Yeah right! We have all heard it, but who believes it? Well, over the years
we face changes in curriculum, administration, teaching assignments, staff
members, policies, school calendars and class schedule, pay scales and so on.
Then add in all the flavor-of-the-month philosophies that come around that we
must adjust to and accept –Step-Up to Writing, Six-Traits Reading and Writing,
Standards Based Education, Critical Friends Groups, Professional Learning
Communities, etc. How do we keep our sanity when we are in a constant state of
readjustment to the current new thing?
Personally, I have always hated change and I have always had a tendency to
get hyper about changes in my happy little life in my school district. But I
can honestly say that after nine years I have learned that these changes are
usually going to happen whether I want them to or not, so I try to view them as
speed bumps instead of road blocks. We can rail all we want about how much we
hate standardized testing and how ridiculous next year’s class schedule is, but
in the end it usually is not as bad as we think it is going to be. We do
adjust. Nobody loves all the testing, but it is a fact of our lives, so why not
teach the skills that the students need to be proficient and then trust they
will use those skills on the test?
Of course sometimes change is not for the better and these are the times
when we might have to ask ourselves if we need to make some sort of individual
step like changing schools or districts to find the best fit for ourselves.
Still, change is change and it can all be good if we try to have a positive
attitude and just let it be sometimes.