Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:30
In Swell We Meet: A Series of Conversations with Fellow Swellcaster Friends - KIM MITCHELL
I'm here to tell you that in the last year of Beta and then launch, I have met such extraordinary people who have become people in my life, my IRL people who I have come to love and know and respect and collaborate with. I even fell in love on a private Swell, which is a whole other conversation. But today I want to celebrate a new friendship that evolved
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 3:30
And I was an A student in that English class at the time, and I remembered that I had performed particularly well on an assignment or something that I was working on. And I think I was in 11th grade and my English teacher with a smile on his face and thinking he was giving me a compliment, said, you are a credit to your race, and he was really excited about it. And he had a smile on his face. But I couldn't understand why
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 1:13
I feel like I need to add a little context to my last statement. I went to a high school. That where the student body was predominantly Jewish students. So there were not had a lot of black students. There were black students, but there weren't a ton of black students. And most of the black students were on a program that was part of the integration movement. And we're not talking about the 60s
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:15
It keeps us expanding as people, because information is overwhelming until it transmutes into knowledge. So given that idea of getting out of your comfort zone and knowing that you know something, but then pushing away from the no to the question of the curiosity again, that is a philosophy that I want to ask you about as a teacher
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 4:01
Wow. What a beautiful question, Deborah. And there's so many different ways I can answer it. But one thing that I just want to share is that my responsibility as a professor is to train the next generation of teachers. So that is my kind of role in my teaching. I do teach undergraduates, but mostly graduate students who want to become teachers
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 3:12
And then I said, oh, so directing five cameras, I really did learn something, and I can use those skills. Those transferable skills in another setting, and it really helps me the same with designing instruction. My background is in theater, film and TV. I grew up performing. So when I set up my schedule for the day or if I have, like, a three hour class, I know how to fill that time
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 3:35
So I think the first thing I want to say is, wow, what a great way to teach, to take that breath before you react and respond and find an invitation that's just there, waiting for someone to show up in a better way. Also, your comment about habits of mind. It's so moving to me because growth mindset is a buzzword in a lot of spaces and specifically in the corporate space. But habits of mind also celebrates
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 4:58
So part of getting around that feeling is self talk, right with students, it would be more about me pointing out what they are good at, how they've been successful at certain things in the past and with my students in particular, I have to encourage them not to overthink everything because there's this perfectionism streak that runs amongst people who intend to be teachers
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:06
Even if they appreciate who you are, they might say, wow, Kim really showed me that she's doubting something in herself. Blah, blah, blah. Because you're in the space of teaching and also the space of corporate leadership and development. I want to ask you about the true meaning of transparency and vulnerability in the context of knowing the cost of it might be someone not being able to handle what you say
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 3:48
And those things are sometimes used against us from the beginning. Right. So then you add your transparency to that, and it just gives people yet another reason to pass you over for opportunities or to reaffirm their own stereotypes. So it's a really challenging question. When it comes to my friends. I have learned that you have certain friends for certain things. Right. So there are some friends you can go to happy hour with. There are some friends that are good to vacation with
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:41
I'm going to specifically invite a few people that I think would be really interested in vibing on these topics. So let's see what happens when I share this out into the world and you do the same and have a beautiful walk. And let's just keep our ears to this space
Roomi Tarik
@roomi · 3:27
Kim, I'm so sorry I had so little information about you. And now I know a lot, thanks to you, Deborah, and obviously yourself because some of the things that you mentioned, you are a professor, by the way. And you've given Ted talks, and I think you're a regular person. I did not have any idea. I'm so sorry. I really am. But listening to you, and actually, the way you answered every single question was just mind blowingly
phil spade
@Phil · 1:49
Deb and Kim, thank you so much for the conversation. I've really been enjoying listening to this, and I've kind of got a couple of questions, but I wanted to start off. I think back to the race comment. I think back to the Crenshaw comment, and I wanted to ask you both, what role do you think social media has with comments like that these days?
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 1:52
Phil, thank you so much for commenting. I agree with you that part of it is because of social media and the instant gratification that you mentioned. But the other part is thinking about the the age of the students that made those comments and where they are in their process of adulthood. It occurred to me that students may also be very impacted by their parents opinions, and they really haven't formulated their own opinions yet
Roomi Tarik
@roomi · 4:53
You would tell your students exactly other same thing. And while I understand that's a great way to actually help your students realize that it's okay to put themselves under so much pressure and scrutiny, and they should just be listening to stuff. And they must be listening to you the way you must be explaining every single thing to them, the pros and cons of going into this overdrive and overthinking and all that stuff
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 4:37
I mean, I was down to the cookies in the cafeteria are good, but I started focusing on the positive aspects of what I was doing. And then I started to write and create what I wanted my work situation to be like in the future, not how much money I wanted to make or what the title of position is, because I didn't even know what the title of position was at the time. But I imagine the future that I wanted to have
Kim M
@kimestryarts · 3:40
They talk about something similar, this notion that you don't have to just be locked into being one thing or doing one thing, but that there are multiple possibilities for you in the future that you can feel your way into. So I'm wondering if you've come across other, likeminded people who see your same perspective because I know growing up people always would tell you to focus on one thing. And it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that I was a woman of many talents