Beyond the predictability of his schedule, Lincoln sought to create a public presence and air of accessibility for constituents. At 4PM, a carriage pulled up to the White House portico to take the president and first lady for drive and a brief respite from the daily grind of politics. He held cabinet meetings twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, usually in the mid-afternoon. He arose at 6AM each morning and ate a breakfast of coffee and eggs, read new summaries prepared by his secretaries, and then reviewed and signed documents and memos until 10AM. Throughout his presidency, Lincoln stuck to a fairly regimented schedule. Twenty-four years later, as he prepared to leave his adopted hometown, unsure of his return, he declared: He had moved to Springfield in 1837, at the formative age of 28. On February 11, 1861, Lincoln departed from Springfield for Washington to assume the presidency in March. Trust and loyalty mattered deeply to Lincoln, especially to those closest to him. There’s a measure of trust that hangs in the air, a shared belief that students will rise to claim a better version of themselves if the teacher shows them how to reach it. A similar process unfolds every time students work in collaborative groups with only intermittent contact from the teacher. That's trust forged from personal responsibility. But instead of seeing a classroom in chaos, I found students busily at work on a long-term project that they kept on standby. For example, following a meeting that ran overtime, I returned to class nearly ten minutes after the students had re-entered the room from recess. Teachers who successfully foster this culture of trust can be assured that their students will do right, even when they aren’t looking. It is based on the belief that an ethos of personal responsibility is more powerful than a culture of fear and repercussion. That trust is built on shared expectations and common values that dictate everyday interactions. Lincolnesque educators trust their students and get their students to trust one another.
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