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You don’t have to be perfect

 Some of the business trainings I listen to, (Fairchild & Associates), my mentor, Rick, talks about that you don’t have to be perfect in your profession, but you need to have purpose. That really resounds a definite “ding” for math teachers during COVID-19. I have seen during my PD (online of course), good teachers that struggle because of the new forced measures, as well as mediocre teachers levying busy work and other measures to keep students “learning.”

I acknowledge not being a really good teacher, at least with how I ranked, as well as not understanding what teaching really was in my first ten years as an educator and a tutor. The good teachers I emulate go after good relationships, they seek the best endpoints, not the standards, they feel the students can attain (especially during pandemic). They contact and nudge (dare I say inspire) those students not engaging, and at the same time fuel the fire that heats the students’ achieve machine.

I have noticed however, a growing toxicity, somehow empowered by current emotional high runs and personal experiences as “the truth” of their lives. This makes those previously mentioned pathways hard to achieve, almost like trying to climb a wet, muddy, slick uphill encampment. It seems this is formed from the absence of character education, yet not a blame to teachers because of it. It’s a flare of a real problem of our society’s moral compass, which appears to have lost its true north.

Hence I return to my original posit, to have purpose in reaching the students willing to learn, not the ones turned critic. That’s not to exclude the latter, but due to natural consequence the old saying “a mind is like a parachute, it only works when it is open” is true to service those students who miss out because of a closed mind, a hardened heart. Talking about this can stir feelings like a “bull through a China shop,” but there has to be a time when we have to look back to the foundations of working with common agreeable decencies (and what is right and wrong), of acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

Focus on the mission, and don’t let the physical (or digital) natives, that is to say, the young people in your circle, derail you. At the same time, we need to raise awareness why such pervasive attitudes have crept in. I seek much inspiration, especially from some new contacts to my personal circle, such as Matthew Wheeland, and Robyn Sargent, and people I haven’t met yet in my #MTBoS, #iteachmath, and #MCTM hashtags associations. The more we (teachers) can share of our own experiences, the more we can reach those who think and feel the same way (or those that want to).

Special thanks also to Doug Johnson, a retired librarian whose wisdom has benefited me frequently.

Til I chalk again,

Cory Sheldahl aka Mr. Shel

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