When I sit down on a Sunday morning to think about the week ahead, I generally begin by thinking about the theme of the week--what's most important now?
As I thought about this today, I realized that for this week, doing your best is the theme. We have a big math test coming up, and what's most important is that every child does his/her best. Then we'll use those scores to inform upcoming instruction and provide needed re-teaching and enrichment as well as a new unit of study for all.
The theme of "doing your best" rings true for me as an educator too. Challenged by the recent school-wide illness, it's important for me too to realize that if we do our best each day as educators, in the end, we will do a good job. Educators face all kinds of challenges when it comes to teaching well, and each day if every educator brings their best abilities to the job, we'll collectively present a wonderful program to the children we teach.
To do our best requires that we take care of ourselves, prioritize carefully, learn regularly, and make relationships, kindness, and respect a mainstay of our programs. The job is limitless and we can never do all that's possible, but if we work together to decide what's most important and then do that well, we'll do a good job and impact children's lives with positivity and strength.
So as the week begins, I'll share the theme with students, and tell them that it's important that everyone does their best this week--their best to study for the test, their best on the test, their best during the week's special events, and their best as we share surprise boxes, listen to each other's winter stories, and learn together. Onward.
