Opus 2012-110, The Perfect Ruler

No, not Obama, I am talking about a measuring stick.

In education we have what used to be called “In service training.”  I am not sure what the current jargon is, I try not to pay attention to the latest mantra.  I have been doing this long enough that they are being recycled on a regular basis.  They did not work the first time.  I see no reason to think they will work this time because no new thinking has been applied, just loyal lip service to the Elites of Education.

One of the problems is that we tend to focus on the superstars as our examples.  We have this idea that if Michael Jordan does it a certain way we should all do it that way.  It doesn’t work that way.  Few areas of life does one size fit all.  In most endeavors the techniques of the best don’t work for us that are not the best.

Let me give an example.  About five years ago someone talked me onto a golf course.  I found that the game I had been mocking for years was actually enjoyable.  In my course to learn how to play I read books by the big names in golf.  I read golf magazines.  I got frustrated.  I could watch Tiger Woods play and need to be reminded that my mouth was hanging open.  I enjoyed what he would write in the latest issue.  I didn’t have a clue to what he was talking about when he gave a tip on follow through.  You see, I am not that tall.  I am not long and lean.  I have not worked out rigorously.  I did not have a father who taught me the game and instilled the basics into my psyche.  Above all, I am not, nor ever will I be, coordinated.  I can walk.  I can chew gum.  Don’t ask me to do them at the same time.

So the Tips of Tiger lead to nothing but frustration.  The Knowledge of Nicklaus leaves me saying, “What?”  They really can’t teach me a thing.  But Mike did.  Mike was one of the teaching pro’s at a local golf course.  I took a few lessons.  He watched me.  He said, “Do this.”  I did that.  My ball went straighter and farther.  He never said, “This is the way that Lee Travino did it.”  He said, “This is what you need to do.”

Some people are the Michael Jordan's of Education.  They have this unique gift of teaching that they have developed and honed over the years.  What they do may work, but then again, it may not.  I am guessing for most of us it won’t.  It doesn’t matter how long I practice, I will never have the hang time of Michael Jordan.  It doesn’t matter how hard I try, I will never have the natural touch of the truly gifted teacher.

Does that mean I quit?  No.  It means I accept my limitations, keep experimenting, work hard and accept that fact that I will always be second string.  It reminds me that UCLA basketball coach John Wooden started his winning streak with a bunch of short unknowns.  He went undefeated because people who would have been second string on any other team were willing to listen and work hard.

So be the best second stringer the world has ever seen.  How many yards would O.J. Simpson have gained if he didn’t have a lot of guys you never heard of taking out the majority of the other team?

homo unius libri