In The Mists

There are many beings in the #WolfPackEdChat world, wolves and werewolves, vampires and chameleons, but there is one above all who causes every #WolfPackEdChat pack leader to lose sleep at night.

The Mist Dwellers.

You can see them, except that you can’t. Not really. And when you think you can see them, they shift back into the mists, until you forget what you were looking for. Out of the corner of your eye, you might catch a flash, an image, but only for an instant. They have learned to keep their secrets close, how to avoid detection. Not a chameleon, for they never change, they exist to hide, and their protective walls are many layers of mistrust and defence.

They scare even the mightiest werewolf whisperer.

They keep me up at night.

Werewolves are mere overgrown puppies compared to Mist Dwellers. Werewolves and the wolves will do anything to attract attention- Mist Dwellers anything to avoid it. “Out of sight; Out of mind” is the code they swear by, a security system devised out of necessity.

The fundamental key to working with the pack is to fully “see” who is in front of you, as they are, where they are. The problem with Mist Dwellers is their desire to remain hidden. They calculatingly craft themselves specifically to deflect and avoid unwanted attention. They get good grades-maybe not stellar, but definitely not cause for concern. They draw no attention to themselves in class. This is not the werewolf who set firecrackers off in a desk, had you scrolling through Urban Dictionary furthering your own education in a manner you didn’t envision in teacher’s college. Substance abuse, self medicating, mental health challenges, the group they hang out with, lack of social skills, identifiable learning exceptionalities. None of these present on your finely tuned radar. If someone was to ask you to describe this student, your answer would run along the lines of, “good kid, no issues, could maybe work on their leadership skills, be a little it more vocal in class”, and other rather vague terms…because…in essence…you just don’t know.

Now, my intent wasn’t to make you feel judged or guilty. My intent was to make a point. How can we see what doesn’t want to be seen. In our #WolfPackEdChat, we had quite the discussion about Mist Dwellers, and our experiences with Mist Dwellers. We all agreed that the Mist Dweller was one of the most challenging because these are the ones whose walls we can’t reach, the ones who don’t trust, the ones who keep secrets. These are the ones that when you read the headline your heart sinks and you wonder how the hell you could have missed it. The questions of why you didn’t see it, why didn’t anyone see it.

Time. It takes time. To make the connections. To let Mist Dwellers know the “I see you”, even when they shift yet agin. But. That initial connection, however just a flicker, a spark, that my friend, may make the difference at some point. You may never know how, or when, but unless we take the tie to make that connection with each and every one of our kids, Mist Dwellers will remain a legend, a mystical being or fairytales or ghost stories.

There are some amazing educators, mentors and workers who have valuable insights, strategies, dreams and goals with respect to these topics. I would highly recommend that if you’re over in Twitter world, check out #WolfPackEdChat and follow people like @Crazedladychron @PMcPeake1 @shirky17 @mrterborg @fablefy @mkolligris @tracyscottkelly and so many others.