Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
-Victor Frankl
I attended a professional development session this afternoon. The above quote was shown as an opener to a session about how to regulate our emotions. It really made me think.
-Do I have that much control over how I respond?
-Do I take responsibility for my response to stimuli, or do I blame it on the stimuli?
-Do I recognize the power I do have to choose my response (and to thereby find greater growth and freedom)?
-How does this apply to our lives as teachers? Are we making choices in that space, or are we just responding to stimuli?
-How does this apply to our student learners? Do we create the conditions in our classrooms and schools where children have the power to choose a response?
-Are we showing our students the power they have to grow and to be free?
Writing to Learn, Learning to Write 
Great questions – so thoughtful. I have some thinking to do before I can really answer properly, but for sure this is reminding me of the incredible power of wait time in a classroom. I know it drives my students a little crazy, and I know I forget about it more often than I should, but 10-20 seconds after a question makes a world of difference in our classroom. I wonder what Victor Frankl would think of that?