No

Everyone loves finding success. But success is often intertwined with pressure to keep pushing forward. That pressure can make even the tiniest of setbacks seem insurmountable. But when the odds are stacked against you, it’s important to remember where you’ve been and what you’ve already accomplished.

When the pandemic shut down schools last spring, I was devastated for various reasons. Uncertainty in what was happening. Disappointment in not being able to share spring with my students. Frustration in dealing with the ins and outs of a virtual classroom that seemed so foreign and often distant to me.

Then, after a summer of not knowing whether we’d be back in school or glued in front of a screen, the decision that school would be back in session in a face-to-face format was encouraging. Of course, with that excitement came the worries surrounding safety and the difficulties knowing certain elements of the classroom were just not possible in the pandemic world.

How would a play-based, outdoor classroom adjust to a world of masks and physical distancing? Would all the progress of developing a nature-based program and community take huge steps backward? Would precautions and procedures thwart passion?

In a word, no. Are these circumstances ideal? No. Would I choose to organize my classroom this way? No. Am I throwing in the towel and giving up? No.

Sometimes, saying no is what makes you grow. Saying no to the status quo. Saying no to busy work. Saying no to “the norm.”

Saying no doesn’t necessarily mean defiance or disobedience. It means standing up for kids, It means standing up for yourself.

When it comes to doing things “just because” or toeing the line even when it goes against what you know is best. . .

Say no.