Balance

It has been a long time between posts here. I've been struggling lately.   I'm struggling with maintaining balance in my life and with the parts of my life that are the most important. This is difficult because I, like so many others, want to do it all and it is just not possible.

I have my faith that keeps me grounded, my husband that is my voice of reason and my rock, 3 kids that that are my light, and a profession that I love. Beautiful right?  Yes.

My difficulty is coming to terms with the many pulls on my time. I am a wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, believer, teacher and learner.  I love my job and I love learning. So, while I am passionate about sharing my learning on this blog, it does take time and I am working on how to make that time in my schedule. I want the same for my kids and my students alike.  I worry that today's children will have even more demands on their time and choices to make of what things/people get their attention. Therefore I want to provide for them a joy of learning within a balanced program. I want them to think for themselves and understand what is important to them. To be able to make difficult choices thoughtfully and to understand that each one of us has the moral responsibility to do the very best we can not just for ourselves, but for others too.

Children need to learn to make choices by doing! 

They need to choose which books they read.
They need to choose which research project is most important to them.
They need to choose where to play, where to work,  and where to read.
They need to learn to work, play, talk, and learn with others. To disagree, argue and solve the problem.
They need to lean what excites them and what is calming.
They need to identify their passion.

I am learning that they can and will do that given opportunity. Yes, some may need more support than others, but that is my obligation and opportunity as the teacher to scaffold their experience. I need to provide a few choices for some and allow them to make mistakes and then try again. Other students are able to make choices for themselves without me first narrowing the field for them. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes. I know this from personal experience, embracing the opportunities provided by our new digital tools have not come easily, but have been enormously worthwhile!

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