In 1990, tennis champion Andre Agassi was the face of Canon digital cameras as the company coined the phrase Image is Everything.
While that phrase popularized the digital camera of that time, I would like to popularize that Perspective is Everything. Perspective is the way in you see something. Perspective drives your outlook which drives your thoughts, your decisions, and ultimately your actions. How you interpret what you see determines the manner in which you respond to what you see.
I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Adolph Brown (@docspeaks) on August 8 at our Hanover County Public Schools Equity Day professional development. His message about how kids carry around two backpacks solidified for me that Perspective is Everything when it comes to working with students.
The first backpack is everything visible a kid brings to school in a "backpack," notebooks, pens or pencils, textbooks, etc. The second backpack is what we don't see; what's happening with them on the inside. We don't always know what life challenges each kid may have which why it is so important for us as adults to help them unpack that second backpack. The more we help each kid get through life's challenges, the more each kid becomes empowered to get more out of the tools in the first backpack.
At Lee-Davis, our goal is to maintain perspective on our mission: To empower all learners to be successful. A perspective where ALL means ALL.