Ever get stuck standing in the middle of the mall, staring at the directory? The great big YOU ARE HERE star provides a helpful anchor in a sea of stores. But it only tells you one thing: where you are right now. It certainly doesn’t speak to where you’ve been or where you are headed.
As educators, we can often get caught up in the YOU ARE HERE of our classrooms or schools. It causes us to sometimes lose sight of the big picture of what we are trying to accomplish or what we’ve already accomplished. We focus on the daily lessons, the immediate needs, and the firehose of information and issues that comes at us each day.
Just like that mall directory, we need to consider the whole map and the entire journey.
We may need to backtrack. We may need to wander or explore. We may need to venture into a place that we’ve never been before.
We just need to make sure we are always moving in the right direction – toward fulfilling and impactful educational experiences for our students.
Yes, YOU ARE HERE. But don’t forget where you’ve been and where you are going.
Rich