Week 4- Post 5- The Art of Possibility

The Story of WE

As I read this chapter, I was reminded of my first teaching job. I started teaching at a charter school. It was the first year of the school, and we were all working hard to get the school open. All of the materials and curriculum were ordered by the company managing the school, so we just had to wait for it to come in. As the days got closer, we became more and more concerned that we were not going to receive everything by the time the first day of school came around. We were all new to the curriculum, new to the building, and a good number of us were new to teaching. When I think back about the beginning of that year, I am still amazed by how we banded together to get the school open. We all worked together to get our classrooms ready. When some of the curriculum and supplies did come in, we all helped distribute them. No art supplies arrived for the art teacher, and many teachers went through their supplies and gave her what they did not need so she could start her first project of the year with the kids. It was a wonderful atmosphere where everyone worked hard and worked together to achieve a common goal. I have never worked in an environment where everyone was so committed to the good of the whole as opposed to the good of the individual. Unfortunately, things did not stay this way at that school. Once the school was open and running, things broke down in the moral area for a variety of reasons. Those of use that were there for that opening, still remember how we all came together to open a school. I think all schools would run better if they had that same attitude.