Are We the White Rabbit?

At the time I started this blog five months ago, ELKP was at the other end of the rabbit hole. It was an unfamiliar place, filled with Mad Hatters, unbirthdays, talking chess pieces and playing card roylaty. I wrote about this decision in my first post, Begin Again, and ultimately decided to name my blog Re-Visiting the Rabbit Hole as a result of how I was feeling at the time.

On my first day in the classroom I really was reminded of Alice and how she felt shortly after chasing the White Rabbit into Wonderland: overwhelmed, wondering where in the world she was and what to do next: Video Link 

This TubeChop clip taken from YouTube (Alice in Wonderland Part 1, 1985) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhXNgdlpegA

Unlike Alice, I did not have a white rabbit to chase and when I think back to those first few weeks, I was definitely in survival mode - but I had sipped the "drink me" potion and there was no turning back.

As the weeks went by, I started to think that there was not just one white rabbit in ELKP - there were many - fifteen in my classroom - and I chased them ( oh boy did I chase them) - all day long.  Not only did I have the help of my colleagues but also that of my ELKP advisors/coaches - my Cheshire cats - who question, sometimes annoy, but force me to grow (figuratively not literally like Alice) every time we meet. I think this conversation between the Cheshire Cat and Alice sums up the relationship I have with my ELKP coaches perfectly:

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" asked Alice 

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. 

"I don't much care where ..." said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"... so long as I get somewhere," Alice added.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

As long as we are moving forward - pushing ourselves to learn - we are on the right path.

It was only when sitting down here now to write this blog - reflecting - that I realized that I may have had the conceit wrong all along. In the ELKP classroom maybe it is me - the teacher - who is the White Rabbit.  We spark our students curiosity and get them to chase us through the rabbit hole to a wonderful - nonsensical - place of learning. 

This metaphor may seem imperfect - the White Rabbit characteristically is anxiety-ridden, obsessed with time (especially being late), at times outright rude to Alice and clearly too concerned about serving the Queen in a timely manner. But is it?