You Are the Missing Link

You’re a teacher.  It’s summer.  What are you doing?  If you’re like me, as you clean all the parts of your house you neglected during the school year, you find yourself reflecting  and thinking about what’s next.

WHAT IS next in education?  There are problems.  We see it.  We are frustrated.  Most see their voice as too small to matter, but I think our voice is where the solution lies.

Sure, I’ve got my list of things that need to be at the top of education reform, and the crazy thing is, it’s not curriculum.

We the teachers are a collective army of people that care enough about the future of our world to give up our dreams of wealth in order to give our lives for the education of others. So let me ask you, if we are willing to invest ourselves in such an admirable way, why are we settling and waiting for others to jump in and rescue us.  Nothing will change until we look long and hard to see how we have contributed to the problem and how we hold the answers to the future.

I am in no way slamming teachers.  I have the utmost respect for each and every one of you.  You are creators, innovators, encouragers, cheerleaders….did that just describe you? What about this one… You are tired, negative, frustrated?  I’m learning that they way we choose to speak about what we do, creates our experiences.

So let’s start here.  What if, for the rest of your summer, you spoke about teaching, every single day, as if it were THE BEST JOB EVER.  If you did that for 30 days, without fail, then your brain would actually change the way it thinks and the way you associate with your job.  You would become creative, innovative, passionate, encouraging people.  Imagine how your class would change.  Imagine how your school would change.  Imagine the collective force we would become.  Who’s with me?

More to come on reforming education, but let’s start with ourselves.