A Continuum

I attended my third and final day of Mentor Training yesterday and much like the last two days I feel as those I've learned a great deal about mentoring, but also about myself as a professional. 

I was introduced to a document called a "Continuum".  You automatically think of the words "continue" and "continuous" and you can pretty much infer what this is.

In relationship to teachers, it's a big chart that lays out all these specific dimensions and qualifiers.  The dimensions and qualifiers range from planning and instruction to environment and professionalism.  The Continuum ranges from Beginner to Innovative.

We were all challenged to turn to a specific page and self assess; place ourselves somewhere on the Continuum.  I will not lie- it was a hard task to do!  I went back and forth from being overly critical, to overly generous!  I could see how I'd changed through the years; I could see how I'd changed through one year.  On some dimensions, I could see how I changed throughout the week.  Some days are better than others, for sure. I moved up and I moved down; back and forth.  It's a good thing, too, because the idea is that you never stay in one place.  We don't want to be stagnant, but always moving (hopefully forward) on this continuum.

This activity did get me thinking about all the roles we have in our lives whether or not a continuum exists there too.

Do you have an idea of what the innovative friend looks like? 
Do you have an idea of what the innovative wife or mother looks like? Sister? Daughter? Aunt? Neighbor?

Where are you on the continuum of life?  (oh goodness, that's deep!)