The middle way – the balanced classroom

Blog post #1

In life we are told it is important to know about and to travel the middle path - the middle way- a balanced life. But what is balance? What is the middle path in life? What is the middle path in life especially when educating and working with kids?

Educators nourish wisdom and promote wisdom and awareness in our students. We know it is important to care about our students and be supportive of and have compassion for them (one side of the path) and we know it is equally important to have a challenging and rigorous curriculum full of wisdom (the other side of the path) especially today with curricular and pedagogical practices where both students and teachers are assessed and evaluated.

Can educators have too much compassion and be too caring and be too supportive and not have enough rigor? Can educators have a curriculum and pedagogical practices too rigorous and challenging and have little or no compassion or student support? Can educators walk the balanced middle path of being supporting and challenging?

I was thinking about this concept and practice the other day while walking my two dogs – Lizzie who is 4.5 pounds and Schooner who is 9.5 pounds. Frequently we walk a common path and we travel the dog walk path mutually comfortable, happy and in harmony.

But sometimes Lizzie is pulling on her lease and me one way and wants to go that direction (caring – supportive) but Schooner has no intention of going that way and is pulling his lease and me the other direction (rigor, challenge, assessment). And there are the three of us – at a stand still – not being able to travel the dog walk path. So, I have to determine a middle path to balance Lizzie and Schooner and their wants and needs on our daily walks.

Educators need to balance our daily dog walks between the needs and wants of our Lizzie and Schooner. Every day is a new day with some familiar paths on our walks in our classrooms and other days there are new adventures and expectations on our walks in our classrooms. As an educator, everyday, I have to make sure the middle path with my classes and students is met as I do on my daily walks with Lizzie and Schooner seeking a middle path and a balanced walk where we are in harmony.

How do you now or how will you meet the balanced middle path of Lizzie (compassion – support – caring) and Schooner (wisdom, rigor and challenge) in your classes? How do you seek harmony between being caring and supportive and providing rigor and challenge? Please provide specific ideas and practices not generic ideas of how you provide a middle path in with your classes and with your students?

If you do not think in terms of the middle path provide your position of how you work currently or plan to work within your classes and with your students.


Blog post #2

Other educators' blogs

In your blog

Go to other educators’ websites and explore what they are doing with their blogs and some on the ideas they are sharing in their blogs.

Take three educator blog sites and write what you think is exciting and cool with what they are doing.