A Way of Life

 

(Ruth Bancroft Garden, Walnut Creek, CA) 

   It is currently 7:51 am on January 2nd.  It is a beautifully crisp and clear morning and I am looking out at the orange-pink rays making my succulent plants blush.  My wife left for work earlier in a happy mood.  My parents are visiting from the Sunshine State and are preparing for an epic NorCal outing with me. I haven’t had to answer an email, return a phone call or go to work for several days. I have (surprisingly) gone for a run or hit the gym for several days in a row. I am in a ridiculously good mindset now at 7:56 am.  How can I keep this zen state a month from now on a cold, rainy morning after a particularly rough day in the classroom, dozens of emails I need to respond to, not-really-fun phone calls to make and my wife is not completely happy with whatever new or repeat knucklehead life choice I have made. What if I don't keep up my vacation fitness efforts and lose that positive mind-body surge? Then again, What if I told you that you I (and every educator I know) will not have a job after Winter Break.  Why? Because jobs have demands, deadlines, toil and trouble-- but what if our work mindset received a nirvanic alignment and we changed the game?



   As a teacher or school leader you have the opportunity every day to make a “generational impact on families,” according to Jimmy Casas in his book, Culturize: Every Student, Every Day, Whatever It Takes.”  I just finished the book and this passage spoke to me: “refresh your mindset so you see the role of teacher or principal as a way of life, not as a job or a title.”  The italics are mine-- the sentiment is awesome.  Experiencing the amazing ups and disappointing downs of teaching from a mindset of “a way of life” could be the enlightenment that soaks up the exasperation.  Creating the environment, cultivating the relationships, casting the characters and baking up the curriculum takes a lot.  It is definitely a way of life.  When you are hoping that mix of those competencies will set minds on fire or create an “aha chorus” and the result is a classroom mix of confusion, disinterest or worse--that is difficult for the most resilient educator.  

 I recently took a 3-hour tour of a bunch of educator’s “islands” across our campus that we call “classrooms.”  I wanted to film the whiteboards and screens of the varied learning spaces to show the variety of objectives, targets, agendas, vocabulary words and other edutopian topics on display.  I also asked the students I encountered what they were doing, learning or creating that day.  It was a wonderful opportunity for me to observe the diversity of knowledge, technique and style of our teachers that Administrators see on a more routine basis. I was impressed by the creativity.  I was an observer of the collaboration and the critical thinking of the students and the staff. What I did not expect to find was what several of the teachers shared with me after we briefly discussed my “what did you learn today” film project.  

The teachers were engaged and enthused but several were also...burdened.  New teachers and veterans alike expressed how challenging their days and year were for them.  They felt as if they were struggling and also felt as if everyone else was gliding along effortlessly. These were honest, unprompted expressions. The isolation of their classroom “islands” was very apparent. After hearing that sentiment for the third time, I told a teacher that most others felt like they did.  Their peers were working hard, sometimes failing forward and trying to do their very best for students that they truly cared about.  That teacher fought back tears (a losing battle), but found some respite knowing that others might understand what they were going through.

      This school life can be a great way of life. The chance to make a “generational impact on families” is an amazing opportunity.  Most of us are exactly where we want to be, but we need to be there together. I have been inspired by the #oneword2018 thoughts of many educators.  I choose
“#connection” as my one word for 2018. Educators need #connection beyond the PLN feed on their Samsung or iPhone.
 Our students need connection before they can journey into content. I hear that floatplanes make island travel easy.  See you soon.