“We are on a quest to collect as many personal tools that will assist us in quantifiable measurement of ourselves. We welcome tools that help us see and understand bodies and minds so that we can figure out what humans are here for.” — Kevin Kelly
I don’t need to tell you that your data is everywhere. What you search for on the internet, what “cookies” you leave behind while aimlessly browsing, what you’ve bought and what it might lead to you buying. Data points are overwhelming in education too- reading levels, test scores, time on task, and forget it if a child has behavioral or special education needs- there is data being collected everywhere, and not just by computers.
The concept of the “Quantified Self” is borrowed from Kevin Kelly, a technologist, writer, and former editor of Wired magazine. When we consider how many aspects of our lives have been or are being counted, it can seem overwhelming; at the same time, you might ask: how did it get this far?
We can’t get the genie back in the bottle, but we can shape our data points. We can use them to instruct and inform both what we do for self-care and what we do for improving the outcomes for our students.
Education is a personally demanding profession. You are a human tasked with working with other humans, and your goal is to make them into the best adult versions of humans they can be. Needless to say the complicating factors will steer your course in many different ways, but self-care is your north star or your navigating beacon. Continue to return to helping yourself as often as you can, and taking care of the students will be both done easier and done better.
Simple ways to quantify yourself and start to help navigating are food journals, being mindful of water intake, and finding time to do even basic exercise. Simple, daily actions like taking a 5 minute walk after lunch or taking the stairs instead of using the elevator in your building are a start for exercise. Getting a water bottle with the amount of ounces listed on the side can also help you to count through the amount of water you are trying to take in during one day- I know, you can’t get coverage to pee- but try and take down what you can during the day and then hydrate like hell at home. Food journaling allows you to shed light on what you eat- you can’t make change without awareness. Start with writing just one meal a day and build from there.
Simple, repeatable steps start longer lasting habits. As James Clear has written, getting 1% better each day compounds into 37x change over the course of the year. Show up first, then refine as you go.
