Lessons Learned From an Inspiring Teacher

Teachers are leaders who support us.  No matter what grade we are in - whether it's preschool through post-graduate and beyond, we are never too old or too smart to be inspired by a teacher.  My story takes place only a few years ago, when I was completing a year long course in Educational Technology Integration.

As part of the course, I was required to blog about my experiences and reflections of using various EdTech tools in the classroom as well as different kinds of student centered learning.  I never liked writing - especially creative writing.  I don't know whether this was due to my inability to focus or maybe it was my fear of being vulnerable.  People from all over the world would be reading my thoughts.  What if they didn't agree with them?

I was fortunate that my course facilitator was Dr. Shira Leibowitz.  (You can find her on Twitter @shiraleibowitz.) Dr. Leibowitz realized my passion for EdTech integration through reading my blogposts (which eventually led to her hiring me as an EdTech Coach for her school) and she therefore  continued to challenge me to think and reflect on the topics that I blogged about by responding to my blogposts in the following way:

1) I notice....

2) I wonder.....?

3) What if.....?

4) How might....?

By posing these questions as a response to my blog, I was challenged to think critically and discover more about myself.  As teachers, it's our jobs to teach our students to become independent learners and think critically for themselves.  Spoon feeding them and taking the "easy way out," might make things easier in the moment, but it's not doing anything but an injustice for them and for us in the long run.   When we teach our students to think and discover on their own, not only are we challenging them to think critically, but we are also preparing the generation of leaders.