Putting Out Fires or Starting Them?
Today I am grateful for the soothing quiet of early morning and for time with our grandson Leo over the weekend.
I was pondering the idea of "putting out fires" recently as I thought about the busy pace of my job. Some days it does seem like it is about putting out fires, one after the other. The kind of fires you don't want to let burn, the kind that are best contained when small. The fires may have to do with students, parents, teachers, or any combination thereof.
But then I thought about how educating our young is supposed to be about starting fires. Fires of curiosity and motivation. Fires that need to be nurtured and protected until there is enough fuel to keep them burning strong on their own.
It seems a bit contradictory, all this talk of fires. But it really is the stuff of life. Positive or negative. Productive or nonproductive. Helpful or hindering. Warming us up or causing us to run from the heat.
Which kind of fire will I feed today?
I was pondering the idea of "putting out fires" recently as I thought about the busy pace of my job. Some days it does seem like it is about putting out fires, one after the other. The kind of fires you don't want to let burn, the kind that are best contained when small. The fires may have to do with students, parents, teachers, or any combination thereof.
But then I thought about how educating our young is supposed to be about starting fires. Fires of curiosity and motivation. Fires that need to be nurtured and protected until there is enough fuel to keep them burning strong on their own.
It seems a bit contradictory, all this talk of fires. But it really is the stuff of life. Positive or negative. Productive or nonproductive. Helpful or hindering. Warming us up or causing us to run from the heat.
Which kind of fire will I feed today?
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