Going Deeper Into Teaching

Going deeper has been a theme in my life over the past year.  Sometimes I drown in the amount of information in education constantly at my fingertips.  It makes it so difficult to focus, to see the road ahead.  There are always new ideas (exciting) getting in the way of my path.  My brain feels jerked around by the agenda pushed by my school district, the agenda of publishers I admire, the priorities of experts.  Last night I had a conversation with a friend about efficiency and time.  Going deeper into reflecting about my school year has lead me to an undeniable truth.  Taking control of my own agenda truly needs to be at the center of my planning and goal setting for my students.  When I say truly, I mean honestly giving up other less important details holding me back from teaching full out!  Being a people pleaser has many benefits, but pitfalls as well.  I compromise to be like everyone else.  Maintaining the status quo and hesitating to rock the boat is safer.  The big challenge is doing what I know to be best for my students that will take the most reasonable amount of time.  Reasonable is the most important word I have learned to practice over this last year.  Balancing the work/life routine continues to be a lifelong journey.  Reflecting on teaching, using my students/experience/common core/ hours in a day as my guide, must continue to be a practice done reasonably.