By Carl Hooker, CIO Advisor
Stop it.
You.
Yes you.
You know what you are doing. You are making excuses.
"We don't have enough time for THAT."
"We don't have any money for THAT."
"State-testing is too ... yada yada yada ... for THAT."
"My tech director won't let me do THAT."
"My community doesn't support THAT."
"Teachers have too much on their plate to do THAT."
THAT.
Whatever your THAT is, hiding behind a layer of excuses is a cop out. If you truly feel passionate about your THAT, you need to figure out a way to make THAT happen.
Don't get me wrong, I said "We" in the title. I'm just as guilty of making excuses in my mind. However, I never verbalize them. The second you give your excuses a verbal road to travel, you've started laying cement for the road-bumps along your journey.
Now you may say, "Yeah that's great Carl. Way to be positive, but you are not a realist."
I am a realist, but I also believe enough in my THAT to not let any of the above excuses stop me. Does it mean long hours, tons of work, and lots of setbacks? YES. But that's part of making THAT happen.
I'm at an event with some of the most brilliant minds in all of education. Hearing those excuses in the hallways here is rare when it comes to THAT. As a member of the class of 2013 Apple Distinguished Educator class, I find that every one here is passionate about their THAT and they're looking for more. Instead of excuses, the attendees say things like, "I want to do THAT!" or "I would love to try THAT in my classroom!"
I'll be honest. It's easy to get a little optimistic in this crowd. The passion amongst the 400 or so attendees is electric. While we were all brought here because of our passion behind integrating Apple products in our schools, what I've noticed is all of our minds go way beyond THAT.
The beauty is everyone has a THAT. What people decide to do with it is the difference between those that have a real desire to learn and those that are just working for a monthly paycheck. But even those paycheck-to-paycheck workers have some THAT that sparks their interest and motivation—it might just not be in their work life.
I'm truly blessed to be working in a district on making THAT better. Where all the teachers and admin believe in THAT. So you might be thinking ... what is THAT?
THAT is for you to ultimately decide, but when you figure it out, don't make excuses. Don't relax on your mission. Commit. Go all in.
After all, THAT is what makes us great.
THAT is why you get up in the morning.
THAT is what stimulates your brain on a daily basis.
THAT is why you fight for something.
THAT is the legacy you will leave behind.
Are you ready?
GO!
