Prime Directive

You do not need to be a CSI fan to appreciate the following anecdote (borrowed fom CSI).

Gil Grissom: I was flying to a seminar in New Hampshire a couple of summers ago. I was sitting in the plane next to a Philosophy Professor from Harvard. He told me this story about how every morning he heads to the bathroom after his three-hour philosophy class. When he flushed the toilet there'd be this tiny brown spider fighting for its life against the swirling water. He came back the next day, flush. Same spider, clawing its way back from oblivion. A week goes by, he decides to liberate the spider. Grabs a paper towel, Scoops him up and sets him on the floor in the corner of the stall. Comes back the next day and what do you think happened to the spider?

Warrick Brown: Dead.

Gil Grissom: On his back, eight legs up. Why? Because one life imposed itself on another. Right then I realized, where we stand. For the first time I understood our role. We don't impose our will. We don't impose our hopes on the evidence.


This exchange reminds me of providing support. Support should always start with the New Educator’s Current Reality. If a teacher is unconscious and unaware, the introduction of new ideas (or in the case of the spider- a new environment) without proper planning might cause more harm than good.