Are you a Bee or a Squirrel? Maybe a Zebra or Giraffe??

"To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee, And revery. The revery alone will do, If bees are few." - Emily Dickinson

In a class that several of our staff are taking, we watched the Video "Animal School" produced by Raising Small Souls (a great website to check out as well).  It prompted lots of discussion as we shared our thoughts about how this applies to us every day as educators  - what it means in connection with the children we teach, love, guide each day.  We are all unique - just like snowflakes, no two people are exactly alike.  That's what makes humanity so wonderful!  Variety - creativity - surprises!  One person's strength is another's weakness - that's how we compliment each other, and learn from each other.


What does that mean for our children?  As parents and educators, do we expect ALL of our children to be enthusiastic athletes or amazing musicians or perhaps outstanding academics?  Maybe we expect ALL of this from every child??  As educators, we want each child to be proficient at everything they do - Math, Science, English, Geography, Music, PE.  Are we expecting more of our children than we even expect from ourselves?  

I am an accomplished musician.  Science, however, is NOT my forte!  Once I hit chemistry in high school, I knew this was NOT my calling!  Is that bad?  Should I have stuck it out and taken all the science I could and attempted to build up my science knowledge?  Of course, my musicianship would have suffered.  I wouldn't have had as much time to practice or do the other "extra" musical activities that I loved.  My time would have probably been spent trying to figure out the allotropes of carbon instead!

How do we as educators celebrate the uniqueness and gifts of each of our students while at the same time prepared them with a "well-rounded" education?  How does this all connect with the state testing that is required of schools?  Lots of questions, lots of ideas.  

Watch for yourself, and ponder. Leave a comment, add to the discussion!  Which animal do you identify with in the video?  Which animal do you see your children identifying with?  

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