Summer is here and with it I now have some time to begin to go through a notebook full of links that I’ve sent myself through the year. (If you aren’t using Evernote, haven’t given it a shot, you need to, it’s AWESOME!)
There have been a few that struck me as I read through them. One of them, by Mr. Chris Wejr entitled It’s Easy http://mrwejr.edublogs.org/2011/07/06/its-easy/. Give it a read. It’s an interesting view of the options that, as educators, we sometimes have to make.
I agree we need to take that road less traveled but I’m not certain that it’s black and white as many of the “It’s easy….” suggest. Human dynamics are much too complicated. So, although I agree that we need to travel a road that is less traveled, one must make those decisions based on the situation since there are instances when it is harder to do what others see as the easy way out because of what you know. One must always be careful when labeling what others do.
How could anyone disagree with what is listed? As an administrator/educator/parent/husband, they are what one strives to do each day. But, as I’ve learned as a parent/husband/son/educator/friend I will never be able to do it all. Thankfully, life isn’t about single decisions, most of the time. It’s about the combination of decisions that you make and the relationships you have that begin to define one’s life. There are instances where a single decision can have an incredible impact but, most of the time, we face decisions that aren’t in that category. Having made some astronomically poor decisions in each of the above categories, it was because others’ believed in me at certain points that allowed me to continue on and not my own “revelation” that I had made a bad decision. So although I can agree with the many things that are listed, there is so much more.
When I was a teacher, I had certain thoughts and opinions about what administrators/central office should do. Having spent better than 10 years as an administrator, I now see that much of what I thought as a teacher was based on my uninformed opinion. As a parent of 8 children, the oldest being 19 the youngest 2, I live an experience that so few parents have – parent to an adult, teenager, youngster and toddler all at the same time. And although I have learned so much as a parent, I rarely comment to people about raising children because each day I am humbled by what my children are capable of doing and the incredible responsibility I have as a parent and because I have made those poor decisions. Each day, when I walk into my school, I have that same type of feeling – I am an administrator of a K – 12 school. I deal with 4 year olds and adults. I am humbled by the awesome responsibility. No list, however exhaustive, can capture that.
We are on a road but each decision is not it’s own, just part of the one road. As a parent and a husband, I have become better because I made mistakes, as an administrator, I am better for that same reason and as a person, it was seeing my reflection through others that has helped me grow and, hopefully, be a better person.
I believe that it’s about the road and not the individual decisions. If you are consistent, travel with humility and truly appreciate the awesomeness of which you are part, it isn’t any one decision on any list but your willingness to do what is best for others in a given situation that will reflect which road you are traveling and influence the decisions you make. But, no matter which road you are on, it’s not easy.