Are you going the wrong way?

Colleagues,

MVP: Ever feel like you are swimming upstream?
 
When I was a middle school teacher, our team of 8th grade teachers developed complex integrated thematic units through which we addressed timeless issues such as scapegoating and propaganda, and how our individual choices impact not only our lives, but the lives of those around us.
 
It took time time to coordinate and plan how these big ideas would fit within the curricula of our different subjects.
 
The whole process was messy, especially given that our school’s schedule and other structures were still rooted in the junior high school model, not the middle school one.
 
Sometimes it felt we were spending as much time trying to work the system as we were trying to do the work of creating and teaching these incredible units.
 
Have you ever felt like that? 
 
Like you spent way too much time and attention fighting against things when you were just trying to do your job?
 
Today’s intention: Think about how you felt (or feel) swimming against the current. What specifically is happening that makes it feel like that? What explains it?

Cheers!

Frederick