What I Hope I Know About "Teaching" and Stuff

This sounds pretty lame, but I am not sure what I think about teaching. That sounds even sillier when I consider my job. Or what I am supposed to be doing for money. But it is the truth.

What do I know then? I know I need to learn more about what works and does not. I know I need to pay more attention to what happens when I am in a classroom. I know I can improve if I work hard. I know that what works for one person may or may not work for another person. I know that I am usually “doing” more than I should when I teach and I should get the students to “do” more. I know I am secretly a control freak. I know I’ll never admit that. I know learner engagement can be difficult to develop/create/prolong and that there are many reasons why anyone may become engaged in a task. I know that learning is different than a letter grade or a diploma and that there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. I know failure is more useful than I understand. I know that any learning experience involves more than a brain and thinking, and way more than words can convey. I know that our bodies can remember things just like the words in our heads. I know some things work better than others. Sometimes.

But I could be wrong.

I think we face a pretty big challenge these days in “educating” the people on the planet. There are many and there are challenging structures in place that are often not really conducive to allowing one human to explore, imagine, create, and experience many things that will help them along the path to, ah, what? Living responsibly on the planet? Making lots of money? Being polite? Kind?

I know I am luck to work with people who want to help others. And that is one thing I am sure of. Maybe I am role modeling being lucky. And I think role modeling can be a useful teaching tool.