We don’t need to know the definition of engagement to “get it.” A colleague recently called it, “In the zone.” That zone. Learning.
It’s partly an organized chaos, partly a buzz of questions balanced with spurts of ideas, and partly something that I can only equate to… a kind of magic like seeing a fireworks show or watching a balloon pop in slow motion. It’s a calm in the air that you can feel the storm of learning brewing right beneath.
It’s beautiful. It’s messy. It’s intricate. It’s fragile. It’s the most valuable thing we have in our schools because it’s something that grows organically from the hearts and souls of our kids. And when we teach? We are a part of that. Lucky enough to be involved, but wise enough to know the value.
You can’t reduce it to a script or fake it. And really, why would you want to try? It’s like growing a garden. You can’t pull a seed out of the ground to “hurry it along.” It would never bloom. But cultivate it, give it time, space, and love?
And you can’t stop it from shining in the sun.
And you can’t help by smile when you see it happen.
Learning is awesome like that.
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[…] We don’t need to know the definition of engagement to “get it.” A colleague recently called it, “In the zone.” That zone. Learning. It’s partly an organized chaos, partly a buzz of questions balanced with spurts of ideas, and partly something that I can only equate to… a kind of magic like seeing a fireworks show or watching a balloon pop in slow motion. It’s a calm in the air that you can feel the storm of learning brewing right beneath. […]