Friday, January 20, 2017

Cancelled

It occurred to me this morning that I have never had to cancel more appointments and meetings as this year. Why all the cancellations? Mostly it has been a year of unexpected events that have taken much more time than I expected. And to meet my students' needs, it's been necessary to cancel a number of events in order to have the energy and time to prepare and teach well.

What I realize is that while educators advocate for greater voice, we face the challenge of greater expectations related to our daily teaching. As the numbers of mandates, leaders, and consultants grow around us, we are left with more work to do to teach well and to advocate for what we know to be good and right for our students.

The events I've cancelled are events that others will forward and events I can follow and contribute to online. The events I've stayed available for are the events where I'm most needed, events that involve my students' daily education and care.

Looking ahead to the days ahead, how will I continue to reroute the road to good service to students, colleagues, family, and community?

This week we shored up the classroom routine and achieved greater success for all students. This took considerable analysis and effort, and resulted in a better school program for all.

Today we'll look deeply at the math program and consider a number of questions and analyses related to betterment. This too demonstrates progress.

We instituted considerable differentiation to teach every child well--that was good too.

In the days ahead there will be considerable effort and energy devoted to supporting each individual child--this is work that is not glamorous, but instead work that takes time, energy, and experience to do well. Fortunately I collaborate with many wonderful colleagues, and that supports the good work possible.