I intersect with many people everyday. At any given moment in the school day I'm typically working with groups of 25 or so teachers and students--that's a lot of people and a lot of potential too.
Often my creativity is met with disdain in the schoolhouse as there are many that prefer that I remain silent and do as I am told rather than working creatively and collaboratively to develop craft and better what I can do on my own and what we can do as teams of teachers, students, family members, and colleagues.
I have to distance myself from the naysayers, the ones who meet every idea with negativity and a closed mind. I have to find a place where I can work with my allies towards betterment with positivity and care. Yes, detractors are important and play a "sandpaper" role at times refining and challenging your work, but too much negativity can truly kill your spirit, dwarf creativity, and waste lots of precious time.
So I guess one way to move away from the sources of great negativity and trouble is to see my classroom as a studio--a center of design, learning, creativity, and collaboration. I can continue to build that small community of inside/outside spaces into a rich learning environment--a place where children have a home away from home to learn in incredible, positive ways.
Fortunately I have an awesome team to work with too and that team is located in the same part of the school as my classroom so there is a rich resource of positive collaboration and creativity there--that's terrific. Further there are many outside of my school who are also ready and willing to share, create, and collaborate via multiple online and real time venues.
When the negative forces arrive, I'll simply see them for what they are--the pin in the balloon that has the potential to burst good work and positive endeavor. I'll save my energy for the creativity, potential, and promise that exists. Onward.
