Teaching with Humanity

I often get called out for being self-effacing.  Truthfully, this is a misperception on the part of the complimenter. It is not that I am not appreciative of kind words...I AM!  I love it when people notice that students transform (often quickly) when placed in my program.  As a professional, nothing touches my heart more deeply.

The side step I take, when offered compliments regarding my students, is really an invitation to talk about how these techniques can benefit students in any educational setting.  I would love to take credit, I really would.  The reality is that these techniques can be employed by anyone!  For this reason, I have decided to share my perspective and techniques in the classroom.

I will be using this blog, along with other avenues, as a way to reach out and hopefully help other professionals experience similar success and delight as they watch their students transform.

Step 1: Ditch "Cool".  What is "cool" anyway?  Cool is a moving target. It is a whimsical concept that is often times only attached to surface characteristics and personality. 

Step 2:  Be You.  It is what is underneath that matters. Allow students to know you.  Especially, allow your students to see you as human. Being human involves making errors and corrections. This applies to all aspects of life: relationships, learning, trying new adventures, large and small. It applies to starting a hobby, leaving something behind, committing yourself to someone or something larger than you. Quality of life improves as imperfections are both recognized and accepted.  Making mistakes and corrections is the essence of school and life.

Step 3: Find and Walk Your Ethics.  While being you and being imperfect, it is also supremely important that you define and walk your ethics in all aspects of your work and life. That is, recognizing your imperfections while keeping your focus upon your objectives.  This process teaches students, through modeling, that standards matter. That having standards/ethics provides the direction, and challenges each individual to continue to move toward a better version of themselves.

My students know me. They don't know everything about me. But, they know my essence and my ethics. They understand what I value. They also understand that I allow each of them to explore and hold fast to their own values.  If you haven't noticed already, being a teacher is much more than being a content expert. In fact, content expertise though important, is secondary to your practice of being human.

Waiting to be Noticed

Following passion is going to be an epic ride.  No longer waiting to be noticed by others, it is time I noticed myself.  This is truly a breakthrough thought that occurred to me, as I started researching a new follower on my Twitter feed.  I can't begin to explain how social media works from an entrepreneurial perspective. How this follower came to follow me is a mystery. It doesn't really matter.  What caught my eye was her apparent courage (and fear) as she defined herself.  I started to look at her life as it appears online.  As I studied her, I felt a familiar feeling that, in the past, has been momentarily riveting, but that I have never actually followed.  The feeling is passion.  The passion for taking risks, for walking in truth and outside of ego.

In my youth, I took risks, both personal and professional. In some instances, I mistook ego for passion. The result was many stumbles and bruises. At the time, my ego was quite fragile.  The stumbles and bruises  felt like mortal wounds.  In fact, they were not. They did, however, lead me in a different direction.  They also humbled me. I had "failed". That "failure" haunted me for 13 years.  Until now.

Until today.

Today, as I read about this woman's life (online brand) I began to connect, once again, with my own passion.  I noticed that this passion was pure and disconnected from accolades, riches, and fame. Rather, the feeling was a nudge to notice myself, to notice my excitement and my potential.  It was a nudge to depend on myself and define my own path forward, one step at a time, in tune with my gifts, and ready to dive headfirst into an immersive and authentic life.