The Big Fresh July 13, 2013 One and Dones

I always struggled to connect with my “one and done” coworkers, who had little time or patience for checking out new professional resources I found inspiring. I often knew what they would say before the words left their lips:

I tried that years ago and it didn’t work.

or

I already DO that.

or

Bless your heart — let me know how it goes.

They wondered why anyone would look at another video on conferring after viewing hundreds over the years, or read one more article on word work when the current program was working pretty well.

What I’ve realized recently is that inspiration itself is hard work. I like the metaphor Suzanne Falter-Barnes uses in How Much Joy Can You Stand?:

The popular belief is that inspiration “strikes” us like a lightning bolt from the sky. Actually, it’s the other way around. In reality, we strike inspiration much the way miners strike gold. By ceaselessly working, reworking, and reworking the old territory, sooner or later we’ll run into a little nugget of something wonderful, something better. The more we dig, the more we’ll find until — if we’re very lucky and very persistent — we hit the mother lode. In reality, creative work is no different than swinging a pick. For every day of incredible divine intervention, there are probably ten spent sifting through the dirt.

We teach to be inspired — by kids, by others around us, by the things we read and view. Yet it can be hard to explain to others why we spend so much time sifting through the mountain of resources available to us, especially during the lazy days of summer. Now when I am reading yet another article, clicking on the umpteenth link sent by a friend I trust, or viewing videos from a favorite teacher yet again, I remind myself that I’m a miner. There’s gold buried here, and no one else can till this particular plot of soil for me.

The one and dones are right — there’s nothing especially new to be found, nothing that hasn’t been tried before by someone, and plenty of risk in setting aside the tried and true for the unknown. But I would still rather swing the pick, because after all these years, I still believe there is something wonderful, something better out there for young readers and writers. Once I’m no longer delighted by the nuggets I discover, I’ll know it’s time to move on.

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Here are two articles from the Choice Literacy archives for reflection during the summer.

Katherine Sokolowski shares a neat trick for daily reflection, and advice for focusing on one project in Summer Planning: Goals and the Finish Line:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1313

Many teachers are paying more attention to bullying among students and its long-term negative effects. In this provocative piece from Edutopia, Todd Finley gives advice to teachers who are bullied by colleagues:

http://bit.ly/YTFYtr

So you want a classroom that is truly focused on reading? Pernille Ripp has 12 terrific tips at her blog:

http://bit.ly/12Doy5x

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That’s all for this week!