I have been reminded that learning something new is good for one’s soul. It keeps one young and inspired...aware and watchful. Teaching our soon-to-be teachers fills me with enthusiasm for my job as an educator. Their eagerness to try out novel ideas, to create new ways of presenting old material fills me with hope. Hope for our young students. I watch these students as they are challenged by their teachers to stretch their limits and to question and modify their thinking. Intelligence in the making.
It is exciting to watch the transformations in veteran teachers as they gain confidence in their math abilities---whether it is fractions or the slope-intercept form of equations. At first they didn’t think they could ever ‘get it’ and now…now they not only get it, but they can help explain it to another person! It is exhilarating to watch this process, knowing classrooms of students will directly benefit from their teacher’s renewed sense of competence—their excitement in learning something new. The renewal of their soul is evident in their laughter and in the confidence they take with them back to their classrooms of students. Intelligence is not rigid…it is alive…growing and changing.
Keep learning. Keep reading and asking questions. I’ll be watching with great interest.
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