Spinning Plates and Juggling Balls
Yay for holidays I say! A time to relax, reflect and gain some sense of sanity! LOL
Humour aside, I do find that to be a Primary (Elementary) School Teacher I need to know how to spin many plates.
Now this clown may do it for entertainment but I don’t. I do it because I have too. I find all too often that the goal is to hold it together, rather than develop and improve what your doing.
Psalm 90v12 says: “Teach us to realise how short our lives are. Then our hearts will become wise.”
Are the plates I’m spinning actually worth spinning?? Maybe it’s time to let a couple of plates drop so that I can focus and improve a few of the things in my life? Or is it time to remove some stuff from the classroom? We have been talking about the “crowded curriculum” for some time now here in New Zealand - what therefore can we take out?
Looking back over the last 2 years only, I see a number of things that I have added to my “Teacher’s toolbox”:
- A range of Thinking Skills eg: Tony Ryan’s Thinkers Keys, Bloom’s Taxonomy, De Bono’s Thinking Hats, Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.
- Formative Assessment: feeding forward and back (via conferencing, marking books, WALTs, etc)
- Inquiry Learning
- Classroom blog
- ICT Contract (with this comes new goals, stretching, conferences and meetings)
- Other Professional Development: readings via Twitter, Wiki’s, Centre4, my Netvibes account, etc.
These development are great and I have enjoyed growing as an educator, networking and integrating these new tools into the class. BUT it all takes time, energy and what we call “mental power”.
So these holidays for me are not only a chance to rest but also a chance to remember again my priorities. I am reminded of what my Syndicate Leader said to me at the beginning of the year:
“Life is a lot like juggling balls. However some of them are rubber and others are glass. The glass balls are important relationships in our lives eg: our spouse, family, etc. Drop the other balls if you need to but DON’T drop the glass balls.”
So the questions we need to ask ourselves are: What are the glass balls in my life? What balls do I need to drop?
on July 12th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I have long described teaching to a juggling act- keep all the balls in the air. Unfortunately if one ball falls it can make the rest shatter as you try and pick up the pieces.
Taking time out is really important- sometimes school is my ‘time out’- just like the kids sometimes school is a constant while home is crumbling and sometimes vica versa.
Both are very important to me- it is hard to be all things to all people.
Your syndicate leader is a wise person- the trick is to have a leader that appreciates the fact that sometimes schooly things are not the most important in your life.
Enjoy the rest of the holidays.
on July 12th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I agree with Allanah, I think she make a strong point about school sometimes being time out for myself but also the students.
I really do find that we tend to over plan the terms and forget about all the things and experiences that pop up as the term goes on. It makes it hard to fit everything in and sometimes makes me wonder what we are passing on to the students when they know all the things we have to get through in a term and don’t ever seem to get it al done!
I am newish to teaching and have already learnt that there is a continual learning process that I will go through - but you are right about figuring out which ones to keep up with and the ones to leave be.
Hope you have a great and relaxing holiday!
Heymilly
on July 29th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I’ve got to agree also that sometimes school is my time out, however I’m no longer at school :(. I seem to have difficulty at the moment working out which balls I can keep and which to get rid of. It’s a bit like the feedreader that is becoming full to the brim with great blogs I love to read but I just don’t have the time. It’s also like all these really cool tools that I want to have a go at using with my teachers but there is only so much time in the day. In a way though I am lucky. I can find these fantastic online resources and tools and then share them out among teachers in ten schools and have them then show me what they can do
Ah… that’s the answer, get some one else to help juggle the balls sometimes
on August 2nd, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Allanah and Hey Milly - Yes good point. School is often that “time out” or “safe place” that students and staff need. So to keep it like this we need to be extra careful so to not burden ourselves and our students.
Jane - a great point: Get others to help juggle the balls :+) Delegation is a great gift to give yourself!
Jane the schools you work with are privileged to have you. Know that you are a blessing to them.