184 Days of Learning

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How Did You Spend Your Extra Day This Year?

So often we get concerned that we are not able to do what we want to do each day.  More often than not we blame Time as if it were a controllable variable.  In reality Choice is the only variable we can control.  So how did you choose to spend the extra day you had this year?  I hope you chose wisely.  You only get to make this choice once every 4 years.  Did you look at today as just another day or did you look at it as another day to do the extraordinary things you never get to?

I have to admit that time management is not something that I have mastered and I don’t complete all the things I set out to do.  That is one of the reasons why I am thankful for the people around me.  I have learned that “less is more and more is less” and a focus on the “big rocks” is essential.   I have also learned that our focus on the most important things (our big rocks) and modeling this focus is the best gift we can give our students and children.

In addition to these empowering life lessons I have also learned that there are forces much greater than myself that throw their big rocks in my path.

This fact was reinforced this past summer when I was kayaking with my sons on the Miette River near Jasper.  All was well until I made the mistake of focusing on the boulder in the middle of the river.  I focused literally on someone else’s big rock not my own.  Rather than navigating around someone else’s big rock I took it head on and soon found myself solidly wedged against it in the bitterly cold river.  It took a great deal of physical effort to right that wrong and get back on my path.

Teachers spend a great deal of time focusing on the big rocks when planning for instruction and assessment.  Their focus is trained on extracting the big rock ideas from curriculum, aligning them with the culture of their classroom and community to bring value to the holistic work they do with students.  Teachers who do this in an effective way find their students will be engaged and excited about their learning.  They also find that students will begin to lead in their own learning.  This is the big rock goal we educators have for all children and we parents have for our children.

So, in conclusion, you might be wondering how I spent my Leap Day?  What exceptional things did I do today.  As I finish writing this in fact:

• I just came from a grade 3 student assembly where the students presented the book: How Full is Your Bucket?
• I played a quick game of hide and seek with a 2 year old.
• I am about to join some high school students at Connections for Learning in a Sweet 16 Birthday party for Mrs. Linda Davidson, secretary.  I am thrilled that students have taken the lead in organizing her 16^th birthday party.  It may be impolite but do you know what her age really is?
• I am going to spend some time with staff as they attend a two day workshop on the 7Habits of Highly Effective People.

>>>> That’s  a Pretty Awesome LEAP Day!<<<<