Teaching for Proficiency-Like Your Hair's on Fire

"In trying to get her alcohol burner to light, I set my hair on fire and didn't even know it until the kids started screaming," he says. "But as ridiculous as that was, I actually thought, if I could care so much I didn't even know my hair was on fire, I was moving in the right direction as a teacher — when I realized that you have to ignore all the crap, and the children are the only thing that matter."  

Rafe Esquith, from Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire

 I recently read a tweet from a teacher-"Writing a curriculum for proficiency is like building an airplane while in flight." 
Plane in mid-flight. Hair on fire.This is what I aspire to.

Despite all the stuff we have to deal with as teachers-schedules, logistics, school requirements-I try to stay focused on those things that matter: The children. Proficiency. Cultural context. The children. Justice. The children.  Curriculum development. The children.