My wife has told me many times I put my “rose colored contacts” in each morning before I go to school. I don’t dispute my looking to the silver lining in things but have become a bit worried lately.
I have struggled with how to address this post for a while now - so much so I have missed my publication date for the past two months (Sorry, Scott.) I might be taking some small steps down the path towards being a curmudgeon. I am far too optimistic to allow this to take place, but I am at the point in my career where I have seen some folks take the path towards cynicism. A couple of items that concern me:
1. I now remember some educational initiatives that have been repackaged into new ones. A few new bells and whistles, but essentially the same idea.
2. I have been seriously considering one of Doug Johnson‘s laws - a report not worth writing is one that is not worth writing well. I have grown weary of authoring required reports in which the same items are regurgitated over and over again and, to be quite honest, I am not sure anyone reads.
These are just two examples of items that distract us from the important mission of fostering student growth and achievement.
Despite these emerging tendencies, I remain hopeful. I believe we are entering a time when education will be intelligently overhauled to meet the needs of individual academic and social needs of students.
Great and experienced LeaderTalk contributors and readers who have been through this before - what strategies have you used to maintain positive attitudes despite some of the realizations I have listed and inferred here?
Matt Hillmann