Greatitude

I contemplated not writing a blog this week because I just need a break from everything for a while because this week was really hard. But as I stopped to reflect a bit after dinner tonight I realized I could do something different with this week's post instead. 

I know that it is Thanksgiving weekend so we are supposed to be all what do you give thanks for, blah blah, gratitude. And you know what I am not feeling that at all because I worry how easily those kinds of things dip into toxic positivity which is not what we need right now (we being anyone in the world really, but we academics here as well). I also had enough of that framing this morning in a burnout workshop I attended. Yes I think reflection is super important; and yes I am very much on team metacognition. But I was thinking of how to spin that gratitude list as an activity that could be done in class in relation to a topic or a particular reading that wasn't assumptive of anyone's positionality and could allow for aesthetic and critical interpretation.

So I am going to do a greatitude list. A greatitude list is my way of reclaiming this word from the depths of portmanteau land, and an opportunity to list things that make you feel great. It can be things that you have presently in your life, or things you used to have, or things you wish you had. So it is reflective, aspirational, and affirming all at the same time (sans the icky tone one normally sees hopefully). It can also be spun as a grateitude list where you list what annoys you, but lets stick to what will probably be the shorter list for now. What this could look like in class is having students indicate instances they felt were great in their readings (fiction, articles, media, etc.) or complete the following: "It would have been great if...." which could then open discussion to why and how that would have affected the outcome or message of what they read. This kind of activity could be used for many kinds of lessons or modules, critical thinking, note taking, argumentation, analysis. 

So here is my greatitude list which I hope I can add to by the end of the weekend with more reflection:

• The first sweater of fall
• Having a colleague who deeply gets all the things
• Instructor consults that push deep pedagogical, ethical, or access questions
• Discovering alt-texts on images on Twitter
• Making a dent in my to be read pile of books or scholarly articles
• Bergson jokes or references to duree
• A line of verse that is just perfectly weighted in tone and intent
• Random messages or emails from former students
• When you ask someone to talk and they make time for you
• Being able to connect people to other people or resources
• Cooking something for the first time that turns out delicious
• Acknowledgement of work done
• Genuine collaboration opportunities without power differentials and ulterior motives
• Comprehensive framing
• Real Black Forest Cake with kirsch and whip cream and not the faux stuff they use at Loblaws
• Documentaries