Lessons Learned from Sandcastles
I have had the pleasure of vacationing over the last few weeks with my family. We have logged many hours on the sand, watching waves, and learning from each other. This morning, as I was building sandcastles with all 3 kids, I was reflecting on the lessons learned while on vacation and how they translate into the classroom.
#1. Have a strong base.
The sandcastles that survived the bubbly surf were the ones with the strongest base. This is a simple idea, but we can sometimes get in a hurry to build tall or fancy and forget the importance of the foundation. In our schools and classrooms, this is no different. We need clear belief systems, visionary leaders, and strong teaching. The base is what we will come back to, depend on, and use in order to grow students each day. When you take the time to work on the foundation, it’s a lot easier to withstand the bumpy surf of education.
#2. Teamwork works.
Our family likes to build what I call the drippy drop castles.
They are not molded into shapes, but are wet sand that you drop in shapes to make them look like castles. The key to a good drippy drop castle is sand that is just wet enough to drop and dries very quickly. In order to keep the consistency correct, it helps to have a water source near you. This could be a bucket or it could be a large hole in the sand where the water collects. Either way, it’s helpful to have another person to keep the water flowing while another person builds. And, it’s even more helpful if you have additional people to warn you of a large wave on its way while others are helping you build. In our schools and classrooms, this also holds true. Real teamwork- where everyone is working for a common goal- is priceless. Teamwork is most efficient when the responsibilities are divided and the successes are shared. The joint efforts of minds, hands, and eyes can take us very far but we have to be OK with our place on the team.
#3. Rebuilding can be a good thing.
The first drippy drop castle we built this morning was not nearly as good as the final one we created. Each time the water came in, we had to rebuild. Sometimes we rebuilt from scratch and other times we made adjustments to what was already there. Rebuilding gave us an opportunity to make things better. In our schools and classrooms, this is so true. We can get discouraged at the task in front of us, but if we think of it as opportunities instead of starting all over again, our students and schools can get better with each rebuild.
#4. The only thing constant is change.
Despite our best efforts at building a rock solid, drippy drop castle kingdom this morning, the waves came in closer and closer and wiped it out. We knew this would happen. We knew change was coming but we built something great anyway. In our schools and classrooms, this is a valuable lesson. Change comes, colleagues come and go, new research is discovered and it can feel like the tide is ever shifting.
Build great things anyway.