flexibility in teaching

A Guest Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

As I was standing at the kitchen window yesterday and noticed a lizard on the ladder outside the window.  This is a common sight however, this particularly lizard seemed to be trying to eat something I couldn’t identify.

Upon closer look, I discovered part of the lizard’s skin hanging from its nose. It had shed and was trying to get the last remaining dead skin off its nose.

Fascinated, I watched it rub its head against the ladder repeatedly to dislodge the dead skin with no luck.

I was tempted to go outside and “help” the lizard but I knew it would run away and I would not get to watch this process.

I began to appreciate the lizard’s persistence. It also made me glad I am not a lizard.  I’m not sure I have the perseverance to shed my skin on a regular basis.

Next, it used its hind foot to scratch the skin off.  This was so remarkable that I had to take a picture.

It amazed me that the lizard could move its leg that way.

I certainly cannot.

I do good to get my legs to walk consistently. Scratching my head with my foot is totally out of the question.

All of which led me to think about flexibility in general. While I may not be physically flexible, I have to be flexible in other ways.

For example, I plan my menu for the week and grocery shop on Mondays.  A couple of weeks ago, my husband came home from the doctor with a very specific diet to follow.  Very little of what I had purchased and planned to fix for the week worked with the new diet.

Time to be flexible :-)

Teaching requires lots of flexibility. I plan to play a circle game with the preschool class and they come in so wiggly that getting them to just sit down is an impossible challenge.

It’s time for a new plan.

The class right after preschool is the high school class. I go from wearing silly hats and using puppets to teaching on Renaissance music and playing ukulele.

How’s that for flexibility? Sometimes I feel like a rubber band.

At least I don’t have to use my foot to get dead skin off my nose.