You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.  – Abraham Lincoln

One of the greatest responsibilities in public education is change.  We, as the educators preparing students to be successful in the future, are obligated to change our methods to meet the future needs of students.  Change is part of the world today; we can’t hold on to the past and hope it returns.

I continue to be befuddled by those who yearn for the past, those who truly believe “the good old days” will somehow miraculously return.  As educators, the simple truth is manufacturing jobs are not coming back, our students aren’t going to need twentieth century skills, and technology will continue to accelerate at a dizzying pace.  The best 1980’s school is a failure today.

We can’t escape the responsibility of change.  For us to live our mission, for us to prepare each student to be Ready for Tomorrow, we must embrace the discomfort of change.  We will discuss and debate our methods.  We reflect on our practices; we keep what is working, improve where we can improve, and toss what is outdated.