Shift In Your Seat

Once many years ago I was driving in my car listening to the radio. In retrospect, I wonder what the heck I was listening to, but I recall a commentator asking the question, “Are you the kind of person who remains uncomfortable when you’re sitting askew? Or do you shift in your seat to make yourself more comfortable?”

In thinking about my answer to that question, I noticed that I was sitting askew in the driver’s seat. And I didn’t shift. Question answered.

Why am I bringing this up? Aside from the fact that weird times breed weird thoughts?

I’m wondering about the millions of teachers out there who are figuring out

how to teach remotely.

I’m sure that many of those teachers feel empowered and excited by this task; I hope many others feel supported and nimble as they climb a steep learning curve.

The teachers I worry about are the ones who are feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed. Who can’t decide among all the options; who can’t imagine transferring their regular classroom plans onto an online platform; who are holding themselves to the same standards they would in face-to-face instruction and, at the same time, have no idea how those standards even look in the context of distance learning.

To put it bluntly, I’m worried about the teachers who have suddenly found themselves sitting askew in the driver’s seat.

Which makes me think of a blog post I received in my inbox this morning. It’s by a business guru named Seth Godin, and the blog post is called The Conversation. Now, Seth is not an educator, but he is a disruptor of sorts, and I found his blog post interesting. It encourages teachers to take advantage of this bizarre moment to consider doing things drastically differently.

To, in effect, shift in their seats.

I don’t know if the blog post will help teachers who feel paralyzed. But getting down to the basics — thinking about how they want their students to be different by the end of this school year, committing to the most important changes they want to see, and using online resources to get that job done in the most efficient way possible— might be just the shift those teachers need. Rather than sitting askew with an impossible or seemingly impossible task.

Just

lifting up your whole butt

and setting it down anew.

I don’t know what that shift in your seat might look like. I’m just here to suggest you do it. Take control of your comfort. Choose not to sit in discomfort. Go for simplicity, efficiency, and a gentle relationship with a pretty unnerving reality.

And, while you’re socially distancing, pull your friends close (virtually). Talk to other teachers. Absolutely get the help you need to make the necessary shifts in your seat. You need it. They need it. We all need it.