While I am not one to set resolutions that the start of the year, I was able to travel to Eleuthera in the Bahamas over our winter break. We visited a beautiful place towards the north end of the island called Queen’s Bath, a formation that has been carved out thousands of years that has a nice little pool you could sit in. While I was standing a couple hundred feet above the Atlantic Ocean with my one-year-old strapped to my chest, I started reflecting on my career thus far in education.
As I watched the waves repeatedly smack the rocks, recede back into the sea, and then smack the rocks again, I thought back to my time in the classroom, especially as a younger teacher. I saw the same battles play out over and over, on a daily basis and a few students really pushed my buttons. In the moment, I would lose my cool and ultimately cave, allowing my students to get out of the class for the period. Since leaving the classroom, I have seen this play out in multiple classrooms in multiple locations. As I stood there watching the sea, I thought about how the sea has thousands of years to continuously push against the rock and carve out the features that she wants. I do not have thousands of years. My current and former co-workers also do not have thousands of years. Something has to change.
As we start the 2018 school year, one thing that I hope is that we can change the way that approaches many things. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. How many times have I done the same thing repeatedly and expected different results? For the 2018 school year, I hope to not approach my problems, my coaching, my work, and my issues in the same manner as before and expect different results. It is time to find the critical thinking and problem-solving that I pride myself on and step out of my comfort zone for 2018 and beyond. Again, I am not a huge fan of New Year’s Resolutions, so the goal is to really make this stick beyond the next 365 days.
One response to “Goal for 2018 – Don’t Be the Sea, Change”
That is a very important goal. All too often, we all fall into the lure and the trap of “sameness” but it is definitely important that we approach situations with new ideas, new perspectives, and new expectations. It sounds like your vacation was beautiful, relaxing, and exactly what you needed to be inspired to continue in your work each day. Thank you for the reminder to try new methods. I will for sure keep that at the forefront as I face the obstacles that the remainder of this school year will bring.