ON THE WISDOM OF EMBRACING TESTS

I met my friend by accident-- her accident, that is. Her life came to a screeching halt with a catastrophic auto crash which leaves her in much pain and seemingly interminable therapy. More painful, I divined, was the loss of "her life"-- the valued work she does, attentions to her beloved family, and the carefree pace of life before. She has given me much to meditate upon regarding how I take things for granted... And it reminded me of this old Arabic story.

There was once a lover who had sighed for long years in separation from his beloved, and wasted in the fire of remoteness. From the rule of love, his heart was empty of patience, and his body weary of his spirit; he reckoned life without her as a mockery, and time consumed him away. How many a day he found no rest in longing for her; how many a night the pain of her kept him from sleep; his body was worn to a sigh, his heart’s wound had turned him to a cry of sorrow. He had given a thousand lives for one taste of the cup of her presence, but it availed him not. The doctors knew no cure for him, and companions avoided his company; yea, physicians have no medicine for one sick of love, unless the favor of the beloved one deliver him.

At last, the tree of his longing yielded the fruit of despair, and the fire of his hope fell to ashes. Then one night he could live no more, and he went out of his house and made for the marketplace. On a sudden, a watchman followed after him. He broke into a run, with the watchman following; then other watchmen came together, and barred every passage to the weary one. And the wretched one cried from his heart, and ran here and there, and moaned to himself: “Surely this watchman is Izrá’íl, my angel of death, following so fast upon me; or he is a tyrant of men, seeking to harm me.” His feet carried him on, the one bleeding with the arrow of love, and his heart lamented. Then he came to a garden wall, and with untold pain he scaled it, for it proved very high; and forgetting his life, he threw himself down to the garden.

And there he beheld his beloved with a lamp in her hand, searching for a ring she had lost. When the heart-surrendered lover looked on his ravishing love, he drew a great breath and raised up his hands in prayer, crying: “O God! Give Thou glory to the watchman, and riches and long life. For the watchman was Gabriel, guiding this poor one; or he was Isráfíl, bringing life to this wretched one!”

Indeed, his words were true, for he had found many a secret justice in this seeming tyranny of the watchman, and seen how many a mercy lay hid behind the veil. Out of wrath, the guard had led him who was athirst in love’s desert to the sea of his loved one, and lit up the dark night of absence with the light of reunion. He had driven one who was afar, into the garden of nearness, had guided an ailing soul to the heart’s physician.

Now if the lover could have looked ahead, he would have blessed the watchman at the start, and prayed on his behalf, and he would have seen that tyranny as justice; but since the end was veiled to him, he moaned and made his plaint in the beginning. Yet those who journey in the garden land of knowledge, because they see the end in the beginning, see peace in war and friendliness in anger.

  - Excerpt from The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys, Baha’u’llah

TWITTER CAN MAKE YOU A GREAT TEACHER?

This post originally was my comment to a post by @georgecouros entitled: A Higher Chance of Becoming Great? The “Twitter” Factor (Read it here.)

Twitter is a transformative tool for teachers. Definitely!

Now, I don't know that I could ever assume the title, "Great” teacher... but I definitely know that I am "greater than" I was before Twitter!

Twitter has broken down the wall for me. Always a bit of an educational maverick in my school circles, I had constructed a wall to deflect criticism and disbelief I saw from other colleagues over my practice. Not that I was doing anything so great, just different. Whether it was giving students voice or choice, planting grasses on the playground to test scientific method, or sponsoring a lunch time "artist cafe", I just liked doing things which my students enjoyed. And so I became accustomed to expecting that I would be the one out on a limb... with my colleagues watching from the ground.

After 30 years, Twitter changed all that. It opened up doors to a host of teachers that looked a lot like me. (And many that didn't, and that was refreshing too...) All of a sudden I saw many teachers who were out on limbs-- climbing and bouncing and swinging. Twitter gave me access to like-minded teachers, a PLN (Personal Learning Network), to bounce ideas off of, to offer suggestions to support my practice, to listen to my edu-adventures.

Most of my PLN is far flung, from the US to Australia to the Philippines. But to my surprise, I found some of my own district staff on Twitter too! We have occasional Meet-ups especially to teach and encourage each other and show fellow staff members how to use Twitter. 

Another regular outcome of Twitter use is the Edcamp experience, a wonderfully democratic "unconference" where attendees set the agenda and learn what they like. Edcamps are rife with learning and instructional possibilities that leave me twittering for days! And, of course, the personal connections made are the best. 

Although I have been active only a year, with Twitter I have learned more and made more professional progress than with my previous decade of school PD! 

And none of this is lost on my students. I love to hear them rev up: "Oh, oh... Mr. Voigt is on his Twitter account. What are we gonna be doing now?"