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Recently, I was at a discussion session being led by a couple of staff from the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). One of the things that they asked us was "what kept us up at night?" The answer to that question was how they determined what books, booklets, and articles that they would write/publish for ASCD. It was their opinion that if it was keeping teachers and administrators up at night then it was an important topic.
What do you think? I kind of like it. Well, I don't like anything keeping me up at night, but I do like the concept behind this. Basically, if it is something that is serious enough to worry about to the point of staying up at night then it must be really important?!
When I was a principal, I worried about my staff, and about the safety of the students. Also, I worried about how to connect with the student who was having trouble transitioning to a new classroom or who were struggling with big issues at home. I worried about how to inspire my teachers to be better teachers. There was a lot of things that kept me up at night. However, in reality, very little had to do with data, test scores, or rankings. My heart's concern was always centered around students, staff, and families. I know these were the right things to worry about.
Lately, what is keeping me up is centered around wanting children to develop into passionate readers and wanting teachers to share the same concern.
So, what keeps you up at night?
