As one who often prefers my little cave of a classroom at the very end of our school building so as to not offend or intrude on the thoughts of others, in the past I tended to keep my ideas about what others have to say to myself. However, since my inception into the world of Twitter, I have felt encouraged to share my thoughts as I have come across some very amazing individuals willing to bestow their best practices, ideas and advice on anyone who has a spare 15 seconds in which to read 140 characters. Just 140 little characters, spaces included, and yet, room for advice; wonderful or detrimental, as the case may be.
Allow me to digress for one more moment in order to construct the scene necessary. When we go on-line to make a purchase, we usually have the option of reading reviews of the item in question, helping us to make informed decisions as to whether or not the item will meet our needs. Will it fulfill for us the necessary purpose? Is it well constructed? Will it come packaged in a way that protects its integrity?...etc... I have said more than once to my children as we read reviews on-line, that we need to accept the reviews of others carefully, knowing that some of the words are written by people from whom we would not normally seek advice. (Taking you a step further into my humor regarding discernment, I usually say something to the effect of, "This review might have been written by the nose-picker standing behind you at Target." Crude, perhaps, but the message is clear.) I admonish them to read the reviews, yes, but then decide for yourself whether or not that person's views have a right to be strongly considered in your discernment process over this item.
And so it is with advice about life. When we go on-line to read the quotes, stories and advice of others, we must do so with a discerning mind. Not everything will suit your needs at any one time in your life. Not everyone has a right to have their words take a meaningful position in your life. And so it was with the impetus for this post. When asked for advice for a brand new teacher, many kind and encouraging words were delivered. And then there was this:
"Only give 80% of yourself everyday. If you give 100%, you will burn out in 3 years."
That was followed-up with:
"Never give your lunchtime away to your students. That is your time."
OK, I was able to effectively and kindly respond to the second comment by suggesting that "if giving your lunch away", otherwise known as enjoying lunch with your students, in order to build relationship with them works for you, then you go for it! But regarding that first gem, I forced myself to refrain. Not because I believed it to be true, but because every single response I typed out was snarky, tainted in sarcasm and laced with 'please find a new profession'. There was no way to gently dance around the fact that I am thankful its author is not my child's teacher...or a brain surgeon or a brake specialist...you get the point. She is attempting to give advice to a new teacher, the builder of our future, by suggesting she NOT give the molding of young minds everything she's got. She went on to cite someone who has apparently made it his goal to explain why it is important in teaching to not give 100%. I know I should have watched his video, and perhaps I will after posting this, but first I wanted to live with the face value of her advice for a while.
And so in the end, I know I was still a little snarky...I tried. But I hope this post is a reminder that we need to seek advice of others. We need to learn from each other. We need to be confident that others can learn from us and we have something of value to share. And in the end, we need to discern and be deliberate about the advice we allow to seep into our hearts. It is not all good and some of it is delivered by the "nose-picker". I can hear my youngest daughter telling me, "Mom, not all nose-pickers are bad.", and that is true. But nose-pickers should not be giving advice about public manners any more than teachers who do not wish to give their all every single day to their students (by first giving 100% to their own well-being) should be giving advice to teachers new to the profession.
