The Big Picture: Do You Know What I See?

                                The Personality Compass

At my first science meeting of the year, I was not surprised to find that my personality characteristics were vastly unique from my colleagues and team. While all of them fell into three directional categories I alone fell into the other. We took our places in the room and being alone on one side at first I felt the urge to just pretend I read the paper wrong and step over into another group. But, I didn't. I chose instead to be courageous and own my personality traits. This in fact is what makes me the quirky individual and forward thinking teacher that I am.

North’s are natural leaders, goal-centered, fast-paced, task-oriented, assertive, decisive, confident, determined, competitive and independent

East’s are natural planners, quality-centered, analytical, organized, logical, focused, exact, perfectionists, industrious and structured.

South’s are natural team players, process-centered, slow-paced, good listeners, non-confrontational, sensitive, patient, understanding, generous and helpful

West’s are natural risk takers, idea-centered, creative, innovative, flexible, visionary, spontaneous, enthusiastic, free-spirited and energetic

Of course we are are a blending of different traits. But for the purposes of the meeting she wanted us to choose the direction that was most like us. It felt very weird to be the only West. The discussion centered around the details & methods most people put in place. My colleagues are planners and like to have the lesson plan well-organized before the class. I am quite the opposite. My lesson plans are more fluid and I change them throughout the day depending on the class. I focus on the big picture and work my way back to the details.

I have always been this way. There is something beautiful about having a detailed plan and paying attention to the little things. My skill traits are just less specific and more general. I know what I am going to do it is the components or the "nitty-gritty" for me that remains flexible. When it came time to write our vision statements as a science team my colleagues struggled a bit with the wording and organization. I wrote it in 5 minutes and we agreed in 1 minute, typed it up and posted it. Last thing that was said "See, the big picture, west thinkers come in real handy sometimes." Yes, we do.