We've all been there, bouncing around at your school or home because you just discovered something absolutely, truly, fantastically wonderful that you just cannot wait to try in your teaching. It is a marvelous feeling this one, one that makes you want to sing from the rooftops and share the idea with everyone you meet. And then you do and the person who you indulge it with looks at you blankly. Silence. Deflated, you walk away, thinking to yourself that maybe that idea was not so great after all.
But wait it's not them, it's you. Or me in this case. I am one of those can't wait to try it and then tell everyone about (mostly on this blog) idea kind of people. I get so overly excited about something that I am practically bursting at the seams with my newfound wisdom and my poor husband is forced to listen to hours upon hours of blissful teacher talk. I rave, I rant, I share and then I don't understand why others don't see the magic or get as excited to try it as I did. Take Twitter for example, I don't think I have convinced a single person to get on it, and yet it is one of the most life-altering educational experiences I have ever had. But it's not the "them" that are to fault, it is me.
We all love great ideas. We all have them and we all share them. Some great ideas work especially well for us and others just really don't. As I grow as an educator, I am beginning to understand more which type of ideas I am really drawn to; student-centered, technology integration, and no grade/homeworks/rewards etc. are things that just rock my world. Others not so much. So when other people come up to me and share their great idea, I might be the one with that blank stare that does not show any kind of enthusiasm. Because to me it just doesn't sound that exciting, or it goes against something I think I believe in, or I just don't have the time.
And that's when I realize, hey it is okay for others NOT to get excited over my great idea.
After all, being a teacher means you get to work with an incredible array of personalities that have one thing in common; they really love kids. So whichever way, or whichever ideas we use, to get us to change the world one kid at a time, is alright by me. However, I will promise myself that the next time someone presents their great idea to me, even if it seems a little strange, I will give it a good listen, perhaps even try it, and then decide. After all, I can only change myself.
