Swimming this morning I was struck by a situation that happened that allowed me to step back and reflect on many things going on right now with school, life, jobs, and the future.
While I was swimming and finishing up my last set there was an elderly woman who came to the pool. She comes that same time every day a little after 6. Today there were at least 3 swimming lanes wide open. As she was walking I knew that she had no intention of using one of the open lanes. She wanted her lane that she uses every day and this lane just so happened to be the one I was in. Lo and behold she heads to my lane and not only my lane, but takes all my swim gear and moves me over to the other side of the lane(you can have two people to a lane). She moved my flippers, my workout sheet, my pull buoy, and kickboard. She saw nothing wrong with this.
I wanted to go off. I really did. I wanted to tell her that there are three lanes open and even if you do use this lane have the courtesy to ask before moving my stuff. Being passive aggressive I said nothing, said good morning, and left. I had to get out before her perfume caused me to have a sneeze attack(that is another story)
Leaving it got me thinking how this is how she is. She could not adapt to the situation no matter what was presented to her. She missed the other opportunities around her because she was so focused on her routine and system.
I started to reflect and realized we can all be the same way. As I have pushed for new ideas and change at my school and in particular gifted education I cannot lose perspective of other great ideas around me. Just because I think I have a plan does not mean I put the blinders up to what is around me. Amanda reminded me of this over the weekend while talking about gifted education and she said a new instructor in our department would be good to gain a fresh perspective on things. I took offense to this at first, but realized she was right.
I need to step out of my comfort zone and see things differently as well.
When we start to do this we must ask questions and seek out these people who can offer something fresh.
Who can you ask for help?
Could it be another teacher in the building/district? Could it be the parents that are involved in our program? PLN?
And as we move and fight for change we must be wary what we ask for. We are not seeking answers. We should seek HELP instead. In education there is never an answer. Only guidance to move us in the right direction because education has too many moving variables to ever have a right answer.
As I continue to question my future, my job, my vision of gifted I need to think about the things that specifically blocking me. There are external forces as well as what I hate to admit, but 98% of the blockage is myself and my mind.
And through it all let people know when they are helpful. Tell them thank you and mind your manners. Even if you are at the pool and want to swim in your lane that you have swam in for who knows how long.
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