Welcome to 5x5 by me, John Phillips! I’m a teacher who loves sharing the amazing stories and lessons I learn about the world with others. It’s the way that my students and I connect in the classroom, how my friends and I connect when we hang out, and how I see the world.
When COVID-19 hit, I was struggling to figure out how to transfer my classroom’s culture online. So much of how we communicated was through the texts we interacted with and told one another about – shows on Netflix, viral social media clips, stories that spoke to our shared experience. I wanted some type of document that I could share with students daily that could help bridge the digital divide. And, oddly enough, I stumbled onto what has now become the idea for this newsletter: the 5x5.
In the NBA, a 5x5 is a rare statistical event (only 22 recorded instances ever), in which a player records at least 5 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks, and 5 steals. If you fill the stat sheet in the way, it means that you’ve influenced the game in every capacity. I took that idea and applied it to the texts with which we interacted with daily. I created a Google Doc that included 5 things to read, watch, write, ask, and know for my students. I also shared the document daily on Twitter. People really seemed to appreciate the format, and I’ve heard from a few people that they’ve started using it in their own teaching.
More than a teaching tool, I’ve come to see the 5x5 as a way to connect. In many ways, the content we spend our time with and give our attention to defines us. The goal of this newsletter is to provide you, the reader, with content that is worth your time and that will leave you feeling more connected to the world around you.
It was only after I had created the 5x5 that I found out that it is also an old military radio term, the predecessor to when someone says a message is coming in"Loud and Clear." My hope is that this newsletter will always find you, loud and clear, no matter the noise that consumes the world around us.
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