rise. You must remember that as you take the time to expand your personal perspective, if you give yourself enough grace to see your worth and understand your growth, you will build on more information, and realize that you rise as well. You ebb and flow, as we all do, which is actually really cool when you think about it.
So, don’t dwell in doubt when your tide is out. Rather, give yourself time. Work to understand the ebb and flow of life. Remember to see your successes when the tide returns, when the water is fresher, and always, always remember that the tide will return.
Dr. Rob Martinez is “Resiliency Guy.” He focuses on empowering students with resilience, working with educators to find results for students through opportunities and access via resilience. He is completing his book, “Lead With Resilience” where he shares his #RecipeForResilience. He is an international speaker, author, and consultant. You can find him @ResiliencyGuy on @Facebook, @Twitter, @Instagram, and on @LinkedIn
The Skies Out Tonight
Video Posted on
The morning of 9/11/2001, as I readied to go to work, and prepared to leave my wife at home with our two youngest sons, aged 19 months, and 1 month old, we were both crying, and upset by the news of the attack. I was a school psychologist at the time, and believed that my family was safe, and that I could be more use at work. So off I went to ensure that the children of the schools I served were doing ok. The rest of the day was a blur. I remember checking on classrooms, teachers, and many students who we knew had parents in the military, and or were on assignment and were out of the area. That night, all the planes were grounded, the skies were silent, and these words came to me. I wrote them down, and tucked them away. I remember reading these words each day, somewhat like a prayer over that first month. Today, as I was reviewing several documents that I wrote during that time, I found these words, and decided to spontaneously record myself singing them. No music, other than me. Well, the result is here for you to view, and the words are written below.
It is sixteen years later, to the day, that I wrote these words, and I believe that more than ever, we need to reconnect to the strength that we collectively have. We are a strong nation, and are stronger when we come together. I hope you find some relevance in these words, and I hope that you hold the hope in your life in high regards.
My best to you always, Dr. Rob Martinez, AKA @ResiliencyGuy on @Twitter
The Skies Out Tonight
Chorus
The skies out tonight are silent.
The skies out tonight are silent.
No planes fly tonight, they lay still.
The skies out tonight are silent.
But I can see
The American Eagle soar
Like I’ve never seen before.
He lives in us all.
And I can hear
The American Voices Sing
You might test our strength,
But we will survive,
And we will shine through.
Chorus
The skies out tonight are silent.
The skies out tonight are silent.
No planes fly tonight, they lay still.
The skies out tonight are silent.
But I can feel
The American Spirit
We’ll fight through the day,
We’ll fight though the night,
To keep it alive!
Our strength,
You cannot take!
Our hope,
You cannot faze!
Our faith,
You cannot break!
Our love,
Will overcome!
Chorus
The skies out tonight are silent.
The skies out tonight are silent.
But soon, they will roar again.
Yes, soon they will roar again.
For we all can sense,
Our American pride,
We’ve gathered as one,
We won’t be outdone,
We’ll fight till we’ve won!
Our strength,
You cannot take!
Our hope,
You cannot faze!
Our faith,
You cannot break!
Our love,
Will overcome!
The skies out tonight are silent.
The skies out tonight are silent.
(To fade)
Written by
Robert A. Martinez, Ed.D.
9/11/01
#POWERFUL words, #POWERFUL choices, #POWERFUL actions! Find your words to become a #Learner, #Leader, #Lifer!
Each of us is on a journey; a journey towards self-discovery, self-improvement, self-awareness, and hopefully self-actualization. While we are on our individual journies I believe that each of us has the capability to choose the words that guide us as we head towards our personal destinations. I believe that we have a responsibility to be thoughtful about those choices, and that we can effectuate positive changes in our worlds and the worlds that those we care about. I believe that if we do this we can all become expert #learners, #leaders and #lifers. Meaning, those that choose to learn, lead others, and appreciate each moment that lif has to offer.
I bring this challenge to you to focus on the words that can support you on your journey. This challenge would be to take a look at the picture below that contains a number of words that I have dubbed #POWERFUL words, and to make some choices for yourself. Choose the words that reflect who you are as a #POWERFUL person. Maybe you are a #learner, a #leader, or a #lifer, like me, or maybe you are simply seeking to be a little better than the day before, or quite possibly you are seeking to change the world with your magical powers. I think that no matter which level your journey is on that you can choose to make it a #POWERFUL one by forcusing on the words that give you your internal power.
For me, my current set of words includes: #Positive, #Outstanding, #Wise, #Empowered, #Resilient, #Forthright, #Unbelievable, and #Loving. Let me explain:
#Positive: Each moment of each day I choose my attitude. I choose to be positive, to look on the bright side, to relish the good that occurs in front of my eyes, and then I seek out the good that might go overlooked. Sometimes its the simplest of actions that people, I don’t even know do, such as holding a door for someone, or picking up a piece of trash that lays before them, to witnessing the engagement of an exceptional educator who is guiding the development of a group of students and educators all day long.
#Outstanding: As I maneuver through my day I seek to be a shining light to those that might catch a glimpse of me in action. Not that I need to be the star of the show, but it’ that I feel a sense of responsibility to seek to be my best for the people I serve. I strive to give others an authentic look at how I go through life with what I hope are exceptional behaviors, actions, and positivity. I want to get that smile from an onlooker. I want to include people in my life. I seek to engage, and be present in what I hope is a memorable way towards the good.
#Wise: I have had the opportunity to learn many life lessons, to become a learned man, to build a set of skills that guide my decisions and actions. I learned these things from life, from my parents, from those in my lives, from my teachers, from my colleagues, my children, and if I don’t act with regard of these lessons that I have learned, then I think that I wouldn’t give justice to these life experiences. I want to be thoughtful, be cognizant of the intelligence I have, use it for good, and allow my thoughts and actions to demonstrate who I truly am.
#Empowered: It is my life. It is my choice. It is my heart, mind, and soul, that creates me, so it becomes a real action to be empowered through myself. If I were allow myself to be only directed by others, would that be enough? If I allowed myself to be swayed one way or another because of popular belief or persuasion or group mentality, would that be enough? I think not! To be empowered is to be aware, to know you have choices, then to choose consciously, and to let yourself recognize that you have independent thought and have acted on your own accord.
#Resilient: If you know me at all, you know that at my inner core, the issues of resilience ignite my life. Having the capability to come up against adversity, then to battle, fight, overcome, be the relentless individual that I can be, to persevere through any hardship that presents itself, is truly a learned skill set that I use each and every day. I also seek to help others recognize that they too have experienced resilience, and that each of our minds are afforded opportunities continuously to overcome the roadblocks paced before us. This power word is essential to my and my development, and for me represents a deep commitment to living.
#Forthright: While there is always the need for tact and courtesy in providing information to people, especially information that might not be seen as positive to all ears, none of us have time to beat around the bush or to engage in miscommunication about important issues, topics, concepts, or with feedback that is designed to improve the lot of children, their parents, or those that work to build communities. So, to me, I feel a need to know my stuff, to know my positions, to know what I want to have occur, and then to work to communicate effectively with those that have interest or motivation to make things better. I find that by being thoughtful in my approach I am better able to hold crucial conversations with those in my life.
#Unbelievable: Our world is filled with common and general experiences. Going to get gas in our cars, stopping by the grocery store to pick up a few things, or maybe even making a quick pit stop on a long journey to take care of business, are several of those common experiences. I want to give people an unbelievable experience when I am with them. Maybe it’s with my greeting, maybe its my customer service, maybe its just offering a warm hand to shake, or possibly its by exceeding someone’s expectations in a meeting, offering just a bit more that they were thinking our conversation would provide to them, or by busting out in a little song to lighten the mood. It isn’t always about showmanship, but the style in the show that you decide to provide.
#Loving: I care about people. I truly want each person to succeed in their lives, and and I strive to be a loving person in my interactions with others. I love having an opportunity to work with people, to communicate with others, and to work in the education arena, where what we all do on a daily basis matters, and supports our shared future world. I love my family, my friends, my career, and my life. I love it! I am a #LIFER! What I mean by this is that I work to focus on the precious moments that I am given, and value the good and difficult moments that occur in my day, and I hope that you will join me in loving your life.
The beauty of engaging in a process such as this and reflecting on the #POWERFUL words presented in this challenge, is that you do not need to choose my words! You can choose your own. You also do not need to choose words that I have provided as you can add your own. Your choice, your power, your actions, your opportunities to grow yourself, and then your opportunity to work to build the #POWERFUL attributes in each person that are in your world. Think about it, if each person you know actually focused on choosing their words, and enhancing their powers, then worked to build themselves up, and then focusd their energies to build the powers of others in their worlds, then we could actually instigate a dynamic change to our collective world by simply building on the super powers we all have to improve the world!
Rob Martinez, Ed.D. is known as @ResiliencyGuy and AKA @DrRobM_FSUSD on twitter, and can bfound as “Resiliency Guy” on Facebook. He is becoming well known for his presentations on Transformational Resilience across California, and serves the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources.
Seeking Balance, and Allowing Resilience to Lead You Forward
When stress and anxiety are provided a window of opportunity into your heart, mind, soul and body, they quickly focusing on creating imbalance in your world in order to be able to invite their close friends depression, anger and frustration to the party. Seeking to find and keep your balance, and allowing your resilience to support you in moving forward, are ways to limit these windows of opportunity that tend to pull us even farther off the balance we seek.
Is there a sure-fire way to avoid stress, anxiety and their friends from attempting to tilt you over? Of course not, and yet, if you take action on several or all of these steps to build your resilience skills you will be better able to walk tall, keep your alignment more steady, and ward off these mental beasts that seek to tear you down.
A few simple excercises to stay in balance:
-Be thankful: Yes, be aware of what has been provided to you, what you have access to, and that you can use to take care of yourself. Be it food, shelter, clothes, or even crumbs, consider that you have something. If you have family, loved ones, a job, a place to call home, a place to visit, you have something to be thankful for, and
-Be kind: Taking a moment or two to provide an act of kindness, to care for someone else, or to provide something to someone that needs a pick-me-up.
-Be active: By getting your body going (walk, jog, run, ride, bend, stretch…) you inform each and every cell of your body that you are alive. You let your whole system know that this life must be lived, that you want to be part, and that you are readying yourself for your next great adventure.
–Be present: If you work, be at work, and take care of the things that work calls for without allowing yourself to be engaged in, for lack of a better word, “DRAMA” that pulls you away from your work. If you are at home, be at home, be there for those that need and depend on you, yes, that is your life, these are the people you love, and they deserve the very best of you each opportunity you have to be with them. By being present, you remain an active part of your life, their lives, and show them the way to engage, stay in control, remain calm, fight your way through, and to be ready for a new day!
–Build your skills: Personal, professional, creative, or even athletic skills must be targeted and focused on. If you recognize you should, and want to improve in a given area, you must put in the work to advance your skills. If it’s by becoming a better person, well, maybe you start by reading a little blog such as this, or it’s by taking a class, or it’s just by having a conversation with someone you know. If it’s professional, again, focus on the area of need, target that specific skill set you have identified, and get yourself going. If you want to develop a new part of yourself, there are literally millions of ways to “Google” it, and then take action. It is your life, you are the lead of your own show, and you can modify the script as you see fit.
BOLD CRAZY SENTENCE: You, are only the you, you believe yourself to be, and if you want to be a new you, well then identify a path, take a step towards your journey, and seek to become the new you you long for!
Here’s hoping that you each find your balance, that you seek to engage in being: thankful, kind, active, present, and that you build your skills accordingly. While I can’t guarantee that the stress and anxiety won’t be able to find you if you engage in these behaviors I can tell you with assurance that you will have more skills at hand in your resilience tool kit if you do, and that you will be more able to right yourself should you feel yourself tilting one way or another.
So, with that, Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone, and I do hope that you reflect and plan on bringing the best you to each and every day. Remember, some of the best days of your life may have not happened yet.
Dr. Martinez is the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District and is also known as @ResiliencyGuy on @twitter. He can be found on Facebook at “Resiliency Guy” and is Co-Moderator of #Resiliencechat that occurs each Monday, at 7:00 PST on @Twitter
#Resilience Chat with Crystal Middle School Students, 10/28/16
Had a fantastic opportunity to share some thoughts about #resilience with some of our students at Crystal Middle School.
Some of the audio quality is not the best here, however I think that some of the video segments are pretty good examples of connecting to students, and that I was able to connect with them about what #resilience is all about.
I presented them with the concept that adversity comes in all shapes and sizes, and that I believe that if they have more #assets in their control that they will be better able to get through any roadblock that gets in their way.
I targeted four areas of development: #academic focus, #value development, social #competence, and #self-#empowerment as ways to build their personal #resilience skills.
I am hoping to hone this type of presentation, and I seek to reach more and more of our students, and possibly students across the states.
Let me know what you think.
Dr. Rob Martinez is the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, and is known as @ResiliencyGuy on twitter, and throughout northern California. He is focusing more and more on sharing his knowledge on #resilience development with both #educators, #Students, and our broader educational communities.
#Resilience Reflection – Each Moment An Opportunity to #Inspire
As many of you might be aware I focus a lot on the issue of #resilience development, its importance as a personal skill for all, as an essential asset for our students, and as a trait that can be nurtured in each of us.
Well, I heard a story of a student at one of the elementary schools in my district, who, a few days ago was identified by a teacher as simply sitting alone during the day, when he should have been in class engaged in a learning opportunity. She explained that this boy appeared to be seemingly lost in personal thought, and possibly in need of a friendly smile or kind interaction. The teacher sharing this story with me said that she was drawn to this young boy to check on his welfare.
She shared that once she said “Hi” to him, he seemed to be generally fine, and though indeed, he was lost in thought, he came around after this brief interaction. He re-entered the learning environment, and this simple action changed the direction of his day. He readily accepted the friendly gesture, re-engaged in the lesson at hand, and enjoyed the remainder of his school day.
You might ask, what’s so special about that? Well, in my work as a school psychologist, as site administrator, and even as an administrator in Human Resources, I often try to focus on the little things that might go unnoticed in our day-to-day activities with children and with each other, and I seek to positively impact those little things to make a stronger impact on the big things.
What I noticed about this simple story was that the teacher telling me this story took notice. She noticed a boy, seeming lost to his thoughts when he should have been engaged in his class and learning opportunity. She noticed that he needed a kind, reassuring, guiding voice, to re-engage him in his learning environment, and she took action, and he responded. She noticed that a child, a human being, had removed himself from his opportunity to learn, place where he could advance his knowledge, participate with his peers, and have an opportunity to change his life, and she knew that she needed to make a difference for him. She didn’t wait for him to care before interceding, she took action!
Let me return to the story for a moment. At the end of that day, the boy was participating in class, connecting with other students, and even hugged this teacher prior to leaving for the day. A simple interaction by a teacher brought about a significant change to a situation where a student had removed himself from his learning environment. Indeed, this story could have gone so differently. If the teacher might have judged this child, took his detachment personally, or felt that some form of punishment was needed to “get his attention” this situation could have been escalated quickly, could have deteriorated this boy’s thoughts about education, and possibly confirmed for him that people don’t care. Again, it could have gone badly.
A few days ago I went by the school to meet this young man. I talked to him about his #resilience. I asked him about the other day, and he remembered. I shared with him that I thought that he had the power to make positive choices each day, and that he truly demonstrated resilience that day by returning to class, by participating, by taking hold of his own education, and that I believed that he has the ability to build on his success. I asked him if I could check in on him next month, and he said, “Sure.”
I share this story with you because I see it as a significant reminder that no matter where we work, no matter what our formal job or position is, that we can all work as individuals to positively impact our students every day. Whether it’s through a kind, reassuring, guiding voice, whether it’s by providing the most engaging lessons and instruction that we can each day, or even if it’s safely driving our students to and from schools if we are a bus driver, we can all positively impact our students. We can all afford a smile, a kind word, a positive engagement moment, or even simply by lending an ear to a child. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to be #kind, #compassionate, #empathetic, and to make a connection. In fact, it cost nothing at all, except for your time and energy to do so.
I challenge you to take advantage of each moment that you have with children/students and let’s strive to make a connection with them whenever possible. I implore you to let children know that you care, and that you are there to assist them in building their personal skills and assets, especially their #resilience.
Each Day an Opportunity to #Inspire!
Dr. Rob Martinez is the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, and is known as @ResiliencyGuy on @twitter He strives to build the capacities of his employees in fostering #resilience across his District. Follow Dr. Rob at @ResiliencyGuy on #twitter and #intagram, and on Facebook at “Resiliency Guy”
Focus on Transformational Resilience
My focus is on #Resilience development, and my concept is simple to comprehend. I believe that each person has the capability to support others with developing #resilience skills. I also firmly believe that it is an obligation for adults, especially educators, to build environments for children, and especially their students, that foster the development of the latent ability to be #resilient that resides in each child.
I believe that there are steps that each person can take to support the advancement of #resilience skills, and this simple graphic is representative of those actions that can be taken to build these skills in our children.
Ask yourself these questions and reflect if you are taking steps to build or hinder #resilience development:
1. Am I acting to #engage my students? Meaning, Am I offering relevant interactions that are intended to build their skills, knowledge, creativity and innovation skills?
2. Am I offering #positivity to my students? Meaning, Am I focused on the growth, the development, the advancement of my students, while providing authentic meaningful feedback that encourages my students and inspires them?
3. Am I being #thoughtful in my approach with my student? Meaning, Am I considerate of the unique needs and interests of my students, and I am reflective in my process, and then, in turn, able to be flexible in my approach to connecting with them as individuals?
4. Am I #supportive towards each of my students no matter what? Meaning, no matter the needs, no matter their behaviors, no matter the trauma that they may have been exposed to, do you accept them, without reservation, and do you recognize that they deserve the best you can be?
I believe that working to support our children is the most important work that can be accomplished by educators, parents, and adults. If we don’t, who will? If we don’t act, how will our children learn and grow? If we don’t accept this responsibility, act as mature, well-functioning adults, how in the world can we expect our children to become more advanced well-functioning adults? It is that important! It is the most essential work that we can do! It is up to each of us to build environments for children where they can grow, flourish, and activate the latent ability to be resilien! Please join me in this effort to help our children grow in peace!
Dr. Rob Martinez is the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, and is a proponent of supporting #resilience development in all of our learning environments. He would be happy to assist you and your schools in building and fostering environments where #TransformationalResilience can grow!
You can follow Dr. Rob at @ResiliencyGuy on #twitter as well.
Transformational Resilience: Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together!
Resilient Individuals:
Individuals who demonstrate resilient behaviors tend to be able to recognize and manage their personal perceptions and feelings, and are cognizant of their personal locus-of-control. They can perceive and understand feelings of others, understand that they matter to others, and also see that they can make a positive impact on the world. They tend to believe in themselves, reach out to others when required, and accept help from others. They insulate themselves from self-blame, and deprecating behavior, make peace with negative events, and live a healthy life. Meaning they eat well, get their rest, excercise, and accept change.
The tricky part is of course building environments that support and promote health living, engage minds, create places where these skills can develop and flourish, and where resilience thrives! Is it doable? Can we create healthy environments where it becomes the norm to develop resilience skills? I surely hope so, and with some specific strategies we can all be on our way to these types of schools!
Action Steps For All Educators, Parents, Students:
-Encourage the Development of Positive Attitudes: By connecting with students, and providing positive feedback, encouragement, connections, and communication we can elicit healthy responses. We can keep barriers from building that stifle growth, positive attitudes from developing, and connections with other people from propelling students forward.
-Increase Support Networks for All: Ensure that each person in the environment has someone to be with, talk to, chart with, share with, and create a culture where listening to others is a premium behavior that is rewarded, over and over again. How many times do we see students talk at each other without really listening? The skill of listening has been demonstrated to be a consummate winner in evolving our societies. Listen people, just listen!
-Encourage the Building of Trusting Relationships: By fostering mutual respect for each other as people first, whether the relationships is between students, students/teachers, parents/teachers, etc. It is imperative that we build a culture where each one recognizes that we are there because of the others that are present. An old South African saying, “I am because you are,” shared often by Bishop Desmond Tutu, means that I exist as part of your world, and we are in this together. Let’s build schools where we are all in this together!
-Increase Student Engagement: We must build schools and deliver instruction for the students we have, and in response to their needs. We must be flexible in our methods, styles, instruction, curriculum, performance, measurement of success, supports, and work to provide meaning to the learning that matters to our students. If we continue to treat students as they have always been treated, then why would we expect a different result? The time is ripe for change!
-Foster a Positive and Inclusive Ethos: Our students need to be connected and belong to their environments. Hence, we must work to ensure that each student not only feels a part of their school, but that they truly identify themselves as being part of the school. By including them in decisions, acting on their interests, celebrating their diversity and uniqueness, and authentically connecting with them first as people, than as supporters of their development we provide more opportunity for them to belong to, not just attend school.
-Enhance Extracurricular Activities: The days of after-school sports need to be modified in order to provide both #Access and #Equity to all students. During the day school clubs, technology, activities, sports, visual and performing arts, drama, (and the list goes on), must become a thing of the present to support our students with having opportunities to engage, connect with, and pick up a multitude of talents. Especially for our students who may be marginalized, and/or who cannot afford after-school activities, we must ensure that their opportunities are provided and enhanced!
-Make it #FUN at Every Level: Schools, school communities, classrooms, extra-curricular activities, staff meetings, must all have a component of fun! If not, then what is the purpose, really? As humans, we laugh, we giggle, we smirk, we guffaw, we snort, we are silly beings, and if we are not engaged and having fun, we generally look for something else to do. So why, not? Why not make it all fun? Why not take your class outside to hunt for moon rocks (ala Dave Burgess, “Teach Like a Pirate” guy? Why not bring some wild music into the classroom, and see how it livens up the place? Why knot? (The word knot was used to see if you were paying attention, and to make you laugh!)
-Develop Life Skills: Possibly through internships, service-learning, taking leadership roles in the classroom, or at school, or volunteering to help younger kids read, or by simply being a buddy to another student, there are ample ways to help students realize that their life skills matter, that they can have a positive impact on people in their worlds. As students develop it could become so easy to simply allow each one to believe that they are the most important child in the world, and if we work just a little bit, we can help them realize that they could in fact become the most important person in the world to another person who needs them. If we did, we sure would have some tremendously skills children on our hands.
Summing up: I do believe that as educators come to not only recognized the need for these types of supports, and that we collective begin to act on them to build the types of schools that are surely needed, we can positively change the world, one student, one classroom, one school at a time. And, if we really get to it, we can change our communities for the good that much faster!
Dr. Robert A. Martinez, AKA “Resiliency Guy” on Facebook, and @ResiliencyGuy on #twitter @twitter strives to support the ideas of Transformational Resilience #TR to all who come in his path! He co-moderates #Resiliencechat on Monday evenings on #Twitter at 7:00 PM PST. Join him in his quest to create schools where children can “Grow in Peace!” He is currently the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District.
Recipes For Resilience 