The Indefatigable Dragon

[Mike Gange]

Inspiration for me lately has come from Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin: Are you Indispensable? 

Usually, I devour a book, plowing through four hundred or more pages in a few days, a week, tops. But this one, a mere 244 pages, I savored, drinking in words, ideas, inspiration and wisdom. In fact, I have been reading this book, off-and-on, for a few months. 

The general premise is that in a world full of cogs, we need to find a place to be unique.  We need to recognize how we can be different, and share that as a work of art. It’s in the sharing of ideas and insight that we can build a network on similar individuals. 

In my tiny Canadian province there are 31 high schools. One of my friends in Toronto remarked that there are more high schools in one single school district in Toronto than in our entire province. And indeed, we are a small population. In an area the size of Ireland, we have the population of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  

Not every high school in New Brunswick offers a course in media studies, but I have tried to search out those teachers who do, and make some connections. I’ve shared ideas and resources with my provincial media studies colleagues via email links, at least 3 times each week since September. Occasionally, I hear back from some of these colleagues, but I have not heard at all from those few who are the closest to me, geographically. Someone who teaches down the hall never comments on the gifts of resources she gets. Someone across town never says a word.

 “And what do you do when your art doesn’t work?” writes Seth Godin. “What happens when the conversation doesn’t happen, the product doesn’t sell, the consumer is not delighted…and people aren’t moved?”  

The solution, Godin writes, is to “make more art. It’s the only choice, isn’t it? Give more gifts. Learn from what you do, and then do more.”

The alternative, he writes, is to give up and become an old-school cog. 

It is hard to be an inspiration. I am discouraged I have not stirred up more passion, more ideas, more sharing.

 Am I stopping my networking and sharing?

NO. 

Welcome to 2012. Welcome to the year of the Dragon. According to Chinese mythology, the Dragon is the sign of power, inspiration, passion.   

It could not have come at a better time.

[Susan Nichols]

I agree with the need to stir up more passion and share it with others.  I work in an elementary/middle school district in Southern California, and we constantly bemoan the fact that our students have no good choice of high schools to go to in our area.

This has prompted me to start seeking out information about starting a new charter high school in the next couple of years.  I feel that starting my own school may be the only way to turn the tide in teaching, since for the last few years my ideas about changing times calling for new measures and methods have gone unheard or ignored.

Linchpin might make the perfect book for high school students who are seeking to find their passions, strengths, and interests in the world, as well as the staff I would think about bringing on board.

Do you see it as a book that would appeal to high schoolers?

[Mike Gange]

Hi Susan, I think this book might motivate high school kids to take on some new challenges. Have you looked into the charter school run by Ron Clark in Georgia? You might find him inspirational. http://k6educators.about.com/cs/classroommanageme3/a/essential55.htm

[Susan Nichols]

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look.  :)