Be the light.
Today I’d like to talk about finding inspiration in unlikely places.
This week I seized a moment to run to the washroom at school (yes, really!) and boom, there it was. Inspiration. Inspiration that has, actually, been there all along.
This framed poster has been hanging in our staff ladies’ bathroom for two or three years. It mysteriously appeared one day and my co-worker and friend Maureen and I laughed about it for day
s until the evening of Curriculum Night when we were exhausted and a little slap happy. We got the great idea to write “We prefer to work independently in this particular space” on a Post-It night and tape it to the frame. Nobody knew it was us, but we knew it was us. (I would have sworn that I had a picture of this somewhere to show you, but I don’t. The Post-It fell off long ago and I had to go into the bathroom and take a picture of the now-Post-It-less poster for this post – luckily, nobody caught me because that would have been weird.) (Also, Maureen and I once put a note on our old, cantankerous copy machine that said something about the machine only working if you whisper sweet nothings into Tray 2. That doesn’t relate to this post, really, I just think it’s hilarious.)
Anyway, the point is, for years I’ve thought of this poster as something to giggle about. It was incongruous, out of place – who wants to think about collaboration in the bathroom? Nobody, that’s who.
This poster is nothing special. Most of you probably have posters just like this somewhere in your schools or offices – a picturesque photo of … something and then a caption with some words that are meant to be inspirational. It’s funny, because for all these years I’ve walked past the poster on my way to use the bathroom and giggled internally a little at the memory of how funny Maureen and I are. But I never actually read the supposedly inspiring words … until this week.
Be the light that others can come to with their ideas, visions and dreams. Never doubt that blending your talents with those of others can change the world.
It sounds trite, and it’s an inspirational poster hanging in a bathroom for goodness’ sake, but that part about “blending your talents”? Isn’t that what we as teacher leaders try to do every day? And isn’t that what we try to encourage our students to do?
Look, nobody is good at everything. And that is ok! As Angie Miller (the 2011 New Hampshire Teacher of the Year) writes in an Education Week blog entitled Are You Ready, we need to remember that one of the most effective ways to grow and empower educators is simply to break away from our preconceived notions of hierarchal structures and increase the level of collaboration.
Collaboration! Just like the bathroom poster says! I’ve walked past the collaboration poster in the bathroom a thousand times over the past few years. And obviously, as an educated, professional person, I know what collaboration means. I collaborate on the regular. I teach my students how to collaborate. It’s an important, real-world skill.
When I took a closer look at the poster, though, one thing that stuck out at me was the phrase "be the light". Advice for teachers about collaboration encourages us to identify our talents and strengths. For example, I know I'm good at getting people excited about things. I am not good at delegating or asking for favors and donations. Miller says it right there in her post: Capitalize on the different strengths of those around you. Who is creative? Who is organized? Who has connections outside the building?
A less appreciated and less recognized aspect of collaboration is the part where you need to open yourself up to others' ideas. Being the light, so to speak. Being someone who is safe to approach, someone who is always willing to try something new, to give it a whirl, to get a little messy.
How can you be the light in your building this week? Let me know what you think in the comments!
And if you and a colleague post silly notes around your building, I'd love to hear about those as well -- and so, I'm sure, would Maureen. She's fun like that.
