Trust

I don't even know why it surprises me anymore. I should be used to it by now. It's just so great to watch it happen. I guess I'm still in shock that everything came together as quickly as it did for the ACT. When I found out on Friday afternoon that we had to test on Tuesday, I was pretty upset. I quickly thought about all of the things that could go wrong, wouldn't happen on time and wouldn't be right. What I did was exactly what I shouldn't have done. I doubted the expertise, commitment and resolve of our staff and students. I thought about everything that could go wrong, instead of trusting in my people. Everyone did a fantastic job this week. Teachers helped one another throughout the day. Students worked as hard as they could for four hours during that test to give their best. Other staff members pitched in and covered classes and helped get the right people in place. It went off without a single problem.

I find it pretty amazing how trust works. When you have a group of people that believe in a common goal, they almost always seem to find a way to make it work. I think the same happens in effective classrooms. It is easy, and almost intuitive, for teachers to think about what could go wrong in a new lesson. We think about that one kid that can't handle the structure. The group that just couldn't handle the assignment that way or a million other things that could go wrong. But if you prepare them with what they need, set up structures that support them and allow them to support each other, it is always impressive what students can produce. The problem is that it can be scary to try for the first time. Stepping off the ledge and into the unknown means giving up control and you find yourself just like me last Friday. Sometimes it's not until you have no other choice that you find out just how incredible the people around you can be!