Celebrate This Week: In Which I Pull a Firetruck

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It’s Saturday and time to reflect on the week and celebrate. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres’ blog to read others’ celebrations.

Today, my husband and I participated in a Firetruck Pull. Yes, that’s right. We pulled the fire truck. We were on the team with other women from the Barre gym I go to (and a couple more husbands). It was a charity event to raise money to get winter coats for children in need. It is the kind of event I usually think looks fun. It is the kind of event I usually don’t sign up for. But this time, I did sign up, which meant I had to show up. I couldn’t let my social anxiety keep me from this one. We had a team counting on us.

14435156_10101355326052724_810356637543691946_oWe had so much fun! I would not have had this fun if I had stayed in my comfort zone and let it pass me by. I am proud of myself for stepping up and deciding to do something this time.    

 

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What else in my week could compare to this? What a rush! We pulled the truck seventy-five feet in 23 seconds the first run and 22 seconds the second run. We came in 5th out of 9 teams, but the 4 top teams were all really muscular men. Two of the teams were firefighter teams.

 

A video posted by Emily (@jungbow) on

It was most fun to watch how teams collaborated and strategized to try to beat their times. We all watched the model firefighter teams. Every team came out the second time and beat their first time. I couldn’t help but think about how much we all learned about pulling a truck. And about how applicable this story will be to my conversations in the classroom about growth mindset. In particular, I am thinking about some of the traits Kristine Mraz and Christine Hertz talk about in A Mindset for Learning.

Optimism: Firetrucks are really heavy, yet no one said they weren’t going to be able to do it.

Persistence: Some teams were a lot slower the first time, yet none of them gave up.

Flexibility: Almost all of the teams adjusted their strategy the second time around.

I can’t wait to share with my students. I think they will get a kick out of the videos of the truck being pulled by my team. And I am excited to share with them about the way I applied the traits to get my mind ready for learning.

What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

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Author: Andrea

I am an instructional technology coach in a middle school in Milwaukee, WI. I have been teaching for over 20 years in many grade levels ranging from first through eighth grade. I am a lifelong book nerd.

5 thoughts on “Celebrate This Week: In Which I Pull a Firetruck”

  1. Oh my goodness! First of all – what a neat fundraiser! Second of all – I am impressed by the strength of your team, or any team for that matter! And what a great connection to the classroom: optimism, persistence and flexibility for sure!

  2. Terrific to hear about this. I’ve never heard of anyone doing it before and it does look like a lot of fun. Congrats for doing, Andrea and for making the application to a growth mindset, so true!

  3. I saw this once on a TV news morning show. And now I actually “know” someone who has done it! Way to step out of your comfort zone, Andrea!

  4. Wow. What an experience. Cheers to you for stepping out of your comfort zone. I like how you plan to use your experience to connect to students learning.

  5. I’ve never heard of this particular kind of event, but what a great learning experience for all involved. You found out what you could do together. Glad you stepped out!

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