Chapters 9-12 reflect on being optimistic despite our circumstances. One of the examples of this is in Chapter 10. A man finds that his wife is having an affair. Some of us will let the situation consume us and and the Zanders' state "things move ahead, and life passes him by." They speak of the notion of "being on board", where he would take this situation and be empowered by it and view it differently. You can use it not as the fault of who betrayed you, but as something that you personally need to overcome.
This concept can easily be put in place in our classrooms. Instead of blaming the students for their poor test scores, behavior, and other thing we complain about, turn it around to yourself. What could have you done differently? Did you take in account the different learners in your classroom? Did you exhaust every possible resource? I know that we are underworked and underpaid, but that is what we signed up for! Yes, it may be hard to do, but in the end, it will make you a better, more effective teacher.
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| from creativecommons.org |
If I have gotten anything from commenting on others blog posts this month, is all the great reminders that I get from reading all these posts. This is a great reminder as I think it is always easy to blame others and even the students for not trying hard enough or maybe I don't have the resources I want, but the reality is we can always make the best of every situation. There are plenty of times that I need to look at myself first and ask was there more that I could have done, or what did I miss. This self reflection can only make things better.
ReplyDeleteBruchetta,
ReplyDeleteGreat points about us "being the board" in our own classrooms! It's funny that reading the book was burdensome this week, but hearing/reading you say it that plainly makes it hit home a lot more. And you're right; we did sign up for this! Let's hope that when my scores come back in 2 weeks I'll still be able to be see myself as the board!!
Bruchetta: The Zanders' do such a good job making these practices sound so easy and effortless don't they? I imagine meeting them must be like taking a whole bunch of happy, “lovey” pills. They must be a fantastic to be around. Taking an event like infidelity and spinning it as an optimistic opportunity just seems impossible to me despite any angle I look at it from. I couldn't (and never want to) imagine how life could be better without my wife. But, I understand what they are saying and I completely agree with you that it would be hard and boy would I have a hard time looking at it as an obstacle rather than a betrayal. Guess I need to do some more soul searching I suppose. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteInteresting observations. I don't know that it's really optimism despite the circumstance as much as re-evaluating the circumstances to see the opportunities.
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