Since posting my first and only blog, life has been harsh for me. My husband died on April 14^th after spending 10 weeks in the hospital trying so hard to recover from back surgery only to discover a massive cancerous tumor in his stomach that had spread everywhere. I am working hard on putting balance and purpose back in my life. One constant is my passion for education. I am renewing my commitment to parents and teachers in an effort to work together finding our way through this thick molasses morass we find ourselves stuck in right now.

There are powerful voices out there singing the dirge of test scores and data collection, all the while blaming the teachers, the teachers and a host of other ills. Put the kids in the middle of any hub and the spokes radiating from that center can be labeled with all kinds of issues and ills: poverty, single Mom homes, poor nutrition, poorly trained teachers, lack of resources, lack of concern, on and on. While we tackle each of these issues, the child sits in the middle of the classroom (our hub) seeking respect, kindness, playfulness, interaction, inspiration and the community of peers and adults. Offer that child authentic respect and a curriculum that acts like a magnet to their innate curiosity and wonder, and she is yours to mentor and to mold. Deprive them of that authentic respect and the fanciest curriculum in the world won’t do it.

I return again to first principles like the root word of education – e’ ducare – a Latin word

meaning to lead out, to draw forth. That’s why I named this website Educare – the Learning Story. We have thousands of testimonials, memoirs, stories that illustrate this very basic understanding. Teachers, parents, mentors who understand intuitively that each person arrives in their classroom or in their family with gifts and strengths that, once acknowledged, will be that magnet that leads each child to a deep seated love of learning. Yet we persist in focusing on the deficit model – something is wrong with each kid in my classroom, which spreads easily to something is wrong with each teacher, each principal, each school. Dare I say it – Duh!

What happened? Did we forget our own beliefs and skills, our own purpose and meaning? Did we get so caught up in the test-scores-alone bandwagon that we forgot why we love kids and learning? Or, did we just get trapped on the rollercoaster and the only way off is to quit the profession and move into something else?

It’s you, it’s me in the classroom, genuinely connecting with each child, finding out how each one learns, pulling in every available resource to connect each child with a love of learning that will last a lifetime. One of the most incredible mentors in my life, Kay Goines, used to say to all of the teachers gathered at her feet, “Now take your ribbon and run with it.” Kay spent time connecting with each teacher in her weekend retreats, chatting about books each of us would enjoy, strategies, plans ideas, anything that could support us in our quest to be a fine teacher, a better parent.

I imagine your classroom ribbon floating just above the heads of your kids, weaving its way around each of them.  It drops down at just the right moment, so those sweaty hands can hold on tight. You, the teacher, Mom and Dad have imbued that ribbon with all you believe about kids and learning. Your classroom is filled with mystery and miracles. Your work may be intense, but it is rewarding to see kids take hold of the ribbon you put in motion. You have become the number one learner in your classroom. That colorful ribbon is attached to your fingers, your brain cells, your heartstrings. And the kids trust that because now their learning has connections and meaning.

This is how it should be. We have a long way to go to make it so.

What can we do, just sit back in despair and hope that someone else out there can straighten it out? That won’t change anything. What will work is planting your feet in the middle of your space and throwing out that ribbon, that lifeline that shimmers with your deep respect for each person in your little community, your belief that each one of these kids has the capacity and the desire to learn. Your passion for providing them with the most integrated, arts and science rich, curriculum will pay off in spades.  Each student will learn how to ask relevant questions, participate in group dialogue, create projects, fail and then go for it again. Real learning, not just rote learning, is taking place.

We know how to do it. We just have to give ourselves permission to do it. And remember that ribbon of yours is connected to all of the other ribbons out there. Weaving them together results in a support system, a respectful collaborative process that helps each one of us.