Let me tell you a story.  Once upon a time there was a little band.  This little band was full of students with great potential but their teacher was needed elsewhere and so a new teacher was hired.  This new teacher walked in and knew that to build a great band, you needed to help students see that they were each important and that by taking small but measurable steps,  they could do great things.  And great things they did! Within just a few years, the band grew in size, believing in what their teacher told them they could do.    Learning hard work and dedication paid off as they traveled far and wide, making music, becoming more accomplished by the year.  This teacher was not just a teacher, but a builder.

Many of those students become very accomplished later in life not only in music, but in others areas of life as well.  All of them however, had one thing in common, and that was all they had accomplished together, collaborating and cooperating with each other, learning commitment and sacrifice in order to accomplish goals. And some of them became builders as well.  You see, that’s another thing that builders do – they pass it on.

Builders get people excited about a common goal, whether it’s finding a way to get more kids involved in music, fundraising for a good cause, building a great school community or any number of things.  Builders have to be careful to not let ego get in the way because once they get people excited about something, those people tend to look at this builder as the leader, the one who gets all the credit.  It can be hard.  Especially hard  when the builder can see all the great things the excitement is doing for others and yet not everyone shares their vision.

Fixers are the same, only they walk in, see the problem and just know how to fix things.  They see an issue with a student, survey the situation, gather the information and can work out the problem.  Fixers can find common ground between those who seem to not have anything in common – they are seen as peacekeepers in a way, the middle person, the binder of wounds.  Fixers are looked upon as leaders sometimes because others trust and listen to them and that too can lead to ego issues.  It’s hard, especially when the fixer  just wants to fix things and make them right.  They just want people to get along, they want programs and groups to work, they want school and other communities to run smoothly.  And it’s hard when others won’t listen or let them use their gifts to make things better.

Great teachers are builders and fixers.  They know instinctively how to make things better for kids, families and their school communities.  Their teaching and relationship building has become an art form, and if left to their own devices and creativity, they will contribute great things and make great changes.  But if stifled, they will become frustrated and angry.  There is nothing that will destroy their very soul more than not allowing a fixer or builder to do what they know they can do and what needs to be done in order to make things better.  Sometimes I wonder if that’s not why teachers are leaving the profession in droves.  Perhaps it’s not because they don’t want to build and fix anymore, but because they are not allowed to.  And if they are not allowed to build and fix anymore, where will the new builders and fixers come from?

The builder in our story has gone on to build in other places, leaving a wonderful legacy that will affect generations.  The fixer, who remains to be identified, wants so badly to fix things but finds his or herself  having to turn their head, hoping that by trying to ignore the problems that need to be fixed, the frustration will go away.  The end of the story remains to be seen.