“We are all functioning at a small fraction of our capacity to live full in [life’s] total meaning of love, caring, creating, and adventuring. Consequently, the actualizing of our potential can become the most exciting adventure of our lifetime.”     -Herbert Otto

Since the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, I have worked with many schools to assist them in effectively planning for math instruction using small groups and differentiated strategies.

Sometimes working with schools can be challenging, especially when the school has been making some progress…

“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem.”     -Gilbert Chesterton

This last week I had the honor of working with a school in Montgomery County, Maryland. The teams of teachers worked hard the entire week. I am still in awe of one group of teachers as I reflect on their professionalism.

We began the 3-hour planning session, by listing the teachers’ celebrations after implementing Tabor Rotation in mathematics for the last several months. They were genuinely proud of each other and gave each other verbal “pats on the back” as each person listed their triumphs.

Then we began to list their challenges. The most amazing statements were made as they began to speak. One teacher, still recovering from the flu, came to school because she wanted wanted me (and the leadership team) to know how well her students were doing and how hard everyone was working.

Another teacher, when describing her challenge, said she was uncomfortable with the students being in small groups working on mathematical concepts because they weren’t “under her wing” in a whole-group setting.

After she described this challenge, she made the most incredible statement of personal accountability (John Miller [Question Behind the Question] would be proud of her)…

“You know…that may be a challenge because I’m just not used to using small groups in mathematics. I have done it for years in literacy and don’t feel uncomfortable at all with that. I believe that this won’t be challenge for long if I just change my attitude about small groups in math.”

WOW!!! Instead of coming up with reasons why small groups and hands-on instruction wouldn’t work, these teachers were taking personal accountability for raising the level of instruction in their rooms. Kudos to them as they continue on their journey…doing what is best for all students…no matter what!

“Your biggest challenge isn’t someone else. It’s the ache in your lungs, and the burn in your legs, and the voice inside your head that yells ‘can’t.’ But you don’t listen. You just push harder. And then you can hear the voice whisper, “CAN!” and you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are.”     -2002, Phoenix Fire Department Website