Flexibility: willingness to change or compromise.

Educators who can adapt to new ideas, different situations and an ever-changing environment are of great value to their schools. One of the worst things you can say as an educator is “this is the way I’ve always done it”.

Many of us (me included) are resistant to change. We get comfortable with what we know. It’s easy. To do something new… is hard.  It takes time to adjust to new ideas or new technology. But change is inevitable. For those of us who have been teaching for 10 – 20 years, we have seen lots of changes and to survive and be successful, we must be flexible and adapt.

Being flexible means, we are open to new ideas and new possibilities.  It doesn’t mean that we just let everyone do whatever they want!  We still must follow schedules, we must consistently enforce the rules and policies of the schools and we must hold the students accountable.  It does mean that we are open to using technology in the classroom, willing to learn new techniques and always on the lookout for how we can improve and get better.

One of my favorite quotes says… “Blessed are the flexible for they won’t be bent out of shape.”

Are you open to new ideas or do you get bent out of shape?