Montana Small Schools Alliance
Notes from Claudette
Notes from Claudette -- Fall 2007
This morning as I walked the dog, I replaced my shorts and a T-shirt with a sweat suit. Some yellow leaves are beginning to show up on the front lawn from our big elm trees. These are all sure signs of fall. I also have heard from many of you about getting ready for school. Like the old fire horse, part of me longed to go back in a classroom on that first day, but through you and the work here at the Montana Small Schools Alliance, I do feel like I still have some impact on some students.
The first days of school are always exciting but also challenging. You hope everyone gets off on the right foot. You hope you are better organized and we all hope for a successful year for all our students.
The problem is for some students success means different things. Right now we are again working with Congress to try and determine what success looks like for the federal government. It is no easy task, and I wish I could tell you that the testing and record keeping would all go away, but it won’t. This school year the Iowa Tests have gone away, at least as far as the state is concerned. It’s now up to your local school districts to determine if they want them and to fund them. You should think about what you feel is best for your students and provide some input on this topic.
No matter what the federal government says the most important things you can do for your children is to teach them to think creatively and critically, to help them find out about themselves and to grow strong in a the sheltered environment we call school. Give your students opportunities to risk, try new things and not be ridiculed for their failed attempts. Give them chances to practice. No one became a good reader or writer or problem solver without practice. Yet they must have success along the way. When I was younger I took up cross-country skiing. As some of you know I am not much of an athlete, but I rented the equipment and took a weekend of lessons. The instructor tried to be encouraging, but I could tell we both knew that I was definitely facing challenges. The rest of that winter I rented the equipment and went up on the groomed trails, the easy ones, on McDonald Pass. Each time I went around the trails I counted how many times I fell down. At first it was 13. Then it was nine. Finally, it was three. At last, it was none when everything was just right. What a since of accomplishment! Our children do have to understand that practicing is hard, but it is worthwhile to learn how to do things.
I know you are caring teachers and administrators. As school starts we must always keep the goal in mind—to create citizens who can live successfully in a world quite different from what we know, or as President James A. Garfield said, “The children of today will be the architects of our country’s destiny tomorrow.”
