Shifting the Monkey

The simple joy of a newly fallen snow is the clean slate it leaves on the world. It often has the sense of a "new beginning" that I thoroughly enjoy. This weeks 2-3 inches has left me with a refreshed view on the upcoming months of "FFA craziness" ahead, as any professional associated with agriculture education in the state of Illinois knows. Starting next Tuesday, following this somewhat "relaxing" 3-day weekend (filled with checking record books for winter fair, proficiencies, state and, my first ever American Degrees-2) my calendar, for the next month is literally 75% taken-over with FFA events, meetings, contests, etc. While I thoroughly love my job, I think all agriculture teachers and FFA Advisors can agree that by FFA Week (February 18-25, 2012) we are all spinning.

Yesterday, was a busy day as I traveled to Bloomington-Normal, with several of my colleagues from my school district, and neighboring school districts, to hear Todd Whitaker speak. I was pretty focused on record books and upcoming FFA contests, that I'd even forgotten the name of the speaker to which we were going to hear. Mr. Whitaker is a prolific writer in the education world, and a tremendous speaker as well. I was left pondering yesterday's topic, "What Great Teachers Do Differently,"on the 40 minute ride home. Whitaker's main point, which he proudly stated he had recently turned into a book, dealt with "shifting the monkey."

What is shifting the monkey? Simply put, shifting the monkey is gently moving the pressure from one group to another. Have you ever attended a public sporting event, play or community activity and there is that one obnoxiously, boisterous individual that happens to be sitting right next to you? Whitaker spoke about how, if he were in attendance of the same event, he would walk up to the individual, kindly great him/her as well as those sitting near and then sit right next to them, shifting the awkward attention (the "monkey") from the innocent bystanders, back to the boisterous person.

This got me thinking about my classroom, and how to "shift the monkey" from my well-behaved, well-prepared, well-mannered students, to those who could use some improvement in those areas. Not only was I thinking about my classroom, but I was also then thinking about the agriculture world.

Lately, we've taken the brunt of a few hits: new child-labor regulations that are seemingly going to pass, the recent ethanol subsidies bill that failed to receive the necessary signage to stay in effect (which in turned hiked the gas price, locally, 20 cents), and even this nightmare at a California Ranch.