Teachable Moments
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Watch All of the Signs
One morning this week, I left my home for an appointment at a school.
I was not in a hurry and I did not feel rushed.
I pulled up to the curb of a street behind the school I was scheduled to visit.
It was a lovely day-no fog, no rain, no cloudy skies.
There were many signs posted on the same pole. I stood reading the three or four signs- trying to determine which one I was supposed to follow for that day. A sign that was larger than the others and written in large red print stated that a movie was being filmed and parking was prohibited on Wednesday. I felt confident that it was okay to park since it was Monday.
I went into the school, visited with the teachers and completed some classroom observations.
Quite to my surprise, I returned to my car to find a ticket on the windshield!
Questions began to bombard my puzzled mind...
Where did I go wrong? Which sign was the correct one? How did I miss that it was a street cleaning day? Why was I more focused on the huge red printed sign and not the others?
I came to the conclusion that I must WATCH ALL OF THE SIGNS...
The same is true for all those teachers, social workers, parents, counselors and so on...behavior is a form of communication...we must watch all of the signs..not just the obvious ones, but the more subtle ones as well.
Just like I ended up with a more-than-I-want-to-pay ticket...the outcome for our students, patients or clientele, may lead to costly outcomes as well.
My advice is to WATCH ALL OF THE SIGNS...
I was not in a hurry and I did not feel rushed.
I pulled up to the curb of a street behind the school I was scheduled to visit.
It was a lovely day-no fog, no rain, no cloudy skies.
There were many signs posted on the same pole. I stood reading the three or four signs- trying to determine which one I was supposed to follow for that day. A sign that was larger than the others and written in large red print stated that a movie was being filmed and parking was prohibited on Wednesday. I felt confident that it was okay to park since it was Monday.
I went into the school, visited with the teachers and completed some classroom observations.
Quite to my surprise, I returned to my car to find a ticket on the windshield!
Questions began to bombard my puzzled mind...
Where did I go wrong? Which sign was the correct one? How did I miss that it was a street cleaning day? Why was I more focused on the huge red printed sign and not the others?
I came to the conclusion that I must WATCH ALL OF THE SIGNS...
The same is true for all those teachers, social workers, parents, counselors and so on...behavior is a form of communication...we must watch all of the signs..not just the obvious ones, but the more subtle ones as well.
Just like I ended up with a more-than-I-want-to-pay ticket...the outcome for our students, patients or clientele, may lead to costly outcomes as well.
My advice is to WATCH ALL OF THE SIGNS...