Andy Vasily: Travel, Recovery and Connection
"I developed a framework for delivering meaningful physical education and movement experiences that will inspire young people to be physically active for life." - Andy Vasily
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Andy Vasily is a leading educator who has taught at International Baccalaureate schools in 5 different countries over the past 18 years (Japan, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, and Saudi Arabia). He completed his teaching training in education and psychology at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.
He is also an international educational consultant and founder of the award-winning blog www.pyppewithandy.com. Andy previously worked as a Child-Youth Counsellor at a young offender’s facility in Windsor, Ontario and it was through this experience that he first realized the stumbling blocks and injustices that many of these young people faced in their daily experience. As a direct result of seeing a need for change, he pursued a full-time career as an educator.
Wanting to push his own understanding of teaching and learning to a deeper level, Andy made the decision to begin blogging in order to share his teaching practice and connect with other educators and top researchers around the world. The value that he saw in this exchange of vision and practical applications led to an enriched professional learning journey that he has shared with practitioners and scholars alike.
Andy is an innovator in the area of education and has continued growing his commitment to student learning by bringing the global community together to create meaningful progress in the way students learn around the globe. He has presented his work in over 20 countries and spoken at a number of international conferences.
Website:
Show Notes:
[00:04:21] How Saudi Arabia is Changing
“I've been here four years, and they're extremely committed to change. So I tell a lot of people that I speak to from outside the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that it is the most exciting time to live in a country because the doors were closed to Saudi Arabia forever. Then suddenly they've opened their doors and, and they're bringing in tourists.
The Saudi Arabian government is promoting lots of sporting events here and building new hotels, and they know that they can't sustain themselves on oil anymore. So they are now tapping into the tourist industry.“
[00:07:48] Andy's Hometown and How He Traveled
“I had been dating this, Girl from a woman from the university. She was studying nursing, and then she was from Toronto, and then she wanted to go and experience the world. Then she had an opportunity to go to Japan after we graduated, and I was really set on staying where I was, which is Windsor, Ontario.
And then the opportunity presented itself for me to go to Japan and I was going to go for six months and play football there, and then suddenly that turned into ten years. We got married, two children, then we moved to Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan. Then we moved to Cambodia, then we moved to China for five years, and we've been living in Saudi Arabia for four years.
So what a beautiful life experience to truly be an international person, you know? And I think that's what we're saying. The world is changing so rapidly and, we're becoming so globalized that there is no other way to look at it, but to be internationally minded.”
[00:11:09] Following What's Important To You
“And I took a leave of absence, and I said, I'll be back. I just want to do this for a bit. And then I was at Detroit Metro airport, and it was at Detroit Metro airport where I was ready to fly out, and I called my dad on the payphone, and I literally broke down in tears, and I was like, I'm so scared right now because I don't know what's going to happen.
And at that moment I was in tears. I'm reflecting like, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? And, and my dad was like, well, like, you're going to be okay. You're just going for a little while. Well, a little while ended up ten years. And a little while, I ended up connecting with beautiful Japanese people and families and becoming a part of a good Japanese culture and having this amazing experience and then suddenly getting married and having two kids and experiencing a completely different life.
And that's when my world and my life changed, and I said, I'm not going back to the person that I was. I'm not going back to my hometown. Not that I didn't want to go back. I said I will go back to my hometown, but I'm not going to be the same person because this is open my eyes to the amazing world that is in front of us and available to us if we are open to that experience.”
[00:15:12] Professional Football Tryout
[00:18:19] Resolutions and Long Term Thinking
People mentioned: Dr. Albert Bandura and Dr. Mike Gervais
“Dr. Albert Bandura, speaks about proximal goals and, and that idea that you can have your dream, you can have your vision, please have your dream and vision because life is about dreams and visions. And if you don't have a dream and a vision and you don't actually see what you want in your mind, then you'll never get there.
But then that's not enough. And that's what Dr. Mike Gervais, talks about all the time, is that that's not enough. That's not enough to get you to where you want to be. You now have to break it down into the micro-steps needed to get you to that goal. And I think that's one of the big things that people miss out on is actually sitting down and doing the hard work of mapping out.
The day to day work needed to get you to your destination, and then when you get to that destination, that destination will then take you to a new destination. So it's not looking at it as the absolute end goal. Is it just the next goal. I think that's where everybody falls short, even myself. I still fall short.”
[00:21:41] Frameworking and Eisenhower Decision Matrix
For more see: #77 - How To Train Your Mind: Movement
[00:25:38] The Three Shot Journal
“So it's a pretty short journal. So at the end of every run, you write in detail your three best shots. So in an average round for a great player, you're going to take 72 shots, but you're going to narrow it down to your three best shots.
And at the end, every you're going to write in your journal your three best shots. So then at the end, you imagine doing that for six months. You have this amazing journal of excellence to draw on. Of what you are capable of. This is not only about golf a, and B, you're three chunks, three shots, journal of life.
You know, the three greatest things that happened to me today, whatever it is, but you have to recognize and document your greatness daily. And, and what you're doing well so that you can remind yourself of your terrible times. You can open up that, and you can look months and months and months of success, and once you truly achieved.
So it's that seeking that three-shot journal from golf, but applying it to life, you know? So your three greatest moments every day, it's an easy thing. It takes five minutes of your 1,442 minutes per day. Right? So it takes five minutes.”
[00:29:20] What Gets Measured Gets Managed
[00:30:49] Data Has No Emotion
[00:32:41] Prioritizing Daily Recovery
[00:34:45] Being Present
[00:38:03] Do More vs Be More
[00:39:31] With Knowledge, Comes Responsibility
[00:43:16] Searching Inside One's Self
[00:44:51] Experiences Not Gifts
“But the act of Christmas is the act of giving and caring and loving and communicating. And those are the values that we try to instill — every single day in our kids. So our kids, when they're adults, I mean our, my oldest boy is 16, my youngest son is 14, and I hope to hell that when they are 30 or 25 or 30 or 35 when they reflect on what Christmas means to them, Christmas was the world.
Christmas was people. Christmas was experiences and love and learning, and all of those things. And, and that's kind of how we're looking at things now as we journey through our own life with our family.”
[00:49:46] Having Gratitude For Time Spent With Those That Matter Most
[00:52:48] We Need To Connect
[00:54:07] Andy's Professional Background
[00:57:00] Creating A Program For Movement Not Sport
“Somebody who's going to go into the physical education space and not wants to play a team sport. So why? And it's not that they don't want to play a team sport, it's just that they have other interests. So why not create a physical education program that allows for movement? So you imagine, going to PE class and we're going to teach, after Christmas, we're going to teach a health and wellness unit of a fitness unit. Yeah. So now I'm pitching it, and then I get to go, the beauty of my job is I get to go in and, and co-teach and kind of muddle lessons. So I'm like, you know what? Let's get some of these kids just into power walking. So why not allow them to bring their device, listen to music and power walk around the field, listen to a podcast, listen to an audiobook and power walk the field.”
[01:00:37] Fitting the Program Into the Community
[01:02:55] Gardening In PE
[01:05:41] How Andy's Career Has Evolved
[01:07:08] Erich's Educational Background
[01:09:23] Andy's Important Mentors
“But we also have to look at who are the daily mentors who push us and inspire us. And you might not talk to them for three, three, or four months, but then suddenly you might reconnect with them, and then you realize why you reconnected with them because they also inspire you. So it's a difficult question to answer, but I would say that every day we have the opportunity to be mentored when we open our minds and our present.”
