16 weeks

Ebb & Flow

“are two phases

of the tide or any similar movement of water. The ebb is the outgoing phase, when the tide drains away from the shore; and the flow is the incoming phase when water rises again” (Ebb and Flow).

A few years ago I was having a conversation with a pastor, which may be why I remember this so well, cause let’s face it, it’s not often that one typically converses with a pastor.

Anyway, I was talking about teaching college and he remarked that he too, was once a professor and there was something about the Ebb and Flow of each semester that makes teaching so unique. I remember he said that he misses that part of it; the balance. The idea that every 16 weeks you dive into uncharted waters of a new classes, new personalities and you don’t surface or even think about surfacing until three months later when not only has the season typically changed but, if you taught well and felt students adhered to your passion, then you get to enjoy the buzz and the promise, that you are actually doing what you were meant to do.

This is unique to students and teachers. It something we can share.

Today we dove in. The first day of the semester. I had the notion of ebb and flow in mind because I just spent the last month not going to work. Busy, yes with holidays, kids, dogs and house. Still though, I was ready to get back to the classroom. Today we watched, David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” and we talked about pulling back from our pre-conceived notions this semester and trying to re-see things differently. We talked about the difficult task of disengaging from our natural default setting to “judge things” we really know nothing or not enough, about. Everyone seemed on board. So far so good.

Back in the office I knew I had to write. I promised my students that I too, will write alongside them this semester.

So here I am typing about things I want to understand better. Typing to understand my uncertainty better. We write to know. To connect.

I looked up ebb and flow and the definition stated … “phases...of any movement of water”. Teaching semester after semester is like watching a waves at a beach in super slow motion. The students come crashing in, we slow, we deliberate, breath and in 16 weeks they phase back out into the rest of the sea. Wallace said, “Real education isn’t about knowledge, but the simple idea of awareness to choose HOW to think. That we need to constantly remind ourselves that this is water” (Wallace).

Nice. Ebb and Flow. Water and understanding awareness. I think we are off to a solid start.

Works Cited

“Ebb and Flow.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 15 May 2015 Web. 26 January 2016

Wallace, David Foster. “This is Water” The Glossary. 15 March 2015. WEB. 25 January 2016.