Teach & Serve III, No. 32 – Settle In; Don’t Settle For
March 21, 2018
One of the best parts of this work is the cyclic nature of it. We simply must guard against giving in to the troughs in that cycle. We must remember the peaks are coming.
We must never settle for.
I have found it most difficult to explain to my friends and family who work in fields other than education what the months of February, March and April can feel like in the school setting. There is a certain malaise that I have found creeps in, a feeling wrought of early mornings in darkness followed by late evenings in darkness. A concern – unrealistic and unfounded – that the school year will never end, that we are locked in a Groundhog Day of educational proportions that will never let us go.
Rationally, we know this is untrue, but there is something about these late winter, early spring weeks that make us believe it might – just might – be.
The temptation in these months is to settle for. To settle for less than the best effort our students can give us. To settle for less than what we expect from our staffs and colleagues in terms professionalism and conduct. To settle for less than what we know we of ourselves to be capable.
We can make excuses. We can find reasons – often good and legitimate ones – for our failings and for failings of those around us. We can allow ourselves to settle for.
This is not the time to settle for but it may be the time to settle in.
Recognizing that there are segments of the year, pages on the calendar that are more promising or less promising for innovation and creativity, understanding that sometimes it is all right to look ahead and conclude that moving forward in the direction we are already heading without massive course correction is more than acceptable, settling in is an excellent decision.
The energy will return as the end of the year approaches. It ever does. The promise of summer and renewal and breaks will fire the spirit and rekindle the enthusiasm. Teachers will look ahead to the promise of what is to come and students to the next steps in their lives and everything that was old will seem new again.
The key is to never settle for, but to know when to settle in, to ride out the ebb in energy, to await the coming of renewal.
One of the best parts of this work is the cyclic nature of it. We simply must guard against giving in to the troughs in that cycle. We must remember the peaks are coming.
We must never settle for.