Chapter 9. Lighting a Spark. It’s not about us. It’s about them. What are you doing to pay-forward from your universe of possibility?
“…our universe is alive with sparks. We have at our fingertips an infinite capacity to light a spark of possibility.” In our lives as educators we model the passion of our craft. I have seen over the course of changing many schools that there is always the opportunity to ignore the voice inside that says, “How Facinating!” and fall into the downward spiral of “at my old school…we, blah, blah, blah.” If however I can accept that others are eager to catch the spark and I am willing to show them just what ignites me, then the kindling will remain stoked for the arrival of the next individual to arrive and greet us with I’d never thought of that.
Chapter 10. Being the Board: It's not them. It's not the circumstances. It's me. It's my choices. Now what do I do?
This practice arrived at a defining bend in my journey à ce moment meme. I had just been informed after months of fighting, that my district would not accept the Full Sail EMDT as valid. There are accreditation issues with the fact that Full Sail is accredited as a “trade school.” Flashes of all the nights that I spent not sleeping, feeling incredibly ill-prepared to complete the technology aspects of this degree and yet accomplishing so much spiraled down with my mood. I read the words; “when you are angry and blocked, and, for all your efforts, others refuse to move or cooperate, to compromise, or even to be halfway decent; when even enrollment does not work and you are at your wit’s end- you can take out this next practice:” I moved the problematic aspect within the boundaries of myself and began to see new possibilities. Furthermore, I decided against lining up my moves as I’d been doing with our district, to let the pieces move themselves until there is more that I can offer as the board. I may not have a solution yet, but I’m confidant one will present itself and it certainly stemmed my suffering. 
Chapter 11. Creating Frameworks for Possibility: How do I take this flash of insight and make it into daily thing? And how do I share this with others?
Recalling the story of the teacher who shaved her head, I smiled. One small gesture like that could make all the difference in the way children enter into their small social contract. It reminded me of Mrs. Delphinium who came the rescue of the bullies that taunted Chrysanthemum in Kevin Henkes book of same name. I began to think long and hard about what I value in education and began searching for other books that might inspire my soon to arrive kiddos with a more just social reality. I can’t make them drink, but it seems to me that I’ve found a set of texts that will draw them near the oasis. I’ve ordered How to Fill a Bucket , How Full is Your Bucket and Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A...
By Carol McCloud, David Messing. I think by starting the year with the children creating a framework for happiness and possibility as our shared agreements are forged, is our opportunity for a real connection.
Now let me digress for a moment. I had to laugh as the Zander’s explained visions and missions…specifically noting one company’s competitive stance as the “preeminent supplier” of tech etc. The word preeminent is actually contained in the mission statement of our school district in Saudi. I had to laugh at this. Earlier this year we studied Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as a possibility for creating change on our campus. We were told that we could not change our mission statement and yet were encouraged to run through the actions of a PLC. This seemed counter-intuitive, as the very premise of a PLC is to create a shared vision. Still, we muddled through and I'm quite proud of the one we did in Kindergarten, which I'm linking to here.
Chapter 12. Telling the WE Story: I told you it wasn't about you. Have you been able to tap into the power of combining your expertise and passions with someone equally gifted? Have you had the pleasure of lifting a teammate, student, and stranger, enabling them to realize their dreams and exceed anything that you could have imagined?
I’m so fortunate to work with someone who held my hand through many of the “experiments” of the past year. He and I have adjoining classrooms and our kids constantly intermingle, roaming freely from my room to his and vice versa. Christian is a gifted educator and always willing to share ideas as we develop something with our students, that is both magical and full of possibility. It is because of our own-shared vision that the incredible things, which have graced the pages of my blogs, AR tangents and daily life, have been achievable. There are a number of other people including my professors, my classmates, my critical friends, and my boyfriend who accepted the invite to the WE story. I’m better equipped to frame possibility because of their graciousness and can only hope that I’ve add to their growth as well.
CODA: What’s next?
Well the possibilities are boundless, no?
Sources:
From a Little Spark Bursts a Mighty Flame Image by Mykl Roventine available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/3689364622/
Layers on Layers Image by Mykl Roventine available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/3733194129/in/photostream/
Overhung Image by Mykl Roventine available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/4007603690/in/photostream/
Monochrome Drops by Mykl Roventine available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/3956788033/in/photostream/
As Streisand sings, "People who need people are the luckiest people in the world".
ReplyDeleteI can stress enough how valuable it has bee for me to be mentored all through my work life - from that first job making sandwiches and being a cashier, to the last, running events for the Bishop of Chicago.
It seems that no matter what poison I am in, I always need a mentor and I always take the opportunity to return the favor to mentor someone else.
These experiences have made my work much more interesting and meaningful after all, it's one thing to get a job done well, it's another when in that process, you create and maintain good relationship's that last and serve far beyond the project.
I think the salient phrase that you've repeated several times is "now what do we do?" It does come down to that, pretty much every time. Enjoy the journey, it's worth enjoying.
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