February 26, 2018

I've been very busy trying to move my son into his new apartment in Columbus Georgia. He will be starting his new law career by being a clerk for two judges in the Superior Court. Visiting Columbus Georgia made me realize how different we all are in parts of the country in terms of Education. I was sitting outside of a cafe for lunch with my husband and my son and a news team pulled up in the parking area beside us. They got their cameras out of the car and their recording equipment and started interviewing parents on the street. Apparently redistricting recently occurred. Some parents were thrilled While others were not. I listened to the conversations and found out the parents who were upset we're the ones whose students were taken out of the so-called good schools and put into the less desirable schools. I started thinking how I might have felt if my son had been taken out of his school and put into another when he was growing up. I'm sure I would not have liked it. I would like to say that I would I would like to be supportive and say it would all be fine but truly it is not fair to students who have formed friendships and bonds with their teachers and have grown familiar with their surroundings.
I wonder if he would still have gone to Penn State for chemical engineering and I wonder if he would still have gone to UGA law school if he would have had a disrupted education. We will never know that answer. I would like to think that he would have persevered in spite of the change. That's how I raised him after all.
I talked to the reporter when she was finished interviewing the parents and I asked her what she thought about the results of her impromptu survey. She said it was about 50/50. Some parents didn't really mind but some did. I guess that's how it is with everything. We all have our own opinions and we all have our own reasons for those opinions. We need to respect those opinions stay firm in ours and make the best of it.
I feel this is appropriate for coaching because we need to respect the opinions of the teachers we are coaching. Some teachers are not tech-savvy and don't want to be. We shouldn't force it down their throats. We should respect their opinions. I try to do this every time I walk into a classroom. I actually take baby steps and figure out what people are willing to try. And I let them figure out the rest.