Stretching and thinking back
Over the past few months I’ve been working on a talk that I am giving called The ARTS at the Center at the New England League of Middle Schools conference in Springfield, MA. I have 60 minutes to speak about arts education to a room full of about 400 middle school educators. Perhaps half will be arts educators. To prepare I’ve looked at current and past research, I’ve scanned files, I’ve read papers and documents, I’ve found photos, and I’ve spoken to several educators. Every time something seems important to be sure and include I’ve made a note. The content kept growing and when i started to practice I realized that I had about two and a half times more content then I need. I’ve been cutting during the last week. It is filled with stories and I disliked cutting stories but I had no choice. We all have stories, especially educators.
As I pulled out of the driveway to leave for the conference today my husband assured me that it would go well. As I headed down the road I thought about how important it is, especially as teachers, to challenge ourselves, step out of our comfort zones and really stretch. For one thing it reminds us of how our students feel. For some students, teachers ask them to do hard stuff every day. Stretching ourselves is important and helping our students stretch is equally important. Most adults can put supports in place as we’re stretching. For kids that’s not always the case. It’s important that we are mindful of supporting our students as they grow and learn.
Lately I’ve thought about many of the professional development and learning opportunities I’ve been part of planning and attending. The photos that I’ve looked through have brought back many memorable moments. I especially love the photos I’ve included in this blog post and the sweet memories that accompany them.
