2nd request
So yesterday this happened: We finally heard from Department of Developmental Disability Services. For the hundreds or even thousands of parents navigating the labyrinth toward getting needed services set up for your child with special needs, if I've ever been dismissive in any way of your plight, I apologize!
We are now a "fringe" case. Among the disenfranchised. The "other".
Philosophically, my Mom was always more liberal than my Dad. She had more people with problems in her life, so she had an understanding of allowing for the differences people have in their innate nature and recognized that "one size" rarely fits all. My Dad is more black & white. Keep it simple...it's not that complicated. For him, it wasn't. He is a white male Boomer in America. He is a Vietnam Veteran with the Marine Corps. It doesn't get any more mainstream (or revered) than that. Now here's the rub... My Dad had troubles in his life too. We all do, and we're liars if we say we don't. Everyone on Earth has challenges to overcome. Assuming someone else's challenges are any less than your own, or they brought them on themselves is a dangerous game. Life is a slippery slope and every day I have gained new insights into the flaws in our understanding of the world.
Entering the "whole new world" of planning to teach remotely, we are discovering new challenges with every step, but amazing new understandings as well! Here's a great one: Old way of thinking: "I need to teach in my classroom because I like to use my interactive whiteboard." New discovery: No, we don't need to be in our classroom. Zoom has an interactive whiteboard feature, and screen share, and you can narrate, and you can annotate, and your students can annotate with you (I've now referenced at least 3 things we can't do simultaneously in the physical classroom.) Are my colleagues who are only just now wrapping their minds around this less capable teachers? Absolutely not! But like a highly skilled craftsman, our tools need to be selected carefully. There are artists who prefer to work in only one media, and they are masters. Sometimes with too many tools (too many choices) we do good badly. Sometimes simple is best. We don't make progress until we start small and grow. A million analogies flood my mind: plant a seed, inch by inch life's a cinch, Rome wasn't built in a day, a journey of a million miles begins with a single step... you get the idea.
Today go blow someone's mind with new discoveries and remember to have love, patience and grace as we all explore the uncharted territory. Here are some wonderful examples:
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