Heidi Hass Gable has done something special!

Here is her presentation, What I Want for My Children:

Her post simply says this:

My hope is that it will move you, it will motivate you,
it will make you think and it will inspire you to get involved in your child’s education,
to support your teachers and to be part of creating great schools!

Her subtitle: ‘Creating Great Schools — Together’ gets immediately to the heart of the matter.

The power of the message comes from the action she asks from parents…

… and what does she ask of teachers and all other educational partners? The exact same thing!

This comes shortly after the 5½ minute mark. This is what changes this video from a parent’s perspective to an educational partner’s perspective.

“If we want these things for our kids, then we have to do them for our teachers as well.”

Doing what’s best for our students, our kids, is what education is all about. It is what a collective WE want.

‘What I want for my children’ is a move in the right direction of meaningful collaboration that can only make our schools better.

Someone I know has a child in elementary school. That child came home and complained,

“It’s no fair!”

“What’s not fair?” Her mother asks.

“We were lined up to go to the computer lab and two boys were noisy so we didn’t go.”

“What did you do instead?”

“Extra math sheets.”

And what was done about this? Nothing. No parent complaint or questions of concerns. And so, it happened at least one other time after that. It will probably happen again.

Obviously it is ok that computers are a reward. Obviously Math makes suitable punishment. Obviously I’m being sarcastic.

So often we are measured by what we do, but seldom by what we do not do.

Have you challenged yourself this year? Have you gone to the hard places when you needed to? Have you reflected deeply? Have you written thoughtfully? Have you commented meaningfully? Have you inspired a desire to learn?

Does your inaction reflect who you are or who you’d rather not be?

- – - – -

“First They Came for the Jews”

First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.