I love that I walk to the beat of my own drum. I very rarely fit in any box at all, and I happen to think it’s one of the coolest things about me. However, I have to admit that I am a part of one bandwagon…The Thursday night, “Scandal” TV watchers. I happen to be a gladiator on the Olivia Pope team. I don’t like everything about her character, but I love the way that she is able to swoop in and fix everything like a superhero. It’s somewhat admirable. Usually the idea of being a “Fixer” just denotes intelligence and craftiness.
I think as teachers we have this innate desire to be fixers and superheroes. We are the Olivia Popes of our classrooms, if you will. It’s what we do naturally. BUT….I wonder where the line can be drawn between FIXER and ENABLER. If we swoop in to be the superhero for our students, do we take away their ability to persevere through problems? If we rush in to fix things, do we rob them of their chances to be problem solvers? If we don’t allow adequate “think time”, do we stop the creation of ideas, learning, and thoughts before they are fully formulated? Finding the balance between helping and enabling is quite a difficult act, because honestly it’s going to be different for each child. More so, I think it’s extremely difficult, because it will require us to fight against our natural instincts. As the children say so often: The Struggle Is Real…LOL! If you take time to really self-reflect, where do you fit on the balance scale in your classroom?
I think as teachers we have this innate desire to be fixers and superheroes. We are the Olivia Popes of our classrooms, if you will. It’s what we do naturally. BUT….I wonder where the line can be drawn between FIXER and ENABLER. If we swoop in to be the superhero for our students, do we take away their ability to persevere through problems? If we rush in to fix things, do we rob them of their chances to be problem solvers? If we don’t allow adequate “think time”, do we stop the creation of ideas, learning, and thoughts before they are fully formulated? Finding the balance between helping and enabling is quite a difficult act, because honestly it’s going to be different for each child. More so, I think it’s extremely difficult, because it will require us to fight against our natural instincts. As the children say so often: The Struggle Is Real…LOL! If you take time to really self-reflect, where do you fit on the balance scale in your classroom?