 |
|||
| Change in Environment | Spotlight
on Literacy Caring: ...A Rock in the Instructional Shoe by
Rebecca McKay Everyone wants to be received, to elicit a response that is congruent with an underlying need or desire. (Noddings, 1992, p. 17) Recently I left my home at 4 a.m. to drive to a school site visit. The familiar route I traveled created time for thinking about children. My mind journeyed through the Cornerstone school network picturing each school and dragging my thoughts into the quagmire of numbers, who did and did not make Adequate Yearly Progress. Suddenly, I looked out into the beam of my headlights and realized I was completely lost, having daydreamed my way down 20 miles of unfamiliar blacktop. I panicked, nothing was familiar, the road signs blurred, and I had no cell phone service. Worse still, the hand on my gas gauge read E. What to do? Keep going in the direction I was headed? Turn around and hope familiar landmarks of safety would appear? Stop and wait for daylight? I turned the car around and inched my way in the opposite direction. The fear of being lost melted and a deep sadness settled around me as my mind returned to thoughts about Cornerstone schools, children, and test scores. I wondered aloud if the feeling of panic I had just experienced mirrored the thoughts of a principal opening the data sheet that places her school on “the list” of inadequate. When we feel we are in a sea of chaos, whether the chaos be test scores or lost on a dark isolated road, the fear surrounding us can be used as a catalyst to focus and move forward. Where to start? Eye
on Leadership by Edna Varner If the title of this article makes you think, “Where have I heard that before?” you are right. I shamelessly copied from Debbie Miller’s new book, Teaching with Intention: Defining Beliefs, Aligning Practice, Taking Action. I considered doing what we educators do--admit only to “borrowing” the title, but, alas, I have no intention of giving it back. |
||