The Old Adage (327)

"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now."

Is there a formal threshold that we cross over when we finally see the need for change? Are we in a constant mode of fumbling forward- is that our habit? We live in a time where it feels as if we are looking down kicking the pebbles from our path, while the boulder is pummeling towards us. The audience is screaming, "Look up, look up." Will we step out of the way in time? Or is a cartoon crush and splat in our future?

It is a doom and gloom approach I know. Take the positive when ever possible. Cling on to it tightly. But it only takes one open door. We have many slamming against the wood- the house of experience- in the prairie like landscape of our present circumstances. Screen doors banging. Handles giggling. Knobs turning. We are trying to close them all at once and that my friends is impossible. For the storm, brewing, picking up velocity and strength- it is gaining on us.

I am not even talking about the obvious. The trending topic of our days and nights. I am talking about the momentum we are bound to in our profession. The opposition, the gathering troops of finger pointing and distrust. The complacency. The missed conversations about purpose, about learning, about consistency in the lives of our children. We are the screen doors, trying desperately to latch on to close and secure. Yet we are swinging in the sand and blindness of pertinence.

"Be impatient for action, but be patient for outcomes." I see this, I understand these words. But the next line should be- create action, create outcomes. Daily outcomes. Daily challenges. Daily moments of community and learning. It only matters because we believe it to matter. Home or in a brick and mortar classroom- communication, eye contact, listening and inspiring matters.

Surround the problem. Chip away at it. Keep chipping away at it. Hand your students a chisel and let them help you chip away at it. Sculpt a new way of learning. They will tell you what they need. They will show you what they need. So suit up, goggles and mask on, and chip away. Do not just mind the gap, narrow it. Don't just plant the seed, water it. Nudge it along.

The old adage.....what about the new adage. Write it now, write it today. And live by it.