Fishing for Answers

On the Tuesday of spring break, my oldest daughter, her husband, one of my middle sons, and I awoke early, drove down the coastal highway, and took a charter boat out for a day of fishing on the Gulf.  As Captain Mike took us out of the channel and into the open sea, banks of clouds closed in, and we soon lost sight of the coastline in the fog.

The fog didn't stop us from fishing, and we trolled out many miles into the Gulf, stopping occasionally to drop lines and pull up fish.  My experience has been that fishing is always good, but catching is sometimes less so.  That Tuesday, however, both went well.

Proof that this is no mere fishing tale (tail?).

At one point, the captain told us we were out over ten miles.  Surrounded by the fog, I had no clue about our location.  We could have been 500 yards or 500 miles off shore, and I wouldn’t have known the difference.  Just before the winds began to blow away the fog, the mate asked us to point toward land.  We did so but had to laugh because all four of us pointed in different directions.  When the mate pointed in a fifth direction, we realized that none of us had been even close. 

So how did he know where shore was? 

Maybe he didn’t.  He could have been pointing any direction, but my guess is he was much closer to being on target than the rest of us.  Perhaps he looked at the GPS before asking the question, but more likely, he had experienced the fog often enough that he knew exactly what to expect and how to stay oriented.

Cuba, Key West, or Destinations Unknown

I tell you this story partly because I love being on the ocean and fishing with my kids—and I have pictures to verify my catch.  (My usual disclaimer still applies: All my stories are True (with a capital T), but I never let facts get in the way of the story.)  I also tell you this story because those of us in education sometimes have a similar situation.  We cruise along doing our thing, and if we aren't careful, we can become disoriented and wonder where we should go to find dry land.

I have no idea how, but my phone logged our route.

Just consider the fog that surrounds education in our nation and in the state of Indiana right now.  I hardly have time, space, or inclination to list the problems, issues, debates, laws, and polemics.

So how do we in education know where shore is? 

One answer is to make our best guess, point in a direction, and head that way.  In our situation over spring break, had we followed our pointing fingers, we could have ended up anywhere from Cuba, to Brownsville, to the Yucatan Peninsula.  These destinations have tremendous appeal but would, perhaps, be better if the trips were planned in advance.

Deeper Learning

Another option when lost in the educational fog is to use a GPS of sorts by consulting someone with experience.  This spring break, I did exactly that by reading a book that has been on my mind ever since.  Monica Martinez and Dennis McGrath wrote Deeper Learning: How Eight Innovative Public Schools are Transforming Education in the Twenty-First Century. 

Photo from Amazon

I found their book to be very readable, insightful, and incredibly helpful.   These authors verify that we are on course and heading in the right direction as a school and as a district.  They also provide possible solutions to problems we will encounter in the coming months and years as we continue our journey. 

From time to time, I want to share bits and pieces of what I've learned from this book.  As the subtitle suggests, innovative public school educators are on the same path as we are.  They are meeting the needs of their students and preparing them for lives in our ever-changing and often confusing world.  We can learn from their experiences and adapt some of their solutions to meet our specific needs.

We may still be in a bit of educational fog, but Deeper Learning is like a GPS that can provide guidance from experienced educators who are facing similar or even more difficult challenges.

The fog will lift, HSE.  The sun will shine.  We will keep reeling in kids, and we will dive into Deeper Learning in the coming months.

Have a great week.

Phil

One more photo, just because....  I call it "Beauty and the Beast."

Our granddaughter, Amelie, sitting beside our sand sculpture.