When I first met Ina I was admittedly in awe of her. She had the reputation of a rockstar, a teacher who somehow transcends all of the complications of a classroom and soars above the rest of us mere mortals. It would take time before I found myself on a team of teachers with her, time when I was finding my way in an educational environment that was far more difficult than any that I had ever before encountered. Luckily I had the opportunity to enjoy a kind of apprenticeship with some of the finest teachers in the school, especially Ina.
The years when I was on a team with Ina were some of the best and happiest of my career. I learned much but mostly I found an endearing and generous friend and unofficial mentor in her. She helped me to understand that a classroom is so much more than just a place for learning facts and ideas. She taught me by example how to elevate my instruction and to understand and love my students. She was a gifted and generous woman who had been blessed with an abundance of talent that she wanted to share with the world. Continue reading “Losing Greatness”
I always hated the idea of cliques at school. These were the arbitrary groupings of individuals based on characteristics of some sort. There were the beautiful and popular crowd, the geeky crowd, the athletes, the shadow people that nobody much noticed, and those who rose above such silliness and simply associated with the people that they found to be interesting and friendly. The concept of mean girls and snobs are the stuff of movies. We laugh at the manufactured angst of the teenage years and yet there is a grain of truth in the stories of young people who feel bullied and alone because they have not achieved a desirous social status. Those who bleed into the edges of oblivion at school are often the victims of a complex web of dysfunctional parenting, mental or learning problems, abuse, and abandonment. They are the strange ones who tend to remain misunderstood and unloved by both their peers and the adults charged with their care. Because they are mostly quiet and unseen these shadow children rarely receive the attention that they so desperately need. The truth is that they are crying out in their silence and brooding but few people hear.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 