Innovation

How are Bill Gates and President Obama similar? Earlier this week I had the opportunity to listen to a Good Morning America interview with Bill Gates and last evening I listened to our President deliver the State of the Union Address and they both used the word innovation. In thinking about change I can think of no better word than innovation to address how to make change happen. .

Yesterday I was preparing for the opportunity that has been offered me to work with a group of Speech and Language Pathologists providing services in an urban school district. My assignment is to address progress monitoring in a Response to Intervention (RtI) environment. Determined to continue my quest to make a difference in the lives of children I began to review my previous presentations on this topic. I found many power point slides filled with my understanding of RtI; thoughtfully planned ideas that I had hoped would capture the essence of RtI and inspire educators to understand and act upon it. I found myself growing more and more stressed as I selected and deleted the best slides for my new presentation. Suddenly Einstein's definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results, flashed at me from one of my slides. "Hello, Mary Ann," I shouted to myself, "practice what you preach." In that moment of truth I became cognizant once again of my own resistance to change and fear of the unknown. I shut down my computer and escaped in a long walk.

Now it is Thursday and I can no longer procrastinate. I am determined to do something different and quite frankly I'm terrified. Perhaps because I know some of these Speech Therapists as former colleagues and student teachers. They have expectations of me and I have expectations of myself. What if I can't deliver? "Breathe, Mary Ann, breathe." And then I thought seek first to understand. So I am trusting my belief that "we are more similar than different" and tomorrow we will begin the conversation that will lead to innovative ideas as to how to monitor a student's progress in an RtI environment. Sam Keen once wrote, "To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions."

Music lights my way and I'm reminded of these lyrics, "Climb every mountain..." What is leading your way?

Children and Change

"If we don't stand for children, than we don't stand for much." - Marian Wright Edelman

It is hard to forget the images of the children of Haiti and Afghanistan in the news. Inevitably as I think about them I visualize my six children, three natural, three step (all adults now), my grandchild, my step-grandchild, and then the movie of the many children who have touched my life begins running in my mind. I have lost contact with many of my students. Perhaps I should try to find them on Facebook to learn where life has taken them. I know that many of them are adults, parents, perhaps even grandparents. Change happens, a similarity we all share. It is our attitude towards change in our lives that defines us. Come to think about it our attitude seems to be all we really are in control of on this planet.

In thinking about attitude and how it defines us as humans I'm picturing news images of people singing while living in disaster. Music affects your attitude. Do you have a story to share about music and how it affects your life? I would be honored if you would share it with me.

Thank you for giving of your time to read and respond to my blog. Time is life's most precious commodity. Time... "Does anybody really know what time it is?' - Chicago. I'm going to spend some of my time exploring Facebook to see if I can find any of my former students. It would be great to communicate with them. Each one of them changed my life in some way. I wonder what similarities I may find.

ACTION

ACTION ...

Affecting Change Takes Inspiration Openness Necessity

In trying to meet one of my 2010 resolutions* I'm back here blogging. (Practice, what you preach, Mary Ann.) In recent days I've enjoyed conversations with friends and family where we shared our resolutions and our plans to meet our resolves. In thinking about myself and change I have come to understand that I can only affect change in myself. For that to happen I must first be inspired to change. I must open my heart, mind, and soul to discover where this inspiration comes from. This openness can lead me to places inside myself where I do not want to go.

Sometimes I do not really want to look in the mirror. (Lately, I've been wondering who is that old lady in the mirror looking back at me?) Thinking about what inspires or motivates people to change I realize there are only two true motivators in the world: love and fear. Yes, it's true love and/or fear will ultimately drive one to act. Which brings one to the notion of necessity.

As I listen to the news and wonder about the future of this great planet I think of the dire necessity for change. I keep thinking if we only could connect on our similarities, we would converse, and perhaps create a new way to peace. So what is inspiring me to write this blog? I love people. I love kids. I love nature. I love music and the list goes on and on. I just want to reach out and share life. Which brings me back to music, a universal language, and I'm wondering if there was a song you heard today that inspired you? Thanks to a friend I just became aware of this musician, Jimmy Cliff, and his rendition of "you can get it if you really want... try and try... " I am also wondering how you are making out with your 2010 resolutions...

if you're not a blogger please email me at

maryanneaton@schoolofsimilarities.com

Thank you for your time...


*Blue Moons Are Magical

Blue Moons are Magical

What a magical New Years Eve! A full blue moon cast its enchantment as it illuminated our passage from 2009 to 2010. It will be 19 years before there will be another blue moon on New Years Eve, at least that is what I thought I heard on one of the local radio stations as I was awaiting a very special evening. Just what is a blue moon? Here's what I learned: "A Blue Moon is a very rare event. According to popular usage, a blue moon refers to the second full moon that occurs in any calendar month. On average, there will be 41 months that have two full moons in every century. By that calculation 'once in a blue moon' means once every two-and-a-half years."

So here we are four days into the second decade of the Millennium and I'm reflecting on what I learned in the first ten years and anticipating new beginnings. Resolutions abound each new year and I certainly have my own list. The challenge, of course, is acting on each resolve. Change by personal choice requires dedication, action, and perseverance. Change is work. I'm grateful that today I'm acting on my resolve to blog here more often as I daydream about a more peaceful world and how I might in some small way propel humankind in that direction. Connecting through similarities opens our hearts to understanding. Today I am looking for the die hard romantics that croon, "Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone..." Are you a music lover? What song lyrics have influenced or inspired your life? Was this 2010 New Years Eve blue moon magical for you? Did it create a dream in your heart?

If you have taken the time to read this, "Thank you." If you have a thought or comment you would like to share with me please email me at
maryanneaton@schoolofsimilarities.com if you are not a blogger. Once again 'thank you' for your time.