There are those who believe that all you have to do is order from the
universe and it comes. Where I come from,
you have to pay for all that you
order. Since school began, you
and your students have paid the price.
The effort, in spite of distraction and outside noise, has been
sustained. We have engaged the students in the learning process and have taught
the standards to mastery. What
an enjoyable and fulfilling process, the process of educating young
people. And I love paying for it, and I
know you do, too!
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| Actor Bruce Lee |
At Planet Hollywood in New York City, there is a letter hanging on the
wall that actor and martial artist Bruce Lee wrote to himself. The top of the letter,
which Lee wrote in 1970, has stamped on it "secret." It starts out,
"By 1980 I will be the best known oriental movie star in the United States
and will have secured 10 million dollars." The most interesting part of
this letter, however, was the second part–the part often omitted. Lee goes on to write, "And in return I
will give the very best acting I could possibly give every single time I am in front of the camera and I will live
in peace and harmony." How fascinating that Lee wrote he would
have peace and harmony after he said what he would do to obtain his goal.
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| Olympian Michael Johnson |
Similarly,
Michael Johnson, the Olympic champion sprinter, had a goal to win the 200 and
400 meters sprint at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The problem, however,
was that the 200 and the 400 were traditionally run on the same day. This would
have made it almost impossible for him to win because of recovery time. After
setting this goal, Johnson remembered something his father asked him every time
he set a goal when he was a young person. "What are you going to do about it? and "Now that you
have a goal, how are you going to
achieve it?" Johnson developed a workout regime with his coach
that involved specific weight training, stretching and running intervals five
days a week. In addition, he petitioned the Olympic Committee daily to move the
200 and the 400 meters to different days.
The Committee did move the events and Michael took home the gold both in
the 200 and 400.
There
are two kinds of goals: product and
process. A product goal
is what you are going to achieve, such as, "I will instruct my students so
that all will demonstrate math and reading proficiency," or "I will
teach to mastery all of the science standards.” A process goal is what we will do to get it, which means developing
a "prescription for success."
This is a plan (lesson plan, curriculum guide) that teachers follow very
closely in their daily work habits and periodically evaluate themselves on. The teacher must fall in love,
not with what they are trying to accomplish, but with the process of accomplishing it.
All the great ones have. Not that they always love the work, but they
have regard for the process.
Soon, we will begin a new educational
process. Know that life is all about
processes. Life has a lot of endings and
should have many exciting beginnings. Learn to love the processes. When I was a child, we cut timber from our
land to build our house. On an occasion,
I would get together with a few cousins and build a tree house of sorts in the
tops of downed pines. When we were building and collecting scraps of wood we
were so excited. We were running here and there to get what we could. Then we
started building and the excitement kept growing while we were constructing, eagerly
awaiting to see the end product. And, finally, it was done. It was not anything
Donald Trump would claim, but it was as well as we could do. Then there was a letdown.
Without knowing it, we were more interested
in building something, and the excitement of the process, than we were the product.
The process of test prep has
occurred and been sustained. Goals have
been set and plans have been made for success.
The product of our labor is forthcoming.
Today, as the camera begins
to roll, according to Bruce Lee, is a day of peace and harmony.
