Who Inspires You?

Inspiration comes from many places.

Today an email arrived in my Inbox from my Principal - not an unusual event obviously.  In a rush - as usual, I thought I'd better open it up and quickly read it.

When I opened it, it made me really reflect and question why I was rushing around.  Yes, there were assessments to complete, folders to set up, duties to be completed, hockey teams to organise - and the list goes on as it does for all of us, but what I read in that email stopped me in my tracks and made me remember in an instant why I do what I do.

I won't add any more of my thoughts here, but what I can say is that my students have just completed the same activity as in the email today.  I've shed a few tears over the beautiful, funny, caring words they've written about their classmates - whom they're so lucky to be learning with for a second year.

To answer the question of the post - Who inspires me?  My students inspire me - every day in so many ways.  They are the ones who make me want to be the best teacher - and learner I can be.

This is a copy of the email:


Too Busy for a Friend.....

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'

Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'

'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

What and How are we Teaching... and are our Students Learning?

Over the past two days I've been fortunate to attend the I Love Teaching Conference in Invercargill, New Zealand.  Every two years a group of educators passionate about teaching and learning, put together a conference that is always energizing and always thought-provoking.  If you don't go away from the conferences inspired to make a change in your practice then, perhaps, you are in the wrong profession.

The theme of this year's conference was about remembering why we went into teaching in the first place.  To quote the Conference Convenor, Marlene Campbell:   "In challenging educational times, we wanted to remind educators of their passion for the job they do; and to refresh their love for their craft: hence the "I Love Teaching" brand for this event."  

Speakers included:  
Professor Francoys Gagne - developed a theory of talent development - the Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent.  (DMGT)

Dr Jeni Wilson - a proponent of reflective and personalised teaching and learning and meeting the needs of the 21st Century learner.

James Nottingham - the developer of p4c - Philosophy for Children and director of Sustained Success - his own company.  James delivers powerful methods about feedback - the good, the bad and the ugly!  He explains why praise feedback is ineffective and why process feedback is essential.

Allie Mooney - Allie delivers fantastic - and entertaining - messages about the different personalities we come across in life... and how to appreciate and value those differences.

Wilson McCaskill -  Director of The Game Factory one of the most passionate and energetic proponents of teachers and teaching on the planet!  His key message is to value the children we teach and to help them develop self-management strategies.  His Play is the Way programme has much to offer in these areas.

Graham Watts - Graham is a developer of thinking and learning programmes and an Associate Director for the Habits of Mind for the UK and Europe.  His practical ideas for the classroom are inspiring but, most of all, he encourages us to take a critical look at what we do as teachers and whether we are heading in the right direction for our 21st Century learners.  Looking at the future of education - where are we heading and how is it going to look in the next 100 years?

Each of these speakers had important messages to share so I'll devote separate posts to each of them and how their messages are so important in our classrooms - and for the future of education if we're going to meet the needs of our 21st Century learners.  Are we really the 21st Century teachers we think we are??

The greatest message I've taken away is:  Are we teaching children HOW to learn or WHAT to learn? Which is more valuable??

As part of my postgrad degree I've been reading an enormous amount - no exaggeration! - of research around just these issues and, as it's an area of passion for me, I think this is what will ultimately guide what I research as part of the degree and where my teaching and learning will lead me in the next stage of my own learning.

The speakers had so much to offer and, to reflect on this, I think they need their own posts.