Tunnel Vision

Our cohort gets together on Wednesday's and Thursday's for classes, with those days featuring long 8 hour sessions. Towards the end of the sessions someone mentioned how the other cohort thought that we were... the dot dot dot is because my mind started to tail off, as it usually does, with respect to the other cohort. Am I glad that there are others seeking entrance to the teaching profession? Yes, as the teaching profession needs good people, with good ideas, and a willingness to create safe and caring learning environments. I'm not thrilled to be competing with them for positions when hiring starts, but competition is a good thing as well.

Where I'm going with this is the idea that teacher certification requires blinders. You can't worry about the other 30+ people in the other cohort. You also can't necessarily be bent out of shape by other people in your own cohort. We're all on individual learning journeys. I liken it to running a marathon, something I have done 5 times. We're all in a race together, agreed? We're all going towards the same finish line, no? If I start to worry about the person next to me, seeing them pass me at mile 18, should I worry about them? Probably not. My use of extra energy here will likely hurt me a few miles later (when I want to draw on energy I have already used!). What do you do then? You continue with the plan you have (assuming you have one), and go at a pace that is suitable. At this point, it isn't worth it to worry when I don't have the time or energy to expend. I've got too much else to do. Student teaching starts March 23rd.

There's No Whining In Teaching!

I'm a distance runner. I run marathons, and run everyday. While running isn't always enjoyable, I've learned to tolerate the act, believing that the hard work will ultimately pay off in becoming fitter (and a faster time). I put quite a bit of time in, often over 10 hours per week in running along (not counting stretching or icing), and it certainly isn't easy. I've tried going the route of running less, cutting corners a bit, but it hasn't worked for me and I just ended up irritated for my own stupidity. I could complain about the work I need to do, but it isn't worth it. I've moved myself to a place where I understand the problem before me.

Running? On an education blog? Thanks for sharing, right?! Well I see the two as highly correlated. In our learners we need to move them to a point where they are interested. If they aren't interested, we get stuck on the complaining. "But we already read that?" and "Do we have to?" are familair refrains. Moving learners to a point where they want to learn, and are engaged in the process is very important.

I think about this in the context of teacher education as well. Whether aspiring teachers (like myself), or professional development, people need to be invested in the process. Teachers need to be actively engaged in their own learning, otherwise why are we doing it? Who does it help to go through the motions or to simply "show up"? No one said teaching would be easy. We don't want to reinvent the wheel, but we do want to push the profession forward. When will the leap happen to a place of active engagement?