George Mason University announced on March 31 that it was
renaming the Law School to honor the memory of Justice Antonin Scalia. The name
would be changed to the Antonin Scalia School of Law…ASSoL…say that three times fast. Or even one time fast.
It was announced yesterday that George Mason University is
RE-renaming their Law School to honor the memory of Justice Antonin Scalia. In
order to avoid an awkward acronym it will be the Antonin Scalia Law School.
As this story makes the rounds of news outlets many mention
the role social media played in modifying what was to be an honor into more of
a joke. Few fail to point out that the university quickly acknowledged the
acronym issue and their plan to rectify the problem.
Good intentions…sometimes go awry. When was the last time
something didn’t quite go according to plan in your classroom? Somehow your
good intention went awry. Honestly, a better question might be when was the
last day this DIDN’T happen?
Awkward acronyms aside, teaching is rife with “uhohs” and
“oops” and “Well THAT didn’t go according to plan.” Accepting that mistakes are a daily
occurrence allows us to devote more of our energy to recovery. Reflect on what
didn’t work. What do you need to do to fix it? What can you change to make it
work? While we need to own our mistakes, it is equally important to be able to
laugh at them. Admitting that we blew it is the first step toward getting it
right.
Here’s to embracing our inner ASSoL…
Still learning...to teach, Dr. G
Still learning...to teach, Dr. G
