Zinnias and 'Reflecting Accurately'

When I was teaching (high school English), on occasion in the midst of a lesson,

I would think to myself, ‘ I am not going to do this lesson this way again’.


This was all happening in my thinking while I was teaching the lesson.

Why?  Because it didn’t feel right, or because it didn’t sound as interesting as I thought it should,or because my students weren’t ‘getting it’.

This kind of teaching mental gymnastics happens in classrooms daily.

In teaching lingo, this is called 'reflecting accurately'.

Now to my zinnias of 2016.

They look pretty, I am enjoying them as I always do, but something

is a little off.

At first, I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, and then I thought of this.

I have shared this video before as my zinnia gardening inspiration.

I am not going to separate my seeds by color again.

I thought that would make things so convenient in cutting zinnias for bouquets.

 I won't separate the colors again-

not because it isn't beautiful, but because it isn't natural,

it isn't working, they don't 

get it, and they don't like it-

just like my students.

Here's to 'reflecting accurately'.

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