Today, faced with a large number of standards to meet, I rushed the learning. Trying to fit it all in, I pushed transitions forward leaving little time for the important questions, time to settle in, and many voices. Not surprisingly, children acted up--the choreography was too fast, rushed, and not that just right pace for learning. Like a barometer, the children send us messages every day about the choreography of the day--when the choreography is a just right responsive rate, there's a hum in the room, but when it's rushed, they act up. Faster is not better in education. Instead, we should reach for that just right pace, and the just right learning quotient too--a quotient that will differ from one community and school to another dependent upon need.
Every day of school is a day of learning, and sometimes we learn the most during those days that we don't consider our best. Onward.
