Synthesis

Today’s topic–synthesis–is where it all comes together. If you teach in Australia, you’re into the fourth term. Final assessments, reports, wrapping up loose ends, and setting up for next year all start piling up.

Throw in an end-of-year concert, and that’s the term. Most teachers find it a rewarding but challenging time. Navigating challenges means foreseeing them. Of course, we can’t predict the future, but we can create conditions that mitigate challenges before they become challenges.

It’s easier to deal with something before it happens than to pick up the pieces after it has.

Or to have supportive conditions in places that support missteps. Reacting proactively holds more significant benefits than merely reacting.

This is where you tie it all together–synthesis–the combination of elements that create a meaningful ‘big picture.’ It takes time, effort, and skill. It also may not work with your first class. But, it grows after spending a few years in the same school. How your community views you is down to you.

Your behaviour determines whether kids are clamouring to run through your door each morning. The learning conditions you create will define you. It is most definitely a synthesis thing.

How you dress, speak, and act is for more than show. They are the big picture.