Saturday Sayings: My Bailiwick

(Click above for more Saturday Sayings.)

My parents spent a few weeks in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria back in June.  Whenever they're out of town for more than a week, I babysit the children.  You see, my dad has about 70 orchids which cannot be left alone for too long.  Even though I have not inherited my father's green thumb, he trusts me to take care of the finicky creatures.  Watching over orchids is not my bailiwick, but I know well enough that frequently uprooting them to check on their growth would not make them or my dad very happy and certainly wouldn't improve their growth.  I know this about my children too.  Good teachers are constantly in assessment mode, but they know how to do it without disturbing the nurturing environment that their littles need.  I cringe when I think of the programs that require teachers to spend an abundance of time assessing their students on a weekly basis.  I can almost hear the inward groans of the students as once again their roots are pulled up for another inspection.  I'm not insinuating that assessments are all evil.  I would simply concur with Lucy that the frequency and approach in which we analyze our students' growth is an important one to consider.  Watching over these little fragile seedlings is indeed my bailiwick.

bailiwick |ˈbāləˌwik|

noun Lawthe district or jurisdiction of a bailie or bailiff.• ( one's bailiwick) informal one's sphere of operations or particular area of interest : you never give the presentations—that's my bailiwick.ORIGIN late Middle English : from bailie + wick 2 .