More of What Matters
Just over a year ago, my first daughter was born. Like most newborns, she couldn’t hold her head up. Yesterday I watched her pick up her pacifier from a table and plop it in her mouth.
It made me realize that I’ve witnessed the entire progression of skill development that made that happen. She developed an awareness of the muscles needed to grip, lift, and rotate. She learned to use visual feedback to move her stubby fingers to the right location in her field of view, close them, and then move the pacifier to her mouth, which she could not see. This learning was all hers – nobody had to tell her what to do, or why she needed to go through the steps. My daughter’s skills will continue to develop as she grows and encounters the great variety of people and places in this beautiful world we all inhabit together. I’ve made more of an effort this school year to be present for these moments, and it has been among the best decisions of my life.
There have been times in my teaching career when I’ve thought about how nice it would be to be able to start completely from scratch with students. With no misconceptions, bad habits, or fear of failing like the time before, maybe I could help them be more successful. I quickly stop myself. First of all, my own instruction is not perfect, and in all likelihood, the students would still discover shortcuts that might work in my class, but be detrimental to their success in the next. Second, and more importantly, our students are not computers to be programmed. The experiences they bring to our classrooms is what makes this job what it is. As rewarding as it might be for us as teachers to see students make all of the progress we want for them, teaching is not about us.
Our students have all walked their brains through a unique path that passes through our classrooms, and that path certainly doesn’t end within them. The knowledge and skills that our students take from our classrooms are also not under our control. Our students’ lives will hopefully be a long series of meaningful moments of discovery and excitement, and the reality is that those moments that will last are likely not the ones that transpire in our classrooms. That said, the time we all have together is precious and always decreasing.
As we start a new year today, let us remind ourselves to work to make the important things matter. This takes work because of the noise of distractions that surrounds us. Build opportunities to grow instead of dig in to old habits. Make a deliberate effort to express gratitude to the people that you are with. Recognize the value in being at this place, at this time. We will not always be successful, but accepting this is part of becoming more successful on the next attempt.
Be well, everyone.