Yeah, I know. I haven't shared a reflection in almost four months. There are
reasons. First, I was concentrating on putting together an Ebook, a tome-like
anthology of selected Random Thoughts that I've decided to title Faith, Hope,
Love: The Spirit of Education. I just finished proofing it for the umpteenth
time, sent it off for Eformatting, and freed myself up. Second, I was putting
a lot of attention and energy into making sure that the launching of my and
Susie's year of our golden jubilee, a two week trip to Tahiti and other islands
in French Polynesia from which we just returned, would be as perfect as perfect
could be. I had been in constant contact, and I mean constant contact, over
the last six months, with tour guides on Tahiti and Bora Bora, the hotel on
Tahiti, and the cruise line on which we would sail to other islands in French
Polynesia, Those two reasons sound good enough to explain my hiatus, don't
they? But, to be honest, they wouldn't be any of the real truth. That truth
is the third reason. I was beginning to feel stale. I felt what I was sharing
was being forced, out of focus, on an expected schedule. I was beginning to
feel that my words were getting wooden. So, not sharing just for the sake of
sharing, I backed off. A few days ago, I was jolted back by a conversation I
had with a student from the distant past. She broke the dam and got my juices
flowing again.
Out of the blue, I got a FaceBook message from her. Goodness knows how many
years ago she was in class. She's a high school teacher and came to me for
some guidance. We messaged back and forth. Parts of our conversation went
like this:
"Schmier, need your wisdom. I've got to be reminded what's important in
teaching. I want to know what was most important in your teaching?"
Without thinking more than a second, I shot back, "Me."
"You? I thought you'd say each of us was?"
"Nope. 'Me!'"
"Then, you mean what you know and the skills you possess, all that is in your
head. Right?"
"No.'"
"Then, you mean how you teach, all that class room community building
exercises, 'The Chair,' 'The Story,' journaling, those hands-on 'serious fun'
projects, issue papers, "Schmier's words for the day," the one word "how I
feel," and so on. Right?"
"Getting warm."
"What do you mean??"
"'Me.' The inside 'me.' Not what I do, but who I am. My inner
character; my values, heart, soul, spirit, attitude; my emotions; my philosophy
of education; my vision."
"Isn't the the other content and skill stuff important?"
"Sure it is. I told you that they were. But, that you have to have
something to do with them. It what you do with what you have, not just what
you have. You asked what was most important. It's me: my expressed vision,
my conscious values, my reflected purpose. It's my emotion. It's that burning
deep down. It's that being fired up. It's what's in my bones. It's a
conjoining of my inner life with life in the classroom; it's living my life in
both a classroom and campus community. I know,I told her, in the intellectual
culture of academia, that's heresy. But, heresy or not, what activates,
arouses, drives is what all people on this and other campuses don't talk about:
emotion. You don’t just advocate and argue for what you value. You have to
live it. You don’t just wish upon a star or just dream. You have to live them.
Every minute of your life you have to devote to and live what you sincerely
care about. If you don't focus on and live your love, hope, dreams and values,
that is, what really matters to you, they won't exist. And, there are lots of
things and way to meaningfully do that.
"You sure about that?"
"Look. It's how I meet the challenge and seize the opportunity. Look.
I know I cannot 'fix' anyone or 'save' anyone. But, I can have faith in her
or him; I can believe in her or him; I can have hope for him or her; I sure can
love her or him; and I can, I should, do all this without any conditions. So,
it's how I meet the challenge and seize the opportunity. It's like it's not
enough to count your blessings; you have to make your blessings count. So,
without any conditions, I welcome each student. I trust and value each
student. I love and feel and hope and have faith and believe in each students.
I care about each student. I am patient with each student. I'm a listener and
see-er. I'm an optimist. I am happy. I am confident. I take risks. I am
authentic and honest. I don't run away from a challenge. I am upbeat. I'm
not afraid to make a mistake. I'm not governed by what others think. I am
lots of other stuff. I keep what I do in sync with what I feel in my heart. My
thoughts and feelings are driven and guided by the person I really am. I am
not just who I say I am. Like it or not, I am who I truly am. And, that's what
shows up most and has the most impact. That's the difference between settling
for being a talking head, being just a good teacher.
"But aren't you afraid you'll fail or something won't work or you won't get to
one of us?"
"Let's take fear, fear of failure. If I have a fear of failing, if I use that
fear to build a protective wall, I'm also building an imprisoning wall. I will
hesitate, maybe even won't. I'll want guarantees of success before I proceed.
But, if I I am not afraid of failing, I won't run away from a challenge. And,
the only guarantee I will want is the assurance to myself that I will learn and
better myself for having failed. So, I will trust. I will trust and value
myself. I will trust and value each student. I will love both of us; I will
have faith in and believe in both of us. I not only care about each student, I
caringly engage with each of them. I am patient with each student. I'm a
listener and see-er. I'm an optimist. I am happy. I am confident. I take
risks. I am authentic and honest. I am upbeat. I'm not afraid to make a
mistake. I am lots of other stuff. I keep what I do in sync with what I feel in
my heart. My thoughts and feelings are driven and guided by the person I
really am. I am not just who I say I am. Like it or not, I am who I truly am.
And, that's what shows up most and has the most impact. That's the difference
between settling for being a talking head, being just a good teacher. It's my
'significant other."
"Significant-other?"
"Significant-other. The one whom you know, really know, know deep
down, wants to make the real difference; the one who reaches out, touches, and
helps change. Everyone one of us, one way or another, is going to make a
difference today. It's the 'me' that decides what kind of difference that is
going to be. My 'significant-other' means making the positive difference in
someone's life, obviously in your life, and, therefore, making the world a
better place."
"What are you talking about?"
"What I do with what I have comes from who I am: from 'me.'"
"I still don't get it."
"Let me put it the way someone put it to me. If I give you a block of
steel worth five dollars, you decide it's a good paper weight. So it just sits
on your desk."
"So?"
"You can also take that five dollars worth of steel and see something
more valuable. You can forge it into the finest horseshoes and sell them for
$50. You can also take that same five dollars worth of steel and see something
even more valuable. You can put in extra time and effort to learn how to make
the finest sewing needles worth $500. Or, you can see something even more
valuable, work even harder, and learn how to make Swiss watch springs worth
$5,000, and make them. Same block of steel; three attitudes; three uses; three
values. Our teaching is like that block of steel. I'll say it again. What I
expect to happen will happen; what I see in that block of steel is what I'll
have a better chance of getting. It's like being Michelangelo who said he saw a
perfectly shaped statue in a block of marble and all he had to do was chip away
to reveal for others what he saw. We each have the ability to refine and
fashion ourselves in different ways. Who we are, our character, who we decide
to be, how we will combine our intellect and heart, will decide whether we'll
settle for horseshoes, needles, or Swiss watch springs. It's not the block of
steel I have. It's 'me.' It's what I see in it; it's what I wish to do with it;
what I learn how to do with it; and, then, what I do with it."
And, we talked a lot more.
Make it a good day.
-Louis-
Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta, Ga 31602
(C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\
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/ \ /\ \
//\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/
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/\"If you want to climb mountains,\
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_ / \ don't practice on mole hills"
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