Thursday, June 9, 2011

One Step at a Time

This is what I kept saying to myself over and over again. It was hot. I was tired and sore. The air in my sunroom-turned-treadmill venue was stale. I looked through blurry eyes to the red numbers indicating my distance and it blinked, “0.9 miles.” I must admit my embarrassment to have allowed this to happen. I’m a proponent of healthy living and learning life-skills for good health. Me. I used to run this in five minutes during warm-ups.

That was a few weeks ago. Now, I’ve surprised myself by how easy this distance comes and goes. As I perceived my small, incremental improvements I began to deliberate how this relates to most everything that we do. A little devotion and discipline, taking one step at a time.

At the last faculty meeting I mentioned to you that I see personal goal-setting as being essential. My nightly walks have inspired this sentiment and I’ve now set other benchmarks for myself, including the one mentioned at the meeting; reading three books for pleasure. Along with “walking the walk” with regards to healthy living, I also strongly believe that we should be life-long learners. Thus, I’m currently accepting titles from any who have suggestions.

This summer I will be working with the other administrators and board members to formulate our 2011-2012 BOE Goals. Some of the professional goals which I plan to bring to the table began as conversations that I had with you, the teachers. As I convey our excellent ideas, it will be important to remember what our purpose is. Schools are all about learning. Most district mission statements purposely use the words life-long learner. AAK’s very own Mission Statement professes, “…preparing each student to become a life-long learner…” While we know and understand what this implies, do we educators actually model this or do we simply expect that children will have the internal motivation to become life-long learners? Is there a magic switch which turns-on when they become interested in a concept or initiative?

As you transition from the 2010-11 to 2011-12 school year, it’s important for you to set personal goals. It will be rewarding. Likewise, it’s important to place some thought into your professional goals. To assist, I leave you with the following questions for reflection.

What would our kids gain from us if, as educators and parents, we did a better job of showing that we, too, are learners? What would schools be like if the adults in the building purposefully and explicitly lived and shared the process of being a learner? What would education be like if we adults intentionally created opportunities to be co-learners with the children that we work with?

I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

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