August Book of the Month: The Spyglass

The Spyglass , by Richard Paul Evans, is a book about vision and faith.  I chose this book to help us focus on the importance of developing a clear vision of our work as 21^st century standards based learning leaders.  It is only by rethinking past practices and having faith in new practices that we will be able to envision a 21^st century school of learners and leaders.  Vision requires seeing from a different point of view with a different set of lenses.  Faith is an untouchable virtue that can carry you to places well beyond your intellectual understanding or even your fears.  “The eye of faith sees without bounds or limits.”

In order for us to move our learning community forward, we must combine a vision that is shaped by constant collegial conversations and support with a faith in best teaching practices.  The leap into reshaping an entire culture is risky, frightening and often times paralyzing.  But with vision, faith and hard work we will do just that.  For each of us, our “spyglass” is the belief that we will maintain our high academic standards by keeping our sights fixed on best teaching practices combined with 21^st century tools. In this way, we will not only ensure academic success for each student, but we will play a pivotal role in the rebirth of our community. We have Imagined the Possibilities and now it is a matter of “making them so...”