Rising to the Challenge!

Today I shared with my students an excerpt from president Reagan's speech about the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, 'Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy.' They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. 

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

My students probably thought that I shared this for them. My mentor teacher too, probably.

Well, I did, but I also shared this for me. Today I embarked on a grand adventure. I'm taking a chance and expanding my horizons. I want to explore the universe of teaching and discover its truths.

So far, I've had no major disasters. My students' discussions about reading today were sometimes lackluster, and I want to better implement a variety of discussion strategies to get them going, but it's all part of the process of pedagogical exploration and discovery.

It was a good day. I believe that a lot of students learned something, and they seemed to be interested in Reagan's speech and the excerpt from my memoir, despite a few hiccups. And though every day won't be without hiccups, some more disastrous than others, with any luck and a lot of hard work, I'm sure that the rest of the semester will be great. For the future belongs not to the fainthearted, but the brave.