When something doesn't seem right SLOW DOWN

Slow down to hear and feel in a situation

 Slow down the curriculum

Slowing down is more than living in balance, it is about understanding the trap we have fallen into where expectations become more important than accessing raw human potential and the song of the heart.

In my teaching career, I learned the importance of looking at the subtle reflection of frustration in the eyes of my students to guide me when dealing with conflict or learning. It was so easy to push aside the art of intuition when there was so much to do! 

It’s incredible how wrong we can be when trusting what we see with our eyes or what we hear with our ears especially when dealing with the day to day pressures in the classroom.  I discovered that by rejecting my own heart and intuition I began the slow devastation of a soul who just needed to be heard.

That sounds rather dramatic! I’m not trying to be poetic. There are times that being tough may be okay, especially if you have built up enough relationship with your students where they can weather our imperfections, but it does not do away with the reality that our children are fragile and how we listen to them is important.  I know this because I am also guilty of assuming I had the solution to solving the child’s inability to behave or present work on time. Or where I made a child responsible for an action that belonged to somebody else. All because I didn’t spend the time listening to the heart of the situation.  

When something doesn’t seem right SLOW DOWN and feel what’s happening. Listen to your own intuition and to the heart of your students.  This is more important than bowing to the pressure of time.

It’s incredible when you deny “pressure” or “expectations” to rule the day and choose rather to sit with a student to understand their perspective and give them voice.  The incredible thing I discovered was that they became allies for the good of the whole school.  They felt empowered and emboldened to do the right thing, to speak into the lives of others with a wisdom you wish you had. Suddenly, there was less distance between the “teacher” and the “student” we were together creating a life of meaning.  I also experienced the benefits of a student’s connectedness to self and others creating the learning outcomes we all desire.

Teaching is a dance, to do it well you need the ability to lead but also to follow.

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