Been feeling a little grumpy lately. Started to take personally kids’ not making the most of their time during independent work time. Didn’t like feeling this way. Monday, it came to a head, and I had to find a “different,” had to find a better. So, yesterday morning I came up with this idea.

Decided to share it on Twitter, for I know I am not alone, and I want others to know that they are not alone either.

It’s a delicate thing, giving kids ownership, for it requires letting go, and that is not always easy, but if we don’t let go, they know, and they then do not trust our words. For me–really, for them–it is not enough to speak the words. My deeds have to match. My walk has to match my talk. When I say, “You are responsible for your learning,” I have to give them responsibility. So, yesterday, I let go. For them. For me. I could not stay in my place of grumpiness, and I had to own, as I mentioned in the Twitter thread above, the culture I have created for my kids. I can’t give them freedom all year long, and then bluster at their taking liberty. I had to level with them, not “level them,” as if it’s their fault.

So, we talked. And as we did, I emphasized, as I have done all year, that I am interested not in their compliance but their commitment, and that I was coming from that place, a place of encouraging commitment. Not sure, I can genuinely come from any other place. I can play–have played–the heavy, but that is not me. As I have remarked in the past, getting kids to comply is no great thing. And though I haven’t worked out all the wrinkles in this commitment cloak I wear, it fits me. It’s who I am. I can’t, I won’t hide from that. And even though it seems a return to the old ways might be the answer in tougher times, I shrug off such thoughts and venture ahead, believing better is out there, which in the end may prove that I was only a wandering fool, chasing the glitter of better.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…drafting our first “This Is Me” piece.

…incorporating “tricks of the trade” into our writing.

…tracking “off-task” time.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.