If you're just joining in on this series, here's what's going on:
I'm using the quotes as a basis for reflection on a shift in my professional journey. You see, for 12 years I was an elementary music teacher and now I've found myself to be an assistant principal. In a time that I anticipate to be filled with much personal and professional growth, I'd like to be sure and carve out some purposeful reflection time. As an educator, I've personally benefited from purposeful reflection through blogging and I can only imagine that I'll still benefit from reflective blogging as a leader in education.
My goal is to spend some time in each post writing about the quote, about the author of the quote (when possible), and about how I see the quote and/or the background image of the quote applying to my day-to-day world.
As a gal who always credits a source, I'd like to give a shout out to a dear friend, Kara Lowery, for coming up with the name of the series. Kara is a fabulous special education teacher who specializes in working with children who have autism. Not only is she a gifted teacher; she's also terrifically punny.
Read on; enjoy!
Saroyan was a veteran of World War II and immersed himself in writing after his mother showed him some of his father's writing. I think that's really cool...writing is in his background and he didn't have to do a "23 and me" profile to figure that out.
Something else that strikes me a neat about Saroyan is that Wikipedia says he wasn't a big fan of editing his work. He wanted to write fast and furious and get on with the next project at hand. I think he would relate really well to our young tiny human writers, because editing is exhausting. Let's get outside and play.
Editing is exhausting for me, too. I will go back into a post I've made just an hour later and find 12 mistakes that I need to edit. In fact, y0u've probably already found five mistakes and we're just gettin' started.
So, maybe Saroyan relates to more than just our tiny humans. Maybe he relates to each of us in our own ways, which is the mark of a gifted writer.
Saroyan's quote makes me think about how the character of a person isn't limited or defined just because they experience failure--it's what a person DOES with the failure that makes all the difference.
The tiny humans who go to the school where I spend my days had a skate night a few weeks ago. There were plenty of kiddos going around the far outside ring of the roller skating rink, clutching to the carpeted wall with great determination.
(I remember those days as a young skater myself.)
Many times, the students would be paired up or in small groups with their friends going around the rink. One particular time, one partner fell down to the ground with great flair. They were a little startled to find themselves on the ground, when their friend looked down and said, "It's okay. The most important part is getting up to try again."
These are the tiny humans I build my life around. The ones who gain wisdom and are GOOD even though they've experience failure.
I want to keep this thought close to my heart this week as I'm sure to experience more failure, but yearn to remain good.