The Magic of Team

As the end of the year is approaching (or for some it is already here) some of us are beginning to adjust, and others are pining for what we once knew (I know I have days when I am doing a bit of both) we are receiving more and more input about how we, as parents, should be responding to input from our Educators about supports for our kids.  The purpose of this blog is not to judge or to make any indications about what should be happening, in its specific format- however I do have a few thoughts I would share.
 
What if this is it?  What If instead of this being our new temporary- this is what there is going forward?  What if we never actually can go back to the way we were before and this has forever changed the way we educate our children going forward, or at least acknowledge that this may be it for a longer than expected time or even, that it could happen again in the future. 
 
I am not saying this to scare anyone (though I have to admit this thought has kept me up at night) but to give us an opportunity to think, to consider, and to collaborate.
 
What might happen if instead of treating Distance Learning, for those who struggle to learn, as a situation that can be solved by a band-aid that can be ripped off after a few weeks, we instead realized that we have to find a new “normal”. 
 
What could we come up with if we put parents and educators together with this shared idea- that knowing what we know about this kiddo, that instead of a problem to solve we have an opportunity to create something amazing- individualized and supportive- transformative, even. 
 
Because that is what true collaboration does- it transforms what we brought to the group into something new.  When we offer our gifts and blend them with the gifts of others that we could not have previously seen- that is where the magic happens.  
 
Can we take this “new to us all” situation and turn it into an opportunity to truly partner onto this new platform and acknowledge that we need the gifts of all, in order to go forward in a way that allows our struggling learners an opportunity to succeed.
 
So find your team- invite them to consider the long-term- bring your gifts- accept the gifts of others- and make magic happen.