Lately (okay, over the last year and a half) I have been tweeting and putting together our newsletter instead of blogging about our adventures in The Little Green Schoolhouse. Well, amongst other exciting things. Anyhow, I have sat down a few times here to write, to add photos of our beauty-filled and wonder-filled lives lived along the trail, to express. And something would call me away. Here I am with somewhat of an update today. Hoping to make it more of a regular thing again.
This post is a bit of a hodgepodge of ideas about work.
Peruse.
Wonder.
Think about childhood. About adulthood.
Humanhood.
Thank you for checking in with us,
Ms. Hadfield
 |
| an impromptu group from the west class works to build a structure along the trail -autumn 2016 |
Where do you work? What are you working on? What should I do when I'm finished my work? Why aren't you working?! Is my child doing enough work? How was work today? Have you found work/life balance?
This past month we had the second of our two formal conversations with parents about academic achievement and/or concerns, work habits, and behaviour. If the school year were a road to be travelled, these conversations would be rest stops in which we would pull over, pause, celebrate success, identify any challenges and hazards, and plan for the rest of the trip. This connection between home and school is especially important: it allows all involved to have a voice, define their roles, and work toward the common goal: a meaningful and mindful school experience for each child.
"Work is a constant conversation. It is the back-and-forth between
what I think is me and what I think is not me; it is the edge between
what the world needs of me and what I need of the world...it is constantly changing and
surprising me by its demands and needs but also by where it leads me,
how much it teaches me, and especially, by how much tact, patience and
maturity it demands of me."
-poet and philosopher David Whyte in
his book,
"The Three Marriages: Re-imagining Work, Self and
Relationship"
As winter slowly turns to spring, educators seem to be most conscious of their work. Not only directly with students and families, but in our involvement with divisional budget conversations (as employees and ratepayers), school planning, and professional goals. Pondering this, I think about the commonplace questions posed above. Work is a constant conversation whether we are in the education field or not. Whether we are an adult or not.
I am a helper.
Others need me.
I need help and I am a helper.
I need to take a break.
 |
| first skate of the season -January 2017 |
I can do things on my own.
Things that I couldn't always do.
I had to be held up.
I had to fall.
Today I am doing it all by myself!
I am strong.
 |
| building capacity and finding joy, January 2016 |
I am curious.
I wonder.
I wander.
I am responsible for my own questions, my own learning, my own experience.
I can stick to a project and see the fruits of my labour.
“Where is the book in which the teacher can read about what teaching is?
The children themselves are this book.”
-Rudolf Steiner, Rhythms of Learning
May we
continue to have the opportunity to ask mindful and thoughtful questions about the work we ask of ourselves, eachother, and our
children. AND, as immense as this topic is, may you find meaning, joy, and
surprises in rhythms of each day.
