Sharing a Raft
Metaphors, I love a good metaphor. How I long for the coolness of the plunge just one week ahead... The last two months of the academic year are always tough. Imagine you're next to a river, with a raft. In August, before the students start, you are putting on your wet suit, lifebelt, and doing the safety checks on the raft, making sure everything is where it should be...Class library? Check. Writing Centre? Check. Open ended resources that can be used for counting, building, problem solving? Check. Then the students arrive, and the raft is pushed off onto the water. The first few weeks are relatively smooth, but the raft rocks a bit as we all adjust to our new space, try and work out who we can sit next to, who needs to be at the front, and when, who gets travel sick, who needs a bit of encouragement to take a bit of responsibility. The paddles get passed around so everyone can have a go at moving us onwards. Aside from a few bumps, we're ok. We get to our first stop, half-ter...
