Who Moved My Cheese

By Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard

Dear Fellow Educators:

I have recently read the book Who Moved My Cheese? I would like to challenge everyone to spend some time with this interesting bit of reading and figure out which character you most resemble. The book is only 93 pages, which is short enough for even the busiest of teachers. There is a character in this book for everyone and it may help you define the type of educator that you are or want to be. I really began to look at the way that I taught and how other teachers viewed me. The book delivers a powerful view on change.

The Author Valerie Louderback Read Valerie's Bio here.

Looking at the title you would swear that this is a kid's book, but it has a great twist to it-there are very few pictures! This book is quick and fun read, that really perked my interest. Who Moved the Cheese? has four characters including: two people and two mice. The two mice were simple minded, but had extremely good instincts. I compared myself to Scurry in the book, because in my first year of teaching I had six high school science preps, so I was trying just to sustain a good learning environment. New teachers are just trying to scurry around and survive that first year. New teachers have to look at the environment that they are entering also, because a "first-year-teacher" means new responsibilities for all. This is a change that could be considered threatening or a blessing.

The miniature humans in the book had the brains and the experience. Their knowledge was tied to emotion. I see experienced teachers and administrators as Hems and the Haws, the two human characters. Hem wanted a safe work environment and was afraid of new challenges. Hem wanted to stay where the cheese had been and not go in a new direction to obtain the cheese.

Of course, for the most part school districts are full of the Haw, the open-minded and well-disciplined teachers. No one wants CHANGE, but it is inevitable. Haw was able to deal with the differences and build a new even stronger environment. I looked at the Haws as the educator that inspired me to go on with teaching. The new teachers look for guidance from experienced teacher, to be on the shoulders of giants.

In conclusion, I gave this book five *stars* and two thumbs up. It really makes you think about how you and your school fit into unique categories. It made me make some changes in my own outlook on life and educating. So if someone moves your cheese just get up and find that cheese, the race has just begun! Have fun, be creative, each day is a new day, and someone may have MOVED YOUR CHEESE!

Discuss this book and others in Educational Dividends' Teacher's Lounge Discussion Area.

Sincerely:

Valerie Ann Louderback

Every Morning
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must often outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

(So) It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle. When the sun comes up-You'd better be running.

The poem was written on a PC, by a man in bed, by blinking his eye. His name was Ed, and he was dying of ALS, also know as Lou Gehrig's disease. The PC was his only means of self-expression. The Danbury (Connecticut) Area computer society and the New Milford Hospital Foundation provided the system. Ed used infrared sensors to detect the motion of his eyelids. He blinked to navigate through menus of options, common words, and phrases, and letters of the alphabet. If that sounds like a difficult way to communicate, consider the alternative…June 28, 1994, PC Magazine, Page 87, by Bill Machrone.