Tag: practice

  • Know your stuff, then…

    …do what feels right.

    My practice distilled into one sentence, a sweet mélange of head and heart.

    Illustration of Hearts and Brains, Pixel & Light Design. Click for source.
    Illustration of Hearts and Brains, Pixel & Light Design. Click for source.

    This past week it’s been repeating like a mantra behind all of the activity – know your stuff, do what feels right.

    Stuff, of course, bears a lot of weight. Stuff can consist of curriculum, management, theory, school culture, student background, and more.

    What feels right is where the teacher becomes artist. This year I regained my own trust in the do what feels right category. I spent much of my year looking to others for approval and recognition as it was my first year in this position and I really wanted to a) do a good job (as defined by others, I learned) and b) keep the position. Only in April did I realize this, that I wasn’t doing what felt right enough of the time.

    Big lesson I learned this year. From my kids, from my colleagues.

    Have I mentioned lately that I wouldn’t change my job for anything?

    Know your stuff, do what feels right.

    I just happened to find a blog post, written in a much more scholarly manner! on the same topic by Penny Ryder, Unity of the Head and Heart.