Great Educators Know When To Cut the Grass
Yesterday I cut my grass for the first time of the year, and it felt better than ever before. The “shelter-in-place” orders related to COVID-19 have much of the country feeling cabin fever. But yesterday in Ohio it was nearly 70 degrees and sunny, and mowing my yard was just the sense of normalcy I needed to get through another day.
Of course, now that I have cut it once, that means I will have to cut it at least twice a week for the next several months, which will no doubt cause me to grumble. Until August, of course, when we usually get a drought and I can go weeks without cutting the grass.
That’s kind of the way it works, isn’t it? Sometimes the lawn needs mowed, sometime it doesn't. Sometimes it needs watered, other times fertilized. Sometimes you have crab grass or patches you need to repair. The way you treat your lawn is based on what the lawn needs. In April, when we get rain every other day, I don't need to water it.
And isn’t that exactly what good teaching is all about?
In other words, good teaching is contextual. The best teachers know that no formula, no recipe, no set order of things is going to work for all kids all the time. If the grass needs cut, you cut it. If it needs watered, you water. If it needs aerated or grub controlled or any of those other things, that’s what you do.
It's the same with teaching. Each student has different needs, and our behaviors are a response to what those needs are. And not every student in your class has the same needs, and not every class is the same as the previous one.
No two years are the same. No two classes are the same. The best teachers understand this and constantly adjust strategies for instruction and motivation to get the best from each student.
The best educators know that a great career will mean teaching for 35 years, not one year 35 times.
Those teachers who are most successful see each student as a single blade of grass and tend to each student’s needs accordingly. Those who are less successful see their class as a lawn, and give the same treatment to all kids whether they need it or not.
Yes, there are some things that should never change. Great teachers have fundamental core values that are unwavering and guide them in their work. They always maintain great communication with parents. They never use sarcasm with kids. But overall, they understand that each student is unique and should be treated as such.
This all goes for school administrators too. School leadership is incredibly contextual. School leadership is not as simple as enforcing a rule book. If it were, we would not need school administrators. We could just hire a bunch of clerks who could follow recipes instead of making complex decisions.
The best school leaders know that much of what they do involves shades of grey, and their job is to take a complex situation and make the best, most reasonable decision possible for the given circumstances. And they know that a similar situation may necessitate a different solution next time.
Like the best teachers, the best school leaders have an unwavering set of core values, always treat people well, and never use sarcasm. And the best school leaders know that the students and employees they are responsible for are treated as individuals for their individual needs.
This is not easy work. It involves a great deal of vulnerability. The best teachers and administrators have the ability to admit when they are wrong, the ability to apologize for their mistakes, and the ability to say when they don’t know the answer.
The worst teachers and school leaders are those who never admit a mistake, those who are going to mow the lawn whether it needs or not, all the while saying, “it’s the responsibility of the grass to need cutting.”
Even during these times of quarantine, I hope you can enjoy some beautiful spring weather. Play outside. Spend time with your family. Maybe even mow the lawn.
But only if it needs it.
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