Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Being "Cerebral"
Today I was asked to write a recommendation for someone I supervised several years ago. I was honored because I truly value her professionally. We spent some time talking and I drifted back to a time when we spent early mornings and late evenings having intellectual conversations. Although we often would do a "Seinfeld" and talk about nothing, she always challenged my thinking. She pondered the deep things and asked interesting questions that often remained unanswered. She was a real fine teacher and just as she challenged me, she challenged her kids. When she became a coordinator, she challenged the teachers and provided the kind of support that often got results where it mattered, in the classroom. Thinking was active for her. She pondered and paused until her thoughts were aligned and then she'd delve into a rich dialogue that always produced something profoundly engaging. My younger daughter calls it being "cerebral". Someone who thinks and stretches your thinking. Imagine the places kids could go if every teacher was "cerebral."
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this made me smile. i've accussed of being overly critical, generally about ideas that aren't considered important. i think that even the most mundane of topics (see Seinfeld) can offer an opportunity for a wonderful conversation. i'll go a step further, it's easy to pick about something extraordinarly meaningful, it is more of a challenge, perhaps art form, to look at the intricacies of something that is, in the end, humorous and somewhat trivial. it's the tools of analysis and how we emply them that make the conversation.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gift to share a conversation with someone "cerebral" who not only challenges one to deeper thinking, but who pauses to clarify their own thinking before releasing words to become part of the environment. It's those pauses to reflect that we need to encourage in our digital natives. How better to encourage than to model reflection in ourselves? How better to pause and reflect than through blogging?I long for a Seinfeld bloggong experience where talking about nothing in a reflective way, can lead to revelations about our shared humanity. Once the groundwork iof commonalities s laid, I believe the conversations deepen on their own.
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