Driving Allison Home from an evening basketball game one Wednesday evening she said:
“I listen to my father,” said Allison, “because I have found that he tells me things that turn out to be true. Like ‘Never go out without money,’ he says.”
Allison needed someone to talk to. Last Saturday night there had been a party where some of her classmates got drunk and trashed the house of a classmate. Read More…
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Do not trip over what is behind you.
—Seneca
One day, five second-grade girls came to my office.
“We’re having a fight.”
“Could we use your office to talk it out?”
“Sure,” I said.
They came in and sat at the round table.
“We would like for you to stay.”
“Yeah, but we don’t want you to say anything.”
“Okay,” I said and went back to my desk.
They started talking.
Early in the conversation, they acknowledged
that the problem stemmed from two of their parents,
who had not been getting along.
Miranda said: “Don’t bring the past into the present.”
“Yeah. Like, just cause our parents aren’t friends
doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
“Yeah. Like, let’s not bring the past into the present.”
A little more talking.
Then they got up from the table, thanked me,
and clustering at the doorway,
they put their hands together and
made a pact to be friends no matter what.
Saying in unison:
“Don’t bring the past into the present.”
Happy New Year, and Happy new decade. Today is 0101/2020
Press the Reset Button.
Be New
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It’s Not True,
what we’ve been told,
that heaven has to wait until we die.
Thinking I would have to make my case someday,
I spent my whole life in the hell of bettering,
bettering myself and others, the world,
but bettering just fed despair and
nothing happened.
At last I just stood up and said, “May I come in? I’ve done
some things I shouldn’t do, and not done things I should,
and I’m a stupid, fucking idiot.” And then I heard
a voice which said: I know. It’s not your fault.
It’s how you’re made. Come in.
You like your coffee black?
…or room for cream?
(A poem for this Advent season.)
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Commenting on Diagnosis Can Blind Us to Leadership Opportunities, Iseult wrote about Feargal who did not speak until he was 4 1/2:
He obviously understood everything that went on around him; his hearing was checked and found to be fine. This was many years ago, before people jumped to look for a “spectrum” to tag onto a child. In the family, he was the fastidious one. He was the household alarm clock, and made tea and toast on for the family when they arose. He dressed in a bow tie for his first day of school. At the age of four-and-a-half, Feargal began to speak in full, correct, sentences. In retrospect, his parents took the view that as he always liked things to be ‘just so,’ he had decided not to speak until he knew he had mastered it. His parents never stressed him, or pushed him, they were confident he would come to himself in his own time
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Welcome to my blog about the delights, mysteries, and challenges of educating our children. These stories and reflections are based on my 40 years of experience working with students, teachers, and parents as a principal, father, and education consultant. Join me as we journey down the road of discovering how to bring out the best in our children!
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Rick Ackerly is a nationally recognized educator and speaker with 45 years of experience working in and for schools. With a master’s in education from Harvard University, Rick has devoted his career to building thriving learning communities. He has served as headmaster of four independent schools and has been a consultant and coach to teachers, school leaders and parents for many years. Rick speaks to parent and school groups across the country. He also presents at numerous education conferences nationwide.
