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It's not you, it's me

I had a nice conversation with a colleague here ... chatting with teachers in the summer is always fun because everyone is relaxed but at this time there is also the anticipation of getting back into the classroom, so there's a great energy. He mentioned my new job and said something like "it's a great opportunity for you to bring your vision in to the classrooms."

And I had to stop him... because that's exactly the opposite of what I want to do with this job. Sure, I have a vision of what classrooms should look like -- but I'd much rather help teachers bring _their vision_ of what their classroom should look like. There are a multitude of ways to make teaching and learning better (and I'm not going to define what that means at this point) -- and if I just march on with what I think is best, it's not going to initiate any real change in the classroom.
Change has to be personal, individual, differentiated.
It has to come from whatever space the teacher is working in.
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