Growing Potatoes

I love a good metaphor.

And, this one has some great—pardon the pun—“nuggets” for us to reflect upon:

• Taking care of the land and nurturing it until it is ready to grow a crop of potatoes.  This is a long, planned and expensive process.  I can’t help but see this as a metaphor for a learner.  We have to create the conditions within, and for, each learner so that—when they are ready—we will be able to help them achieve success in their learning.  This is an important, life-long process.

• New technology is important but it is no substitute for good, sound decision making and preparation.  As a long-time teacher and advocate for integrating embedding technology into everyday classroom practice, I have always been one to champion the need for a warm body to help facilitate the learning process. 

• No amount of technology will ever take the human element out of the process.  See my comments above.

• Those who try to cheat the process and take short cuts are the ones that ultimately fail.  This makes me think about the motivation of the learner; there is always someone who will take the easy road.  Those people, however, are never the ones that stick with it, the do something for the love of doing it, that succeed in the end.  These are not the passionate people we want leading our youth.

• Nothing ever replaces hard work.  This sounds like something that my dad would say, and you know what?  He’s right.

• The idea that Mother Nature is in control, and that you need all of your effort and energy to get the most out of what she gives you.    Sometimes you may be fortunate enough to get a good year, but to plan yourself around getting a good year is foolish.  There are always things in life, events and experiences, good and bad, that shape the way we see things.  Sometimes we can control those things, but many times we cannot.  Our experience builds the resiliency needed to weather through these storms, and the wisdom to see the “big picture”.  Those blips on the radar—successes and challenges—will always be there and we would be foolish to use those blips to predict the future or, even worse, to build expectations for the future.

• “We recognize that there is a brotherhood of sorts among growers of potatoes, on the other hand, we also recognize the fact that we’re in total competition, one with another.”  This is a value statement.  One of my great mentors taught me to always put the District’s needs before the school’s needs.  He believed that we were “all in this together” and was a big picture kind of guy.  That’s an easy mantra to follow when the times are good, and much tougher when feel like we are fighting and scratching for every nickel and dime, but that’s what character is all about.  Isn’t it?

• “We have to work hard at it otherwise we have a product that no one wants to buy.”  See above.