Acting Without the Drama

August 28, 2008. I started to blog this morning. I had just about completed it, had maybe a paragraph left to wrap it up, when my computer crashed and I lost the entire thing.

Poop.

So, I pulled it back up and started rewriting the sucker. After all, it was good stuff, and I was pretty sure I could remember most of it. Strangely, though, I just couldn’t stomach it. It felt like I was trying to recreate a moment that had passed. I know enough about acting to know that attempting to recapture those pinpoints of time generally doesn’t work. So, I let it go, and allowed the day to progress. Maybe I would experience something that would inspire me.

I didn’t.

My wife, however, did. I had taken my second son to football practice while my wife went to back-to-school night at the elementary where my boys attend. She got to meet with my oldest son’s teacher and hear her plans for the year. She came back stunned…and inspired.

We had specifically transferred our kids into this school due to this teacher. We had heard wonderful things about her, so the bar was set high. She blew past our ideas of what was to come like she was some kind of crazy land-based rocket and our expectations were trees.

Each of the kids in her class has a job. They talked through what the jobs were (Secretary of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Postmaster General, Secretary of the Treasury, etc.), and then she had them officially apply for the jobs they wanted, in writing. Once in their positions, the students earn classroom “bucks” and receive a “paycheck” from the Secretary of the Treasury. The “money” earns them classroom status and privileges. If they don’t do their jobs properly, their pay is docked. They can earn bonuses. They all have their tasks that help the classroom to function more smoothly.

Wow.

If that was it, I would’ve been impressed. It wasn’t. This teacher quoted a student that she had met, who said, “My teachers might as well have been Jesse James for all the time that they’ve stolen from me.” She assured the parents that she would not do that.

She pretests, which many teachers do. Then she takes it one step further, which most teachers don’t. If the students already know the material, she doesn’t reteach it. Each student is learning at his or her own level. That means more work for her, but she is willing to give it. She affirmed that none of the kids in her class would ever be satisfied with a sub-par education again, not because of her, but because of the desire for learning that is awakening in them.

The old axiom is that rather than teaching students what to learn, we should teach them how to learn. This teacher is teaching them to love to learn.

She continued with even more gems that I don’t have the time or space to share with you here. My wife was so excited when she came home, she could barely form a coherent sentence at first.

We are filled with joy at the opportunity that has been given to our son.

As she spoke, I realized that academically, I hadn’t ever had a teacher like that. I was a little sad as I made that realization.

Then I made another one. I did have teachers like that artistically.

I was blessed with instructors who challenged me to rise above where I was. They weren’t satisfied with baby steps forward. They set the bar amazingly high and challenged me to make quantum leaps to clear it.

And I couldn’t be more grateful. I am a better human being because of my experiences with those mentors, all of whom I cherish in my heart.

So, the challenge to everyone today is to go out and find your teachers. Don’t be satisfied with sub-par education. Ask for someone that will demand quantum leaps out of you.

And then start practicing your jump.

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